02 October 2017: Today there was an act of unspeakable horror by a lone wolf gunman who sprayed concert goers from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas with rounds and rounds of bullets. The death toll will be over 50 and the injured number over 400 poor souls. The gunman took his own life surrounded by at least 10 rapid fire rifles.
In all my visits to the various parts of America other than on the waist band of a policeman or security guard there was only one occasion that I witnessed a gun on a civilian.
In a small Virginia town called Front Royal we stopped for a coffee on the main street and took an outside table. The man at the next table had a silver handled cane resting on the table. He was talking to passers by who were known to him and he was talking about his artificial leg. He was evidently ex military and had a prosthesis.
After he had finished his conversation he suddenly turned around and picking up his cane smacked it against his hollow leg and said ‘welcome to the colonies Ladies!!!’ it was then we noticed his side arm. He was a very distinctive figure dressed all in black. We had a short conversation with him and he said that his platoon had passed through the UK and that he would like to visit some time for longer. It was reasonably disturbing none the less.
Really it is something you never see in the UK. But I want reassure you that what happened today is a unique event and it is unlikely to be witnessed again any time soon. I don’t want raise the debate about American gun control but I have had conversations with different stores that supply guns about what you need to purchase firearms and it is ridiculously easy. Even Walmart sell guns and rifles alongside groceries and toys.
The image on the left is from a small hardware store in Wallace, Idaho and the sign on the right is from the entrance to the museum at the Talladega Super Speedway. Both are completely alien to us in the UK.
There is a chain of massive outdoor specialists calls Bass Pro Shops that are so vast and the range so complete that a visit to one of their stores is an experience in it’s own right. They supply everything and I mean everything you would every need to camp, hunt, run, walk, ski, trek, climb and so on. There are life sized stuffed Moose and Bear on display as well as water features. Often found at the corner of a shopping complex they are a treat to walk through into the main mall.
A competitor to Bass Pro is Dicks and they even had a pink semi automatic rifle in pink!
There are definite culture clashes between here and America for sure.
Why not get one of these?
USA Road Trips by Max 
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