On Friday’s quote of the day, in the comments section, RNS reader Grumpy Old Ham said he wanted to talk about something Rivrdog said there on the subject of “GunBlogging”. He suggested Paratus, RD’s other blog, but willing to do it here.
So let’s talk this out.
I gun blog for a couple reasons, neither of which are to be a braggart.
First up is the relationships that are created and the knowledge shared with fellow firearms owners. Within six months of when I first started blogging I hosted my first “Blogger Blastorama”. Noted attendees were Raging Dave of Four Right Wing Wackos fame, Headmistress SondraK and JR from Knowledge is Power, and Mollbot from the now defunct Morpholine blog.
We all met in the burg of Enumclaw, WA and went out near the Mt. Rainier National Park and shot the hell out of two truckloads of pumpkins. We had, quite literally, a blast and the elk ate well after we left.
After that, I would help arrange other Blogger Blastoramas on a monthly basis, stretching from Everett, WA to Portland, OR. Since then, I’ve been working too many hours at night to be able to get up the energy to do more than a couple a year, and even then, I don’t always get a lot of takers due to lower site traffic numbers and blog-folks leaving the area.
But in that year and a half of monthly shooting meet-ups, not only did I have loads of fun, but I can think of over two dozen firearms bought by various Blastorama attendees (including SondraK’s first), and at least eight new shooters off the top of my head.
Well worth the time, the effort and the exposure of myself as an internet gunnie.
I don’t post about the firearms I own to try and deter anyone I piss off from a physical attack. If they have half a brain, they’ll just arm themselves prior to meeting me at their selected location and we’ll test skill-sets.
As for the idea of a gov’t agency using my postings here as knowledge/a reason to search/confiscate, I’m not really worried about that either. Here is a little secret about Washington State: When you buy a pistol at an FFL here, you ARE essentially registering it (does not pertain to long guns). They tie your newly purchased firearm to you driver’s license and/or CCW permit and any traffic officer can ask his dispatcher about what guns you may have in the car (or look it up by themselves if they have an on-board laptop). I have spoken to the CCRKBA, they know about this and have been rebuffed in their attempts to stop it.
The state knows I own firearms. I am probably on whatever “List” they may have, but I have an Ace in the Hole they don’t know about and which I won’t discuss here. I have also, as a youngin, lived through a pair of raids on my father’s house by the BATFE. When I was in my early 20’s, in the wake of the OKC bombing, I was questioned, along with the rest of the practical pistol competition team I was in at the time, about us being “a militia”. While these anecdotes are entertaining, with one of them ending quite humorously, they are also things I am not willing to talk about here beyond these mentions.
Both of these experiences have convinced me that not only are our federal agencies full of raging gun bigots, but that I needed to take steps so as to not get surprised again. I do this partly by being miles above board in any and all dealings with firearms and by not joining shooting clubs run by half-hearted pantywaisted haters of all shooting disciplines except for silhouette and skeet. While I wouldn’t put it past a member of one of the alphabet agencies to lie/falsify evidence, I do know that they would have to work really hard at it in my case.
Basically what I’m saying is that unless you gunblog about illegal modifications or wanting to kill someone, gunblogging gives the gov’t little to no more information than they already have, at least in my experience.
A very positive product of gunblogging is that “They” know that there are hundreds of vocal gun-owning bloggers out there, talking amongst themselves and bringing new folks into the fold. Not “angry” gun owners and not “militiamen”. And I have no doubt in my mind that that scares the piss out of those looking in.
Now, what are your thoughts/questions/concerns/favorite hummous recipies?
