Let me say right off the bat that I’m a part time art dealer and full time gun owner, who is very much in favor of common sense gun law reform. I have a concealed carry handgun permit and have rarely felt the need to exercise my Constitutional right to armed self defense. I’m not much of a shooter, but I hunt and want to continue to do so. This makes buying ammunition (because I’ve been known to miss my intended target from time to time) a necessity. I’m all for banning assault weapons and large capacity magazines, instituting universal background checks, red flag laws and getting insurance companies to pay for mental health care. These are all no brainers. What I’m not so sure about is banning the sale of ammunition. In fact I think it’s a ploy to get favorable press for corporate America and make them look like they care.
Over the past thirty or so years large corporate box stores have pushed out what used to be a thriving chain of mom and pop sporting goods stores in the Catskills. These stores were where we used to be able to pick up a box of 12 ga. shotgun shells or some 30.06 ca. hollow point, boat tail deer loads, along with our long underwear. Local stores carried clothes, calls, bows, guns, accessories and of course ammo. My old friends the Keys, up in Cooperstown had a little shack on their dairy farm, where I could get anything I wanted for the hunt. Now these hard working merchants are all out of business. Corporate giants like Cabelas, Gander Mountain, Dicks and Walmart saw to that. These large box outlets that monopolized the market are now making a big show of banning ammo; ceasing to sell pistol and certain “short barrel” rifle ammunition. It’s a misdirected PR ploy, a shiny object that they want you to think is actually doing something. It will not effect much. How about refusing to sell assault weapons, large capacity magazines and disavowing the NRA party line? Crickets.
We country folk get painted with a very wide brush by the media. If one drives a pick up, wears a trucker hat and owns a gun you are a white, Christian, MAGA loyalist with a high school education and a job in the coal mine. It’s laughable. To always debunk these skewed characterizations is futile and exhausting. Let the mainstream news outlets believe whatever they want about the ruralist. I’ll never have any effect changing that trope. But what I am good at is going behind the scenes, sometimes having real world effect. Here’s a recent example:
Dear Senator Durbin,
As a lifetime hunter and gun owner I have watched in horror as innocent citizens of this country (of all ages) are randomly mowed down by increasingly lethal and efficient weaponry. I have never belonged to the NRA and find their politics appalling. But, what I also find appalling is the lack of the most basic expertise surrounding firearms, each time one of these mass shootings occurs. You don’t have to be an expert to know that firearms fall into two simple categories: handguns and long guns. The “actions” of these weapons are also simplistic: bolt action, lever action, pump action, revolver, semi-automatic and the illegal “automatic.” Because a firearm has no built in obsolescence (a good gun will last generations) the industry must come up with another way to sell product. That is why the gun industry and its lobbying arm the NRA made the AR (and all the knock offs) the most popular weapon in America. These guns are made to be accessorized. Scopes, slings, bi-pods, bump-stocks, sound suppressors (silencers) and massive, high capacity (200 round) magazines are a few of the ways shooters customize ARs. The danger seems obvious.
I’m not an activist nor do I have any political agenda. I’m an artist who knows Jen, Michael and the kids. You seem to have the ability to work across the aisle. This is why I am disregarding proper channels and reaching out to you directly. The one concrete step I can see that would have a positive effect immediately would be to ban all high capacity magazines. These “accessories” (like bump-stocks) are what allows anyone to kill on a grand scale in a matter of seconds. It is not the gun or the action, but the magazine that is so dangerous. This fact gets lost in the discussion. This also omits the 2nd amendment issue, that scares so many politicians. Banning these high capacity magazines would be a start.
Hunters are heavily regulated. Seasons, bag limits, hours, caliber, etc. are all part of legal and ethical hunting. Because of previously unregulated market hunting you can’t hunt ducks with more than 3 shells in your shotgun. Recreational shooters should also be regulated for public safety. Most shooters and hunters would agree and gladly accept commonsense regulation on their weaponry. Even the military doesn’t issue these insane high capacity barrel magazines. They are on sale for $125 online. I realize I may be preaching to the choir. I hope, if you read this, you consider it in the spirit it is meant; not as criticism but encouragement. I hope somebody has the political will to act. Time is of the essence.
Respectfully,
MO
To my delight and surprise, Dick got right back to me.
Thanks for your email.
High capacity clips and bump stocks clearly have no explicable relation to the legal use of firearms for sport or hunting.
Your words on restrictions placed on duck hunters don’t begin to describe the hurdles I face when I make a trip to Stuttgart, Arkansas.
Appreciate your input
Dick
(then this)
Mike
For the record, the ducks are always happy to see me standing in waders. I am such a lousy shot that they usually entertain me with aerial maneuvers directly in front of me.
Dick
Kudos to Dick Durbin for listening, responding and having a sense of humor. Lets see what happens when Congress reconvenes. Here’s my question: In this climate of mass shootings, the NRA and gun toting Republicanism should I, as an art dealer (not a gun dealer) open an art and ammo store that bans all these insane weapons, but sells hunting ammunition alongside the art? All the info online says you need to register with the State Police in order to sell ammo. So I went down to my local Trooper barracks, where the boys in grey informed me that they had never heard of such a law and lectured me that 60% of what one reads online is untrue. Thanks Stateys for the heads up. Don’t believe the internet. Now FAKE LAWS! What’s a law abiding citizen to do? Comments welcome.
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