Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

No Justins, No Peace

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

He imagines himself as The Big Bad, Who Is Universally Feared… instead of The Big Jagoff, Who Is Universally Mocked.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

Republicans in disarray!

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

This country desperately needs a functioning Fourth Estate.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

I also would like a pony to improve my balloon juice experience.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

Every day Vance writes another chapter in the book called “Worst VP Pick Ever”.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Fight them, without becoming them!

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

You are here: Home / Gun Issues / Gun nuts / I Will Never Understand Gun Nuts

I Will Never Understand Gun Nuts

by | 231 Comments

This post is in: ,

This came across my twitter feed this morning:

WTF IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?

I do not understand it. I do not understand the need to have a gun everywhere you go, I do not understand how they look at them as both toys and the underpinning of their masculinity and a part of who they are, none of it.

Maybe it is because I was in the Army and they were just tools and most of the time nuisances. Since I got out of the army, in the twenty years since, I have been around guns twice. Once I went to a range with a buddy who was big into guns, and was bored out of my mind. The second time I was at a house party and the host pulled out a gun to show me when he was liquored at like 1 am and I freaked the fuck out on him “Put that fucking thing away you fucking asshole, left the party, and never had anything to do with him again.

That’s it. So when I see all these sad clowns with their guns protection or to “fight the gubmint,” it just makes me laugh/cry. Anyone who thinks their fucking ar-15 or collection of pistols is gonna protect them from the government has never seen a fucking tank or infantry squad operate.

Reader Interactions

231Comments

  1. 1.

    Starfish

    The day after the mass shooting in the town where I live the other week, someone that I knew from high school had sent me a message about shutting down his Twitter account. I sent him an email asking if it was a coincidence that he was doing it then. He said it was not, and I half expected to try to fight me with his pro-gun stance. People are exhausting.

  2. 2.

    NobodySpecial

    Anyone who thinks their fucking ar-15 or collection of pistols is gonna protect them from the government has never seen a fucking tank or infantry squad operate.

    In their fantasy, the cops, the military, those are forever on their side. When they say “protect themselves”, what they really mean is “I can go Rambo whenever I want”, usually against a minority who they imagine wants anything they have

    I call it SACS – Sad Ass Cracker Syndrome.

  4. 4.

    MagdaInBlack

    A friends grand-daughter when from Marine to surgically enhanced rambo style youtube gun-bunny. It disgusts and saddens me.

  7. 7.

    Steeplejack

    [. . .] has never seen a fucking tank or infantry squad operate.

    Or even a semi-competent police SWAT team. Hell, they can kill you even when they’re not trying to!

  8. 8.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    this has to be driven by middle aged guys who can’t deal with getting old to have this much money to throw around like that.   There was some NRA commercial you tube video of some old Texans guys driving around their self propelled gun on their ranch.  What exactly is that demographic?

  9. 9.

    PsiFighter37

    I don’t get it either. Shot guns for the first time in my life a couple years back – eh. It was something I really wanted to do a long time ago when I was young and dumb and just out of college, and it just happened to be something a client wanted to do when I visited for business. Frankly, though, the experience was underwhelming…not something I would go out of my way to do again.

  10. 10.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: In that themed I lived on the edge of Oakland combat zone for decades and always viewed having a gun on me as making it less safe for me since it might mark me as one of the dealers or a cop.

  11. 11.

    Mallard Filmore

    “Anyone who thinks their fucking ar-15 or collection of pistols is gonna protect them from the government has never seen a fucking tank or infantry squad operate.”

    And if you do manage to fight really well and hold them off, how many tubes ‘ya got?

  12. 12.

    mrmoshpotato

    Got a wall?  Desk?  Kitchen cabinet?  Oven door?

    Well good news, gun humpers!  You can hump your guns all of those places now!

    But there’s more!  Ever been driving and wanted a good gun humping?  You’re in luck!*

    *And good luck not shooting your crotch in any of these situations!

  13. 13.

    RSA

    But, but the Army cap on the passenger seat! Good God.

    And you know if anyone actually keeps a gun in the car there, they’re going to knock it onto the ground with their leg half the time when getting out.

  14. 14.

    Jager

    We were at an anniversary party in Scottsdale, the host pulled the cover off his grill, there was a rattlesnake snoozing under it. He immediately went into the house and came back with a Glock 9 in his boozed-up shaky hand. A patio of people almost shit themselves. Being the practical guy I am I grabbed the garden hose, sprayed the snake and it crawled away before our host put a couple of rounds in the propane tank.

  18. 18.

    Brachiator

    I do not understand it. I do not understand the need to have a gun everywhere you go, I do not understand how they look at them as both toys and the underpinning of their masculinity and a part of who they are, none of it.

    Of course as we are now seeing, it’s not just about masculinity markers. We have out and proud Lady Gun nuts.

    I got depressed when I heard some talk radio hosts mention that gun background checks have increased substantially. One theory is that whenever a Democrat talks about gun control, the 2nd Amendment squad figures that they need to buy more weapons. Just in case. Of something.

    But I wonder how much of this is new gun sales, and how much is the same cadre of gun nuts just adding to their arsenals?

  21. 21.

    Gvg

    That commercial seems aimed at violent drug dealers to me. The bad guys in Miami Vice or a mob movie might need to have a gun at hand all the time.

  28. 28.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    I have a liberalish friend in Oklahoma who is 100% gun nut.  I always give him a hard time on the book of faces and he’s a good sport about it.  His fellow gun not friends…not so much., Fuck em.

  29. 29.

    MisterForkbeard

    I have some friends in North Carolina who tell me this kind of thing is a “good idea” when you drive through the bad parts of town. evidently there were parts of downtown  Durham 5 or 10 years ago where (mostly black) people would carjack you violently even in the early afternoon.

     

    Or so they told me. It seemed very… suspicious at the time, even though the town definitely had some grinding poverty.

    But I dont know anyone who got their rocks off thinking about it.

  30. 30.

    frosty

    On this topic, I went for takeout tonight in Arizona. One of the customers was open carrying a handgun. Wearing an Oathkeepers shirt. I was glad to pay and get out of there.

  32. 32.

    braccio

    I started to carry last year not because I was afraid of cops, protesters, the government, etc.

