Talkin' Shit About A Pretty Sunset

My friend Colin owns more guns than anyone I know. And he's got some cool shit, especially a Type 56 -- a Chinese-made copy of Russia's AK-47.

Colin's dad scored this particular Type 56 when he was fighting in the Marine Corps in Nam. What makes this the coolest thing I've touched in a while is that Colin's old man had managed to confiscate that very weapon in 1968 during the Tet Offensive from some Viet Cong who had just been using it to shoot bullets at him!

It's an odd feeling to handle a weapon that has very likely killed humans -- and in this case, American soldiers. Shit, it may have even stabbed humans (notice the bayonet on the barrel there). I got the same eerie feeling when I fired rusty old machine guns at a shooting range a few years ago in Cambodia.

The older I get, the more I want a gun -- mainly, just to have one, but also for my once-a-year skeet shooting trip. The good news is that DC loosened their gun ownership restrictions; the bad news is there's no way in hell my wife will let me get one.