I don’t have actual pictures from the night shoot, so I drew this up in MSPaint for the two Johns, aka TXgungeek and Hsoi. If you’ve never shot at night, sans a flashlight, it looks something like this:

(Shoothouse Barbie’s artistic impression of the night shooting class)

First, thanks go out to TXgungeek and Hsoi, who were both instructors at the classes. If you dig gun/2A/self-defense and common sense blogs and are not already reading them, you owe it to yourself to check them out! Thanks as well to the rest of the team at KRtraining.

In addition to shooting sans flashlight, we also did some flashlight work with paper targets and steel, but I’ll go into that later. I guess I should start at the beginning.

Boyfriend “bought” me the classes as a birthday/XMass present. It was possibly the most bitchin’ birthday give I’ve ever received. He really is teh win. We arrived at the training site with a big box of stuff that goes bang, and some lunch. Couldn’ve have asked for much better shooting weather: cool and cloudy.

We started with defensive pistol class. The instructors pulled up some stats from a shootout, and showed us some pretty gritty pictures. Not that I wanted to get shot ever before the class, but seeing actual pics of bullet wounds enforces that. Anyhoo, the baddy was taken down in a gun fight with several (I honestly don’t recall the details as to bullet count and how many victims, etc. Guys, correct me if mess this up, please) officers. Multiple calibers were fired on him by officers, including .40, 9mm and .223. The fight lasted several minutes, during which over 100 rounds were fired by the officers. The baddy sustained over 20 hits and was able to continue fighting and doing damage. Why? Because, as the coronor revealed in full color and on the x-rays, none of the bullets hit vital organs.

What matters most in a real life situation is not caliber, but shot placement and the availability of bullets. As was clear from the gunfight example, it can take over 20 shots to kill a baddy if you don’t hit vital organs. The instructors suggested keeping mag capacity highly in mind choosing defense guns. The lead instructor, we’ll call him Kevin* (since I haven’t asked him if he wants his name blogged), said he had switched from carrying a .45 to a 9mm for the sake of having more bullets at his disposal.

Speaking of defense arms and bullet counts, Kevin* graciously allowed me to use his carry gun since my baby, the Sig P239 (I still loooooooooove my Sig), has a 10 round mag capacity and is DA/SA. I ended up using Kevin*s XD9 for both classes. Having never really shot this gun before, I was kind of nervous, but it was a pretty nice gun, and after some grip adjustment it felt good in my hands.

Apart from the one IPSC match I’ve done, I haven’t spent much time drawing from holster and firing on a target. I also tend to neglect dry firing practice, though I’ve stepped up my efforts since the class. If you haven’t dry fired much at all, here’s what we did which I found useful. First, make sure your gun is clear: drop the mag and check the chamber to make sure there are no bullets in there. One of the girls had 3 negligent discharges because she would drop the mag and forget to clear the chamber. Scared the crap out of me and I thought about leaving because of that more than once. At least she had the gun pointed in a safe direction. So, with the gun pointed in a safe direction, rack the slide, acquire your sight picture, press the trigger, re-acquire sight picture. Without releasing the trigger, rack the slide and slowly release until you feel the trigger reset. Press again. Repeat.

It’s funny…all the things you feel your hands and arms doing when you do dry fire practice for the first few times. Little flinches and twitches and tugs and yanks that you didn’t expect to feel. After about 10 dry-fires, I could feel things starting to smooth out a little. For me, the slow release of the trigger to the point of reset was key. I’ve never been one to let my finger fly off the trigger, at least, according to my other instructors, Mark and White Mike. Still the slow practice of finding the reset point and then taking up the slack over and over again helps establish muscle memory. I started to feel like I was zen-ing in on the trigger press.

When the time to draw and fire came, we took it super slow. In fact, we did it in reverse – and dry. The first (reverse) step was to aim at the target, focussing on the sight picture. Stance was corrected here as needed. The next step was to retract the weapon, bringing it in close to the chest (pointed down range, of course), while still keeping eyes on the target. Then, extend the gun back onto target and dry fire. The key skill focussed on here was to take up the trigger while extending the gun towards the target so that this final step of the draw, extending the weapon and firing, is one smooth action and not two stages. It’s harder than it seems to not pause between putting the front sight on the target and pressing the trigger. Again, the exercise built up the muscle memory of acquiring your sight picture with your eyes and bringing the sights of the gun up to that, rather than looking down the sights in order to find the target. Out of all the firing drills, I think I got the most out of this one.