    I started to carry because right wing nut jobs have repeatedly threatened to kill people  (left of center) that they disagree with. While I like to target shoot, I wouldn’t shed a tear if the government would swoop down and take everyone’s handguns and ARs away.

  34. 34.

    cain

    @Mallard Filmore: ​
     
    Why go that far? You can just go with a drone – some dude in some place hundreds of miles away – will just see you on a camera and then shoot your ass.

  35. 35.

    Keith P.

    I’ve got friends who would probably buy those.  They’re fanatical about their guns.  Like literally – literally – every time I hang out with them (every other week or so), they’re talking about buying some new gun part or gun.  I asked once about whether they’re selling any weapons or just keep adding on to the pile, and it’s the latter!  I wasn’t raised around guns, so I don’t understand it – they only get used for hunting, target shooting, or show, so it just seems like way too much to spend for what you’re getting (including excessive redundancy).  I guess being caught in a mass shooting isn’t so far-fetched any more, but I wouldn’t want to be holding a gun during mass shooting, tbh, since I’m likely to get swiss-cheesed by law enforcement.

  36. 36.

    Anotherlurker

    I used to enjoy going to the range and target shooting with my wimpy, but fun Ruger 10/ .22.  Firing it didn’t break the bank and its recoil kick was negligible.

    I was eventually disgusted by the gun humping cos-players in camo and the incredibly racist targets.  Add to this AR type weapons modified for full auto and the obvious priapic symbolism, and I was done with the whole flaccid, racist scene.  This was 20+ years ago.

    Gun is still locked in my brother’s gun safe on L.I. I live in The Bay Area.   I do not miss anything attached to the gun scene.

  38. 38.

    Suzanne

    This is the special flavor of psycho characterized by downwardly mobile white men who cannot figure out how to be successful without an extremely defined path or how to attract women who are capable of self-sufficiency. The gun is always there for them to stroke and caress.

    I recently learned that there is a cohort of conservative men who are really, really into Lana Del Rey and I don’t really grok the reason.

  39. 39.

    Lyrebird

    @NobodySpecial: I call it SACS – Sad Ass Cracker Syndrome.

    I was just clicking to comment about how it’s even more pathetic when Lindsay Graham says that stuff, and here you have the perfect term.

    The people I know who hunt generally also eat the venison, duck, whatever they get, so they don’t want lead burger either.  As a non-hunting liberal lady with no military background, I appreciate John and

    @raven:

    and everyone sharing their view very much.

  40. 40.

    Ruckus

    @mrmoshpotato:

    In the Navy, if we carried or had to use a hand weapon, we had to qualify. I carried a 45 pistol so I had to fire 2 clips off the back of the ship when we were out to sea. Took me about 6 seconds to empty one, change and empty the other. My shots hit in line about 2 ft wide about 40 ft off the stern. The gunners mate asked me if I was from NY. I told him “No, LA.” “Same difference,” was the reply. Next, one of the new gunners mates had to try out the BAR – Browning Automatic Rifle. Fires 30-06 fully automatic. He put in a clip, racked it, shouldered it, pulled the trigger. Before he could get his finger off the trigger he’d turned to the right 90 deg, emptied the clip and everyone on the fantail had hit the deck. If he’d been pointing 10-15 deg more to port than slightly to stern, he’d have hit the ship with at least one round. But by the time he’d swung about 10 deg the 25 or so people on the fantail were very flat on the deck. Very. Flat. That 10-15 deg less or 3 or 4 more rounds to fire and someone likely would have died.

    Mix stupid with guns and often people die. Mix willfully ignorant with guns and it gets far worse.

  43. 43.

    cain

    @MisterForkbeard: ​
     

    But I dont know anyone who got their rocks off thinking about it.

    I’ve been told that about Rio de Janeiro – keep your windows down. I rather experience Rio from a drone or something.

  45. 45.

    Jager

    @MisterForkbeard:

    I have a friend who lives in suburban Kansas City, he always carries two pistols in his car when he and his wife go to their favorite BBQ place, in the blackest part of KC, a place where 90% of the clientele is black, the staff is black and the bands are black. He needs his guns because the drive scares the shit out of him, the BBQ joint, not so much because he leaves his guns locked in the car. He has a couple of AR 15s, one converted to full auto, so he can protect himself in his mini-mansion in Lenexa.

  46. 46.

    sherparick

    @NobodySpecial: ​
      I just see these guys shooting themselves in the leg. Also, stuff like this will just make cops even more paranoid then they already are about pulling people over.

  51. 51.

    Jager

    @frosty:

    Probably nervous about  the Latina handing him his food and really frightened by those 130 pound dishwashers working in the back.

  52. 52.

    Jeffro

    @Jager:We were at an anniversary party in Scottsdale, the host pulled the cover off his grill, there was a rattlesnake snoozing under it. He immediately went into the house and came back with a Glock 9 in his boozed-up shaky hand. A patio of people almost shit themselves. Being the practical guy I am I grabbed the garden hose, sprayed the snake and it crawled away before our host put a couple of rounds in the propane tank.

    “Be right back…imma shoot that dumb snake right offa my grill…BAD snake!”

    Ye gods

    Good on you for grabbing the hose!

  53. 53.

    MomSense

    @tom:

    And that’s just it.  The only, ONLY way they could possibly  win their fetishized defense from government tyranny against an enemy of such superior force would be to attack civilian targets.  In other words, they would have to use asymmetric means like blowing up schools, houses of worships, hotels, banks, etc.  Is that really a winnable fight?  Would the public tolerate that kind of terrorism? Do enough of them really have the stomach for that kind of war? No one ever asks them the obvious follow up questions which would demonstrate what utter horse shit their main argument is.

  54. 54.

    raven

    Former House Speaker John Boehner, in excerpts from “On the House: A Washington Memoir,” provides clear evidence that the Republican Party was already struggling with its identity and ideology long before Trump was a serious candidate for political office.

    In the 2010 midterm elections, when the Tea Party-affiliated candidates gained a number of seats in Congress, Boehner wrote, “You could be a total moron and get elected just by having an R next to your name — and that year, by the way, we did pick up a fair number in that category.”

  59. 59.

    raven

    And people don’t like Facebook. Here’s a gem from our neighborhood page

     

    I need help- I have a lawn mower that is built for men, (like most tools but that’s another story,) I need someone to adjust the seat sensor or add weights. “Disconnect the governor!”

