When your dad wants to buy you a gun

So my dad is totally pro gun - like NRA supporter pro gun.  And all my life I've been around guns.  Shot guns mostly & I've even shot them on several occasions throughout my life.  Times are different of course, but I always remember dad having a hand gun in his dresser drawer... & Jeremy & I were threatened within an inch of our lives that we were NEVER to touch it.

Guess what?

We NEVER touched it.

 When I was there for lunch last week & he said, 'You know Jaime - I've been thinking - with you living in the country like you do - you need a gun.  Would you use a gun if I bought you one?'

I'm sure I've told you I'm not comfortable with guns.  They make me nervous.  (I mean I like to be in control & all but life & death is a bit too much control for me!)  And after all I've only lived in the country for 17 years - I'm not sure why he decided now I need protection but whatever...

I also don't like to accept things from anyone really - but especially him because it always comes w/ a price.  The price is usually him bugging the hell out of you about the recent 'gift' & then if you don't do what he wants/says/thinks he gets pissed & yells.  And I don't like the yelling.   Plus I feel like I can't really say no when he wants me to look up movie stars on the internet to see:

a) if they're dead

b) if they are, in fact - dead; WHEN did they die?

c) where were they born?

SO-mom is behind him shaking her head fervently YES to take the gun & I knew that if B-rad found out dad was willing to buy me a gun & I said no he would kill me.  

B-rad's plan has been to get me a revolver because it's very simple - you point, you pull the trigger. No clip, no slide thingie to pull back to put one in the chamber to be ready to shoot (I have trouble w/ that because I'm weak...) & there are no jams like an automatic.  It worked out that the gun Dad had seen in the Bass Pro ad to get me was a revolver.  He had picked out a Taurus Ultra lite 38 special because it would 'be perfect to put it in my purse.'  (He even told me how to hold my purse on my elbow so I could easily access my gun if needed.  I kid you not...)

We quickly decided we would go the next night to buy it after work & I would pick him up at 5:00.  THEN the demands started, 'call them & ask them how many days you have to wait if you have your conceal carry?'  

'Call to see how many they have in stock'  '

'Text Jer to see if he wants to go with us.'

And who am I to say no? - he's buying me a gun for crying out loud.  And this was all going on while I was still there for lunch - what I haven't told you about yet is the 3 extra phone calls I got AFTER that telling me to call them (again) & have them hold the gun (I got told that twice) & to tell Jer we'll be at his house around 5:30 (after I already told Jer that.)  He had me so rattled when he called one day at lunch while I was running errands I left my debit card at the drive thru of the bank.  THAT was fun...

So myself, mom, dad & Jer went in town that Friday night & ya'll - whoever says it's 'easy' to get a gun is lying.  It took about 30-45 minutes total, but there are lots of steps.  It's not like I walked in & said, "I want that one", they rang it up & we were out the door.  I had to submit my info online & answer all the questions.  Then it shows all the questions you just answered & shows you your answers & says, 'is that correct or in-correct?' & you have to say if it's correct or incorrect for every.single.question.   After the background check comes out ok, the sales person prints everything out & he looks over every.single.word   I had to read over a couple more forms & then sign & date.  THEN he calls a manager over so he can review every.single.word..

NOW-for those of you who know my dad - well THIS sent him over the edge. And in a voice that he didn't care if everyone in the store heard him:

'What the HELL is taking so long?'  

'WHAT are they waiting for?'

'I NEVER had to do this when I bought guns.'

He was scoping out ammo prices while we waited.  In his BEST whisper (which isn't a whisper at all) 'Honey do you know how much they want for a box of shells here?  $35.00 dollars!  We'll go to Walmart & look...'

Since dad was paying for the gun, also peppered in this time was him trying to give the salesman his license & check & Bass Pro rewards card to pay, to which I had to say, "Dad - WAIT.  He's not ready for all that yet."

After we finished at Bass Pro we stopped for dinner then we took Jeremy home.  Mom & dad recently had his dog for a week while he was out of town for a race so they wanted to visit w/ her.  Then we had to go outside to see his herd of chickens...

When you're driving your mid 60 to mid 70 year old parents around you have to find a radio station from their era.  I swear to you my radio has never EVER been on '60's on 6'...

Dad said, 'What the HELL are you doing?'

Me:  "Taking a picture."

Dad:  'A PICTURE?  Of the RADIO?'

Me:  "Yes"

OK so if you don't know (I didn't) there is no waiting period for a handgun as long as your background check comes back ok so I was able to take my gun home right then.  When I got home from town B-rad & I eventually headed to the lake.  

(I have to tell you this story to finish up the 'dad buying me a gun' story...)

We decided to visit a different river on Saturday because we may be moving the houseboat somewhere else.  It's a long story that no one cares about, but if we actually do move I'll tell you the boring story.

ANYWAY-we were going to take little boat & since for the last 7 years we've only driven it from the storage place that's right across the street from the loading dock so the trailer wasn't in tip top shape.  Poor B-rad always gets stuck working on something.  The trailer lights didn't work & we hadn't put new tags on it since 2014.  We had bought & paid for them, just never put the plate on since we never take it more than right across the street.

We spent the day at Green River & scoped out a new sight we may want for the houseboat.  I don't normally get to see our boat out of the water on the trailer so I snapped a pic.

While we were on the trip to Green River, dad called me 3 times.  And I'm sure the calling stopped only because I finally texted mom to tell her we were at the lake & didn't get good service but to tell dad I got his messages & I would talk to him Monday.

To correspond w/ the 3 calls, I had 3 messages.  The first one was the longest then the other 2 were basically the same & were a quick, 3 second snippet of what the first one had said.  And you are in luck because I Googled the HELL out of 'how to upload a M4.A file to blogger.  It's a bit of a pain, but it will be SO worth it... You can here dad's first voice mail here.  (You have to click on the link below the 'here', then click on vmail071616 on the left side.  Click download & depending on your operating system either windows media player will come or iTunes will launch.  

Enjoy the 43 seconds of goodness ya'll...

When I got to their house on Monday for lunch dad had my boxes of shells all ready.  One box is target shots & the other is 'for realsy' bullets.  He said, 'Honey-if you hit someone one good time w/ one of these it will take them down.  And like 'such & such' {I can't remember who he said} used to say, 'if you can't hit them w/ 5 shots - RUN.'

Currently the gun is in my purse, but it's not loaded.  I know, I KNOW - how dumb - but hear me out.  We've been so busy since the purchase that I haven't had a chance to have adult supervision (B-rad) around so I could shoot it at targets.  I feel like I should shoot it a few times before I load the damn thing w/ 'for realsy' bullets that could kill someone or me.   Mom showed me how to load & unload it so I've got that down.

Yes, I am super nervous about having it in my purse, but honestly I feel like it's a damn good thing I have it.  I want to be more comfortable w/ guns & I want to feel like I'm not a sitting duck for all the crazy psychos in the world.  I read recently that a lady here locally was leaving her house for work when a man pulled a gun on her & took her back into her home to rob her.  Now-I'm not saying I would know what the hell to do in that situation, but I feel like having a gun w/ me gives me a better chance of protecting/defending myself than not having one.

Wish me luck!