Books and Bullets

Thought for the day: For many people, gun control means being able to hit the target.

Confession: I love target shooting. I'm pretty good, too, or at least, I used to be. It's been quite a while. But my favorite .22 Ruger pistol, with my initials engraved on a brass plate on the handle, is still in our gun safe. Ya never can tell when we might decide to hit the range again. (I'd still like to pull off that nifty Mel Gibson smiley face stunt ...)

And I also suffer from a life-long addiction to the written word.







So, naturally, an article in the Atlanta newspaper about a club called Girls, Guns, and Good Books kinda grabbed my interest by the collar and gave it a good shaking. Yup, sure enough, once a month, after this group of gals puts a hurting on some targets at the SharpShooters USA shooting range, they adjourn to the Peerless Book Store, where they discuss books over wine and cheese.

I mean, WOW! Talk about a ladies night out, huh?

WHAT? You don't think it's lady-like for women to shoot guns? You think it's a sign of today's rough and tumble world?

Tell it to this group of ladies from the 1920s.

Or this gal circa WWII.

Or these Southern belles featured in a documentary.

I'd say there's always been a certain number of women who've liked to shoot. Today's no different. Now that book club of lady shooters is certainly different. Might even be one of a kind. According to the newspaper article, these ladies especially enjoy reading a good mystery with a kick-butt heroine. No surprise there. But what songs do you think they like? May I suggest these:

• Janie's Got a Gun  [Aerosmith]
• Happiness is a Warm Gun  [Beatles]
• Pistol Packin' Mama  [Bing Crosby]
• I Didn't Know My Gun Was Loaded  [Andrews Sisters]
• Time to Get a Gun  [Fred Eagelsmith]
• Machine Gun  [Jimi Hendrix]

Can you think of any other songs that'd fill the bill? How about books? Maybe The Guns of Navarone? I'll betcha you guys and gals can load me up with some great suggestions. So shoot 'em at me. I can take it. And tell me, have you ever gone target shooting? (It's a gr-r-reat way to kill time.)

                                       Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.