    Every time I shift my weight or drive over a bump or drive uphill the engine cuts because it thinks I’ve fallen off.

  60. 60.

    trollhattan

    Do they bundle that thing with a bumpstock? Asking for a friend.

    Prior to my most recent car purchase I perused several brand forums to learn strengths, weaknesses, tips, etc. Forums for certain marques offered a metric fucktonne of “Where do I hide my Glock?” threads, which TBH created not a little dissonance about going with that brand.

    Last spring-summer when BLM protests were frequent in these parts the few neighborhood social engagements I attended all had side conversations about defending the home front from possible hordes and which weaponry was bestest. Participants including folks who I’d never EVER consider the “Get offa mah proppity” type. Equal parts revealing and disappointing.

  62. 62.

    Ruckus

    @raven:

    I don’t think they had given it much thought, or quite possibly thought that this dipshit wasn’t as big a dipshit as he actually was. The gm in charge went over after the firing stopped and took the rifle away. We also had Thompson sub machine guns, they also fired the 45 pistol cartridge. Only the gm in charge fired that, and it was actually worse than the BAR, in that if you hold the trigger too long it is very hard to hold and will rotate left out of your hand, even for some one that knows how to hold it and what to expect. Short bursts. The BAR is the same way, short bursts, not the entire magazine.

  65. 65.

    JaneE

    I used to enjoy target shooting, until the gun nuts and utter idiots crowded out the folks who didn’t worship guns and had enough sense to be careful with them.  I haven’t done more than clean it and put it back in the safe for years, and it hasn’t even been cleaned for too long.

  67. 67.

    JWR

    Speaking of guns, NBC news just ran a segment about combating AAPI hate-crimes… with guns! No, really. It’s a gun club in Compton, CA., offering to teach the Asian population how to be badass MoFos. (Personally, I think the elderly woman beating down her youthful attacker with a 2X4 said it all.)

  68. 68.

    trollhattan

    @Suzanne:

    The kid’s college hoops team led Gonzaga through much of the first half when they played earlier this season (what can you do when it’s the same conference). We all know how that ended, but at least the guys had some bragging rights that will eventually turn into bar tales later in life. “We could’a taken them, man!”

    Half 2 was a little like watching surgery.

    ETA Kid’s competing in track in about two hours. “Happy spring break, sweetie!”

  73. 73.

    Another Scott

    @Suzanne: Too many men of all ages and all circumstances have this need to feel respected and never looked down upon – for any reason.  If they can’t get that respect from their intrinsic personality or accomplishments, they’ll get something like it by imposing fear on others.  And what’s better at generating fear than a gun?  No skill is needed, just a few hundred dollars and instant respect!!1

    It’s the toxic masculinity thing that Cheryl occasionally mentions.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  75. 75.

    Jager

    @Gretchen: I can’t remember the name of the place, went there once with him. It was great. At the table next to ours, there was an old couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, the old man was grinding his wife on the dance floor to a slow blues number, the old guy’s son turned to me and said, “50 years ago he would have had mom out in the backseat of his Buick before the song was over.” And yes, we had a great time.

  76. 76.

    Suzanne

    @Another Scott:

    Too many men of all ages and all circumstances have this need to feel respected and never looked down upon – for any reason. 

    Because white patriarchy has taught them to expect it.
    Respect is a relationship of equality, but many white dudes are lazy when they use the term. What they really used to be was esteemed — for no particular reason — and now that is not the case.
    I remember Rick Perlstein writing about men who “expected a petty lordship on account of being born with a penis”.

  77. 77.

    Immanentize

    @Ruckus: Back in the day (1980’s) the FBI in D.C  did a firearms exhibit on “special tours.” The Thompson was one weapon showcased, because, Elliot Ness, I suppose.  Basically a ten bullet pulse, repeated.  Impressive and loud! but it was pretty obviously necessary.

  78. 78.

    trollhattan

    Wow, talk about hitting MLB high and hard!

    RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tweeted that she wouldn’t be watching baseball after Major League Baseball pulled the All-Star Game from Atlanta in response to Georgia’s controversial new voting law that critics say will disproportionately affect people of color, USA Today reports.

    Said McDaniel: “Guess what I am doing today? Not watching baseball!!!!”

    “How can I miss you when you won’t go away?”

  80. 80.

    PsiFighter37

    @trollhattan: Anything for the GOP to focus on anything except what is really meaningful in people’s lives. These clowns really have no interest in even trying to look like they are interested in governing.

  82. 82.

    Subsole

     

     

    @Ruckus: I’m surprised he didn’t end up very, very flat himself after y’all picked yourselves up off the deck…

  83. 83.

    Suzanne

    @trollhattan: You know what cracks me up the most about this is that this is exactly what the companies want. The MLB and all of these other companies who make these “woke capital” statements are trying to alienate conservatives on purpose because it strengthens their brand with their consumers and their employees.

    Conservatives are losers and companies don’t want their money.

  85. 85.

    Another Scott

    @trollhattan: [rant at no-one in particular] I wish reports would quit saying that the Braves are in Atlanta.  With the implication that the city is being punished by not having the game there.

    The Braves have been across the river in Cobb County since 2017.

    [/rant]

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  86. 86.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Nukular Biskits:
    Sorry. I should have at least provided a quick description (been a long day):

    Bought a gun to deal with venomous snakes, rant about why background check doesn’t mandate SSN, and excuse for posting fur baby photos.

  87. 87.

    Redshift

    I used to think their fantasy of taking on the government was idiotic. But we learned on 1/6 that way too many of them really do believe the police and the military will be on “their side” if they decide they have to take on a “tyrannical” government, not the ones they’ll be fighting against.

  88. 88.

    Suzanne

    @Baud: Y’all know that I hateread Rod Dreher’s blog intermittently. It is so reflexive and thoughtless (and he has a prurient obsession with transgender people). The man is totally intellectually inconsistent. He is just completely sorrowful and fearful because Christianists don’t have total social control. And he just cannot conceive of living peaceably as a minority near others, which should tell you everything you need to know about how he and his cohort treat people.

    One of his stupid tropes is what he calls “the Law of Merited Impossibility”, which is what he says leftists say to social conservatives. “This terrible discriminatory th8ng will never happen, and you bigots will deserve it when it does.” He has it absolutely wrong. We all fucking told them that bad things would happen to social conservatives, like getting fired because no one likes you because you had no labor protections, and yeah, you deserve it when it does happen to you, because you were fine with that happening to Muslims, leftists, atheists, LGBT people. The only thing protecting you at the time was your privilege and social control. Now that’s gone. Oh well, should have been a better neighbor when you had the chance.

