My father had spotted a good hat and decided to buy it. We went into the ‘sports shop’ which held all kinds of gear for outdoors activities: clothing and flashlights, but also knives and fishing rods. A row of hunting rifles and guns was displayed just behind the long counter.
The man behind the counter was in a good mood. He explained to everyone who passed by that it was wonderful how Talk Like a Pirate Day fell on the same day as Jewish new year, and greeted everyone with ARRRR! Oy!
When it was my turn I told him Arrrr! and said “Hold on sir, I have something to show you” before conjuring up the Dread Pirate Gavroche from my bag.
He was delighted. Would it be alright if I took a picture of the pirate in front of the rifles? It would be fine. In fact, the man would pose with the pirate himself! He did, once in front of the rack and once while holding the rifle with the pirate on top.
He told my parents about the gun laws in the United States and Colorado in particular. (Colorado is an ‘open gun’ state which means that you don’t need a permit as long as you carry the weapon visibly for everyone. Colorado is the state with the highest ‘concealed weapon’ permit percentage of the US.)
He had obviously told Europeans before because he also told us about the differences and history between the continents. You see, he said, the gun policies in Europe are different because historically the royalty wanted to keep firearms for themselves. The US, he explained, never had this kind of history. In fact, the US was a nation built on guns. Therefore, gun control was silly.
As he positioned the Dread Pirate on top of the rifle and posed proudly, I said to him: “Only in America!” He agreed.
(Stay updated on the Pirate's adventures through his very own blog on http://dreadpirategavroche.blogspot.com)
The Dread Pirate G looks entirely too giddy about all this gunsmithery...
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