Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

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Clams
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Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by Clams »

Cooley posted this on facebook this morning. I don't recall Cooley going online in this fashion before.


There was this heavy box I carried around with me for years. I would pick it up, put it in the truck, haul it to the next place and that's where it stayed until it was time to move again. It was full of small caliber handgun and rifle cartridges, and shotgun shells of various size and shot patterns. It wouldn't be considered a stockpile by today's standards, and I didn't have any use for it then, but I inherited it and the guns that went with it from my father. So I would toss it into the pile with the rest of the baggage I wasn't ready to part with and pretend I was moving on.

My Dad owned a store. Similar to a convenience store, but located in the rural community where we lived, so it still functioned like a traditional country store,complete with a set of regulars that stopped by almost every day to chat. And without cable tv ( it's still not available there), 24/7 news , and the internet still over 20 years away, country stores and old ole boys had a wireless bullshit delivery system nonetheless. And good old boys never talk long without talking about guns.

I didn't think much about it at the time, but every now and then my Dad would come home convinced something was about to happen with regard to guns and ammo that required "stocking up." There were going to be limits on the number of boxes you could by. The price was going to reach unaffordable levels. "They" were going to make it so that you couldn't even buy guns any more or be able to use the ones you had. And this information was never reported in the news because "they" don't want you to know it. That's how that heavy assed box came to be, and would eventually come to me.

One night before I inherited all those bullets, I got shot at. They wouldn't have done me any good since I was trespassing. I'm pretty sure firing shots at the owner of the property you're trespassing on makes it worse. Anyway I was with a couple of friends and we were rolling this guys yard. His house was on a hill at the end of a long driveway with woods in between. We heard the door open and the lights came on and we ran through the woods toward the road. He fired 2 maybe 3 shots and I could hear the bullets going through the trees alongside us. I don't know if he was actually trying to hit us,and I'm not even sure if he could see us, but he didn't just fire in the air either. It had to be obvious we were running away even if it wasn't obvious we were just kids pulling a prank.

On another evening I was home with my parents and some of my friends thought it would be funny to steal the hubcaps off my car. We heard a noise and my Dad could see someone moving around outside. He got his gun, threw open the door and yelled "I'll blow your head off you son of a bitch". One of my friends stood up from behind the car with his hands up saying "don't shoot Mr Cooley it's me". My Dad was red and shaking all over from fear and embarrassment. He'd almost shot a kid pulling a prank.

The inability to defend ones home or even the thought of that level of helplessness brings to mind images that are frightening for anyone, and my father and the man who shot at me belonged to a class and generation of men that were especially motivated that very fear. Robbing a man of the ability to defend his home was the last degrading thing the world could do to him. A world that many of the men of my dad's generation and class saw as having it in for them in the first place. And that was enough to make anything less than an armed response, a weak response.

I never told my Dad I got shot at pulling a prank, and the man who did it outlived him.
I got rid of that box of ammo. If I need to do some shooting, I can buy more.
And there was never a time when I couldn't.

-Cooley
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Tequila Cowboy
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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by Tequila Cowboy »

I saw this. He manages to say so very much while saying nothing at all. Much like his songs he just plain makes you think. Love it.
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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by one belt loop »

I think the writing is gorgeous - and the lack of understanding on the part of many readers is unreal.
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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by Markalanbishop »

"...and it's like the dragon's side of the story is never told." Thoughtful and strangely moving. I'm not the world's most religious guy, but God bless Mike Cooley.
Kick out the jams motherfuckers.

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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by Tequila Cowboy »

one belt loop wrote:I think the writing is gorgeous - and the lack of understanding on the part of many readers is unreal.


Because people don't want to think. They want bumper sticker wisdom that they can defend at all costs. This goes for people I agree with as well as the ones I don't. What Cooley said here was eloquent and right on the fucking mark. Complex issues require complex thinking and nuanced solutions. He's sharing a perspective here and perspectives are in pretty short supply these days. Cooley's writing is the very definition of nuance and therefore very difficult for people to understand.
We call him Scooby Do, but Scooby doesn’t do. Scooby, is not involved

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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by Kudzu Guillotine »

Tequila Cowboy wrote:
one belt loop wrote:I think the writing is gorgeous - and the lack of understanding on the part of many readers is unreal.


Because people don't want to think. They want bumper sticker wisdom that they can defend at all costs. This goes for people I agree with as well as the ones I don't. What Cooley said here was eloquent and right on the fucking mark. Complex issues require complex thinking and nuanced solutions. He's sharing a perspective here and perspectives are in pretty short supply these days. Cooley's writing is the very definition of nuance and therefore very difficult for people to understand.


