Shooting Swedes

Work work work, it's all I do now. Slowing down a bit lately, so I can take a moment and delude myself into thinking that someone reads this and is entertained by it.

Met some Swedish people the other day. They came to shoot on the range I work at. They were on vacation. Had flown into Los Angeles, road tripped East along I-10, and decided to do the most Texan thing they could think of before flying home from Austin. Being suddenly forced into a situation where I am simultaneously a teacher, a subject matter expert, and an international ambassador is why I like this job, theres always a new challenge, something that can teach me and help me be a better, more versatile person.

Well, these Swedes had rented a 1911 pistol in 10mm. No big deal, right? Wrong. Normally it wouldnt be a big deal, but 10mm is ballistically closest to a hot .45, and out of the four of them, 2 were women on the more petite side. And when I say petite, I'm talking wafer thin. One a natural platinum blonde (Yeah, natural. I checked her license) The other an even more waifish redhead. They did well, considering none of them had ever fired a pistol before, and only one of the guys had fired a hunting rifle. No safety issues, and we had a good discourse on the necessity of guns in civilized society.

America has always had guns. Our right to own guns in one form or another (Whether it's pistols, machine guns, or just hunting rifles) is protected in our nation's constitution, it's a part of our national identity. Sweden doesn't have a culture like that. I'm thankful for their ability to speak English. They spoke better than many Americans, and because of that we were able to freely exchange ideas. They expressed to me their view from a society where the cultural visibility on firearms is virtually nil, and I was likewise able to share with them both the frustration of US gun laws and my love of the shooting sports.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I just typed out two entire paragraphs, but deleted them because I couldn't type them without them sounding self-inflating. But it's ok. When you have an athletic guy a full foot taller than you tell you you intimidate him, it's a bit of an ego boost.

Either way, I'm now saving for a trip. I know where I'm going when it comes time for serious wife-hunting.