My Gun Culture

Tonight's topic on GunNuts (the fastest hour on the internet) was "gun culture." When I read that earlier today, it immediately brought to my recollection an editorial by Mike Venturino from a couple years back in American Handgunner. Thanks to Salamander over at Armed and Amphibious for his help in locating the text of the article. I think Mike says it all pretty well.

My gun culture
American Handgunner, Nov-Dec, 2007 by Mike Venturino

Recently, while browsing DVDs in a rental store, l saw one that labeled its movie as a "Look at the dark I underside of the gun culture." And in the wake of the Virginia Tech killings, the news media has made its usual references to "America's gun culture." Essentially, those with the rigid mind-set of so-called liberals love to portray people with our interests as "on the edge" just itching to put bullets into live tissue, or some place bullets don't belong.

That stuff drives me up the wall because I've been an active member of the so-called gun culture now for 40 years. Let me tell you about how I see it. In my gun culture words like honor and integrity are not obsolete, and other peoples' property is still sacred. In my gun culture someone's word is still their bond. When I came aboard this magazine three years ago, editor Roy asked me if I felt we needed anything in writing. He and I had been friends for some years already at that time and I said, "No. I know you will do exactly as you say you will, and I hope you feel the same about me." Evidently he did.
COPYRIGHT 2007 Publishers' Development Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning

I'm not so sure that the guns have so much to do with it, but the people that gunnies tend to be, and associate with, are people who're a cut above par, people who tend to believe in live-and-let-live, earning what you take, and giving back freely to those who need a deserve a little help. The Golden Rule has nothing to do with having gold. For me, the crux of my "gun culture," as it is, is associating with people I WANT to introduce to my parents, and living in such a way that I can look in the mirror each night and be proud of who I am, and look my father in the eye, and know he's proud of me.

Just do good things, because they are good.

Lokidude