Special Guest Columnist Eric ".44 Magnum" Cartridge on -- "Taking Gun Virgins for a Desert Shoot"

My line of work as a producer of advertising, photo shoots and television commercials brings me in contact with people from all over the world. They come to Arizona all winter for our consistent sunshine and great natural beauty. Many of my clients are from New York, California, England, Canada and other places not known for their tolerance of guns and gun owners. The right to keep and bear arms is legendary in the American West but equally alien in less enlightened parts of the world, and often the subject of guns comes up in conversation while we are driving around the state looking at filming (shooting?) locations.

A couple of weeks ago I was working with a New York City-based client on a fashion catalog, and the photographer said, "Eric, what's the deal with guns out here? I hear lots of people have guns in Arizona." I replied, "Of course we do, don't you have guns in New York?" (knowing full well that most New Yorkers of course don't).

He responded that he didn't have a gun. Then he carefully asked if I did.

"Well of course I own guns," I said, feigning surprise at the question.

"How many guns do you have?" he asked, with eyebrows raised, and I nonchalantly told him I had about 30 or so, but I hadn't exactly counted them in a while.