"On Gun Control"

"An armed society, is a polite society."; Thus noted the late, great author, Robert Heinlein. He also, in one of his works noted, at the entrance to "the Woods", the following: "Warning" "The varmints in these parts are not tame." "visitors are advised to stay on the road, as their remains will not be forwarded to next of kin.". I have, on occasion, had to make the presence of a firearm known. I too, was not in violation of the second amendment of our constitution, just the laws of the state I was residing in that contravene the constitution. As a matter of fact, I had my right eye socket broken in March of '73 because there was no one willing to intervene and there was no firearm handy. The neurosurgeon who put me back together told me I was lucky to be alive and never let that happen again. I haven't. Several times in urban settings, only once or twice in the wilds of the back country.

I have gone hunting in the Trinity National Forest, for example, and encountered extra-urban agronomists, in their 20's to early 30's, just leaving their crops as the deer hunting season opened. In the tradition of any farmer describing an animal consuming or destroying their crops, "Varmints" is the very term they used to describe the deer I was about to hunt.

Fortunately, for them, my appearance was both disarming and not threatening. Older; Salt and Pepper hair and beard; 9 month old mixed-breed dog; '57 vintage Winchester model '97 30-30 WCF; Smith & Wesson N Frame .44 Spec. on my hip, all went towards convincing them I was not after their crop. What they didn't see, was my .44 Spec. calibre Charter Arms Bulldog secreted, yet handy, on my person. We chatted briefly, and went our separate ways, as I intended. If it had turned out otherwise, I knew I had a better chance than they thought, giving me the edge. I have, on occasion, had to use a firearm to defuse a potentially violent situation. Never have had to actually shoot anyone, as the sudden appearance of the gun was argument enough, and that's all I wanted in the first place.