  90. 90.

    Suzanne

    @Redshift:

    But we learned on 1/6 that way too many of them really do believe the police and the military will be on “their side” if they decide they have to take on a “tyrannical” government, not the ones they’ll be fighting against. 

    They aren’t wrong. Lots of Derek Chauvins.
    Talk about a career path that attracts mediocre men with an inferiority complex.

  92. 92.

    Subsole

    @raven: It’s scary how fast that stuff can get away from you even if you’re cautious.

    Worst scope-bite I ever got was a .50 bolt-action that kicked even harder than I expected. And I was firing prone. If I’d been upright I’d have probably dropped the damn thing.

    Actually firing all that dirty harry shit was actually a damn good way to take the romance off it, at least.

  94. 94.

    Baud

    @Suzanne:

    which is what he says leftists say to social conservatives. “This terrible discriminatory th8ng will never happen, and you bigots will deserve it when it does.” He has it absolutely wrong

     

    What we tell them is they bad things won’t happen to them because their race or religion. What they hear is that they can act racist or do awful things in the name of their religion with no social or legal accountability.

  95. 95.

    Subsole

    @raven: And John rolled over for them, by and large.

    While also lambasting Obama for not meeting them halfway.

    I mean, I like that someone is actually saying this in public, but this “I was just a fly on the wall”  routine from the Old Guard is getting a bit thin.

  98. 98.

    Redshift

    @Suzanne:

    They aren’t wrong. Lots of Derek Chauvins.
    Talk about a career path that attracts mediocre men with an inferiority complex. 

    And most of the Portland police force, apparently. But only in everyday mayhem, trying to overthrow the government went over the line.

  99. 99.

    Baud

    I didn’t even know this was a thing.

    Virginia has become the 12th state to ban the use of the “gay/trans panic” defense.

     

    Gov. Ralph Northam signed a bill Wednesday against the defense, which has allowed those accused of homicide to receive lesser sentences by saying they panicked after finding out the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

  100. 100.

    Suzanne

    @Baud:

    What we tell them is they bad things won’t happen to them because their race or religion. 

    Eh. Social conservatives got in bed with white supremacists and the extreme tax cutters, and they used that alliance to be really discriminatory. As such, I have zero problem with them getting a taste of their own medicine. If they want to protect the religious freedom of Mr. Masterpiece Cakeshop, I will stand back and watch and smirk as their businesses get boycotted and fail.

  101. 101.

    debbie

    I don’t know enough about guns to know what to call that action when they pull the gun out of that holster, but I predict many injuries.

  104. 104.

    Baud

    @Suzanne:

    I agree. But no one is getting fired because the church they attend, or simply for being a white male conservative.

  106. 106.

    scav

    @JWR: Have to admit, my first reading of that phrase had me envisioning the phosphate pond leak taking aggressive action against an entirely different radioactive flood in sort of a Godzilla meets Gamera deal.

  107. 107.

    Ruckus

    @raven:

    The navy didn’t have dogfaces. The navy had swabbies. Most people in the navy had nothing to do with small arms. They might work on and fire a 5 in gun but a rifle or pistol? Nope. Supersonic missiles but no rifles/pistols. We went to the range one day in boot camp, fired 22 rifles at targets – I was an expert, but that was it. I’d carried that 45 on board ship for 6 months before I had to qualify. It’s not the same game as the army or the marines or the air force. We mostly existed to deliver the ship fully operational, anywhere required. Even in our day few people in the navy got shot at. Some for sure but our biggest worry was that we would run into something or something would run into us. Hell I’ve been to Gitmo 3 times. I’ve been way above the Arctic Circle 3 times, once in winter. Still no one shot at me or the ship. I’m what you would have called a lucky bastard.

  108. 108.

    dmsilev

    @Suzanne: I’m not going to link, not even directly, but TFG had a Twitter-by-proxy rant (one of his minions posted it) where he called to his followers to boycott a bunch of companies in response. Including Merck, UPS, Coke, Cisco, Viacom, etc. I mean, how is an ordinary person going to boycott Cisco? Call up their cable company and threaten to switch providers unless said cable company swears that their routers etc. are all from ‘approved’ vendors?

  110. 110.

    Ruckus

    @JWR:

    I just wonder if she hit him in the crotch with that 2×4? Maybe she thought she wouldn’t hit anything worth damaging.

  111. 111.

    Suzanne

    @Baud: People get fired (or more likely, don’t get hired) for “culture fit” reasons all the time. I have no doubt that some employers have tried to drive out some social conservative employees. I don’t care even slightly. They fought for right to work policies, now they can reap the whirlwind.

  113. 113.

    Ruckus

    @raven:

    I understand. Just making the point that it would have been extremely unlikely that I would have been, in the navy. It’s not impossible but even Seals usually get delivered by water.

  116. 116.

    Suzanne

    @dmsilev: Again…. all those companies are trying to attract a young, educated, global workforce. Not a bunch of Christianists who live in Pigsknuckle and shop at Dress Barn. Getting boycotted by Trump’s minions is exactly what they want.

  118. 118.

    mrmoshpotato

    @dmsilev: Psst.

    Hey, Twitter banned Trump for a reason — there’s no need to screencap his press releases here and serve as his Twitter surrogate— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) April 3, 2021

  119. 119.

    Obdurodon

    @bluehill: Yes, they believe the military and law enforcement are on their side. But then what? If they’re right, they’ll be adding nothing to what said police and law enforcement already have. If they’re wrong, they’ll get themselves dead. In no scenario does their ownership or use of a gun add anything to their prospects. And that’s the thing in general: for the vast majority of people, the odds of ever being able to use a gun to positive effect are far *far* lower than the odds of somebody getting killed by accident, by suicide, by friendly fire, by unnecessary escalation of a situation that would have been non-fatal otherwise.

    Learning how to defend yourself *without* a gun will help keep you safe. Learning emotional self-regulation and conflict-management skills will help keep you safe. Cultivating good relationships with stable friends and neighbors will help keep you safe. Obsessing over guns and hanging around with other people who obsess over guns will make you *less* safe even if none of you ever fires a shot.

