Thanks to the morning Rove rally and "From Home" mission, Saturday was a very full day from the beginning; however, the day would not have been complete without a trip to Knob Creek Gun Range in Westpoint, Kentucky for this year's Fall Machine Gun Shoot.
As usual, it was a blast (pun intended); however, this year there seemed to be more new t-shirt slogans and handouts about different issues. The favorite t-shirt seemed to be the one with "Infidel" printed on it in English and in Arabic -- a personal favorite of mine. In the vendor areas, you can find almost any type of specialized shooting equipment you might want along with t-shirts, bumperstickers, and military memorabilia.
One thing I truly enjoy about being around people who practice and cherish their 2nd Amendment rights is these folks know their history and pay attention to politics. I always seem to run into interesting reading material there and this year was no exception. I bought a book titled Sacred Rage -- The Wrath of Militant Islam by Robin Wright. This book was first published in 1985 when it was becoming very apparent to some Americans that we were being pushed into a war we did not cause nor did we want.
Her book is an examination of the roots, the motives, and the goals of this fanatical Islamo-fascist war against our country in historical context. It has been updated since the attacks on 9/11/01 with additional information on Afghanistan and the broader picture of Islamic extremism -- I only wish I had the original version of this book as I'm sure it was prophetic for its time.
As to the political handouts this year, I ran into only one. It was handed to me by Barry Weinstein who participated in the Minuteman Project and is an activist for immigration reform. Barry is advocating a boycott of tourism to Massachusetts and Arizona due to Kennedy and McCain's strong support for Senate Bill 2611. Read Barry's full article on the boycott here.
During major election years, there are always stickers and banners for the Conservative candidates -- although, it's a big mistake to assume that all gun owners are Republicans; many prefer the Constitution or Libertarian party. Never mistake a Constitution party member for a Republican; they really dislike that!
The funniest thing about going to these shoots is that there are so many men strolling around in BDUs and most of them haven't ever had a military haircut in their lives! It's hard to know who's currently serving, who might have been a vet, and who is just wearing some cool duds. I have to laugh because when my Dad was in the army they couldn't even wear fatigues off post!
I cannot even begin to tell you how awesome the night shoot is. It is probably the closest thing to a war zone that most of us will ever experience without actually being in real danger. It's full of explosions, tracers, and machine gun fire. Pictures certainly don't do it justice but it's the closest thing I've got to a description of it. Unfortunately, this year I wasn't in a good spot to take pictures of the targets being hit. We mostly saw the explosions and the tracers. Okay, enough annoying text... I know what you really want... Pictures!
As usual, it was a blast (pun intended); however, this year there seemed to be more new t-shirt slogans and handouts about different issues. The favorite t-shirt seemed to be the one with "Infidel" printed on it in English and in Arabic -- a personal favorite of mine. In the vendor areas, you can find almost any type of specialized shooting equipment you might want along with t-shirts, bumperstickers, and military memorabilia.
One thing I truly enjoy about being around people who practice and cherish their 2nd Amendment rights is these folks know their history and pay attention to politics. I always seem to run into interesting reading material there and this year was no exception. I bought a book titled Sacred Rage -- The Wrath of Militant Islam by Robin Wright. This book was first published in 1985 when it was becoming very apparent to some Americans that we were being pushed into a war we did not cause nor did we want.
Her book is an examination of the roots, the motives, and the goals of this fanatical Islamo-fascist war against our country in historical context. It has been updated since the attacks on 9/11/01 with additional information on Afghanistan and the broader picture of Islamic extremism -- I only wish I had the original version of this book as I'm sure it was prophetic for its time.
As to the political handouts this year, I ran into only one. It was handed to me by Barry Weinstein who participated in the Minuteman Project and is an activist for immigration reform. Barry is advocating a boycott of tourism to Massachusetts and Arizona due to Kennedy and McCain's strong support for Senate Bill 2611. Read Barry's full article on the boycott here.
During major election years, there are always stickers and banners for the Conservative candidates -- although, it's a big mistake to assume that all gun owners are Republicans; many prefer the Constitution or Libertarian party. Never mistake a Constitution party member for a Republican; they really dislike that!
The funniest thing about going to these shoots is that there are so many men strolling around in BDUs and most of them haven't ever had a military haircut in their lives! It's hard to know who's currently serving, who might have been a vet, and who is just wearing some cool duds. I have to laugh because when my Dad was in the army they couldn't even wear fatigues off post!
I cannot even begin to tell you how awesome the night shoot is. It is probably the closest thing to a war zone that most of us will ever experience without actually being in real danger. It's full of explosions, tracers, and machine gun fire. Pictures certainly don't do it justice but it's the closest thing I've got to a description of it. Unfortunately, this year I wasn't in a good spot to take pictures of the targets being hit. We mostly saw the explosions and the tracers. Okay, enough annoying text... I know what you really want... Pictures!
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