Guns An Age-Old Part Of Family Culture In Appalachia
By Andre Teague/Bristol Herald Courier
Todd Sutherland of Gunslingers in Kingsport shows a selection of revolvers and semi-automatic handguns that are popular for home-defense and concealed-carry use.
The first thing Karla Schmutzler did after shooting her first deer was text message her friend, Todd Sutherland, who was in his Kingsport gun store with a customer at the time.
“I got hooked. Big time,” Schmutzler said. “You know, all the guys would go hunting, and it never really occurred to me to ask to go along. Because, you know, it’s a guy thing.”
But then she went with them.
In Appalachia, guns are an age-old part of family culture. “Down here, we’re mostly pro-gun. It’s part of who we are,” said Sutherland, who owns the Gunslingers store on East Stone Drive in Kingsport.
“There is nothing more fun than going to the range on a Saturday morning and plinking away with your kids,” he said. “It’s good clean fun.”
Bill Miller, a local National Rifle Association board member and gun club president, estimates that 85 percent of folks in Appalachia are in some way involved in a firearms sport. And, he said, Schmutzler represents the fastest-growing demographic: women.
By the handfuls, women are joining one of the oldest, richest and most cohesive communities in the region. “Women are saying, ‘We’re gonna take care of ourselves,’ ” Miller said.
In recent months, the thriving community of gun enthusiasts has been rattled by the election of President-elect Barack Obama and what it might mean for their favorite pastimes. Gun enthusiasts across the nation are stocking up on ammunition and guns, citing concerns about higher taxes and fearing future bans on some of their favorite weapons.
On the second full weekend after the election, more than 4,000 people attended a gun show at the Meadowview Conference Resort & Convention Center in Kingsport.
“We had an extremely large crowd compared to normal,” said Jeremy Pearson, manager of the RK gun show held Nov. 15-16. “It was the best one we’ve had here this year.”
And on Tuesday of that week, a group of old friends sat together in the clubhouse at the Kettlefoot Rod and Gun Club, sipping Styrofoam cups of coffee and exhaling laughter in toasty puffs of air. At the mention of Obama, one said: “Don’t even get me started.”
Perhaps most frustrating to local enthusiasts isn’t the upcoming threat, but that the frenzy is a mere symptom of the deep-seated frustration gun lovers have felt for decades of what they call a lack of understanding and prejudice from anti-gun camps.
“All through history, people have been afraid of what they don’t understand,” Sutherland said. “Taking guns away from us, all you effectively do is disarm honest people, because the criminal isn’t going to turn in his gun.”
At the Kettlefoot club, friends Wayne Wills and Terry Lovins, both lifelong members, talked about their club and the role it plays in their lives. Wills carried a manila envelope holding printouts of his favorite Thomas Jefferson quotes on the Second Amendment. He also brought National Security Council statistics that ranked hunting as one of the safest sports around.
“See, you’re more likely to get injured playing basketball,” he said.
Kettlefoot is the area’s largest gun club, stretching over 400 acres of wooded, mountain land in Washington County, Va. The club has about 800 members, 100 of whom have been there more than 20 years. The club boasts facilities for practically every avenue of the sport – a virtual playland for archers, hunters and competitive shooters, to name a few. Once a month, the club hosts a shooting event where families gather over warm meals and friendly competition.
“You come out here and you say, ‘I’m gonna shoot skeet today.’ And there’s four or five guys out there with you. One of them is a businessman, like me – we both run body shops,” Wills said. “And the other guy is a brain surgeon.
“Shooters are just people,” Wills said. “They’re just people with their hobby.”
At Sutherland’s Kingsport store, the owner is trying to keep up with increased business that has nearly tripled in recent weeks. He’s enjoying the profits, he said, but not the reason behind them.
“It’s good now, but it could hurt later,” he said.
“We’ve got regular guys who come in here often, and they don’t buy something every time,” Sutherland said. “It’s a community. They like coming here because they’re part of something. And everybody likes to feel a part of something. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Schmutzler and her husband took a hunting trip to Texas to celebrate their wedding anniversary this year. Not only does she enjoy the sport with her husband, but it’s a family affair. Between them, they have eight children – girls and boys – and all of them hunt, she said. All but one of their kids have grown up and moved away.
“We go with our teenage son, and we laugh at all the weird stuff the animals do,” she said. “Half the fun is just calling the animals and seeing them. It’s not just about shooting.”
Yet across the board, the overriding sentiment is not that a hobby is under attack, but what the hobby means to the people who love it. The Second Amendment is part of American heritage and freedom, many said. When folks attack guns, they attack a way of life.
“Every freedom we have today was won by someone who knew how to use a firearm,” Sutherland said. “The Second Amendment is the one that stands when all the others fail.”
