Portrait of a "Gun Nut"

Many years ago, growing up in the Midwest, I was as normal and playful as any kid. We played back-lot baseball, football, hide-n-seek, flashlight tag, played with Tonka toy trucks and earth movers, buried green Army men in dirt trenches, and I had a very prised Hopalong Cassidy gun-belt and holster set (complete with black hat and black shirt!). And yes, we did play "Cowboys and Indians".

As I got a bit older, I had a "Fanner 50" western six-shooter, that used a roll of caps, as well as a "coon-skin cap" and musket that fired caps. When I got the "Burb-gun", machine gun with a windup key for making shooting sounds, I was the soldier in a make believe battlefield.

Before long, I graduated, as it were, to BB guns, and would shoot the green army men, that I had hid in the dirt, pretending they were "Germans" or those commie North Koreans. I'd shoot targets, clods of dirt, and cans. Cans were the best!

Since I was old enough to hold a toy gun, I had some kind of gun. When I was old enough, I was introduced to a pump shotgun, and a .22 rifle. I didn't own either, but used my great Uncle's on his farm. And I loved shooting crows, always watching my background, as Uncle Ray taught me.

When I entered the Army, I was again shooting something. We were introduced to the 1911 .45 Auto pistol, and the M-14. Later, I was shooting the M-16. While I learned other weapons to later be used in war, I was especially taken with the M-14 and the M-16. I shot well with both.

A few years after my tour, I began a career in Law Enforcement. By then, I had acquired a .22 Six-shooter, a .22 semi-auto rifle, and had friends with bigger guns that I was planning to pick up some day. Upon becoming a LEO, I bought my first Smith & Wesson .38 spl, followed by a Colt Detective, then a Browning Hi-Power 9mm semi-auto pistol, and on to more handguns and rifles and shotguns.

I've been a shooter of some kind of "gun" most all my life. I've shot trap, handgun and rifle silhouette shooting, was a sergeant on a Police SWAT team, and have competed on a Police Pistol Team. I've also taught 4-H Shooting Sports "air rifle" to 10-18 year olds. I own many of the guns I've enjoyed shooting throughout my life, to include enough ammo on-hand to go to the range on any given day, and enjoy more than a box or two of shooting fun. Some of those guns, include "military" type firearms that are made for civilians. To some people, and the "lame stream media", I'd be considered a "gun nut".

Aside from serving my country in the jungles of Vietnam, this "gun nut", has been a Deputy Sheriff and a Police Officer, served on the board of a local CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate), volunteered time and energy to the American Red Cross, was an active member of a local Optimist Club, and delivered "meals on wheels". I have grown professional kids, with one of them serving our country today. And I am also a Life Member of the National Rifle Association.

Even after serving my country (with honor) and my communities, some would still think I was some kind of ticking time bomb of a gun nut, as well as come kind of extremist who doesn't care about our communities or our children, because I like shooting and belong to the NRA.

With all that said, I am an absolute believer in our Constitution and our Bill of Rights, and still honor my personal commitment to protect OUR rights and OUR country, in what ever capacity I might find myself in. If someone wants to paint me as a "nut" of any kind, I can't stop them. But there are a great many NRA members (4 million strong) who are very much the same kind of person I am. And while some critics won't care, those who know me, know that I would be there for them in times of trouble, with a helping hand, or armed defense!

I also believe that our government has the ability to go outside its design, and take OUR freedoms away (it's already happening). And with that, it is my absolute belief that OUR 2nd amendment is OUR back-up to prevent such government from taking all our rights away. If that makes me a nut, then I'm a nut! But I won't let my rights, OUR rights, be taken away without resistance.