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Geeks With Guns, Release 12

August 17, 2000
Dennis Tenney

Over 25 folks turned out for release 12 of Eric Raymond's Geeks With Guns at the August 2000 Linux World in San Jose last Wednesday night.

Sponsored by both Linux and BSD companies, this event gives geeks an opportunity to learn gun safety from an expert or just enjoy some practice [Eric, armed] after a detailed safety review. The range master at Targetmasters Gun Range in Milpitas, and his colleagues, carefully instructed each of us in the basics before we were allowed on the actual range.

We got to fire a fine collection of hand guns. My favorite was the Colt 357 Python. Just like programming in Python this Colt is a simple pistol with great accuracy and elegant craftsmanship.

All levels of experience were represented. At least one geek had never fired a pistol before. Others, such as your reporter, hadn't shot a gun in years. I teamed with a geek who practices regularly and is in the process of applying for a field position with the FBI.

After over two hours of fun at the range we all headed back into San Jose to the Debian party at The Usual.

The distinctly political tone of our evening struck me as we drove back to town. Eric Raymond states his position on geeks and firearms clearly in his web site: "Geeks and guns are a natural match. Open-source software is about getting freedom; personal firearms are about keeping it."

Your reporter grew up in a time and place where shooting holes in tin cans was considered good family fun. Folks talked about hunting and target shooting without feeling compelled to make explicit statements about deadly force. It felt a bit strange to find going to a pistol range in America today is also about making a political statement, one not universally well received in our freedom loving community at that. One geek explicitly asked me not to show their face in photographs for fear of possible future social or legal consequences.

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