I saw someone post a photo online over the weekend of some of the innocent bystanders at the Boston marathon just before one of the bombs went off (I imagine anyone that's been online much since the event happened has also seen it). I agreed with the sentiment being expressed in the post that it was a moment captured before everything went awry. What I didn't agree with was the segment in bold:

This picture is amazing when you consider that what would happen moments later would end this 8 year old’s life. Most amazing is the fact that the photo showcases the backpack that contained the bomb, the apparatus of his death…a bomb. Finally, the picture captures the little boy’s killer, Chechnyan terrorist Tsarnaev. Depicted here is the fragility of life, and the evil therein. This could have been one of my sons. How many Leftist cowards have considered bombing Tea Party gatherings or other events where our kids have been?

If Obama is serious about helping America’s children, he will stop his assault on the Constitution, and he will begin performing his constitutional duty of enforcing the Constitution.


There will never be any semblance of intelligent discourse in this country as long as people on both sides resort to this sort of bullshit. This came from a website called The Black Sphere.

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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by John A Arkansawyer »

Compare and contrast: "You can only carry hell around so long before it gets to be a drag" and "There was this heavy box I carried around with me for years".
The sooner we put those assholes in the grave&piss on the dirt above it, the better off we'll be

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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by LastLawson »

Kudzu Guillotine wrote:
Tequila Cowboy wrote:
one belt loop wrote:I think the writing is gorgeous - and the lack of understanding on the part of many readers is unreal.


Because people don't want to think. They want bumper sticker wisdom that they can defend at all costs. This goes for people I agree with as well as the ones I don't. What Cooley said here was eloquent and right on the fucking mark. Complex issues require complex thinking and nuanced solutions. He's sharing a perspective here and perspectives are in pretty short supply these days. Cooley's writing is the very definition of nuance and therefore very difficult for people to understand.


I saw someone post a photo online over the weekend of some of the innocent bystanders at the Boston marathon just before one of the bombs went off (I imagine anyone that's been online much since the event happened has also seen it). I agreed with the sentiment being expressed in the post that it was a moment captured before everything went awry. What I didn't agree with was the segment in bold:

This picture is amazing when you consider that what would happen moments later would end this 8 year old’s life. Most amazing is the fact that the photo showcases the backpack that contained the bomb, the apparatus of his death…a bomb. Finally, the picture captures the little boy’s killer, Chechnyan terrorist Tsarnaev. Depicted here is the fragility of life, and the evil therein. This could have been one of my sons. How many Leftist cowards have considered bombing Tea Party gatherings or other events where our kids have been?

If Obama is serious about helping America’s children, he will stop his assault on the Constitution, and he will begin performing his constitutional duty of enforcing the Constitution.


There will never be any semblance of intelligent discourse in this country as long as people on both sides resort to this sort of bullshit. This came from a website called The Black Sphere.


Wait, did I just read that? The Black Sphere is where intelligence and logic go to die I guess.
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Cole Younger
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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by Cole Younger »

I love Cooley's writing.

I love that he decided to do this. It seems to have come from nowhere and seems out of character as he hates the internet and such.

But I'm glad he felt like sharing more of his thoughts than just what we get in songs as a response to a question in an interview.

He said a mouthfull when he said, "just cause I don't run my mouth don't mean I've got nothin to say."
A single shot rifle and a one eyed dog.

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dime in the gutter
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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by dime in the gutter »

wireless bullshit delivery system.

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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by beantownbubba »

Clams wrote:So I would toss it into the pile with the rest of the baggage I wasn't ready to part with and pretend I was moving on.


He just tosses sentences like this off, well, kinda the way he tosses off lyrics, lol. If he worked on that line for 20 minutes, ok, I can live w/ that. If, as I suspect, he just casually tossed it off, goddamn it life is just not fair.

Totally shocked that he decided to post this, but it is so Cooley. Others have used the word "nuanced" to describe it and it surely is that. But if nuance goes to understanding the gray, then it's something more. Maybe "subtle" is the word: There's no rancor, there's no raw language, there's no clear definitive bullet point argument. But damn if he doesn't say what he has to say. No surprise, but fuckin' impressive as hell.
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dime in the gutter
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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by dime in the gutter »

beantownbubba wrote:"nuanced"

pinko commie or bitter clinger?

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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by Rocky »

I live in Richmond and they have gun shows here where they sell firearms 3 or 4 times a year. Since 2008 or so the commercial for the gun show ends with "buy your guns while you still can."
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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by brett27295 »

Wait....Cooley has a computer?
Turn you demons into walls of goddamned noise and sound.

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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by Zip City »

Rocky wrote:I live in Richmond and they have gun shows here where they sell firearms 3 or 4 times a year. Since 2008 or so the commercial for the gun show ends with "buy your guns while you still can."


Seriously, they're taking the guns away. Any day now. Just wait for it. No, don't wait, SPEND ALL YOUR MONEY AT OUR GUN SHOW
And I knew when I woke up Rock N Roll would be here forever

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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by The Black Canary »

Zip City wrote:
Rocky wrote:I live in Richmond and they have gun shows here where they sell firearms 3 or 4 times a year. Since 2008 or so the commercial for the gun show ends with "buy your guns while you still can."


