Embracing My Inner Warrior
They say that you can do anything in Vegas. Well, apparently, you can. My older kids noticed a brochure on the tourist racks for a place called “The Gun Store.” Yeah, I know a gun store? “But dad, they have all of these uber old guns from World War II and stuff and they even let grownups fire some of them.”
My wife was less than excited about this. Being a guy (and a Warrior at heart) I admit that my curiosity was up. Apparently, this place is famous worldwide. Ozzie Osborne is a regular. We had done the typical Vegas tourist stuff and this place was on the road out of town so we decided that we’d see what the fuss was about.
Well, this place really was uber. I’m not a big gun person and if you hate guns or whatever I understand that this may make you uncomfortable but in this case my love of history and my own male nature just got the best of me. They had historic and modern guns all over their walls. It was like a museum but in this museum, for a price, you can do more than just look.
They had an MP-40. That’s one of those German machine guns that you see in all the movies (worth up to $45,000 each and impossible to buy on the antique gun market). And yes, I just had to try it out on their range (see photo above). It was a once in a lifetime experience. Then there was an authentic Tommy gun; the kind that the gangsters used in the 1930s. They also had much more.
Just the money sitting around this place was unbelievable. All of this stuff must have cost them a fortune and taken years to assemble. I have done some historical reenacting in my past and seeing and experiencing all of this history was just awesome. The whole time I was guided by a highly-trained professional who was a US Special Forces guy and an expert in martial arts. Plus he was a very nice person, too.
Was this a testosterone-filled environment? Yes. It was also a first-class one. It was just the kind of quirky and unusual non-touristy stuff that I love to find when we travel.
Frankly, I enjoy the fact that I have no trouble blending my own peaceful spirituality with my more animal passions in a strange looking blend that nevertheless works for me.
I believe that only when we embrace every part of who we are (without fear) can we truly find peace and happiness and have uber cool days like today, too.
For me, that is the essence of what it means to be a Passionate Warrior
Hugh DeBurgh, The Passionate Warrior, has dedicated his life to the achievement of the ultimate family lifestyle. You can find him writing about Creative Family Lifestyle Design over at his blog, The Way of the Passionate Warrior. Currently he is on the second leg of a worldwide travel adventure with his wife and four young children. His blog is at http://thepassionatewarrior.com.