I do target shooting as a hobby but I’m genuinely curious. The US is known (for better and worse) for it’s culture of gun ownership but the US is also know for widely differing experiences
I do target shooting as a hobby but I’m genuinely curious. The US is known (for better and worse) for it’s culture of gun ownership but the US is also know for widely differing experiences
Yes, fired a gun. Not really my thing but I can understand the appeal.
What really took me away from it is the finality that taking a life brings to it. I was 13 and was shooting around at birds and clipped one to the point it flopped around the ground. My babysitter (I have two younger sisters) at the time didn’t want it to suffer and blew its brains out, of which some landed on me. It taught me a valuable lesson that day. Don’t shoot at something living unless you intend to kill.
In a way, I wish everyone who enjoys guns had a similar experience, I think they’d have a lot more respect for them.
My grandpa taught me firearm safety and had the same lesson: “Dont point it at anything you dont intend to kill.”
He also added a second point: “If you shoot it, you kill it, clean it, and eat it. No shooting animals for fun"
It was kind of a joke but still is a good lesson. Taking a life (of an animal) should never be a trivial act, even if it is sometimes necessary or worthwhile. He was vocally very anti-poaching so if I’d actually killed an animal without the right tags he would have never let me hear the end of it.
The idea that killing humans is wrong didn’t need to be stated explicitly.