The dangers of letting your workmates know that you shoot.

This post is out of a discussion I have had with another gunny in a not-so-gun-friendly state in the US.

Recently, in the US there have been reports of people losing jobs, buying guns and being reported by friends/family to the authorities and then being in a lot of hot water.

I can appreciate not looking for hot water situations!

However it got me to thinking about whether or not it is wise to let your colleagues know that you shoot.

Here in Australia, while we do have quite (very) strict gun laws and it is not the ‘norm’ for people to have anything to do with guns generally, I’ve found that reactions to my hobby are basically positive.

So much so, that during the interview for this job, when I asked if they would consider the position being a part-time one, when asked why, I didn’t hesitate to give the real reason. (Weekends are full due to my training commitments at the club so I would like a day to catch up).

The reaction of the interviewers was quite amusing, but certainly not worrying – oh, and I got the job.

So was this a wise thing to do, or should I not advertise the fact that I shoot?

I haven’t heard of anyone here being reported to the police just because they have firearms or shoot.

I have heard of this happening during separation / divorce proceedings where one party feels particularly aggrieved. I guess that it also happens if people have made direct threats.

I guess there is a risk of people finding out that you have guns, finding out your address and deciding to acquire the guns for themselves.

I know of a friend who has instructed his children not to mention that there are guns in their house at school due to fears about this. I also know that some of my friends are very cautious when transporting the gun from their house to the car to only do it in a way that their neighbours can’t see them.

These friends also ensure that they don’t wear their club shirts other than on the range etc.

I’m not that cautious. I guess part of the reason that I am not is that I want people to know that ‘normal’ people can have guns and can enjoy shooting. (Now, no comments about whether or not I’m ‘normal’ please – you all know what I mean!).

I have also found that by being open about my hobby (both at work and my girls' school) that I have been able to take a number of newbies up to the range, people who probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity otherwise. Some of these have gone on to participate in the sport, others haven’t. However, they have had the chance to see first hand how much fun shooting can be.

What’s your take on the topic? Do you ‘advertise’ that you shoot or have guns, or are you secretive about it? And what is the reason for this?

Yes, You Can Find Anything on the Internet

This is quite an interesting list to read - the Phobia List.

Guess what was in the Letterbox Today?

Remember the sage of the licencing of the two firearms I purchased in November last year? (Last blogged about here on Feb 22nd).

Well the basic story is:
* I purchased the firearms late November;
* Submitted the application for licencing on Dec 7th
* Received a (incorrect) letter advising me that they had been approved on Feb 5th;
* Received a revised letter a week later (after calling them)
* And after calling them again to say that although I had received the letter I still hadn't received the 'addition to my licence' which meant that I could pick the guns up. They then sent out a copy of my licence with the new guns on it on Feb 22nd

Well sitting in my letterbox today was the addition to my licence 'piece of paper' which I should have received at the same time as the letter on Feb 5th!!! I'm certainly glad I didn't sit around waiting for this to come!!!

They reckon the system is getting better - but after seeing this, I'm not sure!

And That's the Way They See Things

This news article caught my attention.

I thought this comment on the article summed it up nicely - So someone building a $70m hotel-sized house with parking for 17 cars reckons a few tradies eating a meat pie are raping the earth. You couldnt make it up.

The article: Billionaire Oswals declare meat war on the building site

WA'S construction union has hit out at a ban on building workers eating ham sandwiches and meat pies at the Oswals' $70 million Taj-on-Swan mega-mansion.

Tradesmen and labourers working on the Peppermint Grove property have been told by Indian-born billionaire Pankaj Oswal and his socialite wife Radhika, that any food containing meat must not be consumed on the site.

Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union WA assistant secretary Joe McDonald said the ban was "absolutely wrong".

"She still wants them to build her $70 million mansion, but she's telling them what they're going to eat . . . it's wrong," he said.

"I respect everybody's right to practise their religion, but I totally disagree with anyone forcing it on others.

"That has caused more wars and destruction throughout the world than anything else I know of.

"If people are working on the job and they want to have a ham sandwich or a bacon and egg sandwich, they should have one."

Workers on the site yesterday said there was one small shed at the bottom of the site which they were allowed to eat meat in.

