31 August 2012

Guns, Ammo, and All Things American

      Only a few feet away from my face, the effects of the gun blast were devastating. I was completely deaf for several seconds. All I could hear was a simultaneous cacophony of ringing and muffled soundlessness like someone clapped thick earmuffs on my head. I looked over at my dad, holding his ears, and could clearly see that he was talking, but it sounded like he was far away, talking through a thick scarf. It was the first round I shot out of my new gun, and I never made the mistake of forgoing ear protection again. The weeks leading up to that day were full of research, inner debate, paperwork, shopping, and bumbling around as I asked silly questions around weirdly knowledgeable individuals. I learned a great deal about guns, laws, and people during those weeks, and I discovered that acquiring a gun is much easier than I had ever suspected, laws are much less strict than I had ever imagined, and shooting a gun is much more fun than I had ever expected.