I first met Tommy Carbine at Shoot em’ Dead Guns where he was purchasing his first AK-47. He’s a muscular 5’ 10”, rugged and tanned, 52 years old. When I met him, he was wearing cowboy boots, jeans held up by a belt with an enormous buckle, and aviators to match his buzz cut. But his most memorable feature was the full-color American flag he had tattooed across his forehead. I asked Tommy how he felt about being the first person to purchase an automatic weapon since the historic passage of the Gun Rights Protection Act.

“What I’m doin’ here today is an act of patriotism. I’m showin’ my country the importance of ownin’ a gun. It’s my constitutional right, and nobody can take that away from me.”

Tommy agreed to let me accompany him through the new process of purchasing a gun that was mandated by GRPA. Once he had picked out the gun he wished to purchase, he decided to have a laser pointer add-on attached to his AK. Upon seeing Tommy’s choice of weapon, the man running the checkout counter recoiled in shock. “Are you sure about your choice of firearm, sir?” 

“Of course I am.” Tommy responded, “My personal motto is, ‘Go big or go home.’ I’m not gonna stettle for some lowly peashooter.”

The man responded with a curt nod and led Tommy through a stack of paperwork to sign. Once signed, the man handed the gun to Tommy. He informed us that the shooting range was behind the store.

As we headed out back, I asked Tommy where he planned to take his first shot.

“I’ve given a lot’a thought to that very question,” he said. I’ve been thinkin’ the foot, seems like the best place to do it.”

I informed him that the foot contains 26 bones and 33 joints. He seemed unfazed by this fact.

“Well, where else am I gonna do it? It’s not like the foot is a vital organ. Besides, I got two of them.”

By this point, we had reached the shooting range. It’s a medium-sized grassy field with a row of shooting booths at one end and an eight-foot mound of dirt at the other. There is a large red X in the center of the field. There is an ambulance parked off to the side of the field with two EMTs standing by. 

The man operating the range told us to call him Curly. He took Tommy’s gun, handed him a yellow smiley face sticker, and told him to use it to mark the spot. 

Tommy walked to the x in the grass, sat down, and proceeded to remove his boots, “Wouldn’t want my favorite boots to get ruined,” he explained, putting his boots off to his right side. He stuck the smiley face onto the bottom side of the pinky toe on his left foot. Laying down in the grass, he moved his left leg off to the side of his body so the sticker was facing Curly.

Curly walked up to Tommy carrying the new AK-47. “Sir, I’m not sure you fully grasp the power of this weapon.”

“I know it’ll hurt, but I’m a man. I can take the pain.”

“We sell less powerful weapons, you know.”

“Just do your damb job, Curly, and let’s get this over with.”

Curley walks back to the shooting booth and takes aim with the AK at Tommy’s foot. I watch as the newly attached laser pointer’s dot wiggles around Tommy’s foot until it lands between the eyes of the smiley face sticker.

Curly takes a deep breath, his finger on the trigger of the rifle. 

Suddenly, Tommy’s foot begins to shake.

“Sir, trust me when I tell you that it will be in your best interest to hold perfectly still.”

Tommy’s foot froze. 

Curly re-aligned the laser pointer and slowly squeezed the trigger.

The little yellow sticker was instantly replaced by a gush of spurting blood and a series of pain-induced expletives as Tommy bolts upright and grabs what’s left of his foot.

The historic passage of the Gun Rights Protection Act is sure to change at least some minds about gun ownership. After much deliberation, the Democrats and Republicans finally reached a bipartisan agreement on the topic of gun rights. Republicans believed unfettered access to guns is a constitutional right that should not be inhibited in any way. Democrats believed that gun safety is of the utmost importance, and all necessary measures should be taken to ensure it. The Republican party had been trying to pass a bill to ensure gun rights were forever preserved but needed some Democratic votes to get it passed. So those Democrats took advantage of the opportunity and added one stipulation to the bill: Anyone who wants to own a gun must first be shot by it. 

I followed up with Tommy Carbine a month after I first interviewed him for this article. He lives in El Paso, Texas, and is currently on crutches due to his recent purchase of an AK-47.  He lost a good portion of his left foot during that purchase. I asked him how he was faring with his partial foot. 

“I’m gettin’ around just fine. I still got one and half feet and my gun.”

I then asked him how much he had needed his gun since he purchased it.

“Well, I’m protected now, and this purchase was definitely worth it. I proved to em’ that they couldn’t stand in my way. I bought a gun. An AK-47, no less. Now that’s an accomplishment.”

I proceeded to question him on how he felt about needing crutches.

“Darned metal sticks. Keepin’ me from huntin’. Keepin’ me from walkin’. It hurts to use crutches, you know. Hurts your whole body.”

Throughout our interview, he remained unwaveringly happy to own his gun, even though it seems as though he hasn’t used it yet. After our interview was over, I watched him get up and hobble back into his house using his rifle as a cane, the butt end on the ground and his hand on the tip of the barrel. 

Just as he passed through the doorway, his AK-47 went off, blowing his hand and forearm to smithereens. 

Poor guy. But, at least, he’s still got his gun.

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Update to original article:

Since the writing of this article one year ago, gun sales have dropped by 94.7%. Currently, only approximately 2% of Americans live in a home with a gun, drastically dropping from the previous 44%. The number of deaths due to firearms in the year since the bill passed was approximately 2,300, which is a huge decrease compared to the 48,830 recorded in 2020. School shootings have reached almost zero, and the stories of mass murders have as well. The Gun Rights Protection Act has saved more lives than any other bill in history.