One of my neighbors, who owns a house and lot just over the fence from the back field of my farm, has a firing range in his back yard. His driveway is also the only access road to a farm that used to be a part of the same property. When his shooting became more and more frequent, I walked up to him one day and pointed out that as much shooting as he did, he needed a berm for the safety of the farm down range from where he shoots. His first defense was that whenever he intended to target shoot, he would first drive on down the lane to be sure no field operations were going on. When he said this, I didn’t mention that Bridge and I sometimes quietly venture onto that farm on foot merely to see what we can see. Instead I pointed out that the land doesn’t rise much down range and that the high caliber guns he fired could possibly carry all the way to the next highway.
I don’t know whether what I said sunk in or whether someone else complained more forcefully. In any case, he did finally construct a large berm.
As time has passed, shooting has gotten more and more frequent at his range and he has begun having weekend conventions of target shooters. Saturdays and Sundays for at least the last couple of years have sounded like a war zone. Just a few weeks ago, I counted 17 vehicles parked in his yard for the whole weekend. Since he is an immediate neighbor, I am Facebook friends with this guy and get some sense of his mindset. Recently there has been a shift of both his habits and his Facebook posts. The last few weekends have been relatively quiet, with no extra cars and very little shooting.
In several of his Facebook posts, he has compared Andy Beshear to Hitler. In others he has complained about limiting ammo sales to 1000 rounds per customer. He commented that 1000 rounds isn’t hoarding. It’s just normal weekend training. I had to reply that I thought for him, 1000 rounds was one volley. He “liked’” that comment, not understanding it was a gig and not a compliment. I also stuck my toe into another of his threads about ammunition shortages, saying that I had trouble finding 22 shorts years ago. One of his other friends helpfully replied that his gun shop had plenty. I replied back that I was fine. The box I bought was the first I had bought since using most of what was left over from Daddy’s time. I added that I only used bullets when something needed killing, like the skunk that dug under my foundation or the rabid Raccoon a neighbor called me about. No one in his crowd seemed to realize that my point was, I use my gun for the purpose it’s made and not for playing games.
Then yesterday he shared a post from somebody who had made a suggestion that people ought to try to buy products made in the U. S. He added this comment — “except guns. Guns made in America are pretty much crap”. A long thread on the quality of guns and ammo followed. In that thread, he mentioned that some of his guns had failed after 1000 rounds. He also mentioned that he bought the cheapest ammo available. I made no engagement with this thread, but couldn’t help but wonder if his gun failures might be related to using cheap ammo rather than manufacturing defects in the guns.
In our current world, nearly everyone’s top obsession is, “Do I have Covid-19? If not, how likely am I to get it?” This guy’s top obsession seems to be “How can I accumulate enough ammo to go back to wasting thousands of rounds on targets each week and still have plenty left over for end times?” He must not have found the answer to that question yet because it’s been pretty quiet around here lately. Although I’d like to see a speedy end to this health crisis, weekends without the steady sound of high caliber gunfire have been a pleasant change.