  120. 120.

    Subsole

     

     

    @Suzanne: Is he the one that wants everyone to live like monks, while also refusing to just fuck off to the monastery and leave the rest of us out of it?

  121. 121.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Hear hear, John.

    As you may recall, like you, I was in the Army, and yes, they are just tools, dangerous ones that must be respected at all times, never treated as toys, and have jack shit to do with masculinity.

    Ammosexuality needs to be in the DSM.  It’s a fucking mental disease, a mental malfunction, something that indicates that there is something profoundly wrong with an individual.

  122. 122.

    kindness

    The gun nuts I know don’t think they’re going to hold off the government with their stash of weapons.  They think they are going to wipe out their enemies (more or less us) watering the tree of Liberty with blood (again, ours) and thinning the herd at the same time.  They also are sure the Army and the Police will join them once the shooting starts.

    They’re nuts, not just gun nuts.

  125. 125.

    Subsole

    @raven: Nope. Fired an AK 47 semi-auto. And an AR 15, once. Like I said, it was enough to take the romance off. Learned right quick I was better off with a simple pump action 12ga.

    Heard the M-14 is a real heavy bastard. Basically an evolution of the BAR, no?

  126. 126.

    Gin & Tonic

    One of my oldest and closest friends worked most of his career on “guidance systems” for contractors you’ve heard of. The US can put a Hellfire missile straight down your chimney from a thousand miles away without anyone breaking a sweat. You’ll be pink vapor before you can reach for your AR-15 knockoff.

  127. 127.

    The Moar You Know

    But I wonder how much of this is new gun sales, and how much is the same cadre of gun nuts just adding to their arsenals?

    @Brachiator: over 400 million firearms in this country, yet far more than half the populace doesn’t own any at all.  You do the math.

    I shoot, by the way.  I do it for fun.  I would not dream of keeping one loaded.  They all sit in a safe and the ammo sits in a totally different part of the house. If you think you’re going to use one for defense, guess again. The bad guys are better at this than you are and have the advantage, the government can just roll over your house with an APC, gun culture is just performative bullshit that costs a lot of lives every year in this country for no good reason.

  129. 129.

    raven

    @Subsole: The M-14 was a variant of the M-1 but with a magazine instead of loading with a , gasp, clip from the top. The AR was never really used much because it was insane to fire. We carried 14’s in Korea and I liked it maybe because that’s what we used in basic.

  130. 130.

    Suzanne

    @Subsole:

    Is he the one that wants everyone to live like monks, while also refusing to just fuck off to the monastery and leave the rest of us out of it? 

    Yes, he apparently wrote a book encouraging Christians to retreat from society into little enclave communities. And I’m like PLEASE DO IT ALREADY, I’M SICK OF WAITING.

    Like I said, they just cannot fathom living as a minority, because they’re so shitty to minorities.

    Reminds me of Wayne’s World.
    “Go then!”
    “I’m gone!”
    “Then go!”
    “But I am!”

  131. 131.

    Gretchen

    @Subsole: yes, that’s our Rod.  He’s leaning more into the idea that we need Christian fascists in charge to make us behave because otherwise trans kids will be able to play basketball and make his folks stop proselytizing at work.  And he doesn’t think racism is real.  Either no Asians are getting targeted or it’s just black people targeting Asians in which case it’s not the fault of racist whites so it’s fine.  It must be exhausting to be that angry and scared all the time.

  132. 132.

    Subsole

    @Baud: Yep.

    A lot of times life in America feels like we never leave highschool. And a lot of times, that’s because we were never EXPECTED to leave highschool. We just stopped maturing at 18, and society said “Cool.”

    Like, a lot of our culture wars are basically teaching basic maturity to grown-ups. They have to learn at 30, or 40, or 60 what they failed to learn at 15. Or 10. Or even 5, sometimes.

  133. 133.

    seefleur

    @Jager: OMG – I went to high school in that area and suspect that your friend might be of the same cohort as my younger sib’s friends – was just back there last week and was appalled over my brother who showed up at a family outdoor gathering with his not-so-concealed weapon. Shit dude! It’s Lenexa – home of the massively white folk who avoid Merriam because it’s “too dark(skinned)”. I left that area over 40 years ago and have never regretted it.

     

    @Jager:

  134. 134.

    Subsole

     

     

    @Ruckus: Seems they would have been better off just handing everybody sawed-off shotguns if you got boarded.

    If your boat was anything like the carrier I walked through, you wouldn’t need range. Just punch.

  137. 137.

    Suzanne

    @Gretchen: If that dude isn’t dead in ten years from a heart attack, I will be shocked. He already talked about having gotten hooked on sleeping pills or something. I read his blog so I can monitor the crazy, because it’s never far away and it’s always dangerous.

  138. 138.

    Subsole

    @dmsilev: These folks burned their sneakers and smashed their coffee machines -their property, that they had paid actual, folding American dollars for – to teach Woke Capital a lesson.

     

    Their blade don’t hold much edge, is what I’m saying.

  140. 140.

    Suzanne

    @Subsole: He’s also all fucked up about Amazon refusing to sell some books critical of transgender people. Again, they fought for Mr. Wedding Cake to be able to choose what he sells, but doesn’t think Amazon should do the same.

  144. 144.

    Subsole

    @Suzanne: I knew a guy who refused to consider women because he thought they didn’t make good techs – the ol’ x-chromos interfered with mechanical aptitude, I guess. /s

    So yeah. Fuck ’em. Welcome to the world you built, amigos. ‘Bout time you had to live here with the rest of us.

     

    @Obdurodon: This is a good point about conflict management. Gun doesn’t do you much good if someone breaks a pool cue over your head when you aren’t looking. Or if six people dogpile you because you mouthed off.

    What these guys don’t seem to get is if you ever need the kind of firepower you’re hauling, you’re probably better off just running.

  145. 145.

    Amir Khalid

    The Second Amendment needs to be repealed. It is no longer needed. Its original purpose was to ensure that states had an armed citizenry, a citizen militia, to rely on for security. States don’t rely on citizen militias anymore, now that they have standing law-enforcement/security forces. That original pirpose is now obsolete. The Second Amendment is being abused as a specious justification for MORE GUNS EVERYWHERE1!!1! and it needs to go.

  146. 146.