A source close to the Oswals, who did not want to be named, said some workers had continued to eat meat on the site "just to spite them".

Mr Oswal, who is in New York this week helping Mrs Oswal prepare for the launch of her vegetarian fast-food chain, Otarian, defended the meat ban, saying "This is our home".

Mrs Oswal has previously accused the meat industry of "raping the earth".

"Meat eating is creating bad karma and you are also creating a vicious cycle," she said.

"It's destroying us environmentally, economically and socially. I'm putting my money where my mouth is. I've always been a vegetarian so I have always felt strongly about it.

"First, because of religious reasons, but then later because I realised the greater good associated with it."

Once complete, Perth's Taj-on-Swan mansion will be the biggest home in the country, on the most expensive block of land.

The house, which is expected to be finished at the end of 2011, will have a gymnasium the size of a regular Perth house, a beauty salon, an observatory, parking for 17 cars and a swimming pool 10 times bigger than the average back yard.

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Leaving aside the whole "does eating meat do more damage than building obscenely large houses and flying around the globe in private airplanes" question - it is THEIR house, and if they want to insist that the tradies do not eat meat on their premises I think they have every right.

The tradies have the right to refuse to work there too.

Maybe the Oswals can find some vegetarian tradies to do the work for them?

RAIN RAIN RAIN

So after nearly no rain this year (how do you measure 0.2mm?) we finally get some - along with a very fierce storm.

Here’s the headlines and extracts from one news report (http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/traffic-alert-after-storm-hits-scores-of-traffic-lights/story-e6frg12c-1225844121008):

THE damage bill from yesterday's storms could reach hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Premier Colin Barnett.

Mr Barnett told media this morning that yesterday’s storms were the most severe weather conditions that state has had since 1994. He said the full impact of the storm was yet to be unveiled...

… Hailstones the size of golf balls and flooding damaged Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital…

…Meanwhile, Joondalup hospital suffered significant damage as well.
About 20 people were evacuated from an emergency department last night after a partial ceiling collapse.

A landslide near Jacob’s Ladder in Kings Park also caused major damage to two ground floor units in the Adelphi apartment block and two cars but all residents are accounted for…

...MOTORISTS are warned to take care this morning with more than 80 traffic lights out of action after last night's storm and more bad weather to come…

…A Bureau of Meteorology spokesman said yesterday's storm was one of the biggest in Perth for many years with wind gusts of more than 120km/h and 35mm of rain falling within about eight hours since 9am (12pm AEDT)…

…Western Power said the storm had cut power to about 150,000 customers, and a significant number of those customers would be without power today…

I live in the hills around Perth. We lost power about 5.30pm last night but it had been restored by the time I woke up this morning. Power to my place is generally flaky anyway so we have a generator and back-up batteries so we weren’t too badly off.

The lightening storm was pretty spectacular and the sunset was magnificent. I took some photos that I will check later and upload if they turned out.

My daughter was supposed to go to a birthday party this afternoon. This has been postponed for a couple of days as the birthday girl's house is flooded!

The below ground carpark at work resembles more of a swimming pool than car park, and one of our other offices lost its roof and telecommunications are out at a few branches.

Lots of staff are reporting significant hail damage to cars - apparently the "hail stones the size of golf balls" aren't an exaggeration.

But we got RAIN … wonderful, RAIN! The Bureau of Meteorology are saying that officially Perth recorded 35mm, some people are reporting as much as 70mm fell at their places overnight.

Oh, and more storms are forecast for today.

Busy Day on the Range

Today was one of our "Have A Go Days". We run these most months to give people who want to know what shooting is all about a bit of a go.

We ask people to book so that we have a bit of an idea of how much ammo we need and a bit of an idea of what we're dealing with.

On Friday I got a call booking six people in, but they wanted to start half an hour after the advertised start time. As this was the only call I had had about the course I agreed.

On Saturday I had another call from another couple about coming along. And then a call back from the guy who booked the six in, changing it to 8.

I mentioned it while chatting to some of the folks in the club house after training yesterday and two people volunteered to come and help us.

