Saturday, December 20, 2008

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While most other women were out doing their last minute Christmas shopping today, I spent four hours in a gun show. In Louisiana. Picture a massive hall filled with long-haired, bearded bikers in leathers and chains, and good ole boys in baseball caps and t-shirts that say SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, many with rifles or shotguns slung over their shoulders and revolvers stuck in their belts, all drooling over Uzis and Glocks, Sigs and Winchesters. At one point I looked around and realized I was one of maybe six or eight females present. The testosterone was so thick that it was virtually toxic even to breathe.

What was I doing there? Well, part of it was research. Writing a contemporary thriller series has inspired me with the desire to be more familiar with a variety of weapons, including things like machine pistols, which I have never handled.

I grew up with guns. My dad, an Air Force intelligence officer who carried a gun in civilian clothes, was an avid hunter. And I’m married to a retired Army colonel. But I have to admit that today disturbed me. I spent many years living in Australia, where guns are illegal and, as a result, the national murder rate is equal to about one week’s worth of kills here in New Orleans. At one point today I watched a young Asian dude buy a Desert Eagle, an M1, a bulletproof vest, and a belly belt (for carrying concealed). And I thought, Hello! Does no one else find this the least bit scary/alarming?!

Nevertheless, I have to admit I had fun. They had some great guns there—revolvers from the Civil War and a gorgeous 1871 Winchester. And I saw a really nice Springfield Armory 1911-A1 Pistol with a cocobolo wood grip and stainless finish that I liked. Just over $900 dollars…

54 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

the "vast" majority of folks who commit murder with guns don't buy them at gunshows. I'm not neccesarily saying that everyone at that show was a perfectly law abiding citizen, but I've been to a lot of gunshows and I generally feel safer with that crowd than with a lot of other, supposedly unarmed, crowds I've been around.

Barbara Martin said...

Charles is right, and my husband agrees. That is one of the best places to see many of the different types of guns available. Though in Canada a person wouldn't see any potential buyer wearing or carrying a gun unless they were a cop.

cs harris said...

Barbara and Charles, that's why I went, to see a wide variety of guns. And don't get me wrong--I'm not suggesting the vast majority of folks buying guns there were looking to do anything illegal with them. But it's still disconcerting for someone who spent years in a gun-free society to see so many people who aren't police officers or hunters out in the bush walking around with guns thrown over their shoulders or stuck in their belts.

Charles Gramlich said...

Yes, I can see with that background that it might seem kind of surreal. They do check all weapons when people bring them in to make sure they aren't loaded. A lot of folks actually bring the weapons in that they intend to trade

Steve Malley said...

My Little Kiwi Darlin' freaked out when we visited America-- she'd never seen police wearing guns in public before.

I remember having a pretty good time at the gun show across the bridge in Slidell, I think it was...

laughingwolf said...

best place to research: surrounded by your subject[s]

of course, to really learn the guns you want to write about, visit a legal gun range and get some professional instruction

during one reading of a screenplay, i asked the writer how his young, female character can so nonchalantly fire off a .44 magnum handgun, a gun she'd never used before?

when i pointed out some obvious points a gun owner/shooter would know, he said: OOOPS!

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Can you identify the genetics prof at LSU? The syndrome, if real, may be known by another name. I'd really like to track it down.

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