Guns and Presidents at 141st. NRA Annual Convention

The great majority of U.S. presidents have been gun owners, hunters and shooters, starting with George Washington. Jefferson, for example, was reported as saying that some of his most relaxing moments was when he was walking in the woods with his gun. Washington reportedly sickened and died as a result of a duck hunt on the Potomac river near his Mt. Vernon home. Jackson was a duelist who is variously said to have participated in 13 to 100 duels. During one he received a bullet in his chest near his heart, and that slug remained in his body until he died. Even after being shot, he remained standing and killed his opponent. Jackson owned and used many guns during his life, and he is considered to be the founder of the Democratic Party.

Lincoln was noted to have done target practice with the new Spencer repeating rifle in a field between the White House and the Washington Monument. The result was that this gun was adopted by the Union Army who used them in large numbers during the Civil War. He was later killed by a .44-caliber ball shot from a small Derringer single-shot percussion pistol fired by John Wilkes Booth.

Teddy Roosevelt owned and hunted with many guns as a young man. After he left office he went on hunts in Africa and South America with his son Kermit. Many of his guns survive and are avidly sought by collectors. Smith and Wesson presented several guns to him, continuing their practice of giving guns to the presidents, starting with Grant and continuing through President Ronald Regan. He received two of the company’s .44 Magnum revolvers. Regan and many of his Hollywood friends were avid shooters, hunters and gun collectors.

Although the National Rifle Association has a number of guns that belonged to presidents in its Museum at Fairfax, Virginia (well worth a visit), none were on exhibit in St. Louis. During the show I discuss similar guns that were displayed and talked to collectors associations, an auctioneer and Roy Jinks, the Historian for Smith and Wesson.

Photographs of these guns are available as part of a YouTube video, ” Mitt Romney on Guns at the NRA Convention, 2012″ and on my Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures Radio Show Blog.

During election years it is not uncommon for presidential candidates to speak at the National Rifle Association’s Annual meetings. In 2012, three Republican Party candidates attended the event. All said that they would support the Second Amendment right to keep and bare arms. The apparent front-runner, Mitt Romney, was given first billing, and his remarks on guns and hunting may be heard on this show. They were delivered as part of what Romney described as a assault by the Obama Administration on the Constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion and personal liberty.

The cooking segment of this show features a visit to the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee, with a humorous commentary presented by guide Jessie James as he explains how Black, Green and Red Label Jack Daniels whiskey is made as well as their newer products Gentleman Jack and Tennessee Honey.

Oklahoma pencil artist Clifford Casey describes his life-long passion of making drawings of outdoor subjects using the simple medium of pencil on paper. He produces artworks on order. He can re-arrange or produce composite scenes from photographs to produce art that will outlast any photograph by several centuries at far less costs than making a similar oil painting. Casey also makes custom-painted fishing plugs for those who are not content with the store-bought products.

Ads on this show include SIN, Inc’s (Synthetic Industrial Non-Nutritives, Inc.) new Zombie pizza that needs no refrigeration, Honest Abe Political Consulting and Real Pigments, Inc., who sells you the same toxic pigments that Michelangelo used so you can paint like the Old Masters.

Mitt Romney on Guns at the NRA Convention, 2012 http://youtu.be/dk5K8KJtzT0

Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures Radio Show Blog http://www.hoveysoutdooradventures.wordpress.com