smell of a gun

dr.jayakumar · Post by **dr.jayakumar** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 9:10 am

hi friends,i know everyone in this forum like and love gun's,but for what reason?what makes one to own a gun?like girls like dolls,boys like guns.just wondering what the reason would be..any insight?

Post by **timmy** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 9:51 am

1. I like interesting and clever mechanisms
2. I do like the feel of fine wood and nicely finished steel (really!)
3. I enjoy the challenge of shooting
4. I do like the smell of burnt gunpowder and Hoppe's #9
5. I feel comfortable in the society of fellow gun owners

savage · Post by **savage** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:02 am

i like the way targets can be felled from a long distance just by the squeze of your finger.......thats power

Regards
Ranveer

essdee1972 · Post by **essdee1972** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:17 am

Need a psychologist / social scientist / anthropologist / etc.!! Something to do with the atavistic need to hunt for food and protect the family / clan (for males) and mothering / nurturing (for females). Hence boys play with guns, girls with toys. Even female animals (in captivity, when they cannot procreate) are known to have toys / other small animals they take care of (Koko the Gorilla, for instance, had a series of pet cats)

Moral of the story - we are still cavemen!!

savage · Post by **savage** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:23 am

hey
Essdee

U gotta habit of posting wid me...... way to go buddy nd i agree we are still cave men but with internet cell phones and other facilities......

Regards
Ranveer

Katana · Post by **Katana** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 2:49 pm

The sight of the gun cupboard being opened, the sight and feel of the guns, the smell of the weapons, the running after my father to pick up shot shells to smell them. And ultimately sitting half the night cleaning the day's guns. All brings back some wonderful memories of my childhood.

All said and done, the small community of shooters are a meager and shrinking lot, but the idea, will and courage to be counted for the protection of not only oneself but the the general citizenry is an ideal that most shooters imbibe. Moreover, most shooters, at least the older generation, are not just shooters per se but conservationalists, environmentalists and defenders of the motherland. It is from this same community that our defense forces, the legal fraternity, agriculturists who feed us, people who run our administration and myriad other streams draw their strength from.

A man with a gun, or for that matter any weapon, is a man who will practice self control and his thought process. This is what 'makes' a man, not the wealth, pomp or circumstance that surrounds him.

essdee1972 · Post by **essdee1972** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 5:33 pm

@ Timmy and Katana, while your reasons are 100% true, what about people (like your truly) who have never had the good luck to be close to guns, and still want to own one (or a hundred)? Even if we have never smelt gunpowder or cordite, even if we have never felt the kick of a butt on the shoulder, nor seen a game animal fall to a well-placed bullet, we still are fascinated by guns and arms. (I wasn't even born when the last guns in the family were lost).

@ Katana, I feel your reasoning is a bit "idealistic" for want of a better word. True that many of the older generation of gun owners (however limited they might have been) were a responsible lot, but many today use their firearm as a status symbol and a means to throw their weight around. Also, as many road rage and other cases (e.g. Manu Sharma) have showed, many times the guy with the gun is the worst controlled person in sight. And since gun ownership was so limited, at least in the last 150 years, the contribution of gun owners to the making of the country must have necessarily been very small, at least on sheer numbers.

The rather silly and shortsighted limitations on firearm ownership has brought about this scenario, wherein one (xyz) with a gun can behave irresponsibly, knowing fully well that the chances of another gun owner in the vicinity is practically nil. And the message drummed into the heads of the public is "GUNS ARE BAD!".

I have even faced flak (and worse, ridicule) for my airgun, from my family members, friends, and neighbours. And to think my Grandpa owned at least 4 guns!!! Real ones that go bang!

I want those guns back!!!

Cheers!

EssDee

Katana · Post by **Katana** » Fri Feb 04, 2011 8:41 pm

essdee,

I whole heartedly agree with you. But then again, I am a bit of a dreamer. People say that one should follow the Gita in shaping ones life. I don't refute that, but i say read Kautilya's Arthshastra and Plato's Republic too. In doing so, you will realise what both imply, that a certain section of the citizenry be armed and capable to lead the rest. Why? Because all citizens do not make that cadre nor are all leaders. It is from this cadre that true leaders arise and neither can every citizen in India be given an arms license, for obvious reasons (read Manu Sharma types). Unfortunately, the founding fathers of our young and new country, our administrators and our leaders have got their thought process awry. They have failed to sift through the chaff to identify the right people to lead us. A case in point is the Territorial Army. How many opt for it today? You could count the applicants on your finger tips (an exception is a doctor from the TA who lead the troops on Siachen lately)!

