First Impressions
BY Herschel Smith
10 months, 3 weeks ago
This image won an award by The New Yorker.
Folks have recently been having a bit of fun with it. “How you react to this photo says ALL you need to know about American politics.”
The reactions are interesting, ranging from noticing the family man, to the bumper stickers on the truck, to the rusted body of the truck, to the fact that the truck driver is leaving his shotgun unattended, to these.
“Paddle guy gives me immediate disgust. Typical yuppie type who probably couldn’t even lift a finger to defend his family if the need arose.”
“Maybe he’s former special ops and decided to settle down and have a family. He met his wife and kids there after work. The truck is his, the car is hers (it’s safer for her and the kids). He’s looking over his shoulder because he’s still on edge from his previous life.”
“Pick-up owners kids are safer than those pictured.”
The clothing doesn’t interest me, and the fact that it interests some folks is weird to me. I’ve seen squared away Marines with “high-and-tight” haircuts wearing shorts, tucked in tee shirts, and white socks with shoes. That could be a former Marine for all I know. If I could be around him for 30 seconds I’d know. I have no idea what he’s supposed to be thinking.
But the artist apparently wants you to think that ownership of shotguns is somehow connected with the cross, Gadsden flag, and MAGA. I’m not a Trump or MAGA person, but if they want me to connect ownership of weapons with the cross and Gadsden flag, I’m okay with that.
One woman calls the shotgun a rifle, and a another guy says the shotgun is okay if it’s a Mossberg. I’m not a Mossberg guy – I’m a Beretta guy. But the gun is clearly not a Beretta, or it would look prettier. But the gun is also clearly a turkey or upland gun. See, this is the sort of thing I think about, not politics.
Honestly, among my first thoughts were that the image is stupid. I see no point in it and I simply don’t see how it won any awards. My immediate reaction was everything is fine. Pistols and Rifles are designed drop-safe these days as every gun owner knows. Shotguns are not designed drop safe and never have been, even while on safe. That’s why we carry the way we do and have designated fields of fire when we bird hunt.
However, the gun is not being moved, so there is no danger of dropping it. So, what’s the big deal?
I guess I can’t escape being an engineer.
But since others are having fun with it, you can too in the comments in you want.
On June 11, 2023 at 9:59 pm, X said:
Those arrogant, narcissistic bastards have always looked down their noses at the rest of us.
Here’s their most famous example:
https://brilliantmaps.com/new-yorkers-world/
On June 11, 2023 at 10:16 pm, Kangarew said:
The shotgun shown in the illustration is never carried the way it’s pictured. All rifles and/or shotguns are put in gun racks with the top of the barrel facing the floor of the vehicle. The rack behind the driver holds the stock just behind the receiver, keeping it from sliding around while driving. Whoever drew this knows nothing about guns or much of anything else.
On June 11, 2023 at 10:31 pm, Dan said:
People tend to read way too much into things like this that more often than not have no real deep meaning or intent by the artist.
On June 12, 2023 at 3:14 am, dave in pa. said:
weird, growing up as a kid . we used to see rifles and shotguns in all of the pickup trucks.
same thing when we went down to eastern KY to see my dad’s folks or KIN as they would say. when I retired, I tried to find a place as close to that old time feeling as I could.
had a good feeling when we drove into town and there was a pillar with the ten commandments on it outside the church here.
even now, where I live you see them. not as often as when I was a kid. but I think I come as close as I can in this insane world we live in now. just love living in the hills of PA.
back in grade school, half the class brought in their dad’s war trophy (pistols). the teacher
who was a WW2 vet, check to make sure they where all unloaded and then told the class what they where and what side used them. as they where passed around for everyone to see them. gave history class a real feeling to us. funny thing, no one got shot that day ?
but they do not teach history in class anymore now do they ?
On June 12, 2023 at 8:46 am, Dov said:
“The shotgun shown in the illustration is never carried the way it’s pictured. All rifles and/or shotguns are put in gun racks with the top of the barrel facing the floor of the vehicle. The rack behind the driver holds the stock just behind the receiver, keeping it from sliding around while driving. Whoever drew this knows nothing about guns or much of anything else.”
Not where I live……they carry them just like that, or lying across the center console and the passenger seat. I have actually never seen a long gun with it’s business end facing downward, and I am 63. You rarely see a man driving a pickup truck without a gun in it during hunting season.
The people that are 10 or more years older than me always brought their guns to school during hunting season, because they would hunt either before or after school. No one was shooting other people back then, and it rarely happens now where I live.
I did not notice the long gun because it’s like noticing tires or headlights.
On June 12, 2023 at 9:23 am, X said:
“The shotgun shown in the illustration is never carried the way it’s pictured.”
