I could never, ever speak of one of my other hobbies in my years as a university drone, mainly because most of my colleagues were afraid of guns and associated them with those of the lower castes. In a way this was true of me, the lower caste thing, that is, as I grew up in western Pennsylvania where we used to get the first day of deer hunting season off of school, since none of the male students would have come, anyway. This would have left some of my former colleagues stunned, as guns are "icky" and representative of a low level of moral development; certainly lower than those of the uni faculty, who are the most evolved moral agents in history. It would have been hard to explain to them that some of my fondest memories of youth were of hunting trips with my uncles, both of whom were nearly certifiable in many ways, except when it came to rifles and gun safety.
But, once a week, I would go shooting at a nearby range with one of the four rifles I own. I usually did so on the one day each week when I taught only one class and it was over by 10 a.m. I considered it a mid-week treat, although I was always careful to scrub the cordite residue off of my hands before returning to campus.
Since I'm older now and travel alone, and could appear a likely victim to some low villain, I do carry an equalizer with me. Not a handgun, because the registry process is onerous, but a "long gun" that comes in a convenient form.
This is the Henry Repeating Arms version of the Stoner AR-7, which is marketed as a survival rifle. It is designed mostly for backpack carrying. It's bored for .22 and the receiver and barrel detach easily for storage within the watertight, buoyant stock. It's very handy. Usually I put it together at night in case someone decides I look a little too vulnerable, especially when I'm parked in remote places.
It carries a 10-round magazine, but I rarely insert more than seven rounds as the spring is tricky. The action is clunky for an auto-loader but, with good ammo, it is reliable. I know it won't be much good in a gunfight with a weapon of larger caliber and capacity, but I consider it more of a dissuader than persuader.
If you think it looks a little James Bond-y, that's because he carries one in the film version of "From Russian With Love". I think he even shoots down a helicopter with it or something ridiculous.
