Pending approval as a host for this group I'd like to introduce myself.

[hunter]

8. Guns are among my least favorite tools.

That doesn't mean I'm unfamiliar with them.

If it's true the muscle memory never goes away, well, I haven't tested that for a long time and I'd rather not.

I know, and I'm related to, a few wartime snipers. I know, and I'm related to, a few military medics, both older than me and younger than me. I reached 18 years in a sweet time, no draft, and no war. One of my grandfathers was an Army Air Force Officer during World War II, my other grandfather was a pacifist who chose to build Liberty and Victory ships over prison. My dad and my father in-law just missed hot war in Korea.

My dad never had to declare his disdain for shooting people, but my father-in-law, a few years older, did. So they made him a medic. They also made him a guinea pig in nuclear weapons testing. He witnessed an atomic bomb blast up close from a trench, experiencing the initial flash as it passed through the back of his head and eyes tightly closed, and then he marched across ground zero shortly after. Later they discarded their radioactive boots and clothing and scrubbed themselves free of radioactive fallout in field showers.

No problem.

I've been in quite a few rough and life threatening situations that wouldn't have been improved if I'd pulled out a gun. Once the guns are out everything is FUBAR. More guns, even in "responsible" hands, will not improve the situation. What we want to do as a society, and as civilized individuals, is to deescalate these rough situations long before the guns come out.

I'll eat game hunters serve me, but I'm not inclined to hunt myself. If my family was hungry, then yes, I would. I occasionally eat domestic meat, so I'd be a hypocrite to oppose sustainable hunting. Historically my family were cattle ranchers and dairy farmers. I've got a niece who raises goats for dairy products and meat, and other relatives who bring beef to your table. Even more relatives who keep chickens for eggs and chicken soup. Every one of my great grandmas did that. I used to watch in awe as they turned birds, small mammals, or fish into dinner faster than I could comprehend the movements of the knives they held. I'd manage to skin and gut one fish, and they'd already be frying the rest of the fish for everyone else.

I'm not inclined to collect old firearms, but the things I do collect seem odd to most people, including my wife. Among my favorites are old cameras and old random photographs and postcards I find in thrift stores.