You used to be able to transport guns that way in New York, but today you’d probably get arrested for it. I suppose it might still be possible to transport a shotgun like this IN THEORY so long as you are physically in the vehicle at all times. But with the storage law they passed last year it would be a criminal offense to step out of the vehicle unless the gun was secured unloaded in a “locked, fireproof and impact-proof case” out of sight.
It is also now a felony to possess a firearm on ANY public property except for hunting, and on ANY private property that is not conspicuously posted as allowing guns (again hunting being the only exception).
So if you were driving down the road with a shotgun in an open rack and you stopped for gas you would be committing a crime if the gas station did no specifically have signage indicating that guns may be possessed on the property.
Naturally, the useless courts have refused to issue injunctions against these laws even in light of the Bruen case, which at least right now looks to be as useless as Heller.
The state of New York simply does not give a f–k about Bruen and they will arrest you for possessing guns, they simply do not care.
On June 12, 2023 at 10:08 am, PGF said:
The man has the strap errantly wrapped around the paddle: the male head of household depicted as the buffoon since Archie Bunker days, is a device by the workers of inequity to destroy the family structure and it’s power over civilization. The mother is the leader, squared away, organized and keeping the children safe. They hate you, claim ownership of your children to do with as they please, and with women spiritual and decision making leaders Christ’s enemies have effectively wrecked the family and civilization with it. It’s being done on purpose by people with malice aforethought!
On June 12, 2023 at 10:24 am, Jim said:
That’s like my wife and me. We sometimes have to take separate vehicles, due to all the crap she brings.
On June 12, 2023 at 10:35 am, Frank Clarke said:
One day in the early 80s, I was driving home from work up US-59 north of Houston. The pickup ahead of me had a gun rack, but the uprights wre very close together. That was the only way they could hold the UZI.
Otherwise, unremarkable.
On June 12, 2023 at 1:06 pm, Bobsuruncle said:
Is his wife and kid wearing “tuckables”?
On June 12, 2023 at 1:53 pm, MTHead said:
As long as it scares New Yorkers enough to stay in New York. Were all good! Call me anything but later for dinner!
On June 12, 2023 at 1:55 pm, MTHead said:
P.S. The real joke is that you would pay $9 dollars for that ass-wipe in print.
On June 12, 2023 at 6:12 pm, Dirk said:
Growing up that’s exactly how we carried our guns, well upside down. We use to hunt on the way to school and after school if we didn’t have football baseball or other school sports.
Jump shooting on the rivers and creeks was always better at sunup, hunting up stream, sun at your back.
Weekend pheasants with our pointers. We just couldn’t chance our dogs being left in our trucks or cars thru a school day. I started with a steven’s single shot, then a double, western fields, then an 870. I own many many high end hunting shotguns.
I prefer to bird hunt with one of my older Feather Weights. Comes up and swings so smoothly. That one’s gone, I gave it to “Gerald Vander Lum” five ish years ago. I have several, I collect em, bottom load, bottom eject. grit sand paper, very lightly. Makes the triggers magic.
Where I live it’s still common to see weapons in easy rider rifle racks. Few weeks back had a farmer pull onto the highway, he was sporting an M1 Garand in his rifle rack. My wife tells me it was a few months back!
Nothing for me get more respect than an M1 with an obviously old Korean War Vet in a rusted out Power Wagon rolling down highway 140E. His dogs his tools on the flat bed.
Kinda cyclic, for years it was 30-30 lever action style rifles, past few years it’s mil style rifles. Not uncommon to see an early M16 Al in the easy rider rifle rack. Actually seen a couple FNFALs aswell.
Dov, I’m not sure I’m understanding your statement. Are you saying barrel down stock up? If so what kind of storage racks used? Don’t think I’ve seen this style.
We left OREGON this morning, thru Calif, into Reno NV, five hours travel time.
Sadly anymore we feel the need to include battle rifles and m4s, extra ammo in our kit.
Reno’s really becoming a problem. The murders are thru the roof here, anymore.
Here guns are apart of the culture. Nobody gets excited.
On June 13, 2023 at 7:58 am, Latigo Morgan said:
Looks like the back end of an ’81-’84 pickup. The rust was a nice touch, considering the age of the truck. Should have put the shotgun upsidedown in the gun rack, though. I still have my gun rack in the garage, but in this day and age, even a pro-gun sticker makes your vehicle a target – a gun rack will guarantee it.
On June 14, 2023 at 11:07 am, WangDang said:
I don’t know, the look on the guy with the paddle could be “hmmm, that looks like a Mossberg Maverick 88 poverty tier shotgun. I’ve got two in different colors. Somebody else besides me thinks they’re OK.”
On June 14, 2023 at 12:34 pm, Don W Curton said:
All I’m thinking is they should have backed their vehicle into that parking spot. That way it would be easier to unload the canoe straight back and into the water. Now he has to unload back into the street/parking lot, then maneuver it between the truck and his SUV before he can get it to the lake. Piss poor planning.
Says the guy who does a lot of canoeing.