“I need to disclose to you that I have an unloaded, locked firearm in my checked baggage,” I told the desk gal at Frontier Airlines while dropping off my bag en route to Tennessee.
She hesitated and gave me a look like, “You? You’re traveling with a gun? For reals?” and then asked me to remove it from my bag and show it to her. It was my turn to look surprised. I looked around behind me. “Right here?” “Yep, right here.” And so I did as I was told, removing my locked case from my baggage and opening it to show her my locked gun and empty clips inside.
I’m going to go into politics here with you. But I will say that I stand behind our right to bears arms in this country. That and the right to free speech are pretty important in my book. But I also believe those rights are not to be taken for granted and that we all have a duty to be mindful and aware. I wanted to learn more about my pistol and so I took it with me to have my little brother show me the ropes.
Our first several attempts to hit the range for some tips and practice were thwarted. First by President Obama’s visit to my little brother’s base and then by range closures for Mother’s Day. When we finally found a place to shoot, we had a blast (ha ha)!
I did learn a lot from him. Mostly I learned that I prefer shooting an AR-15 over shooting my pistol! Pistol’s are hard to shoot. I also learned that traveling with a gun kinda makes me feel like a bad ass.
My mother is an encyclopedia of useless information (sorry, ma, but it's true) - no one can beat her at Trivial Pursuit. As I age, I become more like dear old mom everyday. I routinely tell people about resources, recipes, tips, tricks, or websites I've heard about, tried, live by, etc. until one of my clients urged me to start a blog. So here it is! My perpetual ramblings. I hope you find them useful and amusing. If you don't, you can either keep it to yourself or leave me a well constructed critique. 
Perpetual Ramblings 
Don
/ May 14, 2011Yup a gun toting BA. :) Glad you took the time to learn. Now we need to get Nicki some serious practice, too.
Annie Brokaw
/ May 14, 2011I gotta say, Don, Nicki was doing pretty darned good! I was impressed. Undoubtedly, we both could use more practice, but she was doing well.
Robin
/ May 14, 2011Annie, OMG you were packin’ heat at the airport? That IS badass! Good for you, I sometimes think I should own a gun….when did this all come about? Does it chill on your nightstand like Logan’s does? lol
Annie Brokaw
/ May 15, 2011It chills under my bed :) I’ve had it for years. I just need to keep working with it to get better. At the very least you should have a wander taser. The best bet for home defense is a shotgun, which we have as well.