After working our way backwards, we began to learn how to index the gun and draw from the holster, and eventually put it all together. We also worked at drawing from concealment. How this is done depends somewhat on your cover garment. Kevin* had a nifty day-planner/gun concealer which he showed us in the classroom. For future classes, it might be fun to show interested students how to draw and present from some of these other forms of concealment, like a laptop bag.

Once everyone was able to draw, we practiced some drills involving shooting multiple targets. For these drills, we had to fire on our target 3 or 4 times, then check our surroundings. The instructors would stand behind us and hold up signs which read “body”, “head”, “left” or “right” and we would have to fire accordingly. This drill, I believe, helps the shooter transition from the mentality and habit of focussing and firing on the target straight in front of him, as one practices at the range, to the real-life scenario where there could be multiple baddies. I was in the second string and waited and watched as the first string performed this drill. It’s amazing how many shooters simply didn’t check the surroundings – and oh yeah, I should mention that the instructors moved all over the place with their signs – for several seconds after they had ceased firing, and would forget to check again and again.

The last drill of the day was the shooting while moving drill, which I showed in my little teaser of a post last week. I’ll post it again for ease of viewing. By this point in the day, my trigger finger was a little sore; I think the trigger – I don’t know what kind of trigger but I’m sure it has a specific name/type – was pinching my finger a bit. I still can’t say too many bad things about this gun. Notice the recoil on the tape. It was a full sized frame (it was a little big for my hand), and I was shooting one handed, and yet managed to get 9 shots on target. I wish boyfriend had filmed for just a few seconds longer because one of the instructors made the comment, “remind me never to get in a gun fight with you.” I lit that target up! I wish you could see my shot placement, but the resolution of my camara on the video setting is crappy.

done

We took a dinner break and moved on with the night shooting class. We reviewed light intensities and types of flashlights. If you haven’t peered into these topics yet, you could probably look them up on the interwebs. It’s kind of interesting to learn what the different levels of lighting are and how our vision changes depending on light intensity: full color, depth perception, light/dark contrast, or whether all we can see is an outline.

We didn’t jump right into using the flashlights while shooting. The first thing we did was to flash the target briefly with the light, then, in the dark, fire on the target. The muzzle bast is bright enough to get a pretty good idea of where your rounds are hitting. I was amazed at how well I shot in the dark! I think I shot better in the dark than I did when I was lighting the target while firing. Shooting with a flashlight for the first time felt multitasking, and it was hard, I tell you. It’s not often that I do anything else besides fire my gun while shooting, so the simple task of working a flashlight while firing seemed quite complicated. Aim the flashlight on the sights and the target and aiming was tough. If you ever get the opportunity to take a night shooting class, I highly recommend it, it’s a lot of fun.

We also added some footwork to the mix: flash your target briefly. Step to the side, fire. Wheeeeeeee! We shot some steel in the dark as well.

Then there was the house scenario/drill. Check this shit out: you’re the owner of a bbq joint (how very Texan). You’ve just closed up and locked the door and are about to walk to your car when you hear a crash from inside. What do you do?

We did this drill one at a time while everyone else was shooting. So there I am standing outside, holding the redgun (we did the drill with a redgun and a flashlight) . I hear the crash, ready-GO. Now, I have a pretty killer flight impulse, when it comes to fight or flight. For some reason, I thought we had to go back into the house. I thought it was part of the drill that we would go in the house and they would do stuff. It didn’t occur to me that not going into the house was an option; I didn’t think I had a choice. So stupidly in I go. I’m happy to say that stupid stopped right there. Beyond the front door was a hallway, and I stood in the hallway with the front door to my back, and peered around the corner. John (was that you, TXgungeek?) asked me what I thought I should do. I stood there for about 4 minutes with no inclination whatsoever to leave the safety of the foyer. See, I f***ing hate it when things jump out at me. Oh my god, do I hate it. It makes me really angry and then I throw things (past projectiles have included pints of ice cream, my calculator, and my car keys). The hair on the back of my neck is standing up. No, it’s not just standing up, it’s pulling me towards the door. I stand there some more, and John (I think it was one of the Johns) says, “well?”

“Ya know, I don’t feel like I want to go any further than this wall. I think I want leave.”

“So, you’d just do nothing then?”

