you know i love it when you talk dirty to me
Interesting post. I guess the reason I felt uncomfortable with the research I was doing was two-fold.
First, and most important, is when I was looking at a Gerber knife online, scouring websites to see how the opening mechanism works, or how a round is chambered on a Walther P99, I could kind of imagine other people around the world doing the same thing, but not for the wholesome reasons I was. This might stem from a guy I knew in my university days. I studied music in Manchester and one of the guys in my house was a bit, um, weird. He was very short and had a bit of Napoleon complex. He had a huge Rambo poster on his wall, had a punch bag in the celler, bought magazines about guns. This was during the first Gulf War, and I remember walking into the living room to find him with his nose pressed to the TV, watching one of those videos of a missile flying through some Iraqi's bathroom window in slow-motion, rewinding it, watching it again, rewinding it... you get the picture. So, when I'm researching stuff like this I keep thinking I don't want to be that guy.
The other is a cultural thing, I think. Even though gun violence was common here until relatively recently, guns and other weapons aren't used recreationally in the same way as they are in the North America. Without knowing much about you, I'd take a wild guess that you or people you know own firearms for recreational or security reasons, so taking an interest in a gun mightn't seem a big deal. The only people I know who would have guns are country folks who use them for pest control, and even then the types of guns allowed are very limited - like small gauge rifles and shotguns.
I have shot rifles on a firing range when I was in the cadets at school, but I've never seen a pistol close up. The closest I've come would be seeing one in a police officer's holster. And south of the border in the Republic of Ireland, or across the Irish Sea in the rest of the UK, police rarely carry guns, so a lot of people might never have seen one outside of a movie or TV show. So, I think for many people in countries with less liberal gun laws, the whole subject of firearms is going to be an uncomfortable one.
Re-reading my post above, I realise I've speculated on something that might well be completely untrue - about the ownership of firearms - and thinking about it, I know that's a cultural preconception which may not have any basis in reality, and I hope I haven't been presumptuous.
You haven't been presumptuous. We have a Baretta P9 and a rifle and a shotgun and a bow in our gun safe downstairs. I myself have only shot once, though. The husband is the hunter and damn fine shot, I might add.
And my friend has the darlingest Walther PPK--sized for the ladies.
But really, I'm not nuts. Really.
:D
See, that's what seems so strange from over here. You rhyme off lethal weapons like I would household appliances. I won't get into the whole gun control debate because (a) I'm not an American so it doesn't concern me and (b) I'm sure there have been many knee-jerk reactions over there in light of recent events, but suffice it to say that I find the idea of having guns in the house (locked in a safe or not) really strange. Western culture has become pretty homogeonised, especially as the world seems to get smaller every day, but I think that's one thing Europeans will always find hard to grasp about our American cousins.
I guess if you grow up with them being a part of the environment, and you learn to respect them, it's no different from having a car, or a chainsaw, or an axe, or any other item that, in the wrong hands, could hurt somebody.
But, being blessed with kids, doesn't it ever worry you to have those weapons in the house, even locked up tight? I'm not asking to be argumentative, but because it genuinely piques my curiosity.
You know, I didn't grow up with guns in the house, and the whole thing frankly scared me so I arranged for the safe. It's in a secluded storage area of my basement where the kids rarely go. My kids have never seen our guns and I doubt if they even know we have them. I go literally weeks without thinking about them and I'd guess it's been a year since that safe was last opened. (I wanted to look at my husband's Baretta and see how the clip and safety mech works--I did it after the kids were in bed and with an empty clip, if you're wondering.)
My husband grew up hunting, so for him it's as normal as snowboarding and sailing is for me. He's extremely particular with safety--not just guns but with the lawnmower and driving, etc, so I guess I trust him. I do know I'd rather have my kids learn to shoot under his tutelige than any other, and I've decided I'd rather have them know how to shoot rather than not--when they are MUCH older of course.
What I can't abide by is guns on display in the glass cabinet. My father-in-law has that and it creeps me out. My other father in law (I've TWO, lucky me) has an extensive collection--without having seen it I'd say maybe 200 guns or more--and every last one of them is hidden in room-sized safe behind a secret door.
There are plenty of folks over here who are scared of guns, too--or maybe more just unfamiliar with them. I basically live in suburbia and I'd guess most of the guys around here have shot a gun but also most (50% or more) do not currently own one.
I can rattle off gun specs because of the research I've done, not because I've any real personal experience with them. And to be clear, this is not a normal topic of conversation for me. I rarely discuss my gun knowledge with anyone, not because I'm ashamed or worried about what they think, but that the topic just doesn't come up.
I guess that's my point in the whole thing about not reading too much into what people write fiction about. My knowledge comes from a specific need for my work, not because of a particular interest or cultural standard.
There are parts of this country where hunting is commonplace and many part where it is not. But also, remember, my country is at war. Even though most of us are against it, I do think it's starting to affect our culture (Camoflage pants and shorts are all the rage and have been since we invaded Afghanistan). I wonder if Cho would have done what he did if we weren't at war. Maybe not--there's no way to know. But I do know it affects what I write and think about.
Jeez that was long. A whole other post. Thx for the dialogue, though. I really value opinions from other cultures.
People always assume that because you made a mother bad you have problems with your own mother. It will now probably segue into some smart asses who remark,when they learn you write about topics that include guns or violence that you are therefore going to be performing some act of violence or terrorism yourself.
The web links are great.
BTW, I've always preferred teh Glock 19 for service carry. I would rather have the heaver capacity mags rather than the slightly larger .40 cal bullet. Besides, it has an internal happer and you don't need to decock the hammer at all. I think that's much safer.
that's "internal hammer," not "happer." Duh. Bad typist, no cookie.
Cool, thx. I'll look into it. Sounds like a gun for my safety-conscious character Kaelin. I always forget you were a cop--I'll have to use you as a research source sometime!!
As for the smart asses--they're probably goverment spooks lurking around these weapons and studying the traffic.
I was taught gun safety when I was six.
I get the feeling you've been the object of criticism from those who like to hide their heads in the sand and think violence will go away if we don't write aobut it.
Not really, (Oh, well, my mom really wants me to write picture books or high Literature--she calls my stuff edgy for lack of a better, less kind word) but I'm mostly very defensive of freedom of speech.
As soon as I heard the shooter was a writer I thought Uh oh, that sounds kinda like stuff I write and read about...
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