Ifmygrandfather,amiddle-of-
the-roadRepublicanwho’dvotedfor
DonaldTrump,couldseethemany
greysofthisveryAmericanproblem,
I thought,whycouldn’tWashington?
Soonafterourtalk,I wenthomefor
a visit.Mygrandfatherpickedmeup
frommyparents’house.Aswedrove,
I toldhimI waswritinganarticle
aboutwhatit waslikegettingshotin
a placethatlovesguns.
“It’snotlove,”hesaid.Wepulled
intothecarparkof his shop, which
sits highon ahill.
Youcanseealmost
all of Tuscaloo-
sa fromthere. “It’s
aboutnecessity.”He
mentioned rattle-
snakesandcoyotes.
Forpeoplein rural
areas–that’smore
than 40 percentof
Alabamians–guns
arestilla day-to-day
defenceagainstsuch
animals.Yes,thereis
ampleloveforgunsin
Alabama.Buttofor-
getthatthey’retools
istomissanimpor-
tantpoint.
Wewalkedintothe
shop.Itsmelledlike
pine.Intheback-left
cornerwasthegun
room,itsnamean-
nouncedintallbrown
lettersbeneatha tax-
idermiedleopard.Forthenextfew
hours,I watchedemployeeshandle
firearmswithcareborderingonde-
votion.Theyspokewithpride,and
I couldseehowexpertiseonsome-
thingsocomplicated,socontrover-
sial– solethal– mightfeelgratifying.
ReidDuvall,atall20-something
withsandy-colouredhair,wasat
thecounterthatmorning.Backin
Washington,I’dspentmonthstalk-
ingwithRepublicanlawmakerswho
bristled at the notion of “common40 March 2020
READER’S DIGEST