About This Blog

This blog is mostly about using weapons. In particular, it's about learning to use them safely. This is a scary topic for some people, but it shouldn't be. A weapon is just a tool.

“Watch where you stick that thing” is good advice in general, and it applies to a lot of situations. Special cases of this phrase includes practical things like “don't stick tweezers in an electrical outlet” and “don't stick a fork in a toaster.” Good advice to pass on to your children.

It seems to me that implicit in the words “watch where you stick that thing” is the idea of knowing how to use pointy things in particular and tools in general. Tools aren't much good if you don't know how to use them; they can even be dangerous. A circular saw in the hands of someone that doesn't know how to use it safely is an accident waiting to happen, as is a knife or a gun. If you can't use a tool safely, then you shouldn't use it.
A weapon is a particular kind of tool—one that is primarily intended to inflict damage or harm to another living thing, but just a tool nonetheless. A gun is the example that jumps into most people's minds nowadays, but there is also the bow and arrow, sword, spear, certain types of knives, a variety of martial arts weapons, etc. Like any other tool, it is important to learn to use a weapon safely. It is also important to know exactly what the weapon does. A healthy respect for a weapon is an important thing to have.

Without getting too political, I'll only say that in the United States, the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution says that “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Arms, meaning weapons, not muskets, but weapons in general. It is clear from the Founder's writings that the right to bear arms is an individual right, necessary for people to protect themselves from tyranny of all stripes. The Supreme Court ruled on it, end of discussion.  Certainly, there are those that will keep trying to strip our (and their) rights away, but I have faith that there is life left in the Constitution yet.

Some people—I hope a minority—hate and fear weapons. They would cheerfully sacrifice all of their freedoms for a temporary feeling of safety. As Benjamin Franklin said “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” These people should be pitied, because they are driven by fear, but they shouldn't be ignored, because the constitute a real danger to a free society.

Freud described the fear of weapons as a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity. That may indeed play a role, especially when it comes to the politicians, but I believe one of the major reasons for their fear is that anti-gun people simply have never been shown how to safely handle a weapon. They don't understand anything other than what they see in sensationalized headlines of mass killings and murders. The unfamiliar can be scary, and more importantly, the unfamiliar in ignorant hands is a menace.



Teaching familiarity with weapons teaching a person how to be safe, and how to defend him or herself. Practicing with weapons is good exercise, it's fun, and it's the development of a practical skill all rolled together. As a responsible parent, it's my responsibility to make sure my kids know how to take care of themselves and how to be safe.