My father was a lifetime member of the NRA, which means we got, each month, the subscriber magazine, The American Rifleman. We also had the NRA decal on dad's Oldsmobile Delta 88, of which he was clearly proud. This was during the late sixties and early seventies, the Vietnam War era. We lived on Maryland's Eastern Shore, still a rural outpost, but the suburbs are encroaching as I type.
Dad was big into the hunting culture then, executed trips to dispatch game. Once he went after elk in upstate New York. Deer and geese were too simple to bag, but were certainly vulnerable on Maryland's Eastern Shore. They still are. Some call this "thinning the herd." Dad did bring home what he shot, dressed and ready for the freezer. It was there where those weird dated packages resided.
During the hunting off-seasons dad even made his own bullets. It was curious to me as a boy. Sure seemed like toys, but I never went beyond gazing at dad's gun collections and paraphenalia. I did make him a gun rack in shop once. He approved, hung it on the wall in the den, put a few weapons on it. But what were all those scopes, cartridges, and rifle and shotguns for? I knew. We didn't share a love of guns or hunting. Never knew what dad thought of his youngest son. He died when I was seventeen, in 1973.
Dad was big into the hunting culture then, executed trips to dispatch game. Once he went after elk in upstate New York. Deer and geese were too simple to bag, but were certainly vulnerable on Maryland's Eastern Shore. They still are. Some call this "thinning the herd." Dad did bring home what he shot, dressed and ready for the freezer. It was there where those weird dated packages resided.
During the hunting off-seasons dad even made his own bullets. It was curious to me as a boy. Sure seemed like toys, but I never went beyond gazing at dad's gun collections and paraphenalia. I did make him a gun rack in shop once. He approved, hung it on the wall in the den, put a few weapons on it. But what were all those scopes, cartridges, and rifle and shotguns for? I knew. We didn't share a love of guns or hunting. Never knew what dad thought of his youngest son. He died when I was seventeen, in 1973.
I'd tend to characterize your father's hunting as self-sufficiency rather than violence (I'm sure you do too...). But the 'Propensity for Violence' in your title reminds me of an exchange i just had with my own dad the other day.
ReplyDeleteevery time i go to ft. collins i come home with suitcases of new clothes & books (the hospital has an awesome used clothes store where most of my wardrobe is from - at $2/piece it's a great deal). my last stack of books included "Gathering Storm America's Militia Threat" by Morris Dees & James Corcoran and on my last day dad asked me (tenatively) how i felt about the NRA - i said i didn't like guns, but felt people should be free to decide whether guns should be available in their own communities.
he looked quite relieved & i wondered if he thought my interest in starting a community currency made me a candidate for militia membership... dad & i have never been able to talk politics - but in his old age it's gotten much worse. he actually believes fox news _is_ fair & balanced... *sigh*