Mt. Rainier and Lenticular Clouds - Dec. 2008 copyright: JMM

December 14, 2011

Pistol Packin' Mama

I have my very own gun.   I grew up watching westerns like "Bonanza", "Big Valley", "High Chaparral", "The Cowboys" and other various and sundry shows that didn't portray guns as being bad. I mean, how funny was it every time Barney Fife fired his gun downward in his holster?  I had a cap gun when I was growing up, as did my cousins.  When we'd 'get a game going', we'd go through rolls and rolls of caps, shooting at each other or at imaginary bad guys.  My parents weren't anti-gun, although they didn't own one.  I've never found guns to be any big deal at all.  Since I don't have kids, I don't care if they are in my house (my squeeze has several rifles and shotguns, and has always been an avid hunter).

The ex-h gave me a real, western-style revolver for Christmas of 2005. Imagine my surprise to find  it under the tree that year!  I was puzzled when I saw the wooden box, which contained something very heavy.


I opened the wooden box, saw the weapon and quizzically asked, "Is it real? This is a for real gun?  My own gun?"  This was also back when we owned the cursed Neilton property, on the Olympic Peninsula.  We went out there right after Christmas to stay over for New Years.  I remember it was pouring down rain but I was dying to try my new revolver, so Brian set up a beer bottle on a log across the creek and showed me how to use the gun.  I blew that sucker to bits on my first try.  I always knew I'd be a good shot, even though I'd never fired a gun before (I'm not counting the one disastrous trip to an indoor range in 1999).  He was more than a bit surprised.

So I ended up joining the Tacoma Sportsman's Club under Brian's membership.  I even made my own beaded ID badge necklace.

In the spring of 2006, after my incessant pestering to take me to the pistol range at the TSC, Brian finally brought me for some target shooting.  

As you can see, I am a very good shot.

This was the one, and only, time I ever got to go to the pistol range, because I didn't really want to go alone as there were very few, if any, women at any of the ranges at TSC.  I don't think Brian expected me to be so accurate and so he never took me back.  I always got the, "Nah, the range is always too crowded" excuse, no matter what time of year I would ask to go.  I think his ego was wounded by his wife being a great shot on the first trip to the range.

My squeeze, on the other hand, does not get his manhood wounded so easily, and has promised to take me shooting one of these days.

9 comments:

  1. Oh dang, I wouldn't want to be the one to piss you off girl. LOL You're a dangerous woman! w00t! I have not experienced shooting a gun I think. Oh no wait, that's not true. I actually did some rifle shooting back home when we still have our gigantic fishing pond (where we culture milk fishes). There's this bamboo pole sticking in the middle of the pond away from the hut and my brother challenged me to shooting it. I won! Yipee. I just got lucky. hehe

    A Ladybug's Life

    Sonnia

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  2. Please tell me you won't be shooting anything furry or feathery!

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  3. Anonymous1:57 PM

    Ah, 'The Big Valley' Lee Majors was my first major crush!

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  4. Oh I don't keep the weapon with me...I don't have a concealed weapons permit so it stays in my house till I want to go target shooting.

    Val, I'm in no way a hunter...I just couldn't kill anything. Target shooting only!

    Diane, Little Joe Cartwright was my fave cowboy!!

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  5. Yikes!

    There's a total transatlantic gulf on guns. You'd get a minimum 5 years for possessing that thing here....

    Okay, you're not here

    ;)

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  6. I'm such a saddo - my first crush was Ward Bond in Wagon Train, though in my defence, it was because he looked like my granddad. While everyone else liked Burt Reynolds in Riverboat, I was a Darren McGavin fan (and I KNEW he had a huge nose even so...) And just to be different, while Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates was everyone else's crush in Rawhide, I liked Gil Favor.

    Aw, but what about Trampas in The Virginian? Ahhh.

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  7. Anonymous1:59 PM

    Trampas - oh yeah, and sad to report I was also quite fond of insipid 'Blue Boy' in 'High Chapperal'. Well, I was very young at the time ;0)

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  8. WR - I figured this post would be somewhat controversial w/ my overseas readers! lol

    Diane, I LOVED Blue Boy on High Chapparel!!! Mark Slade is the actor's name!

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  9. Anonymous12:15 PM

    I remember his name Jojo ;0) It's quite strange that I liked him 'cause ordinarily, blondes don't do it for me (unless Vincent had his hair bleached of course- LOL!)

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