This elitist just returned from a weekend spent in middle Tennessee, visiting cousins. The interstate is over twenty miles away from their house, my T-Mobile cell phone thought I was on the moon and my Prius may have been the only one in the county. It certainly didn't like what passes for driveways in that area of the country, where directions always include "turn off the paved road." Everyone has a truck because they need them; there is no garbage pickup. Your trash has to be taken to the dump, 15 miles away.
So, what does one do for entertainment in these parts? Rural houses aren't the biggest--there usually isn't a huge area dedicated to entertainment. These people don't like to spend time on the "internets," they are outdoors types. Follow me below the break for a trip into the rural mountains of Tennessee.
Guns. Lots of guns. Everyone has one or two. Many have more.
Some, like my cousin, have large safes full of guns. All kinds of guns. World War II rifles. Semi-automatic shotguns. Belgian guns. Winchester model 300s, Colt .45s, .38/.357 revolvers. And, of course, the ubiquitous .22, in pistol and rifle form. It is quickly apparent to an astute observer that many homes have quite a bit of money tied up in these firearms. Don't forget to add in the cost of gun safes, a prudent investment for any firearm collector; that is what these collections are for many gun owners--investments. Many older types of guns do go up in value over time, so besides the obvious recreational use, gun owners see long-term value appreciation in their collections of rare or older weapons.
Don't forget these two points, that of total value invested and the long-term appreciation in value of the guns. Gun owners see their collections the same way upper middle class urbanites see their investment portfolios, but to the eyes of the firearm collector, there is no national association pushing for the registration or banning of stock certificates. (Yes, this comparison is a stretch. A stock portfolio doesn't have the capability to kill something at 400 yards, but remember, I'm trying to give you, gentle reader, an insight into the thinking process of gun owners.) Now, while keeping the monetary aspect in your head, watch this video:
For want of a better word, shooting like that is a skill. It takes a lot of practice, knowledge of ammunition types, optics and energy. Most gun owners that are serious about their collections know quite a lot of the history behind the designs of not only their guns, but the predecessors, scopes and any military uses. Also, note the safety precautions he takes when handling the weapon and the placement of the targets (into a hillside.) And it's crazy fun. Once the initial investment has been made in the rifle, ammunition is very, very cheap by comparison. What you now have is "cheap fun" that can be done off your front porch with a pistol if the nearest neighbor is several miles away, like at my cousin's place. (And, shooting well with a pistol is even more difficult than shooting a rifle. Greater challenge, greater skill when mastered and greater recognition from one's peers.)
So, why wouldn't people who have invested a lot of money, time and skill into a pastime be a little upset when any urban or suburban politician starts talking about gun control? They worry about what happened in Australia, and the magazines they read to get more information about firearms warn them against gun control advocates. True points or not, sources they trust continually warn gun owners against politicians "coming to take their guns away."
The "self defense" argument is a true farce out in rural America. People don't go to the grocery store with a .38 in their waistband. They know most of their neighbors at that store anyway. When everyone knows everyone else (and knows how tight a group you can shoot), crime requiring a self defense weapon doesn't happen much.
And the (to us, logical) argument for any type of firearm registration is openly mocked in conversation out there as well. Over a delicious breakfast of deer tenderloin and scrambled eggs, my cousin asked me to guess how many of his guns were actually registered to him. The answer, as his buddies knowingly nodded, was one. Like their cars, guns are sold and traded back and forth amongst friends and family. Registration laws won't pick up a tenth of the firearms in rural America. Attempting to force compliance on this issue would be harder than rounding up all the illegal immigrants in the entire country.
So, any and all proposals by gun control advocates are met with scorn and derision in rural America. How the Democratic party can turn this around, I don't really know. Perhaps our proposals for gun control should be modified, based on rural vs. suburban vs. urban locations. Perhaps we need more politicians to taste deer meat (it's really good.) Perhaps Hillary should have taken a shot of real Tennessee moonshine, otherwise known as "Old Socks." (Best served out of the freezer. DON'T let that stuff get to room temp.) I guess what we have to remember is that these people really just want to have a little (or a lot) of fun and like many other Americans, they've sunk a lot of money into their hobby. Like any other hobbyists, they get nervous when the government starts sniffing around it. After all, we don't want our blogs to be considered political (and thus regulated) speech, do we?
UPDATE: One of the comments made me think a little. Perhaps as a party, Democrats are approaching gun control at the wrong level. Releasing this issue to the local or state level might neutralize the Republican "hold" on gun owners. Just a suggestion. Are you reading, Barack?
UPDATE 2:Wow. 260 comments. I'm really happy that this little experience did get some kind of opinions going. At least the discussion was sane, for the most part.
I guess I want to weigh in a little more. I don't put much stock in the "self defense" argument. There just aren't enough people out there that are responsible enough, in my opinion, to have a loaded firearm on their person at all times. I would place myself in that category; I've got a hell of a temper and wouldn't want the ability to shoot at some jerk that cuts me off on the interstate. I don't see a link between stricter gun control laws in urban areas with more crime; urban areas have more crime by definition because there are more people in closer proximity to each other there!
This diary really was an attempt to tap in to the thought processes of rural Americans, and wonder why rural America doesn't vote Democratic more often. I don't think that the gun control issue should just be ignored; Democrats should actively campaign for rural votes by saying something like "Gun control should be returned to the state/county/local level because those people understand this issue much better than we ever could in Washington.