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MY SEXY BERETTA, or, HOW I BECAME A GUN NUT

10/15/2011

 
My Sexy Beretta, or, How I Became a Gun Nut
   I spent my tenth summer on a farm  with ducks, an old mare, a tree house, and a bolt action single shot 22 calibre rifle. For target practice I had a stack of old Caruso and Galli-Curci phonograph records. Not a one survived.
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    My next gun was a regulation U.S. Army sidearm, Colt 1911, 45 calibre automatic. When fired it bucked, yanking the hand upward so you had to take time to aim between each round. I wore it on bombing missions. In between it hung in its holster from a wooden tent pole.
    In Italy, after VE Day, I bought a Walther P-38 for no reason I can remember other than it felt good in my hand, then traded it for an even better feeling Italian Beretta 1934 which I had chromium plated. On the Victory Ship home, I sold it for 30 dollars to a soldier from Texas, where you can now carry conceled weapons to baseball games, super markets, and on college campuses.
    I like the feel of a gun in my hand. It gives me the lethal power my Maker left out. Plainly put, a gun is sexy, although gun nuts yammering about "protection" will never admit to that.
    I recall a New Jersey home owner who boasted about his M14 rifle. It was the late 1960s. He lived in Campgaw, a suburb 30 miles north of the Newark riots.  "If they ever pull anything around here, I'm ready," he said menacingly.
    "If they get this far, there will be lots of them," I said. "What if they all have guns? You ready to hold off a dozen, fifty?"   He seemed startled. I don't think he'd thought of that.
    The warm, confident dont-mess-with-me feel of a gun in your hand empowers the National Rifle Association and now few politicians dare oppose it. The wildly pro-gun Tea Party wants a gun in every rec room. With so many Radical Right Texans packing heat, their opposition will be packing too.
    If your tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. If your tool is a gun, everything looks like a target. Think about that when you're mapping out the route of your next road trip.

Barbara Friedlich
10/15/2011 07:53:34 am

Perfect! I'm forwarding it to friends (not that they carry guns...at least I hope not)

rs
10/15/2011 10:40:06 pm

stu, a you we didn,t know....terrific

Jack Gescheidt link
10/17/2011 01:04:34 am

Great piece, Stuart. Which is to say honest and unexpected and thought-provoking.

Beretta link
6/3/2012 09:56:16 pm

This is very effective way of writing a blog, I am really impressed from such type of comments, keep it continue in the future.

Stuart Hodes link
6/4/2012 02:01:50 am

Hey Beretta! Glad to hear from you and hope to hear again. Stuart

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10/8/2012 08:05:35 pm

I was happy to discover this website. I desired to thank you for this amazing read!! I definitely experienced every little bit of it and I have you saved to check out the new factors you publish.

go to this site link
7/23/2013 09:02:16 pm

I couldn't agree more with the author. Firearms are not playthings even though some people consider them so. Some people go bizarre and totally insane at times. Such people shouldn’t be allowed to use guns. The mass shootings have to be stopped.


Comments are closed.
    Picture

    Author (Yuma, AZ, 1944)

    Being 90 years in this world,  with great kids,  great grandkids, great wives (two, one at a time) and great memories, I wonder why some people seem to have stopped loving the U.S.A.? I will wonder in print right here. If you wonder too, or can provide some answers, please comment.
                                   Stuart Hodes

    Picture
           With my friend, Nero.
                   April, 2012.
        Photo by Ray Madrigal

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