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Theo is an avid outdoorsman, which is why an “Alberta Outdoorsmen” subscription was the perfect Christmas gift for him. As a 12 year old Albertan, Theo is proud of his province and celebrates his Albertan heritage everyday by exploring the great outdoors, often with his trusty 20-gauge as his companion.
Guns are an important part of Canadian culture, and every outdoorsman or woman should have at least one rifle. Canadians should also have gun freedom, and as Jeff Cooper said in Art of the rifle, “The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles.”
For many hunters, the first gun is the most memorable—this has certainly been the case for me. For a year or so I have been looking for a useful rifle to be used around our farm. Starter firearms should have a use such as getting rid of gophers, upland gamebird hunting, and shooting small game. Big game hunting rifles, goose hunting shotguns, and coyote calibres have their use, but I would not recommend starting with a large rifle. Some good starter calibres are 22 LR, .410, 28-gauge, 20-gauge, and 16-gauge.
I did some research and decided that I would deeply appreciate a good shotgun. After some more investigation, I found that the 12-gauge and 20-gauge are the most common shotguns. So, then I started looking for a 20-gauge or 12-gauge and after searching I found that the 12-gauge has many more options for the actual gun and ammunition. The 12-gauge is by far the most common shotgun and at Cabela’s alone, they have one and a half aisles of 12-gauge ammunition. The 12-gauge is a much better waterfowl gun and is good for wild turkeys. I started looking around for a 12-gauge at many stores and saw numerous products.
After doing more thinking and remembering when I shot a 12-gauge a couple months before, I decided that even though the 12-gauge is a lot more common, I’d like a shotgun with less recoil and one that is more qualified for upland game birds. I decided I’d love a great 20-gauge. Great effects about a 20-gauge are that ammunition is much more plentiful than the other gauges other than 12-gauge. Ammunition includes steel shot, lead shot, and slugs. Another excellent point about the 20-gauge is that there are many places to buy the firearm itself. I started looking for a terrific 20-gauge. I looked mostly at new pump action 20-gauge shotguns at Cabela’s and looked at all the brands from Mossberg to Winchester and found that no matter which gun it was, it would take at least one-year for my 12-year-old self to save up for. I specifically had my eye on a Winchester SXP pump action youth 20-gauge. It was a beautiful gun, and I knew this Winchester beauty would take me more than a year of saving. The next part was waiting while I saved up.
I saved up for a couple months and imagined myself walking through the forest with a handful of uplands and my sights on another bird. One Sunday after church, my friends and I were talking about what we were doing that week and one of my friends asked if I was going to the Edmonton Gun Show that was being held in Stony Plain. I said that I didn’t know there was one and that I’d ask my dad if we could go. I was planning on looking for some cool knives and small trinkets. That afternoon, I told my dad about it and he said we could go. I was so excited!
I waited until the next week and brought some money that I figured would be enough for a beautiful knife. The gun show was so cool! They had everything from knives to carved antlers. There was even a nice elderly man who gave my brother and me some hockey cards. Like I said, they have everything there! At this local gun show there were lots of signs about gun freedom and gun rights! The CCFR even had a booth there. It was wonderful! As the author Scott Howard Phillips said, “You can’t pick and choose which types of freedom you want to defend. You must defend all of it or be against it all.”
At the gun show there were also war gun replicas and practice weight grenades that soldiers would have used.
While we were there, I saw one 20-gauge for a little more than 200 dollars and thought that I might find one for a great price. When my dad and I saw this shotgun, we started looking around to see if they had more 20-gauge shotguns around that price. After about an hour of looking (it was a big gun show), we found a beautiful 20-gauge shotgun that was made by Savage. My dad and I spent several minutes looking the gun over and asking questions about its past. We took some time to consider the gun as a purchase, and I really valued my dad’s opinion and input. I made my choice. I took the leap. I bought my first gun!
It was a great gun and I am glad I bought it at a local seller instead of supporting a continent-wide retailer. I was also joyful that I got it for an unbelievable price. At the gun show, we were also able to find some lead shot ammo.
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| Theo with his trusty 20-guage. |
A couple hours after we arrived home, my dad and I shot the 20-gauge, and it had a perfect amount of recoil for me. Many people think that a 20-gauge is a small shotgun, but it has a surprising amount of power and can be used for ducks, geese, grouse, rabbits, pheasants, and other critters. I got this shotgun during mid grouse hunting season and was able to drop a couple before the season ended.
A person’s first firearm is very memorable, and I would strongly recommend a 20-gauge. Another thing we must remember is freedom. As author A.E. Samaan said, “Civil Wars happen when the victimized are armed. Genocide happens when they are not.” And Theodore Roosevelt said, “The great body of our citizens shoot less as times go on. We should encourage rifle practice among schoolboys, and indeed among all classes, as well as in the military services by every means in our power. Thus, and not otherwise, may we be able to assist in preserving peace in the world… The first step—in the direction of preparation to avert war if possible, and to be fit for war if it should come—is to teach men to shoot!”
We must remember to support local business and stand for freedom! ■
For previous Reader Stories click here.
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