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It always seems disorderly to write a column made up of bits and pieces, but sometimes there are a few unrelated things to say, only a limited amount of space, and that's just how it works out. Try to think of it as a beautiful patchwork quilt and not the jumbled contents of a cardboard box stored under the bed. First up, a little light housekeeping. Maria Heil has been writing a column for us for the last couple of years as National Spokeswoman for the Second Amendment Sisters (SAS), chronicling that group's many successes. Maria recently decided to give up her day (and night) job with SAS, and to concentrate on other things, notably her family. But she hasn't given up her interest in firearms civil rights, or in shooting and hunting. So, she's taken on the much less stressful task of writing a column for W&G, in which she'll focus on a variety of topics, all under the heading "Going Out." The print edition of the Sept.Oct. features that column's debut. Taking over the SAS correspondent role for W&G is Jen Zoran, who also debuts this month. I'm sure Jen will keep us up to date on the Sisters' activities. Next month, we'll show off another new column, this one by W&G contributing editor Gila Hayes. Gila will be focusing her attention on basics-everything from the differences between revolvers and semi-autos, to how to clean them both, written especially for the newer shooter. I'm confident Gila will bring her usual top-notch professionalism to these topics in the same clear manner she does her gun reviews. Sometimes we get clippings in the office with little stories that interest (and often amuse) both the sender and our staff, but are not quite long enough for even a short news story. Once such item crossed the desk recently from the "Local" section of The Washington Post. Nestled among lottery results and spider vein removal ads,
is the story of Kayla Williamson of Nottoway County, VA. This year she got angry when she found a big black snake stealing
eggs from the family hen house. Did I mention Kayla is seven? Her dad (who loaded the revolver and supervised the snake dispatching), told the paper, "She got it in the head with the first shot, but she shot it a couple of more times just for practice." There's a one column color picture of Kayla holding up the reptile, which looks to be about a foot or so taller than the pig-tailed Ms. Williamson. Ever been called a fascist? I've personally always thought of myself as an enlightened despot-along the lines of Maria of Rumania or Martha Stewart. But, alas, perception is reality these days, so I must indeed be a fascist because I brought a bunch of pens with the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms logo to my Scrabble Club. Mind you, there was also an assortment of pencils available for the more persnickety (a word worth a minimum of 22 points) players to use, unadorned with anything other than the manufacturer's name. I actually enjoy, even after all these years, a good argument about guns with friends, neighbors, radio talk show hosts and even fellow Scrabble Club members. But, just as a note here, "argument" does not even begin to cover a discussion which begins when one person accuses another of dangerous, and even evil behavior, based on a writing instrument! It's a sad little microcosm of the world we're living in, in which people we disagree with aren't just "wrong," they're shoved into little, labeled boxes and dismissed. I have always shaken my head at people who tell me they are "afraid" of guns, but I think there's a deeper problem with people who are afraid of "gunowners." There's little point in explaining to these folks that fear
of a group of people-especially a group you apparently know nothing
about-is usually just called bigotry, not enlightenment.
Photo © Copyright 1998 Nancy Floyd, used with permission. |
By
Peggy Tartaro,
