You've got to love the Orlando Sentinal - they're about the only politically incorrect major city newspaper I know. If you're visiting Mickeyland, make sure you pick it up. I think Charley Reese's columns are Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Gun sports teach responsibility in a way that other games cannot
By Charley Reese
Columnist
Published in The Orlando Sentinel on July 16, 2000
It's easy to forget in the heat of the gun-control debate that firearms have -- and always have had -- a recreational use in America. Here's what Thomas Jefferson suggested to one of his young relatives.
"A strong body makes the mind strong," said Jefferson. "As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball and others of that nature are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks."
Hunting, of course, is one form of recreation with the gun that comes to mind. Most states now provide people opportunities to hunt with modern rifles, with black-powder guns, and with bows and arrows. And then there is wing-shooting with the shotgun -- at upland game birds, such as quail, and at ducks.
Hunting can be a great family activity. Both sons and daughters can benefit from time with parents in the forests and on the marshes. Recreation with a gun teaches responsibility in a way that, as Jefferson suggested, ball games cannot.
Skeet shooting and sporting clays are organized sports for the shotgunner. There are also several forms of sports shooting for the rifle and pistol.
Sports shooting is organized competition in which the targets are the customary bull's-eye type. Accuracy is the Holy Grail among sports shooters.
In recent years, practical shooting has become an international sport. In this case, participants shoot at different stations facing different scenarios that simulate self-defense situations. Contestants are scored on accuracy and speed.
A more recent offshoot of this is cowboy shooting. Here participants are restricted to weapons of the cowboy era -- single-action pistols, lever-action rifles and double-barrel shotguns. They, too, shoot scenarios at different stations and are scored on time as well as accuracy. To add to the fun, lovers of this sport wear period clothing.
All of these shooting sports welcome women and children, and indeed you will find that most shooters are family-oriented folks. But the list of recreational uses of the gun is not finished.
Black-powder shooting is a world of its own. Here people use replicas of muzzle-loaders, either flintlocks or percussion caps. Often people involved in black-powder shooting get into the re-enactor hobby.
The most common are War Between the States re-enactors. Here great attention to detail is shown to authentic reproductions of all uniforms, firearms and equipment. There are re-enactors who are Confederates and others who are Grand Army of the Republic, and the two groups frequently re-enact actual battles.
Others find the Mountain Men more to their liking, and they, too, pay strict attention to detail in terms of clothing, equipment and weapons. A Mountain Men rendezvous will feature contests with muzzle-loaders and knife- and tomahawk-throwing.
A whole industry has developed as a result, and authentic reproductions are available for almost any period of American history.
Local gun dealers are your best source of information for shooting ranges and organizations in your own area. I highly recommend the gun sports as a family recreation. Children who are taught marksmanship and gun safety will be far more secure than an untrained child. Gun sports take the mystique out of firearms and put them into their proper category, which is tools.
An America without private arms is as inconceivable to me as an England without a monarchy or a France without a vineyard. It really is true that America was created by "God, guns and guts."
[/quote]
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Gun sports teach responsibility in a way that other games cannot
By Charley Reese
Columnist
Published in The Orlando Sentinel on July 16, 2000
It's easy to forget in the heat of the gun-control debate that firearms have -- and always have had -- a recreational use in America. Here's what Thomas Jefferson suggested to one of his young relatives.
"A strong body makes the mind strong," said Jefferson. "As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball and others of that nature are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks."
Hunting, of course, is one form of recreation with the gun that comes to mind. Most states now provide people opportunities to hunt with modern rifles, with black-powder guns, and with bows and arrows. And then there is wing-shooting with the shotgun -- at upland game birds, such as quail, and at ducks.
Hunting can be a great family activity. Both sons and daughters can benefit from time with parents in the forests and on the marshes. Recreation with a gun teaches responsibility in a way that, as Jefferson suggested, ball games cannot.
Skeet shooting and sporting clays are organized sports for the shotgunner. There are also several forms of sports shooting for the rifle and pistol.
Sports shooting is organized competition in which the targets are the customary bull's-eye type. Accuracy is the Holy Grail among sports shooters.
In recent years, practical shooting has become an international sport. In this case, participants shoot at different stations facing different scenarios that simulate self-defense situations. Contestants are scored on accuracy and speed.
A more recent offshoot of this is cowboy shooting. Here participants are restricted to weapons of the cowboy era -- single-action pistols, lever-action rifles and double-barrel shotguns. They, too, shoot scenarios at different stations and are scored on time as well as accuracy. To add to the fun, lovers of this sport wear period clothing.
All of these shooting sports welcome women and children, and indeed you will find that most shooters are family-oriented folks. But the list of recreational uses of the gun is not finished.
Black-powder shooting is a world of its own. Here people use replicas of muzzle-loaders, either flintlocks or percussion caps. Often people involved in black-powder shooting get into the re-enactor hobby.
The most common are War Between the States re-enactors. Here great attention to detail is shown to authentic reproductions of all uniforms, firearms and equipment. There are re-enactors who are Confederates and others who are Grand Army of the Republic, and the two groups frequently re-enact actual battles.
Others find the Mountain Men more to their liking, and they, too, pay strict attention to detail in terms of clothing, equipment and weapons. A Mountain Men rendezvous will feature contests with muzzle-loaders and knife- and tomahawk-throwing.
A whole industry has developed as a result, and authentic reproductions are available for almost any period of American history.
Local gun dealers are your best source of information for shooting ranges and organizations in your own area. I highly recommend the gun sports as a family recreation. Children who are taught marksmanship and gun safety will be far more secure than an untrained child. Gun sports take the mystique out of firearms and put them into their proper category, which is tools.
An America without private arms is as inconceivable to me as an England without a monarchy or a France without a vineyard. It really is true that America was created by "God, guns and guts."
[/quote]