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Reader Reactions
Oh Billy, Have you no mercy? I dont think I will survive that last dagger of yours, (Child) Thou hast cleft my heart in twain.
And your microbes to humans comparison? Oh that just cut the legs right out from under me. I hadn’t considered it before, but now I will be haunted in my sleep with the image of you laughing with a shoe killing one ant at a time. You probably won’t even use a shoe, dont you pull the legs off one at a time first? Where is the pleasure of an instant death?
I feel so terrible now that any reference to anything that could be cared for has been outlawed by you to make a comparison.
Because obviously your point of view is the only one that can be allowed. I give up, the world is flat, I will no longer mention anything about the world being round cause I know it scares you.
Come on Billy, millions of disease ridden starving people. Population explosion beyond control. Land and environments devastated to the point that it wont support any life.
Dont you think we should be the controling factor there too? We could load a big tanker up with pick-up trucks and shotguns, and yall could have a big old party. The blood would be no more red than any other creature. Then pain would be no less real. The fear and desperation would be no more or less than every other time you step into the forest. You may as well do the world some good and have a big old time to boot. What-a ya say Billy? Can I get a big-ol “Yee Haw”?
Millions of disease ridden starving people. Bunch of yahoos with guns playing God. Show me a difference.
I am very familiar with cats. They do serve a purpose, but people who harbor them and let them wander about the community killing are irresponsible also. Cats that are used to keep rodent populations down, ones that feed themselves on what they kill are a functional part of the world, not like the ones that have been domesticated and are fed all they need and still kill just because it is fun. They are the same as the “Human Sport hunters” I am surprised that you actually handed that one to me.
You have still yet to answer any of my questions. How would you feel. because those reasons are the same reasons where I get my reasons and emotions. I have every right to protect those I care about just as much as you have the right to protect what you care about.
How would you feel when that hunter who has just “hunted” your daughter,
(there is no murder in hunting by your definition is there Billy?)
tells you that he has spent thousands of dollars on guns and camouflage just so that he can get cheap meat. Then of course after he has mounted your daughter on his wall, and picked out a couple of the better cuts of meat, that he may or may not actually eat. or just turn it to jerky or sausage, then he will of course throw the rest of her body to the dogs.
Won’t you be so honored to know that her life meant do much to the world?
You wont have any thoughts of placing judgment on the “hunter” will you? Because from your own words,
“What business is that of yours. I don’t pass judgment on other people financial decisions.“
You know, I wouldn’t pass judgment either, I would just think it is Karma coming around to where it belongs. Its just sad that your daughter -who hated the thought of you killing things in the first place, would be the one to have to pay to teach you about what you are doing.
See, unlike you, I address your questions and viewpoints Billy. Are you going to actually read my posts and answer any off my questions? Or are you still going to practice your dancing skills for “Star Search”.
Oh Eddie. You see child, you are trying to force me to accept YOUR standards without giving me any reason to do so other than “Eddie says so”. I DO NOT hold all life to have the same value so all your perverse examples do not apply or trouble me any more than your insults. By your standards I must truly be a monster for I have killed microbes by the billions, and if those ants or termites invade my space I will slaughter them by the millions. I truly wonder how you manage to survive with your strong morals. For if the life of an ant is the same as a man then you must surely give them your home if they want it , for their millions outweigh your one. I wonder. By your standards all cats are wicked murderers, for they most assuredly kill for fun. You must hate them above all creatures, well aside from us hick hunters of course. But you see the truth is your logic cannot stand, on the one hand you insist we are no more than any other animal, then you hold us to a higher standard.
Another interesting point. How many millions of people on earth are staving????? Think very hard and long on that note. Then think about your idea of how you feel other creatures must be managed. Do you feel that there needs to be an open season applied to humans too? Disease, starvation, devastation of millions of acres that could be used for killing other animals right?
Here is a scenario, you have no hunting sign posted on your property. So you dont have to worry about anyone there, but there is a guy across the street with a high powered rifle and he is waiting for your little girl to wander out of your yard. Do you have the right to be upset because he is controlling the population? I dont see any other conclusion that you could possibly come up with using your logic. You wouldn’t be upset with anyone who would shoot someone you care about because it is fun now would you. Remember, they are controlling overpopulation, and keeping people from starving. What they are doing is a service to nature. So they deserve your respect and admiration. Isnt that right? Wouldnt it be cool to see your daughter above someones fireplace, all of her teeth exposed and her fingers all curled like she is so evil? Wouldnt you be so proud?
That is what I meant when I said that when a mountain lion kills a child it is the same as when it kills a rabbit. I would not lament a human being used for food any more than I would a skunk.
