heading out into the forest for an afternoon of adventure. It usually involved shooting a box of ammo at pine cones and pop cans that they took with them and brought back. If, as was usually the case, the boys came over to talk for a while before heading out, it was interesting to note that their rifles were unloaded, actions open, and muzzles pointing either straight up or down. They had faithfully learned the proper etiquette of handling firearms. The entire scene portrayed the very essence of our heritage and the legacy of the 22 rimfire. Watching David and Josh brought back memories from more than half a century earlier when my brother and I engaged in similar pursuits. There are those who wish to do away with such wonderful activities of others for their own misguided reasons. However, when, not if, this privilege is lost, America will be the poorer for it. Safe firearm handling may forestall our loss of this right assured by The Second Amendment.
Weapons and Image
Image is everything someone has said. If you do not believe it, watch a candidate for office as he meets with a group of business people or for a debate dressed in a black suit, white shirt, and red tie. Watch the same candidate as he meets with occupants of a nursing home or a group of farmers and note the difference in the candidate’s attire. This is not a sexist observation because equivalent dress codes also exist for female candidates. Not long ago, as this is being written, a news report from the TV station in a city nearby gave the story of a homicide. As the announcer was talking, the graphic on the screen showed a handgun, the word “murder” and the outline of a body. You have probably seen such things before. However, in this instance, the victim had been stabbed to death! The desired connotation had nonetheless been conveyed to the viewers as they heard about a murder.
Let us look at one instance of how statistics and image are used in relation to reporting data regarding shooting sports. A recent study reported that an “estimated 21,840 injuries” resulting from nonpowder guns (air rifles, paintball pistols, and BB guns) were treated in the year 2000. That estimate may or may not be accurate, but the implication is that the number is known because it is not given as “over 20,000” which would clearly show that it is an estimate. As bad as the use of the use of the word “estimated” is, there was another factor in the report that was even worse. In the lead paragraph of the report was the phrase “…undermining the notion that such weapons are harmless…” Did you ever hear a baseball announcer say, “Jones dropped his weapon and headed for first base” during a baseball game? Is a baseball bat a weapon? Absolutely, if it is used as a weapon. What about a golf announcer making the statement, “Jones had a good swing with the weapon.” Is a golf club a weapon? Absolutely, if it is used as a weapon. If you think these are absurd examples, what about watching a TV show on cooking only to hear the chef say, “Slice the cold dessert with a warm-bladed weapon.” In this book, the only time the author will use the word “weapon” is in Chapter 11, which deals with some aspects of self-defense. It is true that the same shotgun that is used when hunting quail or 22 rifle used to hunt squirrels can be used as a weapon, but it is the use that determines what is a weapon. The person who “rode shotgun” on a stage coache had a short-barreled shotgun known as a coach gun that was indeed a weapon.
Once, while the author was shooting on a range at a military establishment, a worker there came by and noting my 22 caliber semiautomatic pistol remarked, “What a beautiful weapon.” I was astonished because I regarded it as a device for punching holes in a piece of paper that was 50 feet away. That handgun was never used as a weapon. It is the contention of this author that in sporting circles the word “weapon” should generally be avoided because it conveys a negative connotation to nonshooters (who are all too numerous and a growing segment of the population).
In the 10-year period 1990-2000, the total number of deaths from nonpowder guns was 39 (approximately four per year), far fewer than those resulting from bicycle accidents which have been averaging about one death every six hours or up to almost 1,500 per year! According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), 36 children die annually by drowning in 5-gallon buckets! This does not include the hundreds more that drown in bathtubs, showers, toilets, etc. According to the same CPSC, children under the age of 5 die at a rate of approximately 150 per year as a result of playing with cigarette lighters (this does not include approximately 1,100 per year under age 15 who die in residential fires). Falls from open windows annually account for the deaths of approximately 18 persons under the age of 10. Note the lack of media coverage to some of the other types of accidents compared to those in the shooting sports. If the intent is really to reduce accidental injuries and deaths, there are far more fruitful areas in which to work than with the shooting sports. For example, each year, almost a million children are treated for injuries involving bicycles.
During the three score years of involvement in shooting sports by the author, there has been a drastic change in firearms and the presentation of information about them. If you pick up a copy of almost any magazine devoted to guns and shooting, you will see photos of firearms that have laser sights, flashlights attached (hunting at night is illegal under almost all conditions), and a red glow at the muzzle with streaks emanating from it. Often the holder of the firearm is dressed in black and wearing a mask. Such presentation of a firearm may have a place in military and law enforcement settings. However, if a nonshooter passing the magazine rack on his way to find a copy of Financial Insight or Daydreamer’s Quarterly sees several magazines with these sinister looking firearms on the cover, he or she has a mental image generated which is likely transferred to all shooting sports. Never mind that the first Gold Medal given in the 2000 Olympics was won by Nancy Johnson in women’s airgun competition. As this is being written, the so-called Assault Rifle Ban that was introduced in 1994 has just expired. That Act was placed in force in no small measure because of the image of certain firearms. Never mind that the vast majority of such firearms were never used in criminal acts. Note that the news report described above used the word “weapon” as a descriptor for air rifles, paintball pistols, and BB guns. The first step in getting people on your side of an issue is to generate an image. In this case, the image of a “weapon” is being transferred to even BB guns and the paintball pistols used in a type of game or sport but not as weapons.
The Thompson/Center Classic is shipped with a red flag that is attached to a plastic plug that inserts into the chamber.
Another word that is used frequently in many shooting publications is the word “tactical.” We read about tactical pistols, tactical flashlights, tactical knives, and tactical scopes. What sort of tactics? Squirrel hunting? Shooting groups to test accuracy? Shooting pop cans and pine cones? Tactical is the adjective form of the word “tactics” which my dictionary defines in one way as the science of maneuvering forces in combat. No wonder a nonshooter seeing a magazine that has listed the contents on the cover as articles on “tactical pistols” or “tactical knives” might think that the readers of such a magazine are (or want to be) members of some paramilitary group. There is nothing wrong with any of these “tactical” items, but they are not part of recreational or practice shooting unless the participant is training for tactics of a different sort.
Just as this is being written, the December 2004 issue of The American Rifleman arrived. It had a short story about an auction on eBay that had been pulled because the item being offered was believed to be related to assault weapons. It seems that the person whose item was for sale had used the descriptors “sniper” and “tactical” in reference to the item. It turned out that the item was a composite stock for a version of the popular bolt-action Remington Model 700 rifle that is sometimes referred to as a “tactical rifle.” Someone associated with eBay believed that somehow the stock was for an assault rifle and it seems that the policy is not to offer for sale on eBay anything that is associated with such firearms. Had the words tactical and sniper terms not appeared in the ad, the item would have been just as legitimate as the stock that I bought on eBay for my Ruger 77/17 that is described elsewhere in this book. In view of what took place in the Washington, DC area in the recent past, it is probably best to avoid the use of the word “sniper” in sport shooting
