Couch Commando or something more?

I work in the firearms industry, and I consider myself very lucky to do so. How I got here I'm still really not sure to be honest. To go from working in the heart of Southern California at Walt Disney Imagineering, to central Kentucky with Remington Arms Co and now northern Alabama at their new facility has been one heck of a crazy ride.

Image Courtest of JurisMagazine.Com

Interestingly enough though, one thing that I've really begun to realize as I become more and more immersed in my work and surrounded by people who eat breath and sleep gun knowledge, is how little I really know.

Up until getting my job with Remington my primary gun knowledge was knowing just exactly what was and wasn't within the limits of California's arcane and draconian firearms laws. You can have features A, B, or C, but never any two of them together, except on Sundays, when you can have none of them, unless you're 300 feet from a church in which case your going to jail. Because really they made about that much sense. But I had to know them if I wanted to be able to safely own and operate the guns that were becoming more and more a center piece of my life.

Out here though, owning a gun is about as easy as buying a gallon of milk. So there's no need to memorize laws and penal code sections for quote should I ever get bothered. People here who want to see my gun are honestly curious about what I'm carrying and why I've gone with that specific brand. Moreover than that, people here have been using firearms for generations as a way to put food on the table and provide for their family.

Opinions about guns are born from experience and generations of loyalty, not what looked the coolest or worked the best in this years Call of Duty franchise.

Image Courtesy of VG24/7.com

Interestingly enough, this brings me to a point that this image showcases so well. Most people look at the picture and think "Oh cool, I need me one of those!" and a few short months ago I would have thrown myself in with them. Now I look at it and can't but wonder "Why does he have a standard A2 front sight when he's running suppressed? He needs an adjustable gas block or he's so over-gassed that suppressor isn't doing him any good!"

And that's exactly the difference that I'm running up against now. It's no longer about looking cool (although let's just be honest that there will always be an element of that present) but now it's about what really is functional and helpful. And the people out here are much the same way, their gun is a tool that they use to hunt, not a status symbol that they take to the range.

It's really worked to change the way I've approached my rifles. What am I hoping to do with them at the end of the day? That's what I need to build them for.