Ironicwarcriminal posted:

Yeah I couldn’t believe it……you walk in off the street like any old fucker, fill in some form (‘one of the questions was literally ‘do you intend to shoot people with this gun’. They just give you the shit and walk out to the range: had a go at a glock, a ruger, a fully automatic MP5 and (my fave) an AR-15. It was really exhilarating and I got a hoodie (“GET SOME GUNS N AMMO, MURRAY UTAH”) and I worked out why: it wasn’t just the act of getting to shoot guns that you can’t have in Australia; more than that it was the sheer laxity and (at least perceived) irresponsibility. Even if you COULD shoot AR-15s here the paperwork, regulations, liability issues, media kerfuffles, precious liberals and police inpsections and suspicion would suck any possible fun out of it.

That was the big thing that surprised me: I assumed in many ways it would be like Australia with just bigger big-box stores and more SUVS but it was the lack of regulation and the sheer abundance of excess (guns, food, sprawl, TV) that amazed me.

I think a lot of people on the left fall intro the trap of seeing a tiresome ‘nanny state’ culture as being a figment of the right’s imagination but shooting, driving, shopping and drinking are way more fun when they’re not constantly being checked and curbed. The exception being medical care lol fuck your joke doctors I’ll take my UHC.

The other thing: out in those western states, it felt a loooooooonnng way from Washington DC and I totally see why people in Utah or Vegas don’t want Johnny Federal all up in their grill with wacky policies a bureaucrat scrawled on the back of a napkin in a Georgetown bar.

That's cool. Sounds like a lot of fun. Now you just need to put those guns to good use and go hunting.