    Gretchen

    @Suzanne: yes, consistency isn’t his strong point.  I read him too to keep up on the crazy.  He’s sure the trans people on bathrooms and locker rooms are coming for the little girls.

  147. 147.

    Gretchen

    I worked in Lenexa for many years. The first time my Indian son-in-law visited the area, he marveled at how white it is. Sadly, he’s correct.

  148. 148.

    Dan B

    @Baud: Sorry the Gay Agenda has been keeping you in the dark.  Harvey Milk’s killer was acquited because the jury, you know- those rapey sneaky gays..

    It’s a regular thing that resembles the “scary black man” defense for some reason.

    Prejudice, no!  White straight American males are upstanding protectors of society!*

     

    *until they’re terrified snowflakes whi think a gay guy or “tranny” will touch them.

     

    I’m not bitter.

  149. 149.

    ExpatDanBKK

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: ​
    Me too Dorothy. Me too. Last time we were in the States (2015, hitting LA, Las Vegas, and then a leisurely drive to The D) wife and I walked out of several establishments in various geographical locations because people were open carrying. It seems to be worse now. Being from Thailand that just doesn’t happen here, even with a high rate of gun ownership here.

  150. 150.

    Subsole

    @raven: Interesting. Marines kept them when everyone swapped over to the M-16, correct?

    Nice looking rifle. Don’t think I’d ever own one though.

  151. 151.

    Dan B

    @mrmoshpotato: Crocs on Meth has a ring to it.  I bet you’d get a few people to hear that band just because if the name.*

     

    *We were at good friends Thursday who live a couple doors from the house of a Death Cab for Cutie band member – speaking of band names.

  153. 153.

    Suzanne

    @Gretchen: I think he is utterly convinced that transgender people are coming for young girls because lots of those sexually repressed men he knows (and maybe is) would come for young girls if they could.

  154. 154.

    Subsole

    @Suzanne: LOL. It’s dated as hell, but I love that movie. It even has dialogue germane to the discussion!

    “I don’t own A gun. Let alone the many guns which would necesitate an entire rack. What. Am I. Supposed. To do. With. A gun rack?”

  160. 160.

    Gretchen

    @Suzanne: yes.  He thinks atheists must be orgy-attending sinners because the only reason he or his friends behave is to avoid hell in the hereafter.  Being a good person for the satisfaction of a being a good person is met with his disbelief.

  162. 162.

    Ksmiami

    @Gin & Tonic: That’s what I’ve been saying-our military has amazing; albeit terrifying weaponry that is coldly targeted from laptops. These gun humpers will be ash before they’ve even fired a shot.

  163. 163.

    The Pale Scot

    @raven:

    And how the heck did he get it out of the armory. I have a hard time thinking a Marine Sergeant would think that’s a good idea.

    Reminds me of this
    9-year-old girl accidentally kills gun instructor with Uzi

    How the fuck did this ardent 2cd A. shoutie think those toothpick arms would be able to control an Uzi on full auto? Got say I chuckled for a second and then thought about therapy the kid’s gonna need

  167. 167.

    Ksmiami

    @Suzanne: I don’t know if it’s just me but I get real closet case vibes from Dreher… I think he’s really afraid of his own latent homosexuality

  170. 170.

    Suzanne

    @Ksmiami: I’m not sure if it’s even Teh Ghey with him. I think he’s just so fucked up emotionally and he’s the type that needs a lot of order and rules to cope, and modernity is deeply destabilizing to him. And seeing others live with fewer rules is use something he cannot abide, because he can’t comprehend what it’s like to not be fucking terrified and weird all the time.

  171. 171.

    Ruckus

    @Subsole:

    He likely did at some point in his naval career. Pompous arrogance, a bit of rank and a whole lot of stupid never really worked all that well, sooner or later someone would readjust his personality significantly.

  172. 172.

    cokane

    kind of insane that ppl think they want a gun on their freaking dashboard. ya im sure the cop who pulls you over for speeding or a busted taillight is gonna love seeing that easy-to-access pistol

  173. 173.

    Ruckus

    @raven:

    That does seem a bit much doesn’t it? I’ve seen a torpedo tube, it would be a pretty tight fit, unless they’ve made them a lot bigger than they used to be.

  174. 174.

    Suzanne

    BTW, this basketball game is really exciting. Unlike the previous game, which was a bore.

  176. 176.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Dan B:

    Crocs on Meth has a ring to it.  I bet you’d get a few people to hear that band just because if the name.* 

    You can also sing it to Baby Shark.  YOU’RE WELCOME! ?

  178. 178.

    Ruckus

    @Obdurodon:

    I like that I served temporarily in the Shore Patrol and we never carried guns. Now the Marines guarding the entry gates at the navy base did, but even the Marine sergeant who was their supervisor and who I rode with didn’t carry a gun. I wonder if that has changed?

  180. 180.

    Patricia Kayden

    GOP: break your Keurig, burn your Nikes, don’t watch CNN, MLB, NBA, NFL, or NASCAR, don’t shop at Walmart, Target, Kohl’s, Nordstrom, or Macy’s, don’t drink Pepsi or Starbucks, don’t watch HBO or Netflix and don’t eat Oreos.Also GOP: let’s talk about how cancel culture is bad— Angry Staffer (@Angry_Staffer) April 3, 2021

  181. 181.

    Suzanne

    That may have been the most incredible end of a basketball game I have ever seen. Oh my God.

  183. 183.

    scav

    @Patricia Kayden: Wait, is Pepsi in or out? Coke is verboten because of not pledging allegiance to GA’s war on voting, but wasn’t Pepsi suspect because of the Superbowl? I can’t keep up. Are they now down to Tab or RC Cola or ??? Carbonated KKKool-aid?

  185. 185.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Suzanne:

    Y’all know that I hateread Rod Dreher’s blog intermittently. It is so reflexive and thoughtless (and he has a prurient obsession with transgender people).

    I wonder if he was smart enough to pay cash for the trans sex workers who are almost certainly in his closet. Yes, it’s a definite pattern with those sorts.

    @Baud: The trans/gay panic defense (in essence blaming the victim for their murder) sadly is indeed a thing. It’s gotten an acquittals, although these days mostly done with the aim of trying to get charges/sentences reduced.

    FWIW, a good number of murders of trans woman involve “over-kill” — I remember one case where the victim had been stabbed 119 times. And yes, in that case, the suspect used a “trans panic” defense.

