Just having a gun in your house raises the probability by a factor of nearly three that someone who lives there will be shot. According to one study, a gun in a home is a lot more likely to be involved in the death of a family member than an intruder. Keeping a gun around to ward off thugs is about as stupid, statistically, as not wearing a seat belt because of the very rare accident where you'd have been better off tossed out of the car. OK, I've heard all this propaganda.
But I love guns. I enjoy the discipline of always being aware of where they're pointed. I crave the look and heft and feel of wood and steel – especially those heavy, precision-milled and precisely turned parts of fine blued metal. I savor the stillness required to fire a gun accurately, the achievement of utter calm at the crucial moment. I appreciate the smell of gun oil, the peaceful evenings waxing the deep finish of a walnut stock, the well-defined sound of the weapon being cocked, the ability to be here and affect something there.
There is a way to give in to this gun lust without inviting mortal danger – and at the same time own some of the most accurate lead-throwing devices in the world. The best of these guns, if aimed at a given point, will place every shot within .04 of an inch at 10 meters. If someone asks you to shoot a horsefly on a nearby tree, you would be justified in asking, "In which eye?"
Instead of powder-activated weapons, I'm talking about precision air rifles. These guns are nonlethal: If you were to shoot somebody in the chest at close range, it could certainly raise a welt or make the victim bleed (and there's always the danger of putting someone's eye out), but it would be nearly impossible to kill a person with one.
A far cry from the sheet-metal and plastic Daisy BB guns of yesteryear, these air rifles are testaments to fine workmanship. My favorite, because it is unsurpassed in accuracy and doesn't require air tanks or C02 cartridges, is the Feinwerkbau 300S. It is a pleasure to shoot. It is nearly silent, and the whole barrel moves back like a cannon's to absorb the recoil. Models range in price from about US$1,200 to $1,400.
My favorite pistol, the nearly dead-silent and spectacularly accurate Feinwerkbau 65Mk II, is a joy to handle (about $1,100). Visually the most impressive is the hypermodern Feinwerkbau C02-operated Model C55. It would look right at home on a cyberfiction set or in a Batman movie. It's only .01 inch less accurate than the 65Mk II and can handle a five-shot magazine. It sells for about $1,600. The more civilized gun shops have them, but a catalogue is also available.
Beeman Precision Airguns: (800) 227 2744, +1 (714) 890 4800, fax +1 (714) 890 4808.
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