[gao8a]

Thank you for your opinion and service. I too served and was privileged be trained during relative peace time but also had the liberal budget thanks to the GWOT. Our country doesn’t really give out medals for just shooting, but my competence and appreciation in marksmanship is owed to the wonderful cadre I had teaching me, and their passion in marksmanship in addition to the weapon system.

I’m not going to deny your point on killing. That is one application of firearms, also a powerful one, but I don’t feel that’s a reason to absolutely prohibit them for the common folk. As we’re both on HN I’m sure you also don’t “get” why folks just love some things like I do.

For me it’s the history, appreciation of the engineering, and my now civilian hobbies of hunting and competition shooting. They are one of many things that bring me joy that I would hate to lose in my healthy years.