So anyway, the Chief Instructor, myself and these two helpers turned up on the range just before 12 to be greeted by three people. Two of these were the couple who had booked the day before, and the other was a guy who had come up for a look around the range a couple of weeks previously and who had been told about the day.

We sent them to the shed to keep out of the sun and to wait for the others. We then set up some targets and got some magazines organised etc.

Then another couple arrived. So now we were up to 5 people and the 8 who had booked still hadn't turned up. At 12.30pm the guy who was organising the 8 turned up with four friends (so 10 people now). I asked him about the others and the next thing I know another five people walk in. Found out that these were his other friends and of the 4 only 5 were shooting, so a total of 14 visitors.

So we made sure that all of them had ear muffs / plugs and safety glasses as well as hats and water - it was pretty hot out there - and after a short safety lecture we headed to the range.

We decided to have three people shooting Glocks from one table, and three people shooting either one of two Tanfoglios or my Springfield. So we had our first six people step forward, we checked their grip and then let them pull the trigger. We then swopped these six around, so those who hadn't shot the Glocks got to shoot them and the Glock shooters got to shoot the other guns. Then the second group of six and then the final two shooters.

Once everyone had shot these 9mm guns, we put them away and got three .38 revolvers out, as well as three .22s. Using the same method they all had a shoot of these guns.

Then these guns were put away and we got four .22 rifles out. We had a Winchester lever action, a 10mag bolt action, a 5mag left handed bolt action and my single shot Stirling.

We had four shooters step forward and shoot all four guns. Then cycled through all of the shooters on these guns.

Rifles were then put away and the shotguns came out - and a .357 rifle. We had an over/under double barrelled shotgun, a semi-automatic one and my Tuffy. The .357 was a lever action.

Everyone shot all of these guns and then there were a few 12ga rounds left and I had about a half dozen .410 rounds, so we offered these to the trainees - for some reason most were quite reluctant to shoot the Tuffy again (until I suggested they shoot it at arms length and then almost everyone wanted a go).

By the time we got through all of the guns it was 3pm. So we cleaned up and said goodbye to our visitors. A few of them asked for the date of the next one as they're looking forward to doing it again.

They're NOT CUTE and Cuddly

One of the things I really, really, REALLY don't like is seeing parents encouraging their kids to go up to Roos and hand feed them and pet them. People seem to forget that they're not domestic animals - actually, anyone who walks up to an unknown dog and starts petting it too is also likely in for a rude awakening one day ... but I digress.

In today's news we have:

Roo fight a knockout for lunchtime legend

EVEN after years playing football, ACT local David Striegl had never got into a fight - until he was knocked out cold by a rogue kangaroo.

Mr Striegl, 25, was running up the city's Mount Ainslie during his lunchbreak yesterday and did not think twice when he spotted one of the resident roos nearby.

The bushland reserve in the nation's capital is popular with joggers and cyclists, and assaults by the marsupials who share the mountain are rare.

Mr Striegl was knocked unconscious and remembers little about the attack.

"I turned around and before I knew it, it took a swipe at my face," he said.

A passing motorist roused the dazed and bloody victim and took him to hospital.

After x-rays and a tetanus shot he was able to go home with only a black eye to show for the encounter.

But he has now become something of legend at his corporate real estate office, where he returned to work the next day to discover he had a new nickname - "Skippy".

"I didn't want to wait til Monday to face the music," he said.

"The main thing they've been asking is whether I got one (punch) back on the roo.

"I can't even say that, because one punch and it put me to the floor.

"All my years of playing football and never a fight, and then I have a fight with a kangaroo."

So will Mr Striegl be running back to the area any time soon and risk a second round?

"Yeah, a few guys from work said they might come with me though," he laughed.

The attack comes a year after a crazed kangaroo crashed through a sleeping family's window at Garran, in Canberra's south, before going on a rampage through their home.

Beat Ettlin, his partner Verity Beman and their nine-year-old daughter Beatrix hid under blankets as the two-metre high animal jumped on top of them and gouged holes and their furniture.

Mr Ettlin eventually wrestled the thrashing animal and dragged it out of the house, saving his family from serious injury.

WILD animals are WILD animals and should always be treated as such.

From http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/roo-fight-a-knockout-for-lunchtime-legend/story-e6frfku0-1225842920645