On Sunday, I went out with my co-workers Jerry, Herman, and Shyama to go shooting in Arkansas. Jerry's buddies Jeff and Richard came too. Richard is a sheriff's deputy here in Benton county. They brought along quite an arsenal and some good perspective on gun control in this country and in America in general. Amongst the guns that were there were three AR-15s, a 12-gauge shotgun, a Galil, a Colt .45, Beretta .45, and a Glock 9mm. First we were taught gun safety (Herman and Shyama were gun virgins). Once that was done we got to shooting. I must say Richard's AR-15 with that special HUD-like scope was pretty awesome. The Galil was pretty fun to fire also. And the 12-gauge that Jerry brought wrecked havoc on my shoulder the first time I fired it. I could not get the hang of firing the Glock, it would always jam up when I fired it. I really enjoyed talking with Jeff and Richard because they gave a different view point on gun control and how are country is. Richard brough two AR-15s, one that was bought before the ban and one that was bought now. The two are almost exactly the same. They shoot the same bullets, do the same thing, but one is banned and the other is not. Why? Because we are a paranoid society. The gun control laws in California are even more ridiculous. It is hard now to understand the knee-jerk reactions our lawmakers have turned into law. I agree with Jeff and Richard that the responsible gun buyers are the ones that are stopped by these laws. The laws don't keep guns out of the "bad guys" hands, only out of respectable people who know their gun safety and most importantly: can afford to buy these guys (at $800+). Also brought up was the situation in America with "terrorism". I brought up the point that we in America are living in one of the safest places in the world, yet we cry and try to tie down our citizens because of "terrorists". Compared to the Middle East, we live in a quite save place. American's have not experienced the terror that President Bush so likes to talk about. We do not have to live with the threat of being bombed on a daily basis. Bush makes it sound like America is under constant attack by outsiders when we are not, he is promoting America like it is some scared little baby in this world when we are not. Going shooting was quite an experience (I did it only once before). Would I own a gun or buy one? No. But I don't think that our government should take away that priveledge or write laws that ban the guns (and also leave gapping loop holes in the laws).