  186. 186.

    Ruckus

    @raven:

    My buddy who was in the Marines about the same time as you never saw an M16 till he landed at Okinawa, on his way to Da Nang for his 13 month tour. He arrived on Jan 29, 1968. You’ll recognize that date.

  190. 190.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Suzanne: Don’t disagree, but it’s pretty common for the haters who are obsessed with trans woman also have sexual fantasies about them.

    IIRC, there’s been a couple studies that found significantly more seaches/views of adult videos involving trans women* — which is a surprisingly large sub-genre overall — in states that have been most hostile to trans people.

    *Usually with the trans women being the penetrative partner. Chasers are almost always looking for the hidden candy, and immediately lose interest if it’s not there. Don’t ask me how I know.

  191. 191.

    Ruckus

    @Subsole:

    Very few people on a ship like I was on would ever see a small arm. In port there were only 2 people with a 45 pistol and they had 15 rounds of ammunition. One was the roving security watch I stood in port and one was the quarterdeck watch, which is the enlisted person on duty where the gangplank landed on board. Under way no one carried a gun. We had 2 five inch guns that would rapid fire, missile launcher, torpedos, rocket propelled torpedos, today’s version of that ship has a lot more in close firepower. Boarding the ship was unlikely. Not impossible for sure but unlikely. An aircraft carrier would be even more difficult to board.

  195. 195.

    Noskilz

    That holster ad is just nuts. I suppose when someone has fetishized guns to the point where they’re taken for granted as being an unqualified good, things like safety or ergonomics don’t even register.

    That under-the-table mount seems like something with a very high potential for tragedy.

  196. 196.

    The Pale Scot

    @Ruckus:

    So this wasn’t run by the Marine detachment? Someone just opened the locker and it was let’s go qualify?

  198. 198.

    Ruckus

    @The Pale Scot:

    It was qualification day. The only one I had in 4 yrs. Of course I only carried a gun for 2 of those and the training consisted of the first day I stood watch the guy I relieved handed me the gun/belt/holster/ammo. Fortunately I was not an idiot and knew how to Safely handle guns. A lot of my fellow sailors actually did not and many had never even held a gun before.

  199. 199.

    Suzanne

    @Sister Golden Bear: I have no doubt. One of my concerns for Spawn the Elder is being grossly fetishized, and I have told him so. People are fucking gross.

    Howev, Dreher has been pretty open about being bullied when he was younger, and also some weird judginess from his father. Kinda like how Catholic guilt is all tied up with sex, and Protestant guilt is all tied up with laziness.

  200. 200.

    Subsole

    @Ruckus: The thing that blew me away was the SIZE of those things.

    Like, I got LOST. On a boat. And this was a WWII carrier, not one of the modern ones.

    Even if you did board it, what on earth would you do then? No way you’re taking it with you.

  201. 201.

    Ruckus

    @The Pale Scot:

    We had no Marines on board a DDG. I doubt there would be any today. It’s not any kind of landing craft whatsoever.

    There is a contingent on a carrier, and my last 5 weeks I was stationed on a helicopter landing ship, that could carry a lot of Marines, landing craft – the back was a tailgate that dropped down when they launched or brought on board said landing craft, half the ship was a landing area for helicopters and it had one Marine stationed on it as a liaison between the ship and the Marines being transported. And that was in the yard so not even that one Marine was on board.

  203. 203.

    Ruckus

    @Subsole:

    On the DDG we did plane duty for a couple of months in the Med for CV66, the America. I had to go on board it a couple of times which was the boarding ladder at the back of the ship, walk up about 6 flights of stairs, walk all the way to the front carrying about 40 lbs of stuff, that’s 996 ft, exchange what we brought on board for other stuff, then walk back with about 40 lbs of stuff and down the 6 flights of stairs. Good times. And yes it would be easy to get lost, but there is always someone to tell you to fuck off, so there’s that.

  204. 204.

    Gretchen

    @Suzanne: it’s weird how he admits that being bullied as a kid was an elemental part of his life, while being absolutely indifferent to how his demonizing LGBTQ kids will result in them being bullied.  He’s triggered by gay people, trans people, people happily having sex outside of marriage, non-believers, and “woke” people, who are everything else he doesn’t like, updated daily.  I don’t know how he keeps up with all he’s angry and fearful about, but it makes me mad how he doesn’t care if it hurts vulnerable kids.

  208. 208.

    Suzanne

    @Gretchen: I think much of the fear with those people is that they have mentally constructed themselves as superior to the sinners, at great personal sacrifice…. and if they don’t even get the public recognition, then what was the point of refraining from everything you wanted to do? Also, of course, if the only reason you don’t sin is because you’re afraid of divine judgment, you’re secretly terrified that God might not exist. If God doesn’t exist, then none of your good behavior had any value. Kind of like those dumbfucks who collected Beanie Babies in the 90s because they thought they would be worth money, but the market collapsed and now they have boxes full of useless shit. That’s the vibe I get from Dreher. Not so much a sex perv vibe. He wants a stricter social culture because he’s prone to sinning and he needs the structure, he yearns for positive recognition, and he’s terrified on a deep level that it’s all bullshit.

  209. 209.

    The Pale Scot

    @Ruckus:

    For some reason I was imagining the fantail of something larger. It just sounds to me like there wasn’t a protocol or adherence to one. Which seems a bit worrisome to be doing with men that aren’t familiar with their weapon

  211. 211.

    Morzer

    @Suzanne:

    Dreher’s endlessly terrified and furious at the thought that someone somewhere might be enjoying life in ways that his intellectually constipated self can’t.

  212. 212.

    Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman)

    Back in the day (1980APRIL 3, 202’s) the FBI in D.C did a firearms exhibit on “special tours.” The Thompson was one weapon showcased, because, Elliot Ness, I suppose. Basically a ten bullet pulse, repeated. Impressive and loud! but it was pretty obviously necessary.

    When I was in the 7th grade back in 1979, a couple of FBI agents were the guest speakers at an assembly for the whole school, and they brought a Thompson 1928 submachine gun.

    After the assembly, they were showing it off and I actually got to hold it for a while.

    That was probably the beginning of my 30 year infatuation with guns.

    I eventually grew up and now I don’t own any, but for a while I could have outfitted an insurgency from my own arsenal.

