Bullet Boy on Shooting Sports

Liberal Democrat and 2nd Amendment supporters are probably a minority in most circles.   I am sure there are lots of both that just haven’t announced themselves like Jane Gabriele the star of a Democrat and Chronicle’s article, “Sports shooting: Fairport mom hits target in life, on range“.   The article shows an unlikely mother of 4, known Liberal Democrat, Jefferson Award winner for community service, NRA & Boy Scouts of America certified in Shotgun-Pistol-Archery instruction, and a 2nd Amendment rights supporter.

The article just goes to further my point I began discussing in the post about “Barack Obama Presidency and Guns“.   In order for the Gun Ownership movement to be effective in politics people like Jane Gabriele need to be won over.

Article from Democrat and Chronicle -

Sports shooting: Fairport mom hits target in life, on range

December 14, 2008

After watching Jane Gabriele’s work on the rifle and pistol range, a male friend gave her a ball cap printed with the words: “Shoot Like a Girl — If You Can.”

“We bring different strengths to the sport,” says the Fairport attorney, wife and mother of four boys as we sit and chat on a sunny day at the Genesee Conservation League in Penfield.

“Women have traditionally handled firearms. It’s not always easy. The kickbacks on some of the things these guys bring here can knock you on your butt.”

Especially when you’re all of 5-foot-1, 104 pounds.

At GCL, one of the area’s finest shooting facilities, members eye targets with everything from .22 caliber pistols and rifles to 44 magnums and .306s. Gabriele is a frequent guest of friends Joe Pera and Frank LaManna, who always leave somewhat in awe of her.

“One day, Frank had a .357 handgun which he can use expertly at 50 yards,” Pera says. “Jane was looking longingly at Frank who asks, ‘You want to shoot this thing?’ She said, ‘Yes,’ and she handled it beautifully. She’s tiny and I thought it would knock her on her backside, but she had no problem and emptied the gun. She’s an amazing lady.”

In more ways than being a crack shot.

In a few short years since taking up the shooting sports, Gabriele, 47, has become a National Rifle Association and Boy Scouts of America certified instructor in rifle, shotgun and archery.

As a lawyer working for the Empire Justice Center, a nonprofit legal firm, she targets issues ranging from predatory mortgage lending to special education on behalf of folks with limited resources.

She’s a recipient of a Jefferson Award for community service, and as a member of the Democrat and Chronicle’s Citizen Impact Team, she has penned powerful opinions on subjects as varied as gun control, school safety, transportation services for the disabled and use of nuclear power.

Let’s just say that conversations with Jane Gabriel are thoughtful, passionate — and never dull.

Clearly, though, she most enjoys talking about the family she nurtures.

Husband John Gabriele, a rock of support, is the head of the piano department at School for the Arts, someone more interested in keys than calibers, and that’s OK.

Two older sons from her first marriage are off and running. Tim, 24, a Rochester Institute of Technology computer science graduate, works for Harris Corporation. Christopher, 20, is studying chemistry at Geneseo and wants to teach.

Meanwhile, Anthony, 15, and Mark, 11, fill what gaps remain in mom’s hectic schedule with school, scouting, sports and music lessons. And if all this isn’t enough, Gabriele is a caregiver for her 78-year-old mother, Teresa Knapp, a dialysis patient.

“Jane just cares about people. She’s a sweetheart and the more you get to know her, the more you love her,” says Pera, a retired Xerox engineer, trumpet teacher and longtime family friend.

A small woman with big ideals. You could say she’s a real pistol.

OK. So how does a liberal-minded, nonprofit attorney become a gun-owning Second Amendment advocate?

Gabriele says with a big smile that she’s “the affirmative action” arm of her political bent. Someone who believes strongly that more education not more regulation is the key to preserving America’s sport shooting heritage while curtailing gun accidents, violence and crime.

“Sometimes the greatest handicap that we as liberal Democrats have is that we want to fix things and help people,” Gabriele says. “Guns … have been characterized as inherently evil, but they’ve been part of our culture as long as we’ve have had a culture. They are a useful tool and a source of pleasure — as well as a dangerous weapon.

“Keeping it in perspective, so are knives and cars and a lot more people will die from use of those instruments than guns this year. We need regulation that goes as far as possible to prevent Columbines and Virginia Techs, but not so far that we lose sight of the pleasures of plinking.”

Growing up on a farm in Brockport, the oldest daughter in a brood of nine kids, Gabriele enjoyed plinking with family members. But rekindling those memories isn’t why she raised her hand at her sons’ Scout camp when the rifle instructors offered parents the opportunity to take the merit badge course with them.

Gabriele wanted to learn more about gun handling and safety so that she could be a more informed adult authority for her younger boys. She encourages more parents to do the same. The NRA’s Women-On-Target Program is a practical introduction to firearms and has been widely praised.

