Guns_God_Religion_51.jpg
My traveling companion from Norway says he feels sorry for Americans who travel because they always get dragged into political arguments, especially the debate about guns. Case in point, another member of our troupe, A.J., an English hipster from an influential family, confronted me with the Gun Question minutes after I sat down to talk with him the first time. A.J. said that he had lived for a year in The States, and the family he stayed with had showed him their gun cabinet. I asked if he'd looked into their eyes and seen the pride in their guns, and if they told him everything about the guns: ammunition, manufacturing specs, range, reliability? He said yes, and that he'd comforted them about owning guns. I explained he shouldn't have done that; those people didn't open their beloved gun safe to be chastised, they were sharing. I told him it was a cultural issue, and asked what he thought of the oppression of women in Iran? He said that was "none of his business," but his condemnation of guns in Americans was his opinion, Freedom of Speech. When I pointed out the hypocrisy of his position, he said they're not the same thing because Iran's oppression of women was their religion and the women probably wanted it that way. I replied that Liberty is America's religion, the Constitution is our Koran, and we worship guns.I'm pretty sure A.J. eventually understood my explanation, and suspect he will take the Pro-gun side at his next pub crawl back home in Britain, just because.
A.J.JPG