“No, I’d get in my car and call the police.”

“That’s the right thing to do. The right choice for the scenario: don’t even go into the house.”

And I’m thinkin’, oh man! I didn’t think that was even a choice! It makes me feel good to know that my instinct to avoid the threat when it was still possible to do so kicked in, but truth be told, in real life, “monkey brain” sometimes takes over, and we have to be practiced and prepared for this eventuality and know how to turn off monkey brain and learn to be aware of our situations.

What’s “monkey brain”, you say?

Monkey brain is our primitive impulse. Monkey brain is the old animal instinct that says “Something is over there, I don’t know what it is, but I’m gonna go hit it with a rock.”

To wrap things up, Snubnose a beautiful poem about guns

(via Hsoi)

I don’t carry a gun

… to kill people. I carry a gun to keep from being killed.

I don’t carry a gun to scare people. I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be a scary place.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m paranoid. I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m evil. I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the world.

I don’t carry a gun because I hate the government. I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m angry. I carry a gun so that I don’t have to spend the rest of my life hating myself for failing to be prepared.

I don’t carry a gun because my sex organs are too small. I carry a gun because I want to continue to use those sex organs for the purpose for which they were intended for a good long time to come.

I don’t carry a gun because I want to shoot someone. I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed, and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m a cowboy. I carry a gun because, when I die and go to heaven, I want to be a cowboy.

I don’t carry a gun to make me feel like a man. I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the ones they love.

I don’t carry a gun because I feel inadequate. I carry a gun because unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am inadequate.

I don’t carry a gun because I love it. I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful to me.

.

.

.

Kellene has written a beautiful variation HERE. Gun chicks, be sure to check it out (also via Hsoi)!

I had hoped to talk about the defensive pistol and night shooting class, but I’m still working on the latest version of ye ol’ manuscript, trying to get it done by the end of the day. So, either this weekend or next week, I’ll tell you more about it. One quick note: it was awesome and I got to do this:

done

(Yes, gentle viewers, Shoothouse Barbie is a brunette. The gun is an XD 9mm – not mine. )

In the mean time, go read Lissa.

Two of her latest (here and here) have been total slam dunks.

If I don’t get around to posting for a few days, I’ll be perfectly comfortable leaving this on the top of my page:

Boy killed by dad cleaning gun

It’s that time again. Time to review the 4 rules:

1. All guns are always loaded, all the time. That means never assuming the gun doesn’t have a round in the chamber. Even if you remember clearing the gun after the last time it was shot, you always do a double check before you clean the damn thing!

2. Do not point the gun at anything you are not willing to destroy. This is the ultimate safety. Not the trigger finger, not the safety switch, but what you do with the muzzle. Even when the gun is empty and you’ve checked to make sure that it is, you should be extremely loath to cover anything of value with the muzzle out of mere habbit. If you’re not, as in, if you feel not the slightest twitch of anxiety when you are looking directly at the business end of your cleared gun while cleaning it, you need to recite the 4 rules again. Never “play” with your unloaded gun in the company of others; use a red gun. This post explains why.

3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are pointing the gun at your target and are ready to shoot. This rule goes hand in hand with rule #2, in my oppinion, as it presupposes that you are already pointing the gun at something you want to poke holes in. Your trigger finger is a secondary safety.

4. Always be sure of your target and what is behind it. The universe does not care about motives. You are responsible for the final resting place of every bullet that comes out of your gun, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Dead is dead.

Committ to these rules every time you think about touching a gun.

I finally sighted in the AR15. This took place on Sunday, and I love this gun so much that I simply had to shoot it again yesterday.

So, I grabbed two friends (one was a noob), and headed north to Reds Range for “ladies night” (half off for ladies) after work. Because I suck at bringing my camera with me anywhere, the only pic I have is of the target, taken with my crappy cell phone camera. Since we all shot at the same target, due to lack of forethought on my part, my group of 5 is circled.

25 yards, iron sights.

I send this image to the boyfriend, and the conversation proceeded thusly:

Me: I just had to shoot that rifle again!

Shoothouse Ken: Practice makes perfect, eh?

Me: Just might have to go again tomorrow

Shoothouse Ken: Tomorrow night isn’t even ladies night!

Me: Don’t care…WANT.

