Comments on: Can a romance novel get the NRA seal of approval?

By: KellyM

KellyM — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 21:32:03 +0000

Hi Book,
I have been lurking here on your blog for a few months and finally decided to join in. And when the discussion turns to romance novels, count me in!
Linda Howard is an author who was once in my regular rotation, and I still have older copies of both “Kill and Tell” and the prequel, “All the Queen’s Men”. Loved them both. I enjoyed some of her other earlier books which seemed to have an edgier feeling. But it was all I could do to read “Mr. Perfect” all the way through without tossing it across the room.
In terms of a character getting the NRA seal of approval, I’d have to go with Anita Blake. Anita is a necromancer and vampire hunter who reluctantly finds herself in a quasi-romantic triangle between herself, a vampire and a werewolf. And this was long before “Twilight” raised its ugly head.
The books are not for everyone but are a compelling series once you get into it. Anita’s fave weapon is her Browning High Power with a Firestar 9mm as her clutch piece. See the link below for a visual list of Anita’s arsenal.
http://anitawiki.wetpaint.com/page/Weapons+and+Vehicles
Laurell K. Hamilton, the author, was extremely thorough in her research into the various firearms and weapons her characters use. They are presented as tools, nothing more or less, used to either dispatch various preternatural beings or protect the user from being dispatched. Anita’s descriptions are always logical and dispassionate and would give most NRA members the ooey-gooeys listening to her. It’s one of the things I love about Anita. I don’t know anything about Ms. Hamilton’s personal views on firearms or gun control but given the detail in the books I can’t imagine she didn’t spend some quality time at the range getting up close and personal.

By: Indigo Red

Indigo Red — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 22:01:26 +0000

jj – Stuart Lake was a good story teller for a dime novelist and much of what he wrote just wasn’t so as exaggeration was a valued tool. The Buntline Special may have simply been the Colt Revolver-Carbine which was a standard revolver w/a longer barrel and a Skeleton Stock made from a metal rod formed in the shape of a shoulder stock and attached to the grip back by special screw. They were hard to handle because both hands had to be behind the cylinder when firing to avoid the powder flash discharge from the front of the cylinder. However, the first Colt Revolver-Carbines didn’t leave the factory until 1877, a year after Ned Buntline was supposed to have presented the guns to the five Dodge City lawmen. As a writer of Western adventures, Ned was a steady traveler, but there is no record or indication he was in Dodge at any time during 1876 under the name Buntline or his own name, Edward Zane Carroll Judson. Ned Buntline himself was a prolific liar and best selling dime novel writer in the US and Territories and one of the richest, too.

By: Bookworm

Bookworm — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 21:12:16 +0000

In the context of the book, I think the Wyatt Earp reference was to let the savvy reader know how little our heroine knows about guns. And really, when it comes to protection, history is optional. You just need to know gun safety, how to load, how to aim, and how to shoot.

By: jj

jj — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 20:28:55 +0000

Weathd: maybe, but she wrote the book last year, not in 1876. Unless she did in dialect, she should know.
Indigo Red: Earp’s biographer, Stuart Lake, opined that Earp had one, and primarily employed it as a club. I wasn’t there, I don’t know.

By: Ymarsakar

Ymarsakar — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 14:08:53 +0000

Not everything people believe is true. It pays to have some introspection before jumping the gun.

By: Jose

Jose — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 02:39:56 +0000

I’ve always wondered if Wyatt actually had a Buntline Special, if the longer barrel wasn’t specifically intended for use as a club.

By: Indigo Red

Indigo Red — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 01:37:04 +0000

To extend weathtd, there’s no credible evidence a 12″ Buntline Special ever actually existed for Wyatt, the Masterson bros, or anyone else. If anyone has one, I’d sure like to see it, but in over 100 yrs, nobody has produced a period Buntline Special. Wyatt Earp, contrary to poplar belief, seldom carried a firearm and when he did, used it as a club to ‘buffalo’ suspects by knocking them up side the head.

Wyatt and his brothers have come down to us as ‘gunfighters’ as we understand the term through Hollywood – a cold blooded killer who gunned down men in the street, a hired gunman. In Wyatt’s time, a ‘gun fighter’ was one who fought guns and this is borne out in every town the Earps served as peace officers when their first order of business was to ask the town fathers for the authority to ban the carrying of firearms in town. The Earps were very clearly gun controllers, hence, gunfighters. Those who used guns as a profession were called gun slingers, gun handlers, pistoleros, and gun hands among many others. It is amusing to say Diane Feinstein is a gunfighter.

By: Danny Lemieux

Danny Lemieux — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 00:59:28 +0000

This is my rifle, this is my gun…one is for shooting, one is for fun.

By: weathtd

weathtd — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 00:56:49 +0000

JJ, the terminology did not change until the late 1800s. Prior to that time, handguns were called pistols, hence the term pistolero for someone proficient with handguns rather than long guns. Wyatt Earp would have referred to his weapon as a pistol. Many of the writings of the period call the “gunslingers” of Western movies as “pistol fighters”. Not trying to start argument, just saying.

By: Danny Lemieux

Danny Lemieux — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 23:52:28 +0000

Here’s some practical advice for you (looking forward, of course),Book:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=h8r6CY5UZyw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hw6AgnYz5To
Put it on your birthday wish list for Hubby.