You really keep sticking to the story of the hunters paying money for land and the whole hunting adventure. Where is this property where hunting money has purchased? Are there ferris wheels with animals tied to it that go round and round as people laugh and have a gay old time as the brains of the animals are blown out? “Wow, great shot Cody! look how it is convulsing and its eyes are bugging out! Isn’t this fun?! lets go get some ice cream!“
Here are some cold hard facts for you, life does not only apply to human form. And no, there is NO difference between human life and animal life. Haven’t you even come close to getting that point already?
If I were starving and it were a matter of survival, I would stop a beating heart to survive. It does not matter if it is a human heart or the heart of a rabbit. I will survive. That is the motivation of any other creature on the face of the earth.
I care about life, and I have every right to be upset and to “Impose my standards” on those who would end it for the sake of a laugh.
If I decided to blow your children’s heads off just because I thought it would be fun, would you not have any right to say “No this isn’t right”?
If I have no right to stand up against hunting for “fun” you have no right to say please dont kill my children, or your brother’s children or any human on the face of the earth. You would just be a big old ignorant spoil-sport. Everyone would just call you a a-hole, or a child-hugger. Your heart and your mind just doesn’t count because it interferes with their “fun”.
But really, do you think you would even care what other people thought? Do you you think you would have the right to loath those who hate you for caring about anyone else but yourself? Would you speak out against what you know in your heart to be filthy and wrong?
Well, I dont care either, and if you pick up a gun and shoot anything “for fun” take a wild guess at what I will think about your level of character. Trust me it won’t be anywhere near the level of respect that I have for natural creatures.
Human or not, you are a lower form of life than any other creature. So really, if I had to make a decision, it would be the you before the rabbit. Because then I would be making a positive contribution to the world. There are far too many humans as it is. If there is a desperate need for any population control, it is of the human form. But what do you think of a bunch of yahoo’s with guns hunting for “fun” deciding on who lives or dies? I really really want an answer to that one. Would you consider that barbaric? Oh no, not if someone is having fun, then there is no harm is there? We are just following our nature, not to mention our God complex.
Again, The only reason that there is no murder charge with animals, is because they have no value to the state. When they start earning income, trust me, there will be a murder charge associated with them.
If kangaroos dominated the world, murder would only apply if a kangaroo were killed. A human would not even get the time of day. There-fore the human definition of murder is just as ignorant as murder only applying to kangaroos.
The world is filled with creatures that blow man’s abilities completely out of the water, in almost every way conceivable. There are creatures who build cities that have air conditioning, and heating, who grow crops and harvest them to feed upon, and to feed the livestock that are managed in separate parts of the cities, and the livestock are milked and the milk is fed to the young.
Still think we are so special? All this is done with a brain smaller than the head of a pin.
You speak of in Florida when overpopulation happened and speak of wasting disease. The two are related. When any animal overpopulates and overcrowds, eventually nature corrects this situation either by starvation or disease. With humans it is all we can do to stay ahead of this problem, and most likely we will eventually lose the battle in some fashion. With animals we can either stand by and watch then die of starvation and disease, or we can manage the populations to keep them below those critical levels. To hire professional killers to do that we would have to remove money from social programs for humans. At the same time we would have to come up with even more money to sustain the lands for the wildlife without the sportsmans dollars. When things get tight, as they are likely to soon, how long do you think it will be before the public demands we stop wasting money on animals and spend it on the children and education of the poor people in Appalachia ?
“What about the fact that people spend thousands of dollars on hunting equipment and then turn around and say that it is to they can get cheap food?“—You want me to answer that. Simple. The answer is,What business is that of yours. Submit your personal budget to me and I will go through it and decide what YOU are wasting money on. I don’t pass judgment on other people financial decisions.
“I am not imposing my morals on anyone you stupid ignorant piece of garbage! I am stating a FACT!“ You are making value judgments. Murder is a moral issue. To say that killing a rabbit is the same as killing a human is a moral judgment. As such, if other people are to accept it, it must be based on something more substantial than. “Eddie says so.“ And you give evidence that you do not accept your own standard. You say killing animals is the same as killing humans, But you say killing animals for food is justified. Do you then justify killing humans for food ? Or do you recognize there is a difference between a human life and an animal life ?
I am sorry JH for going off like that, you made a great post and provided credible facts. I remember the deer population in Florida, wasting disease I think they call it. But the reality is I really think it shouldn’t be left up to a bunch of jokers with guns to have a party to keep population under control. Just as there is someone who euthanizes the cattle when they are brought in, there should be a dignified way of controlling that too. It isn’t rocket science.
I spent time in Alaska with the bears there, and yes bears can be VERY frightening. But I still would live in a world that actually has them. There are bear in Virginia now, and 20 years ago, there were ZERO.
You are correct, not all hunters are immoral, just the ones that hunt for fun.
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