Out of respect for the the victims, their families, and other loved ones of the recent shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School I have refrained from posting.  This tragedy has spawned some deep reflection within me as to my position on certain topics involving firearms.  A significant portion of my income in my adult life has been earned in jobs protected by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.  This recent shooting really hit me hard emotionally, probably due to the fact I am a father now, and I can't shake the feeling of: what if that was my child's school?  I have also received some criticism for what I believe as far as my personal feelings about guns since this shooting, and even received some criticism for this blog as well.  This post is not how I justify my beliefs, it is simply what my objectives are for this doing this site.

Now in this moment of reflection I haven't traded in my firearms, neither have I been racking up the credit cards to buy the few firearms left on the shelf.   While traveling through the sea of media rhetoric and also pausing for a moment of self discovery I have emerged with one solidified conclusion: Love them or hate them firearms exist in this world.  Regardless of your personal feelings or political platforms we live in a world with guns.  Even with pending legislation that potentially may limit, restrict, or reduce firearms, guns still will still exist in our society.

Since Captain Obvious has now dropped this Earth shattering revelation on you, I wish to explain my position.  Since the dawn of the idea for this site I have strived to provide accurate, relevant, and correct content in regards to the subject matter.  I have done my best to make it as entertaining but also treat a serious and potentially dangerous topic with the reverence and respect it deserves.  I have done this to help members of society better coexist in a world with weapons.  My message is one that promotes safety and responsibility, but also one that promotes fun at the same time.   I have gone to great effort to keep the site free of rhetoric and instead focus on facts, personal experiences, and opinions derived from being immersed in the firearms industry.

 Politically and philosophically we may not agree, however the fact remains that we live in a world with firearms.  Unless the day comes where we don't live in such a world where guns don't exist in our society there will be a need for the type of message I am trying to promote and produce.

Prior to the shooting I had a discussion with a lovely couple on an airplane (because nothing puts people on an airplane more at ease than talking about guns) who have the exact opposite views of firearms than myself.  What I found ironic was their feelings about prior shooting tragedies was very similar to mine, how we feel the subject matter should be handled politically was starkly different.  So when I shared with them that no matter how much they despise guns it doesn't make them go away, they agreed that the message of Gun Shy Blog is one that is needed.  So I plan to keep posting and continuing to help promote a safe existence in a world with guns.  If one accident is prevented as a result of my efforts of producing relevant and correct content I would consider all of the work I have put into this a success, however that may be difficult or impossible to quantify.

Another conclusion I have come to is most people are misinformed as to facts regarding firearms.  Even our so called media professionals and our elected officials.  One thing that Gun Shy Blog is going to focus on moving forward is presenting facts.  The facts will be presented as objectively as I have the ability to present them.  And they will be presented in a fashion of here are the facts, here is my opinion about the facts, and you decide what your opinion is.  If we still disagree that is fine, but at least we will disagree on facts and not political talking points that are getting thrown around.

A little while back my dad, my brother, and myself went out shooting.  We went out into the desert, and to a common spot that a lot of people shoot.  This day was no exception.  What I observed others doing made my skin crawl.   There was blatant disregard for not only the most basic safety procedures while shooting but even the most basic common sense concepts. I know not every group of shooters out in the desert has a NRA Certified Range Safety Officer present.  However some of these groups that were out there shooting we're doing some thing that were so brazenly stupid I was firmly convinced that what I was exposed to was a lower echelon that I not previously had any knowledge of within the human gene pool.  

The bottom line that I want anyone who reads this article to understand is DO NOT EVER CROSS THE LINE OF FIRE!!!!  In case you are not familiar the line of fire, it is as simple as if someone is shooting stay behind them.  Do not advance in front of someone who is shooting ever, even if you are a fair distance to either shooter's left or shooter's right.  This is the most basic practice of firearms safety.  This group that I witnessed out in the desert had 3-4 shooters at any given moment spread out in a 30' wide area that had staggered out at all different distances.  I honestly thought someone was going to get shot, it was as if they loaded up their guns walked a few feet to either the left or right of the person shooting and would advance towards the target as if they were the only person out there.  

Shooting can be a ton of fun, it is one of my favorite past times.  However guns, like any other piece of equipment can be dangerous if you misuse them.  Show respect for both the guns and the others that may be out there.  It isn't just your life that you may be risking.  Also if you see someone doing something dumb, either talk to them or leave.  Don't try to stick it out, it isn't worth risking.  Shooting with a group of people who know and understand proper safety can be some of the most fun that you will ever have, but being out there with people being dumb can be frightening.