And I know this rifle is capable of nailing tight groups at much greater distances. Due to my out of date lens prescription and crappy vision, and never having acquired a sight pic soley with irons until sunday, however, my groupings got exponentially worse after 25 yds. 6 inch spread at 50 yds, and the target was a fuzzy mishapen blur at 100. Since I’m broke and can’t afford the super-kickass optics that I want, I’ve decided/ been convinced by the boyfriend to saveup money while at the same time improving my work with the iron sights.
Ooooooooh, but optics are so much fun, though! Shooting groupings like this at 200 yds…glee!

Ahhhh, it’s just a damn good time no matter what with this gun. Her name, by the way, is Jessica. I didn’t name her; White Mike did. Seemed like a good Texas name. I call her “Jessie”. I’m tempering the desire to go shoot another 50 rounds after work today, which I really can’t afford.

Honest to jebus, I cannot get enough of this rifle. My AR15 experience is limitted; I’ve shot .223 on 3 other occassions, all good times, all with the boyfriend, and heretell, this is a way nicer gun than I’ve ever shot before. The reason that convinced me to hold off on buying optics until I can afford a T1 is that about $1400 dollars went into making this gun uber light. Seriously, it weighs about 7 pounds. If you’re ever in the area, look me up and well go shoot ‘er.

Speaking of being in the area and shooting, prospective graduate students’ weekend is coming up, and I’ve been assigned my own little prospective student. I feel it is my duty to take them shooting. Since I’ve been charged with feeding and watering them on Friday night and have been given $20 to do so, I’m goint to strongly encourage getting Quiznos and a sixer (for later) and heading to the range for a Texas-style welcoming!

***UPDATED***

Now with more pics (and an homage to my homies in the Volksrepublic of Massachusetts, er, I mean Red Sox Nation GO SOX!)

I just got my KR Training news letter, and there was a link to Rangemaster’s site with dry-firing drills.

What I like about this site is that the drills run on your web browser, with the targets appearin and disappearing, so it’s good for practicing sight-picture acquisition on the quick.

Now if only I could bring my gun to the office… (I dislike bringing my laptop home because it’s a heavy thing and compells me to do work in my “free time”)

I’ve reached my limit.

Via Breda:

This just goes to show how far removed Ram Emmanuel and Obama are from the reality and the impact of the Second Ammendment Rights and the right to self-defence. What these guys and Brady Bill supporters fail to understand is that if you – and I mean everyone, here – don’t support our 2A right to bear arms, you are supporting criminals like these guys:

(sorry. I’m having issues embedding the video. Click the above link okplsthx.)

So, Ram and Mr. President, I just want to say thanks for assuming that criminals will heed laws and put down their illegally purchased assault rifles, which they most likely acquired on the black market, or stole from other criminals because it is against the law. They obviously don’t know that forced entry and armed robbery are against the law either, otherwise I’m sure these nice young men would’ve graciously abided and *not* attemped such a sirry widdle stunt. I’m *so* glad you are going to clarify this issue for the rest of us ass-backwards hillbillies. No, no, don’t worry about the evidence to the contrary which suggests that disarming the law-abiding populace places every citizen at the whim of violent criminals. It would be below your moral fortitude to address hard facts.

Thanks a lot, assholes. Srsly.

I’m on board with Breda Bill. It’s not merely about access to guns for us law abiding citizens. It’s about the principle of the matter, and a whole lot about common (hah. funny.) sense. Criminals are called criminals because they break laws. If they obeyed laws, they’d be called citizens. (Hmmm, where have I heard that before?) Ban guns, and those of us who purchase guns legally and for legal uses, guys like the homeowner here, will be left unarmed and defenseless. Criminals, on the otherhand, will continue illicit purchases? Maybe I’m just another dumbass here, but I don’t think criminals buy their guns like the rest of us: going through the FFL-dealers and having background checks. That would bring up their criminal background and leave a paper-trail. What criminal wants that?

Look. At. What. Happened. In. Brittain.

For pete’s sake, look!

Again, if you’re not for the second ammendment, you’re supporting criminals.

I beg you, and I hate begging, to please consider what you are really supporting.

See, Rachel, there’s hope yet!