Well-meaning parents who speak out against guns, then allow their kids to play paintball or violent video games where humans are the targets, are sending mixed messages, Gabriele says. The centerpiece of all credible firearms courses is “personal responsibility,” something Gabriele hammers home in a PowerPoint presentation she helped put together for Troop 208 in Fairport.

“The liberal agenda is anti-gun, it’s just a fact,” she says. “But when I look at it personally, I’m more pragmatic. What I tell my sons is, ‘I’d rather have you have the training and know what you’re doing around guns. I want you to have a healthy respect for guns.’ It’s the people that never train their kids (or get trained themselves) and boys being boys, find grandpa’s loaded gun in the attic.”

While aiming high isn’t a good thing on the range, it has served Gabriele well in life.

Home for her first marriage was a trailer park in Clarkson. With the help of legal aid, she took on the owners to clean up a faulty leach field that was a health hazard. Her association with Empire Justice Center has morphed from client to volunteer to tireless working attorney. As a single mom, she put herself through law school starting at age 29, commuting to the University at Buffalo, and passing the bar on her first try.

“I know what it’s like to feel helpless,” Gabriele says. “In the justice system, if you don’t have money, you’re a little bit screwed. That’s our one bottom line: We don’t charge a dime. If there are filing fees, we figure out a way. If you qualify for our services, we’ll help you.”

As they’ve grown older, Gabriele’s high-achieving sons have grown to appreciate their mom’s inspirational story.

“It’s the kind of the thing you read about but don’t see every day. I’m really proud of her,” Tim says.

Their mom taking up the Scout instructors’ offer to take the rifle course sounds just like her, too.

“Absolutely,” Tim says. “She has a no-holds-barred attitude about life.”

Gabriele calls becoming a firearms instructor part of the “twists and turns” of having an open mind. She’s not worried about growing old.

“I’m worried about getting boring,” she says with another infectious laugh.

Earning one of 290 spots out of 4,500 applicants for law school took spunk. It’s the same with picking up a rifle with a mule’s kick and hitting a tiny circle half a football field away. A “Zen-like” experience, she calls it, requiring controlled breathing and precise movements.

“When a door is opened, you either walk through or you don’t, and if you don’t, you’re going to regret it,” Gabriele says. “So what if you go flunk out of law school? Try it. That’s what this was. I figure I’m here on this planet and I only have so much time to spend, so try some stuff. This was really a wonderful thing.”

It was a bull’s-eye.

There is lots of chatter around that since Obama won the election on November 4th that he will take away the right to bear arms.   I must be honest with you and sooth your nerves.   Obama has no plans to take away your weapons.   People inside the gun world, Guns Stores, and the NRA used that as a scare tactic to get you to vote for John McCain.   And post election the gun store folks are keeping that fear alive.

If you are a frequent reader of my blog you know that I am an owner and supporter of weapons – especially insensible weapons.   The insensible weapons are the only ones that may be effected.   Very few people find an actual use for the .50 BMG weapons.   Now don’t get me wrong I would love to put one in my personal arsenal but see no true practical purpose of the weapon.   Plenty of other weapons will do exactly what the .50 will do.   The purpose of legislation to ban guns is to take them out of the hands of criminals.   Most everyone would be safe owning a bazooka but a select few people would not be.   By banning them it will be harder for the wrong people to get a hold of them.   The intent to ban weapons isn’t to strip you of your rights it is to make the US safer.   The problem isn’t the weapons it is enforcement.   Banning more guns will likely have little impact on the problems unless something can be done to correct the problem.

Its obvious we need stronger enforcement of laws in place – sure registering guns and serialization of bullets could help in the investigation – gun owners believe they have an implied right of privacy.

Another reason we don’t have to worry about a new weapons ban in the near future is that Washington DC has much more pressing issues to deal with –   the Economy.   The weapons industry plays a major role in our economy.   Many gun owners only buy American Made Goods and Ammo.   What about AR15 makers?   There are more US Based AR15 makers than I can count.   In fact the interstate commerce laws dictate that certain percentage of weapons be US made.   Manufacturing may happen oversees but final fit and manufacture is done by American Workers.   Gun owners typically buy from local gun shops and dealing locally keeps the money locally.   I can say that within the last 6 months I myself have payed $12,000 at one local gun shop and know that some people spend a lot more than that.   With the bottom up style of economics that we are going to move towards this is the type of enterprise we need.   If it is banned or governed it will certainly hurt the economy.

So here is my stick…   Fix the problems we have now with the gun control laws in place.   Leave new legislation alone.   Don’t go stir up something that doesn’t need to be messed with.   A note to the NRA Lobbyist that are highly paid…   When you go to congress trying to justify your pay – go with the Economic aspect of the weapon industry.   If you pass this XXX number of jobs will be lost and XXX revenue will be lost.   Put the fear of economy into the process and let the bills die in committee.