Seriously, they're taking the guns away. Any day now. Just wait for it. No, don't wait, SPEND ALL YOUR MONEY AT OUR GUN SHOW


you know it is not just guns at gun shows, they have the sausage guy and the canolie girl there too ;) ;)

but if you don't like guns then don't buy one.
so what is it like living with your mommy again BWAHAHAHAHAH

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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by Penny Lane »

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, and to ensure the safety of one's hubcaps.
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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by dbtfan4life »

Seriously, they're taking the guns away. Any day now. Just wait for it. No, don't wait, SPEND ALL YOUR MONEY AT OUR GUN SHOW[/quote]


HAHA!!! thats gud :D

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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by Cole Younger »

Rocky wrote:I live in Richmond and they have gun shows here where they sell firearms 3 or 4 times a year. Since 2008 or so the commercial for the gun show ends with "buy your guns while you still can."


Yeah boy. We have them in Georgia all the time. Some great deals at those things too.
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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by Swamp »

I bought into the hype back in the late 80's early 90's
I stocked up. Bought some things I didn't really need, but I enjoyed them very much.
People came out to the house every Sunday to shoot.
We jokingly called ourselves the Middleburg Milita.
We had Saddam Hussein targets with taco bell sauce duck taped on the back side.
Yes 35 year old Swamp was a crazy MF.
Anyways thanks to all the "get em while you can hype", and even though I did not buy them
as investments, I have unloaded my stuff for 3 times what I paid :D
and the rest as they say is uh er uh, well somebodies history somewhere?

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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by 'Scratch »

Another Cooley gem on gun control.

My Grandaddy's shotgun is locked in a closet
and it never shot a thing that could have lived.


I wish I could say that about my shotgun.
Not forever, just for now.

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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by RevMatt »

I enjoyed the nuanced piece. It says a whole lot, especially how different people in different regions treat the gun issue.

I grew up in the so-called liberal northeast. I guess we are anti-gun here regardless of the political party one belongs to. Part of it is that our neighborhoods are packed so tight we have developed ways of dealing with each other so we don't end up in fights. You learn at a young age to 1) stay out of other people's business and 2) keep your family squabbles behind closed doors. How do guns fit into all of this? There is no safe place to discharge a firearm within city limits. If you shoot it in your backyard the bullet can end up in the door of your neighbor's Buick or worse. The noise alone is enough to piss off your neighbors which is one of the reasons why fireworks are illegal here as well. Stay quiet and keep your shit in your own backyard. And keep that backyard clean so your neighbors don't have to look at your trash when they have company over. That's how we do it in Jersey.
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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by 'Scratch »

I don't know. I'm a Jersey native, born and raised, but I had my first BB gun at 9 and my first shotgun at 12. Granted, I grew up in a rural part of the state but firearms were always a part of my family's culture. All of the men on my dad's side were avid hunters and outdoorsmen and several fought in combat in WWII.

Growing up, my best friend's father had an unbelievable gun collection. Early Pennsylvania rifles, a Brown Bess, classic Fox shotguns, numerous rifles, a few pistols and a Confederate Cavalry sword. We spent HOURS cleaning and taking care of them completely unsupervised before I was even a teenager. The difference between me and other kids was that respect for firearms and gun safety were as integral a part of growing up as learning how to ride a bike. I've hunted a great deal over the years and learned first hand what guns can do living things as well as inanimate objects. I also grew up playing army and building forts and when the first Red Dawn movie came out, my brother and I couldn't wait to be invaded. That said, I've never pointed a gun an anyone on purpose and never had a desire to use one in an act of violence.

While many of my views would be considered liberal, I am definitely pro-Second Amendment. I don't have any faith in the government or police's ability to protect me or my family. That's a responsibility I'm willing to take on for myself. And to do so I follow the law and despite having no criminal record, I've been subjected to great scrutiny as part of the application process. As a result, I've come to realize that most people, including elected officials and law enforcement have very limited understanding of firearms and the laws governing their use. It's unfortunate because this ignorance breeds a great deal of fear and angst.

And I have to counter what RevMatt said "I guess we're anti-gun here regardless of the political party one belongs to." This may be true to some degree but the wide majority of my friends in this state- conservative or progressive - are very pro-gun. Maybe it's the circles I'm in or the fact that I'm not an urbanite, but it's incorrect to think that the majority of Americans are anti-gun regardless of what the mainstream media wants us to think. For that matter, no law will ever prevent bad people from doing bad things. The fact that our society is so vulnerable to the evil actions of the Boston Marathon bombers, or the 911 hijackers or nutjobs like Tom McVeigh isn't a sign or weakness, but a testament to the level of freedom and security we've become accustomed to.
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dime in the gutter
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Re: Cooley on guns, his dad, the past, and the present

Post by dime in the gutter »

i'm proud to say that i ain't never been no violent man, but i'd sure be rotting in jail today if i had me a gun in my hand.

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