My Double Barrel Side by Side

The photo is of Scott Middle School. The flag is at half-mast because our nation is in mourning. When I bought my first shotgun it was 1959 and this school was called Scott Senior High School. 

My first shotgun was a side-by-side 12 gauge. I sanded the stock "raised the grain" and coated it with linseed oil. I think I learned how from an article in the National Rifle Association's "American Rifleman". I bought the shotgun used, as is. When I fired one barrel the action opened about an 1/8 inch and I needed to snap it shut to fire the next barrel. That took too long for a second shot so in practice it was a single shot gun. 

Pheasants are the best tasting fowl. I went around Pennsylvania frightening pheasants for a few years. Now and then I brought something home to eat. Being outside in the crisp fall weather was most of the fun. Shooting gave me a reason to be there. I didn't relish the killing part but at some point the bird changed to something to eat. 

I attempted deer hunting with a borrowed Winchester 94. Deer hunting as I know it required sitting still for long periods. After five minutes of immobility something would begin to itch.  Usually it was my nose. The itch would grow and grow until I gave in and scratched. The deer were saying "Check out the guy with the Winchester that can't sit still". 

After President Nixon changed farming by not paying for fallow fields the pheasants disappeared and I stopped hunting. 

Back in 1956 the "American Rifleman" was filled with articles on shooting, firearms safety, care of firearms and developing " Wildcat" special cartridges and rifles to fire them. There was very little Second Amendment stuff. 

I don't hunt anymore. Maybe if I moved to Montana where my brother lives I might start again. He is disabled and shoots far away elk from the back of a pickup truck. I think I could do the same thing. 

If I did hunt again I don't think I could be an NRA member. 

Now a days being an NRA member is about the same as being a John Birch Society member. The NRA has become an extremist organization. I think it began to change after the Civil Rights Act, Nixon's "Southern Strategy" and all that. The NRA became an arm yourself to protect your daughters from the "black menace" organization. So the NRA is basically a racist organization. 

I think it's time we begin to call the National Rifle Associate what it has become; a shill for racial hatred and ammunition manufacturers. Ignore the NRA and stop the killing.