Well, I’ve gone and done it. Something I swore I’d never do. I now have a real, live GUN in my house.
Charlie and I needed a deadly weapon in the condo about as much as we needed a third Boston Terrier. We got one of each, anyway.
Actually, it’s tax season, and Charlie took the gun in partial payment for some tax work on behalf of a guy named Howard. We’ve know him for quite awhile, and he’s a retired fellow with little disposable income. Howard asked if we would take $250 off his tax prep bill in exchange for the gun.
Charlie and I had talked a few times over the past couple of years about security when we are in the RV, out in the boondocks (i.e. like Montana, Northern California, etc.). I guess there’s always the possibility that some crazed nutjob or a real criminal could try to break into the RV when we are asleep. The dogs would surely alert us, but, as we are at the rear of the coach, and there’s only one way in and out, we’d have no means to defend ourselves, and nowhere to run. So, theoretically, it might be a good thing to have some deterrence available.
Anyway, we went for the deal with Howard, and now possess a .45 semi-automatic pistol. According to Howard, if you hit someone anywhere on their body with a .45 slug, they are going down. Included in the deal was a holster, an extra clip, and several boxes of .45 ammo. (I have an ex-cop friend who later examined the gun, gave me some handling lessons, and said that $250 was a good deal.)
(BTW, Howard told me a story about using a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol once in his life. He claimed to have been part of the invasion force in Cuba at the Bay of Pigs fiasco back in 1960. His group was trying to secure an airfield when a Cuban soldier appeared and shot Howard through the mouth, the bullet breaking a front tooth and exiting through his cheek. Before Howard could react to his own injury, he shot the guy with his .45 semi-auto and he said that the impact lifted the Cuban clean off the ground, and then Howard dispatched him with some additional shots. I suspected that it was a bullshit story, but Howard showed me the scar on his cheek, and I later confirmed that there were some American C.I.A. “advisors” on the ground at the Bay of Pigs. Howard looks to be in his late 70’s, so…I guess it’s possible.)
I have not yet fired the weapon. We will be travelling through Nevada and Utah on our road trip this year, so I will probably have plenty of opportunities to visit a shooting range and/or blow up some tin cans out in the desert.
If you’re in the area, steer a wide berth.