The Right To Arm Bears

This came up the other night between Becky and myself. We were talking about gun laws and concealed weapons permits and the like and I came up with this question...

"We have the right to bear arms; but does that also mean that we have the right to arm bears?"

Imagine all those grizzlies sporting Glock semi-auto pistols or polar bears with sawed-off shotguns to use against the environmentalists. Quite honestly most bears are already armed to the teeth; or should I say armed with teeth. Anyway; that was the introduction to my latest topic of interest...guns.

I used to shoot shotguns and rifles with my Dad when I was younger. We would hunt squirrels and doves (the ugly brown/gray doves; not the pretty white "peace" doves). I never wanted to hunt deer since they were quite bigger and would have way more messy guts to deal with after you shot them. Let me also say at this point that everything I ever shot was then used as a food source. I do not condone the killing of wild animals if all you are going to do is leave it on the ground to rot. If you kill it, it should be on your wall or in your stomach.

So I have some background with firearms of the rifle/shotgun type but not handguns. A month or so ago I went on an Appalachian Trail hiking trip with a friend from work who brought along a small semi-auto pistol. Carrying guns on the trail is a pretty hot topic in the trail community; some people for it; some people very much against it. The best way to carry a firearm on the trail is very much concealed. It is not illegal to carry a firearm on the Appalachian Trail unless you are in a National Park (Great Smokey Mountains National Park is a good example). My rule of thumb is that the only person on the trail who should ever see your gun is the person on the trail trying to kill you. I wish the world were a safer place, but alas it is not. A young woman was abducted from near the trail in Georgia and then murdered not too long ago. But I digress; this is not a post about the safety of the world or carrying guns on the AT, I'm just trying to explain what has prompted my new found interest in firearms.

So after our trip my buddy offers to let me borrow his Smith and Wesson .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol. I said, "heck yeah!" and took it to a gun shop/indoor firing range that is near our dwelling. I had a blast (no pun intended) as I fired 50 rounds through it. It was a great gun to shoot and recoiled enough to let you know if was a .45 and that you didn't want to be on the receiving end but not enough to warrant two hands recoiling over the head; hand cannon type of force.

I was back at the range this week and was ready to try something different. The range offers weapons that you can rent in order to shoot many different calibers and try out weapons from different manufacturers. This time I went with a Glock 9mm with a longer, ported barrel. The longer barrel and the ports cut into the end of it enable the shooter to achieve more accuracy. I fired 100 rounds and was able to deliver multiple shots to the target while keeping them in a tighter cluster. With the .45 my shots were more spread out (out of 50 rounds, 46 of them went into the target, 4 went elsewhere). As far as recoil goes; I was expecting the Glock 9mm to be considerably easier to handle than the Smith and Wesson .45, it was not. Don't get me wrong, I experienced less perceived recoil with the Glock; just not that much. It is either a testament to the good design of the Smith and Wesson or the poor design of the Glock. It's hard to say and I am so new at this that I probably shouldn't make too many judgements. What I can say is that I am happy to be able to shoot a .45 caliber handgun without it recoiling back into my face and breaking my nose or causing me to drop it on the ground and being shot by the resulting round that fires upon impact.

So let me show you two firearms I am interested in owning...

The Walther P22 .22 caliber semi-auto pistol

This would be a great pistol to "plink" with (shoot targets, tin cans etc.). The ammunition for .22 caliber weapons is pretty cheap compared to the larger calibers. .22 caliber makes it affordable to go to the range and expend 500 rounds or more. However; .22 caliber is not at all an ideal sized round for home defense or concealed carry. I read that the best way to end a hostile situation with a .22 is to fire it up the nose of the person trying to take your life or cause you severe bodily injury. So far I've been reasonably accurate at the range; but I don't think I would ever be able to place a round that well.

Which brings me to my second weapon of choice...

The Taurus PT-145 Millennium Pro

This is a compact .45 caliber semi-auto pistol. It is ideal for home defense or concealed carry since it packs the stopping power of the .45 caliber round. If you can't end a hostile situation with two .45 caliber rounds properly placed into the target; then your target is on some pretty scary narcotics and you will probably need to empty the whole gun into said target and then proceed to beat the target in the head with the empty weapon in order to neutralize the threat.

Let me end this post by saying that guns are not toys and are extremely dangerous when not used with knowledge and respect. Anyone using a firearm should be familiar with how that firearm operates and with all applicable safety procedures and all local, state and federal laws that apply to the ownership and use of firearms.

So what are your thoughts? Guns are good, guns are bad, guns are scary? I would be interested to know.

This post was brought to you by Michael Polutta, Pete Goode (thanks for the encouragement there guys) and the letter LMNO. Not familiar with that letter? Sing the alphabet song and you'll find it.

See ya next time!