[Pangloss62]

I don't approve or disapprove of anyone. I just make observations.

"What is it with you gun people?" That is way too broad a brush. My ire was raised by the person who implied, simply because of my observations, that I was a fascist. Kooks abound on both sides of this issue. Fanatics can be gun owners or vegans, or perhaps even gun-owning vegans. Whatev. My intent is not to vilify all gun-owners, only point to how extreme some can be, especially in this country (or perhaps Darfur). I suppose that's an easy target. Sorry to offend the responsible ones.

One little story:

There were two times I killed a living thing with a gun. The first was when, like many young males, I just had to have a BB gun. When I got one, I shot at cans in the back yard. Then, when doing so, I saw some movement in the trees. It was a cute little Chickadee. Almost as if some switch went off in my head, I pointed the gun at the little bird and pulled the trigger. It fell to the ground and started fluttering around in obvious distress. I was beside myself with guilt, and couldn't stand watching the little bird suffer. I crushed it with my foot as hard as I could. Put it, I still hope, out of its misery. That sucked.

The second time was when the guy across the street (this is Alabama, mind you, and I was from Massachusetts) assumed that I was not getting a proper upbringing by my father because he (my father) did not drive a pickup truck. He took me hunting for squirrel of all things. He pointed to some motion in the tree and told me to shoot. I did. It fell, but got caught in the cleavage of some branch. He shot at it about 4 times to dislodge it. It fell to the ground. He cooked it. It was full of shot; and the whole experience was full of shit.