The Lady Gun
Even people who may be against guns as I am might still have a fascination for them. I do. As a Latin man born in Argentina I have been plagued by a quick temper. I have often thought that if I had a gun in my house I would eventually shoot at someone in anger.
My fascination for guns stopped at air guns. In the old Athlone house in Kerrisdale I watched how squirrels would eat my Rosemary’s bulbs before they bloomed. I went to Three Vets and purchased a 357 Magnum replica gun that was air powered. It even had an extra-long barrel that made the gun more accurate. I decided that shooting at a squirrel without my glasses made it sportsmanlike. I would open the kitchen door and the rascals would run. I always missed. But once I did not. I caught the squirrel in mid air and it fell still alive. I went to it and I quickly remembered how as a little boy I had killed a bird with a slingshot and I had been devastated by it. I had to give the squirrel its coup de grâce and like that bird of my youth I buried the animal with much sorrow. When my youngest daughter Hilary found out she told me that if I repeated my offence she was going to call the SPCA.
I never used the gun again but I displayed it in the living room. One night someone came into the house and liberated me of the weapon.
Guns still hold that fascination and I like to use them in some of my photo sessions but only in the hand of a woman. I love the concept (very Chandler) of a lady’s gun in a purse.
The above is my simple excuse to post this lovely photograph of Bronwen with a toy gun on her lap.
There is a wonderful very short story by Julio Cortázar, Cortísimo Metraje ( A Very Short Film) not available in English. It tells of a man who picks up a woman at an “autostop”. In the car he makes advances on her. Eventually he drags her out of the car. She pulls a gun from her purse and shoots him. She takes his wallet (full of dough) and steals his car. The ending reveals that the woman is a professional.
I found this most interesting post on Ian Fleming’s ( and subsequently James Bond’s ) lady gun.
Originally published at blog.alexwaterhousehayward.com.
