Many moons ago, during my second year of employment as an educational consultant for a local municipality, a co-worker became the sponsor of a Japanese exchange student. During the brief conversations that I had with Jiro, I found him to be extremely intelligent, reticent, polite, and curious.
Although of medium height by American standards he was slightly built. Jiron quickly became addicted to American cuisine and began putting on weight. After several weeks in America his sponsor felt that he might be feeling a little homesick. To ease him through the transition period she prepared a traditional Japanese meal to celebrate his birthday, complete with all the trimmings and decorations. That afternoon she proudly ushered Jiro into the dining room and presented him with the carefully planned and prepared meal. After studying the table and it's spread of food for a moment he asked, "Where are the steak and potatoes?"
Later that fall, Jiro's sponsor approached me about taking him to my deer camp so that he could shoot a real gun. I thought it an odd request so I enquired as to the reason why Jiro had asked to do this. As it turned out, he was a member of a "gun club" in Japan. He later showed me a photograph of he and his fellow club members posing with various realistic appearing "non-guns." He explained that it was legal to be a member of such a club in Japan, but it was forbidden to fire a real weapon. He had asked his sponsor if she knew of anyone who would be willing to take him somewhere so that he could fulfill his dream of firing a real firearm. So she had approached me.
So, I loaded up a .22 caliber rifle and a .308 and took him to my deer camp. We walked some trails through the woods, which was a unique experience for him, and then fired the .22 at some tin cans. He declined to shoot the .308 after I fired it once to familiarize him with its report and recoil. Nevertheless, he was delighted with the experience. His sponsor told me that it was one of the high points of his stay in the United States. Jiro later attended my wedding shortly before his return to Japan.
So, you see, it is possible to derive simple pleasure from firearms without posing a danger to oneself or to those around you. It was my privilege to help Jiro fulfill his long-time dream. I never saw Jiro again.
I have heard that he recently became the military dictator of a small southeast Asian country.
Regards, Shuckins
