Given

We exchanged gifts today, both for Christmas and tomorrow's wedding. Absolutely no question about it. It was the right gift.

FWIW, he gave me 100 rounds of 45ACP...... again.

Prose as a Gift

I don’t carry a gun to kill people. I carry a gun to keep from being killed.

I don’t carry a gun to scare people. I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be a scary place.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m paranoid. I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m evil. I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the world.

I don’t carry a gun because I hate the government. I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m angry. I carry a gun so that I don’t have to spend the rest of my life hating myself for failing to be prepared.

I don’t carry a gun because my sex organs are too small. I carry a gun because I want to continue to use those sex organs for the purpose for which they were intended for a good long time to come.

I don’t carry a gun because I want to shoot someone. I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed, and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m a cowboy. I carry a gun because, when I die and go to heaven, I want to be a cowboy.

I don’t carry a gun to make me feel like a man. I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the ones they love.

I don’t carry a gun because I feel inadequate. I carry a gun because unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am inadequate.

I don’t carry a gun because I love it. I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful to me.

Syd

Thank you for writing this Syd. It is the perfect prose to go with the pistol I am giving my newly minted son-in-law at his Christmas wedding today. That along with directions to Gunsite and Thunder Ranch.

I am certain that some in my extended family may question the gift. That is not my concern, really. My concern is that the man have the means to protect himself and those I love. They will reside in Houston. So, for those who may doubt the wisdom of Syd's words, and my thoughts on the matter, here is one more reason.......

On December 9, 2009 in Houston, Texas, a tire shop owner used his handgun to save his life against four armed and violent felons. Police say that four armed criminals attempted to rob the El Mante Tire Shop on the 11000 block of Bauman Road at about 8:30 PM. Fearing for his life, the store owner drew his lawfully carried handgun and fatally shot one of the robbers. The three surviving robbers turned tail and fled in a black Mercury Mountaineer pimped out with chrome rims.

The store owner was unharmed, alive, and after the expected formalities with law enforcement, went home to his loving family. That is as it should be, but never let it be forgotten that the reason his life was spared was because he refused to die and because he had a gun at hand.

The Wedding Gun

What kind of man gets his future son-in law a gun for a wedding gift?

A man who trusts his son-in law. A man who believes his daughter has made the right choice. A man who is ready to give away his most precious gift, who wants the husband to be able to protect that gift of which he is most proud.

This is the pistol I purchased for my son-in-law to be. Training is part of the package, but I know he understands that. When it is opened, some may question such a gift, but I have a feeling he will understand. It is a Colt. A heirloom. A gun I would carry myself. It is not an evil thing. It is a tool that allows for defense of life and all that is precious. Because he will enter matrimony with one who is most precious to me, my wish is that he have the means to protect his bride, my daughter.

How could I do any less?

The 1912 M1911 and other Heirlooms

"This sounds like a setup...don't go alone !" commented C4.
I wasn't worried, the email came from an friend since childhood. When I got off work yesterday, I drove the 40 miles necessary to visit my old friend.

After the usual Southern pleasantries, talk turned to the pistol at hand, and my friend removed it from an old bank money bag. I looked the M1911 over, and found it to be 100% original except for the magazine. The rounded rear sight and the ball cut slide are two features that I really like on the old M1911s. Sadly, my Black Army gun lacks both. The old war horse being offered had not seen much actual firing; the rifling was still sharp (if dirty) and the gun had the original barrel. Most of the finish wear was the result of time, not carry, and not abuse.

My friend was simply acting as a broker to facilitate a deal, and I soon learned that the owner was not uninformed. I had cash in my pocket, but I could not pay what he hoped to get for the pistol. I gave a couple of combination offers, trades of firearms and the ability to buy the M1911 back at the same price in the future, and I left it at that. Perhaps the owner, knowing that my word is my bond, will take me up on the offer in the realization that it gives us each the opportunity to own and regain a bit of history we could not otherwise afford.

Talk turned to catching up on each other's lives, and my friend's son Lee brought out his prized possession. Lee has an appreciation for fine firearms, and is a responsible shooter who never turns down an opportunity to blast away steel or paper. For a year before his twenty-first birthday, he would wistfully rhapsodize about the AR he wished he could build. Little did Lee realize that his father and a gunsmith friend were taking notes. On his twenty-first birthday, Lee was presented with a gift that is destined to become a family heirloom. A gift from a father that unequivocally recognizes his son as a responsible man.

These are the admirable qualities of the gun culture. It's a world where people are recognized by what they do, their actions makes them who they are. The honor among men (and women) is what makes the gun culture what it is. And it is that small fact, that honor, that is lost on those who would try to destroy the second amendment. Of course, what would they know of honor? If they trusted their fellow man, they wouldn't be worried about his guns.