Guide to the Gun Nut Vacation

I was pleasantly surprised to catch a link on Instagram from Colonial Williamsburg advertising “A CW Guide for Gun Enthusiasts.”

What? A general family vacation spot specifically advertising they would be happy to host people who enjoy the shooting sports? Love it.

If you’re looking for a family vacation spot this year, then maybe check out their entire daily itinerary geared just for gun nuts. It sounds like an enjoyable day. (I’ve never been, so I can’t vouch for it.)

Passing on the Gun Culture

I guess this is one way to ensure that your descendants will know you were an active member of the pro-gun culture by carrying concealed all of the time. From FindAGrave, this is the inscription on the linked headstone:

Here lies Bill Burch, who never missed a day of church;
He loved his family, friends and fun,
And on his ankle was always a gun.

I noticed that it’s for a cemetery in Maryland and then realized that the partially concealed emblem must have been the representation of a police badge. Suddenly, that made sense given the location.

Still, you have to give the guy and his family some credit for highlighting role of lawful concealed carry in Bill’s life. Also, they provide the full name at the top of the stone, along with a nickname and full dates. Bill’s 3rd and 4th great grandkids will love them for it.

You Might Be a Gun Nut If…

I had to laugh recently when Sebastian was looking for something to carry his swimsuit, a t-shirt, and other swimming gear like sunscreen to his office pool party. Given that we’re still moving things down into the basement office (lots of re-organizing and moving things into more useful storage as we move things down), there were empty ammo cans near the door.

I think you can guess what he opted to use.

You Might Be a Gun Nut …

if you keep your finger properly indexed, even on a toy gun. Doing some home improvement recently, it was noticed I was keeping my finger properly indexed when (not) using my drill. If you develop good habits, you’ll do them without thinking. On the drill this is not so much a concern. When I’ve been using the circular saw, looking to make sure everything is lined up correctly, keeping your booger hook off the “saw your finger off” switch is definitely a good habit to have developed in other contexts.

Shiny! Bling & Guns

The jewelry at NRA Annual Meetings just gets better every year. In the past, I’ve highlight Etsy sellers who make jewelry out of shell casings. Today, I found some for sale on the show floor from Brianna Chamberlain for Cobra Firearms.

I picked up a pair of .38 Specials with clear and gold crystals and a pair of .22s with clear crystals. I had to wait to check out because every single woman who walked up to the table was buying.

Remember this when the anti-gun groups try to claim that there isn’t really growing interest in shooting and the gun-related culture. Remember this when those same anti-rights groups try to argue that women really aren’t interested in the male-dominated gun culture. Yes, clearly, that’s why women were lining up to buy jewelry that blatantly identifies them as pro-gun.

Preparedness for Kids

From Shooting Illustrated:

The first thing you do is talk to them about why. Don’t bombard them with doom and gloom scenarios—make it fun. In discussing why with my children, we talked about everything from weather, asteroids, zombies, pirates and more stuff than I can remember.

So I guess you save the conversation about having to eat the family dog until that option is really on the table (no pun intended). Makes sense.

Jewelry & Guns

If you’re in the mood for an interesting read on why making jewelry is like reloading or shooting, check out this article on NRA past president Sandy Froman’s artistic hobby. The first several pages are closeups of her work.

What’s amazing is that she didn’t plan to get into the shooting sports or Second Amendment fight – it all started with a night that someone tried to break into her home while she was alone. She also didn’t plan on taking a jewelry-making class – she happened to see it starting as she walked by a bead store after dropping off some business papers at a copy shop. Yet, it turns out that she’s got a talent & passion for both endeavors.

Gun Jewelry & Other Vintage Finds

I can’t tell you why, but I was recently inspired to type “NRA” into the search function at Etsy. I know most of you have seen a few examples of gun-related jewelry online, but I have to say that the variety available from the sellers on Etsy is the best I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t stop at your typical bullet-shaped necklace or casing cufflinks. It’s gorgeous repurposed gems and uncommon vintage pieces.

The following items are found in these stores: The Key of A, Gallo Grotte, What Once Was, resellit, With Care, The Sea Change, Andrew Modern, victoriasponge, Black Bird Creative, and Little Gems by Jax.