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I came out as a shooter last night

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DrAmazon:
It must have been the wine...

For those of you that don't know, I'm a professor, and am in my first year of a new job at a small college in VA.  My colleagues are on the whole quite liberal, and I generally assume that they are anti-gun.  I tend to keep both my politics and my hobby on the "down low" when I'm in a new job, until I get the lay of the land, especially since neither are germaine to the courses I teach.

I've been hanging out with a colleague from another department for a couple of months.  I know that his politics are certainly well left of center.  Last night we were eating dinner at another colleagues home, and somehow we got on the subject of kids and guns.  My friend says something about "in my house kids just didn't touch the guns.  We learned it as toddlers and we never violated it".  He also volunteered that he really enjoyed target shooting as a kid, but wasn't into hunting.  When we got a moment alone, I outed myself, told him about the competative shooting, my Dad's gun shop/indoor range and my airgun range in my house.  I have to admit that he was a bit surprised, but didn't seem freaked out by it.  

So we'll see if I can get him out to the range with me sometime soon.  

Dr. A.

Old Dog:
Good luck with that.  Think you may end up being pleasantly surprised as far as just how many closet gun-guys (and gals) populate some college campuses these days.  

My father, recently retired as a professor of education at a state university in the midwest, and having had a position at another university prior to that, was always able to cultivate a couple groups of close friends who were into target shooting and hunting; a couple of his buddies were even major gun collectors.  As he has noted to me though, sometimes the disconnect appears when the issues of handguns and concealed carry are raised -- it seems some of the more liberal folks, even if they have favorable opinions on owning guns for hunting and shooting, draw the line at the concept of every citizen being allowed to "pack heat."

TarpleyG:
Good for you.  Me, personally, I could give a rat's ass who knows I shoot, regardless of the environment.  I am doing nothing illegal or immoral and I am frankly sick of "gun ownership" being akin to leprosy.  They can all bite me for all I care and God help them if I ever get fired over it.

Greg

DrAmazon:

--- Quote from: TarpleyG ---Good for you.  Me, personally, I could give a rat's ass who knows I shoot, regardless of the environment.  I am doing nothing illegal or immoral and I am frankly sick of "gun ownership" being akin to leprosy.  They can all bite me for all I care and God help them if I ever get fired over it.

GregI totally agree about being sick of it, but I figure that doing things this way, I make friends and meet people without having the "gun nut" label stuck on my forehead.  Then once they know me and find out that I'm a shooter, I've already made an impression on them as being friendly, normal (ok, normal for a college professor), polite, responsible etc etc.  I've already destroyed their stereotype of  gun nut.  

Kind of like being a Christian and evangelizing, not by screaming on streetcorners or handing out tracts, but by the example of how you live your life.

Sorry if this post wasn't lucid.  Working on lecture notes for a tedious topic has my brain very fuzzy.

mtnbkr:

--- Quote ---I'm a professor, and am in my first year of a new job at a small college in VAIf you don't mind me asking, which school and where?

Curious because I've lived in several parts of Va...

Chris

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