Hi Steemers,

My name is Nick Maher and this is my first post on Steemit! I heard about this joint through getting into the wild world of amateur crypto trading about a month ago (it's frigging hectic).

I have decided to join the Steemit community to share my cultural adventures in the often unseen side of America, which I embarked on with a couple of mates for the purpose of filming the documentary series Unplanned America.

The USA can be a very confronting and eye-opening place... And we came across many definitions of the word 'freedom'.

So here we go! I'm excited to hear what the community thinks about my stories.

As Australians it is safe to say the whole issue of gun use and gun laws are foreign to us. But firearms are woven into the history of the United States, and massive amounts of gun deaths every year keep the issue on American minds and in headlines every day. Being generally anti-gun ourselves, we decided to venture deep into enemy territory and speak to those who would be willing to fight to the death to keep their way of life.

TANKS FOR THE MEMORIES

The first place we visited was a Disneyland of violence that it was hard to believe actually existed. ‘Drive-A-Tank’ is out in the middle of nowhere - freezing cold rural Kasota, Minnesota. As you can guess by Drive-A-Tank’s name it ‘s a warfare wonderland where the unlicensed and unqualified, ie us, can remarkably drive a frigging tank. Or 3.

Owner Tony Borglum is the man responsible for giving this particular 37 year old man his first even gun to shoot.

The fact that I was an armed violence virgin at my age surprised Tony, he himself first owning and caring for a firearm as a youngster, the first of dozens of deadly weapons he has owned. The gun he gave me to blast my cherry off the face of the earth was pretty cool I have to say.

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A vintage ‘Sten’ sub-machinegun with a rich story. The British made them for just a few pounds during WWII and airdropped them to the French resistance who used the simple but powerful weapons in guerilla fighting against the Nazi invaders. When I shot the gun the rapid pop pop pop of the bullets down the the indoor range was deeply satisfying and the exploding gunpowder smelled like romantic, noble revolution. The action movie-loving 8 year old boy in side of me was in heaven.

But when the next weapon came out, shit got real, and kick-ass elation turned to sickening shock.

The Geneva convention states that the giant Barrett M82A1 must not be shot at a human being - Its considered a war crime.
For a rare moment, we were speechless.

"So why does the weapon exist?".

Tony replied it is to shoot at ‘material’. Like a building or vehicle or army equipment - even military issued zippers or military issued glasses. And if a human happened to be attached to that equipment, well it might be the case that the massive 50 caliber bullets accidentally ensure that human becomes nothing more than “red mist”.

One by one we leant over the huge weapon and pulled the trigger, and each time everyone within a two meter radius felt a shock wave from the barrel like a punch in the chest. Boom! And the chilling thought of a cloud of red mist left behind was felt in the pit of my stomach.

So why do Americans love guns? Why the hell do they need them? Why do they take such joy in owning and shooting these things, which so many Australians would be terrified to even touch.

As Tony prepared our tanks for the next phase in our testosterone fuelled fun park adventure we started discussing America’s love affair with firearms, and the issue started to get a lot more complicated than....

"Why don’t you just ban guns?’"

First Tony explained to us that due to prevalence of violent crime in the States, and given the remote location of his own home, that you would be crazy not to have a gun. If an armed intruder broke into his house to kill Tony’s loved ones, by the time the county sheriff eventually got there, he would be trying to solve a slaying, not prevent one.

A second point that Tony explained was that there are so many guns in the USA it would take a government generations to entirely rid the nation of them. And most gun owners would never agree to it, indeed many would respond in violence. This point is key. Once you realize the guns are here to stay, the issue gets infinitely more complicated.

THE GUNSLINGERS

The next group of presumed ‘gun nuts’ we spent time with was the Virginia Open Carry group.

Remarkably, in many states in the USA it is totally legal to openly carry a firearm on your hip.

Without a license of any kind.

This immediately conjures up images of a lawless wild west that has no place in modern civilized society. And these guys were the fastest gunslingers in town. We sat down for a lunch of BBQ ribs (what else) with the open-carriers and found them to be intelligent and thoughtful in their views.

Not a nut amongst them.

But each was staunchly attached to their view and their gun and would never ever let go. It’s the opinion of these guys that the tragic daily mass shootings in the USA are the result of a mental health problem in America not a gun problem and that the government misdirects the public so as not to have to tackle the more complex and expensive issue.

Where it gets tricky for our weapons-brandishing friends, however, is while they agree that psychologically disturbed people are the ones that carry out mass murders, they still have a constitutional right to own a gun - and what's more a God given right to privacy that means the government shouldn’t be allowed to dig into their backgrounds when they want to purchase a firearm. Another stalemate.

METAL MILITIA

The final group we shot the shit out of a bunch of cans (and a giant stuffed frog toy) with were the ones we were most scared of before we met them.

The Texas State Militia – a self styled army consisting of ex-military men who have armed themselves to the hilt to protect the American way of life.

We were expecting racist rednecks, paranoid about Muslims and Mexicans taking over their country. This was far from the case. When we spoke to Matt, the young leader of the 1100 strong group we found an ex-soldier who feels deep guilt for the things he did in Iraq and thinks that the USA’s wars in the middle east are based on government lies.

His group for now however is still keen to work with the government like a terrifying Neighborhood Watch, until such a time where the government stops respecting the rule of law.

And herein lies the crux of the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, the part that most non-American's don’t understand.

All of those we spoke to believe that it is a citizen’s duty, as explicitly stated in the founding document of the United States, to be armed in order to keep the government in check.
That the country was founded after their British rulers became corrupt and dangerous to the people and an armed uprising saved a whole nation from tyranny.
And they believe it will happen again, the government will turn on its people just like every single empire in history.
And when this happens, if in their lifetime, our new friends would be ready to protect their freedom and that of their loved ones and neighbours.

History has proved they might even stand a decent chance, especially as there are more guns than people in the USA. However with so many guns, such a history of glamorized violence, and no clear and present danger of murderous tyranny, the people of the United States have turned their weapons on each other - pulled the trigger thousands of time over - and don’t seem to be stopping any time soon. How to end gun violence is one of the most serious and complex problems this country faces. And the most unique to the “land of the free”.

Oh yeah I forgot to tell you what happened when Tony wheeled out the tank for us. He also wheeled out a Volvo about 10 meters directly in front of it. He gave us a 2 minute tank driving lesson and said climb in. And to the unbridled joy of that action movie-crazy 8 year old inside of me, we crushed the shit out of that sedan …. in slow motion.!

And if you have Netflix you can see this in all it's glory on our show Unplanned America https://www.netflix.com/watch/80102452

Thanks very very much for reading! Excited to hear feedback about content, formatting, whatever.

Cheers!
Nick