(h/t Shoothouse Ken a.k.a. boyfriend)

I thought the golden standard was to start your kiddie on a .22 rifle when their about 10 years old. Maybe that’s just my own pet standard after, I dunno, observing the age 10 right of passage of a few of the Texas kiddies. And even then, and with adult first time shooters as well, the unwritten rule seems to be this: you get one bullet to start with. For their own safety and everyone elses safety. That way the gun is cold after they fire it, and there’s no tway for this to happen:

“Boy, 8, accidentally kills self at (MA) gunshow”

An Uzi??????!!!!!!! Who in their right mind lets their 8-year old shoot an Uzi???!!!!!!!

I am, for the most part, of the mindset that less restrictions on firearms are better. Does the average citizen need to own an Uzi? Short answer: no. Should there be restrictions on what kinds of firearms are available to shoot (not own) at gun ranges and shows? Yes. An 8 year old should not be allowed to shoot an Uzi.

“It is legal for children to fire a weapon if they have permission from a parent or legal guardian and are supervised by a properly certified and licensed instructor, Lt. Hipolito Nunez said.”

I don’t care about the fact that he was under the supervision of an expert. Would it be ok for an 8 year old to drive a car on the highway if he could reach the pedals, so long as he was under the proper supervision? No, because it is just plainly negligent to let kids participate in dangerous activities that may exceed their physical or mental capacity.

I feel like a horrible person for dissecting this tragic event in this tone. I’m not suggesting that this parent get barraged with “you shouldn’t have let your kid shoot a sub-machine gun” at this time. What sickens me is that this parent is probably being told that “guns are evil”  because it is so much easier to blame the gun, especially when a tragedy occurs. Unfortunately, this will probably result in an increased anti-gun sentiment and outcry, rather than a sound review of “what went wrong”.

Shooting requires an appropriate mindset, and appropriate capacity to learn proper technique. Here’s one example of why starting a child off on a .22 shotgun with one round is the smart thing to do:

This is White Mike’s son, age 10, setting up his first shot on the .22. On the right edge, you see White Mike about to intervene because the butt of the rifle is STICKING OUT of the kid’s armpit. (“you’re doing in wrong!)

Thaaaaaaaaaaats better, kiddo.

I am so glad to be living in not-MA right now. Stay strong, northeast gunnies, because y’all know there’s a big “all guns are evil and need to be banned” shitstorm on the way.

Zen and the Art of Shooting, part 5

The mother is coming to visit in 10 days, and of course we will be taking a trip to the range. She said she didn’t think she’d be up for shooting, but would be interested in watching. I told her there was no way she was going to come to Texas and watch me shoot guns without getting a piece of the action herself. I then did my best to address her concerns over guns n stuff, and was able to convince her – or at least to coax her into submission – to try a little hund gunning.

My mother is slowly accepting that her little girl shoots guns. As many a gunny knows, I’m sure, it is *hard* to ease the nerves of non-shooters on the subject of 2A protected gun ownership. Non-shooters almost invariably exhibit a knee-jerk response of saying they wanting stricter gun control laws, not necesarily against the act of using lethal force for self-defense, but because their top concern is guns falling into the wrong hands. This is a legitimate concern, and it is one that is shared by all, 2A supporters and gun-nuts and anti-2A advocates alike.

What many fail to understand is that gun control laws ARE stringent and are strictly enforced. A background check is a must. As far as the CCP goes, a record free of criminal charges and misdemeanor crimes involving substance abuse, including DWI, is a must (at least in Texas, as far as I know). Guns don’t fall into the wrong hands because of flaws in the legal gun sales process, they fall into the wrong hands because of illegal activities such as illegal transfers and sales. For example (for those who don’t know already), I can legally purchase a gun, but I cannot legally sell that gun to someone else, even if that person is legally eligible to buy the gun, unless I do the transfer through an FFL-liscenced party. Illegal transfers or sales of guns is also strictly penalized, but harder to catch. That, however, has little to do with gun control laws.

Increasing the toughness of laws does not make people obey those laws. Criminals have no inclination towards obeying the laws anyways, and it is criminals who purchase guns and sell them illegally, not the ordinary and good citizens, who are “well regulated”. But nobody pays much attention to the good people who own and operate firearms and the media does its very best to convince the masses that gun owners are far from “well regulated” The media doesn’t report on the successfull uses of lethal force for self-defense with the same gusto as when guns are used in violent crimes. In states where concealed carry is not allowed and gun ownership is highly restricted, gun culture is a seedy subculture that is seen and experienced by very few and misunderstood greatly by many. To me, it seems that a common observation from the average non-gunnie in my homestate is that gun ownership is in no way mainstream and need not be made accessible because, since guns are made practically invisible in MA, only a small subset of people buy guns: hicks and rednecks and cowboys and fringe-folk who are roudy and uneducated disfunctional members of society driving around in pick-up trucks with confederate flags…because that is a very common (mis)representation of gunnies.