  213. 213.

    Suzanne

    @Morzer: He’s also terrified that if there’s no laws against stuff, he’ll do all the stuff. The addict personality.

  214. 214.

    Gretchen

    @Suzanne: that’s a good theory – that he’ll find out that there’s really no God and he could have been doing All The Stuff all along without repercussion.  He says he was pretty promiscuous in his early 20s and hated himself for it.  I kind of like the idea that deep down he knows his schtick is bullshit and he’s frantically clinging to it like a drowning man, hoping not to have to face that, while writing Live Not By Lies, he’s been living a lie.

  216. 216.

    Yutsano

    @Suzanne:

    He’s also terrified that if there’s no laws against stuff, he’ll do all the stuff.

    It also keeps his privilege enshrined in laws. Dreher can’t stand that every time a rule or law changes that dislodges his position above others it forces him to confront the fact that straight white males like him are being dislodged from the power structure. So he’s doing his “part” to virtue signal tom hose he thinks are fellow travellers to join him in opposition. He doesn’t want to become a minority because he sees how minorities are treated in this country.

    Shorter me: Dreher wants to keep his power and fuck over everyone who doesn’t fit that mold. Fuck that noise.

  217. 217.

    FredW

    Years ago I knew a couple that were originally from OKC. The lived on the westside of LA, he was a high powered lawyer and she a very good (but part time) pasty chef.  They always talked about how they never felt safe in LA, which to me was strange because they lived in the one of the safest neighborhoods around.

    Many years later I caught up with them (at a beer festival in Belgium, no less) and it finally became clear what “not feeling safe” meant — they couldn’t carry a gun and couldn’t have one in their car. So they were not “safe.”

  218. 218.

    TriassicSands

    @braccio:

    If they shoot you in the back or when you aren’t expecting it, your gun won’t help you. And if you have a gun, it will probably make it more likely that guns will be used. People fantasize that a gun will protect them, but that doesn’t seem to be the way things work out.

    This new study found that victims who used a firearm in self-defense were not less likely to receive an injury during the entire event compared all other contact crime victims.

    Yet the data did suggest that using a weapon in self-defense may reduce the likelihood of losing property during the commission of crime. However, it is not clear that using a gun is better or worse than using other weapons. — From a 2016 article in Psychology Today.

  219. 219.

    Gretchen

    @Yutsano:  exactly. He dimly realizes that being in the minority sucks when people like him are in the majority, and he’s really scared of the shoe being on the other foot.

  220. 220.

    Ruckus

    @The Pale Scot:

    As todays ships go it wasn’t all that big.

    As ships designed in the late 50s and built in the early 60s it was decent size. It didn’t have a big enough fantail to land a helicopter on but pallets could be set down there. Also this was towards the end of Vietnam, I’d been in the navy for a year before I reported on board, training. The war was over 2 1/2 yrs later. There was some stupid push to have a 600 ship navy, without enough bodies to fully man things, this ship was close to 50 men short of a full crew. A lot of guys were not all that gung ho, they joined because of the draft and weren’t all that excited to be there in the first place. I got lucky we did a lot of amazing port calls and I got to see parts of the world I really liked and no one shot at me. And now I’ve got the VA, at a time when I need it. I liked it and hated it, but it was interesting, and I walked away in one piece and I can say I served my country. Not everyone did.

  221. 221.

    Ruckus

    @Gretchen:

    He thinks he knows what would happen if the shoe was on the other foot. He knows how horrible his policies really are, he knows that if the situations were reversed, he’d be dead meat. Thing is most of the people on the other side aren’t like him and his ilk at all, he and his kind are just incapable of seeing anything but the way they will be ahead. Because being ahead is far better in his mind, than being equal, because who’d want to be equal to him?

  222. 222.

    sab

    Working remote this year. Went to work today to swap out files. Saw an employee I hadn’t seen since last year. He is why I was so angry at everyone else for being lax on masks. In his late 50s, very overweight, diabetic, kidney problems, smoker. Super high risk of Covid horrible complications.

    Told him my whole family was on the verge of being vaccinated. How was he doing in that regard? He said he didn’t want to be injected with other peoples’ DNA.

    WTF? You can lead a horse to  water but you can’t make it think!

  223. 223.

    LiminalOwl (formerly The Fat White Duchess)

    @Obdurodon: I am admiring especially the work of art that is your second paragraph. Might I copy and paste it elsewhere?

  225. 225.

    evodevo

    @Suzanne: ​
     yes..would apply to a LOT of the fundies I know around here, including the one who works at Toyota and ran for city council and got his kicks riding shotgun with the city cop (we only have the one lol) on night rounds rousting drunks, etc. Fascist Xtian to the max…and weird personality traits all in one package…

  227. 227.

    RAM

    It must be hell living a life of constant fear to the point you feel you have to be armed at all times. A large portion of the U.S. population clearly needs professional help.

  230. 230.

    Another Scott

    @tinare: I have occasional fantasies of going up to one of the Moron Lab or 100-97% folks and telling them I’m sorry that they’re so afraid to be out in public without their black metal blankies, but would never do so. That’s why it’s a fantasy.

    (sigh)

    Lara Rogers shows how it’s done.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  231. 231.

    J R in WV

    @Ruckus: ​
     

    My ship was AS-16, actually supported subs in the S Paciific i the end days of WW II. Big cargo ship with a foundry, machine shop, etc. Sometimes when we put to sea we had a small detachment of Marines who were put in our berthing space, so some guys played cards withe them.

    I also stood watch at the head of the Gangplank and was sometimes handed a holstered .45. But during night watches I was also sent around to all the berthing compartments to wake up the guys who had the next watch. When I did that, I gave the PO also standing watch as the Officer of the Deck the pistol. I told him a) it was for the gangplank not berthing spaces and b) lots safer laying there on the tiny desk than falling out of that holster in a berthing area.

    I never figured out why they issued a .45 sometimes and not others, nor why sometimes we put to sea all on our own and sometimes we needed Marines. Maybe Defcon number? No clue. 1970-’73. Technically stationed in Key West, spent a lot of time in Charleston SC for training, in Pascagoula and Mobile Bay for yard work. Never shot at, never shot a gun but for boot camp, where I was the only guy who had ever fired even a .22 in the boot company.

    Grandma taught me how to shoot. Not the Navy!

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