What do you think? Does this "sport" accentuate the fantasy aspect of gun ownership and use? Don't you find it a little weird?Shortly after a mandatory safety meeting and the pledge of allegiance, shots ring out in heart-quickening succession. Not just a few. For nearly half a minute, a shooter armed with a rifle, shotgun and two pistols, fires at every target in a "stage."
He is being timed and observed for misses and miscues of procedure, all affecting his score.
Gun smoke blends with a few curls of cigar smoke where a dozen cowboys and cowgirls watch and wait for a turn to find out how they stack up against the fastest shooters in the West -- at least in west Marysville on this particular Sunday at the Marysville Rifle Range. The range is home to the Smokey Point Desperados, an affiliate of the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS).
The sport is called Cowboy Action Shooting, and even cowgirl action shooters, for the most part, are happy with the cowboy name. As implied, it involves a lot of shooting, but it is also an Old West social gathering. Every member of SASS has a unique registered alias of his or her own creation, and they wear authentic-as-possible western attire, right down to the fibers used to make them.
Please leave a comment?
Mikeb302000:
ReplyDeletePshaw, it's just a buncha good'olboys and a few of the ladies gettin' on their revisionist history.
I know I'm going to regret this...But, "revisionist history" please explain.
DeleteI find it a little weird that a 62 year old man types and talks like an 8 year old. I definitely wouldn't want to associate with or live near anyone that unhinged.
DeleteGood point democommie. The gun-rights folks often tell us that traditional depictions of the "old west" are false, they're the stuff of Hollywood. But, now Jake wants to challenge you on the use of "revisionist."
DeleteAll that play-acting is weird, in my opinion. When it involves guns it's dangerous and weird. It perpetuates the false but beloved idea that guns are the answer and that good guys can use them to straighten out the bad guys.
DeleteI thought you pro-gun guys prided yourselves in being grounded in reality.
Weird means strange in a supernatural sense. This is neither supernatural nor strange. It is an enjoyment of guns, which is why your side can't stand it. Lighten up, Mikeb.
ReplyDeleteMike, I have also thought it weird that we still continue to have countless types of car racing when gas was either was (supposedly) in shortage and now expensive. But its a sport people enjoy watching or doing,,,, or both.
ReplyDeleteI can see how shooting competetion can be fun, altho I cant afford to do so, but I do practice regularly. For me its to keep being precise. For the shooting competetion its a sport of being precise.
I am not much of a sport guy myself, but the "wierd" can be found in any sport if its one you dont favor. I dont like football for example, too violent. Baseball is OK, basket ball, umm not so much. But each to his own.
". Every member of SASS has a unique registered alias of his or her own creation, and they wear authentic-as-possible western attire, right down to the fibers used to make them."
ReplyDeleteIncluding white shirts with cufflinks? Yeah, there were a whole shitload of gunzslingerz dressed like that gent.
I just finished reading several different accounts of the Hickok-Tutt duel in Springfield, MO. They are in serious disagreement about a number of "facts" but they all agree that the "duel" (such as it was) was bug and not a feature of the U.S. West in the years after the civil war.
I will grant that even a backshooting coward needs to be accurate if he's not going to wind up dead; gunslingin' heroes, not so much.
Is a Renaissance Faire, Civil War Re-enactment, Rendezvous, queer? No more than a Broadway play or opera.
ReplyDeleteorlin sellers
"Is a Renaissance Faire, Civil War Re-enactment, Rendezvous, queer? No more than a Broadway play or opera."
ReplyDeleteWho are you addressing that to?
Democulo asks: Who are you addressing that to?
ReplyDeleteWell, let's see, Mikeb said: "Please leave a comment"
My guess is, that's the comment I left.
Did you see that?
When I address your comment I put you name in there. Really seems quite simple to understand who a comment is addressed to or if it is merely a general comment.
And did you notice I felt no need to call you a fucking stupid dickwad to explain that to you.
orlin sellers
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWell, let's see, Mikeb said: "Please leave a comment"
ReplyDeleteHe did, indeed, he did. Of course, most rational folks, in a conversation on cyberspace or in meatspace, will indicate which of several persons in the conversation they are addressing, particularly when several other commenters are yakkin' 'bout sumpin'sumpin.
"And did you notice I felt no need to call you a fucking stupid dickwad to explain that to you"
Very clever of you to use that sort of language and then act as if you didn't, you fucking stupid dickwad.
Of course I can understand where those of you who fantasize about being able to KILL people--'cuz, y'know, you haz teh gunz and they be bad peepulz--would not find playing dress up and blasting away with your inanimate objects that inadvertently are involved in people gettin' dead being anything but wholesome and the norm. This despite the fact that most other folks view it as a bit of fetish.
Democulo, Is there a reason you didn't address the content of my comment regarding similar type events?
ReplyDeletebtw, I wouldn't go talking about other people's fetishes since you seem to have a severe 'z' fetish you can't control.
orlin sellers
SASS is kind of gay, it's like LARPing with real guns. But it's still a lot cooler than Baldr Odinson parading in a cardboard peace train cutout. Orders of magnitude cooler than Baldr.
ReplyDeleteI support any mainstream organization that gets people together to compete in shooting.
"Democulo, Is there a reason you didn't address the content of my comment regarding similar type events?".
ReplyDeleteWell, gosh, orlin sellers, you said you were commenting to the content of the post, which was written by mikeb302000, not directing your comment to me, specifically. So, I guess if you wanted a reply from ME, you should have, like, addressed your fucking comment to ME? Since you are now claiming that you want an answer from ME and not the AUTHOR of the post I will answer it.
""Is a Renaissance Faire, Civil War Re-enactment, Rendezvous, queer? No more than a Broadway play or opera."
was your question in response to this:
"What do you think? Does this "sport" accentuate the fantasy aspect of gun ownership and use? Don't you find it a little weird?"
Queer and weird are synonyms from this list:
"Synonyms: awe-inspiring, awful, creepy*, curious, dreadful, eccentric, eerie*, far-out, fearful, flaky*, freaky, funky*, ghastly, ghostly, grotesque, haunting, horrific, inscrutable, kinky*, kooky, magical, mysterious, occult, oddball, ominous, outlandish, peculiar, preternatural, queer, secret, singular, spooky*, strange, supernal, supernatural, uncanny, uncouth, unearthly, unnatural
Antonyms: normal, regular, usual"
So, yeah, one can use "queer" or "weird" somewhat interchangably.
RenFaires, Civil War (or other war) re-enactments and Rendevous (is the plural, "rendevouses", "rendevouzsi", or what?) are participatory and participated in by people who are, in general, hobbyists.
Opera, otoh, is a method of presenting a drama (generally) involving rigoursly trained professionals or aspiring amateurs to entertain a paying audience.
One major difference between opera and the other three forms is that the actors/singers generally don't THINK that they are capable of being warriors, just because they possess weaponry in their roles. Your gunslingers, RenFaire Knights, Rendevous aficianados and war re-enacters--well, yeah, some of them seem more than a bit weird.