I can understand those who say that, regardless of sensibility, they would simply feel more comfortable knowing that overall lower numbers of guns were on the streets. I can understand the sentiment, but do not agree with it. Simply considering that there are criminals and non-criminals, increased restrictions on gun ownership would diminish the number of legal transactions before diminishing illegal transactions. A non-criminally minded person would obey the new restrictions, because they would have to in order to maintain their rights to carry or own guns and to avoid being a fellon but, as I said earlier, a criminal wouldn’t care and would continue illegal activities regardless of new laws. The result would be that gun acquisition among the legal and law abiding would decline at a higher rate than gun acquisition by criminals. Not to say that police have no role, but the fact remains that a homeowner or citizen who legally uses a firearm for self defense is always going to be more effective at defending his or herself against goblins than an unarmed citizen with limitted options who must wait for a police response…unless the crime takes place in front of an officer or with police in close enough proximity to stop the bad guy before he hurts someone. I am in no way advocating taking the law into one’s hands, but when push comes to shove, legal application of lethal force for self defense is likely more effective in removing goblins from our society than waiting for the police to arrive.

I hope I never have to shoot a person. The odds are in my favor that I will not be violently attacked. But, despite living in Texas with neighbors who not only are investing their time and effort in teaching me to defend myself but will also call me if they see my car parked in the same spot 2 days in a row to make sure I’m ok, the raised eyebrows I received from the TSA when I declared my firearm while being plainly asked “what I need a gun for” only strengthens my bottom line: I (hopefuly) probably wont ever NEED it…but I can only be wrong about that once.

Not to mention shooting can be a fun sport.

In other news, Shoothouse Barbie is getting her CHL! I’m behind on my shooty posts, and I know I’ve promised gun pics and range reports. Embarassing as I am to admit this, I have yet to fire in the mosquito. I managed to strain my wrist in an aerobics class (sign from the gods that I should not do aerobics) the week before I bought the thing. I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal, but the muscles and ligaments from my wrist through my forarm and into my shoulder became increasingly inflamed. Even though I brought the Sig P239 to Arizona, I didn’t end up doing the Paladin match and was grossly out performed by the boyfriend on the one day we went shooting. My right wrist and arm was still quite uncomfortable, but I’m proud to say I sacked up and took the opportunity to shoot lefty. To be fair to him, he has gotten much much better since the day back in february when I “embarrassed him” at his own range. To be fair to me, he practices at least twice a week, and said that he shoots better when I’m around because he doesn’t want to be made to look foolish

I too am determined…I shall best him again, mwahahahaha! But for the time being, I’ve needed to rest my arm. It is mostly healed, and a good thing, too, because my CHL class starts bright and early tomorrow morning. The range is a solid hours drive into BFE from Austin, and the class starts at 8:00 am, so I’ll be getting there at 7:30 am, leaving home at 6:30 am, and probably (attempting to) wake up at 5:00 am. Early to bed for me.

***edit***

Apparently, in Texas, you can give guns as gifts, but not to people under 17. And you may not purchase guns for a person who is inelligible to purchase a gun.

I may have mentioned that the best part of the Europe vacay was the french food. We didn’t do a whole lot of shopping, we didn’t have a lot of money to lavish either, so for the most part, we walked around, saw a lot of really old stuff, and we ate and drank and soaked up the cafe culture. Nonetheless, the end of the trip found us slightly in the red.

We tallied up the expenses and agreet to split the costs down the middle. As it turned out, the bf ended up owing me some green. He offered to cut me a check so that I could pay off my credit card ASAP.

Hmmmm….so the bf owes me some dough….. I sat there on the plane, next to the bf, thinking about this situation. Being both jewish and female, I must have been inclined to carefully consider how I could make the most of it.

hmmm…I want pretty things. He could buy me pretty things. Yes, that’s it!

“Hey, sweetie,” I said, “howsabout you pay me back in firearms?”

I’d rather have equity than dolars, especially if said equity can be taken to the range and shared with others for mutual enjoyment. I’m nice like that.

***update***

mama’s gettin’ a carbine!