As far as status symbols go, I myself see 25-30 year olds carrying pistols in holsters on their left side, like cops, without realising the reason for doing so and then proudly showing the 'piece' around. The same guys will not fire even a single shot for the coming ten years! Why? Because of the flinch principle.....they'd be too embarrassed to do it in front of others. Now the question as to how they got the handgun in first place. It's called money power. Pay off people and get your work done. This is quite prevalent in non urban and semi urban areas by people who have made a quick buck. Plus the idea that if people know that you are armed, then you are less likely to have your establishment burgled on attacked. The cops and the attacking party would both know it.

It is unfortunate that your grandfather or father surrendered your weapons and/or licenses but I'm sure there was a reason for it. If pursued correctly and steadfastly, I hope and wish that one day you be armed.

PS> I like the use of the word Flak. Its a corruption of the abbreviation FLaK, the 88 mm German anti aircraft gun the Germans used in WW2!

lawyerme · Post by **lawyerme** » Wed Jul 31, 2013 2:24 pm

Quite an enlightening thread I must say....

My take on this is, the martial spirit animates some people and for some others its just a word. The martial spirit is not about violence and aggression but about self restraint, strength and honour.... otherwise why would a pen-wielding lawyer like me, feel an abiding love for the way of the warrior ??

brihacharan · Post by **brihacharan** » Wed Jul 31, 2013 4:17 pm

lawyerme wrote: Quite an enlightening thread I must say....
My take on this is, the martial spirit animates some people and for some others its just a word. The martial spirit is not about violence and aggression but about self restraint, strength and honour.... otherwise why would a pen-wielding lawyer like me, feel an abiding love for the way of the warrior ??

My take...
> Since time immemorial "Arms & Man" has been an inseparable bond that spawned civilizations, inspired the tenets of honor & valor, the symbol of protection & pride and an indelible instrument of defense against aggression...
> The pride of possession it gives to its owner is immeasurable not to mention a status of nobility & even authority.
> The glint of the metal and the feel of its heft is virtually indescribable - It has to be experienced.
> At times one even feels naked without being armed!
> Even today 'the drawing & closing of the bolt of a sporting rifle' is the sweetest & invigorating sound I have heard and get orgasmic levels of excitement to say the least!

> The feel of the butt against the cheek and the kick after firing are experiences beyond description.
> The smell of burned cordite is a virtual "Aroma Therapy"

> The mere sight of well oiled guns against a rack is truly a sight to behold.
> In my moments of solitude I even entertain a dialogue with them

> Finally believe it or not - Like they say talking to plants help them grow luxuriously - My talking to my guns have given me better groupings

Briha

Post by **TwoRivers** » Wed Jul 31, 2013 9:57 pm

Katana: FLAK = Flugzeug Abwehr Kanone = Anti Aircraft Cannon. While the famed 88 was developed as that, it applies to all AA cannon.

SMJ · Post by **SMJ** » Sat Aug 05, 2017 9:13 am

Another old and very interesting thread- some amazing reasons given by you gentlemen as to why you guys love guns. My primary reason for the love of guns is that I associate them with freedom, the outdoors and wilderness, don't know if it makes much sense but its why I primarily love guns!

gimmethex · Post by **gimmethex** » Tue Sep 12, 2017 8:29 pm

I don't own a gun, but my grandfather used to take me into the woods so we could practice shooting his rifle (or whatever it's called, I think the correct term is rifle - sorry, I'm not that good at English). And it really does feel great, you feel you have much more power, and it's very satisfying when you actually hit that target (which was just a bottle of watter, but that's besides the point

)

Chengy · Post by **Chengy** » Wed Sep 13, 2017 12:56 pm

“The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles.”
― Jeff Cooper, Art of the Rifle

arni_genius · Post by **arni_genius** » Tue Feb 27, 2018 2:48 am

I might add a few here since I fall in the category of people who had never used any projectile weapons before 2017

My desire has both a historical and an aspirational bias:

Historical: I have been an avid FPS gamer for more than 15 years. I know it is easy to 'point-n-shoot' in a desktop. The software will even factor in wind, bullet drop etc. But we all know its worlds apart in real life. I want to move from the virtual adrenaline rush to the real one

(even a virtual kill in a game gives goosebumps)

Aspirational: I want to be a cop (UPSC aspirant). Hence I may need real shooting skills in dealing with law and order problem.

Regards,
Arnab Biswas.

Indians For Guns

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