Belarus Texas. The most terrible wars in Belarus. Going to the shooting range with my daughter on the weekend is normal

Chapter 18. THE MOST CULT PLACES IN BELARUS The inhabitants of the Belarusian lands have long been famous for their lack of religious intolerance and loyal attitude towards representatives of the most diverse faiths. This is confirmed by numerous monuments of religious architecture that have come down

The concept of the exercises is also based on the version of the conflict associated with the increase in the activity of illegal armed groups in Belarus. © Freeze frame video of Belsat

When the organizers of the Russian-Belarusian exercises “West-2017” announced their scenario at a press conference, they did not even suspect that they were creating not just an Internet meme that captured the Belarusian segment of the Internet in a matter of hours. They, in fact, created a social phenomenon - an "alternative" Belarus, in which, as it turned out, very many people would like to live. For years, opposition leaders were unable to formulate their vision of the "dream country". And some officers did it for them.

It all started on August 29, when Oleg Belokonev, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Belarus, held a press conference on the upcoming Russian-Belarusian exercises "West-2017" in two weeks. After a long story about how the insidious NATO is no less insidiously creeping up to the borders of Russia and Belarus, Belokonev voiced the scenario of the exercises, which, according to him, the Ministry of Defense chose based on events in the countries of the Middle East and Europe.

“The idea is based on one of the similar options for the emergence of a crisis situation of an escalation of a conflict associated with an increase in the activity of illegal armed groups, international separatist and terrorist organizations with external support,” Belokonev explained.

According to the scenario, the opponents are conditionally located within the borders of Belarus. On the one hand - "Northern" (Russia and Belarus), on the other - "Western". This is a coalition of interested states - Veishnoria, Vesbaria, Lubenia. Poland and Lithuania are easily guessed under Vesbaria and Lubenia situationally and geographically. But the staff officers located the conditional state of Veishnoria in the northwestern part of the real territory of Belarus. According to the legend of the exercises, the situation in the region escalated due to the desire of Veishnoria, with the support of Vesbaria and Lubenia, to attack union state Russia and Belarus.

“According to a similar scenario, all armed conflicts began in Lately, Belokonev explained. - In turn, Belarus, according to the scenario of the exercises, seeks to prevent the outbreak of an armed conflict, the destabilization of the situation in the region, and Russia provides it with political support, financial, military-technical and military assistance. From this idea, the purpose of the exercises was determined: the preparation and use of groupings of troops in the interests of ensuring the military security of the Union State.

The press conference hasn't ended yet. social media were already boiling. Belarusians were outraged by the ease with which the generals declared one part of the country an enemy of another part. “What is behind this? Lukashenka's dislike for the Grodno region? The conviction that Svetlana Aleksievich recently demonstrated, they say, they are Catholics with us, give them weapons, and they are ready to fight with the Orthodox? asked social media users.

However, the majority at first perceived the proclamation of Veishnoria as an anecdote from the series “you can’t imagine it on purpose.” But then it became clear that the boundaries of the "internal enemy" were not drawn at random. The authors of the scenario of the exercises, as if on purpose, united within the boundaries of Veishnoria areas with a predominantly Catholic population, with a predominance of Belarusian language in communication, as well as several areas of compact settlement of the Polish national minority.

Moreover, if we superimpose the map of Belarus with Veishnoria indicated on the electoral map of 1994, it turns out that Veishnoria included those areas in which the majority of the population supported the leader of the Belarusian nationalists Zenon Poznyak in the first presidential elections. He was the main opponent of Alexander Lukashenko and already in 1996 he was forced to flee the country.

Finally, it was on the territory of Veishnoria that the Belarusian nuclear power plant was built, which is being built with Russian money on the border with Lithuania, and which has already become a pretext for a serious conflict between the official Vilnius and Minsk.

From humor to more serious things

The fictional Veishnoria instantly began to live her own own life. Harmless jokes like "I want to emigrate to Veishnoria" were quickly replaced by more politicized ones. Something like this: “The government of Belarus has already applied to Veishnoria with a request for a loan. The size of the loan is specified. In exchange, the official Minsk promised to allow rebroadcasting of Weishnorian television on cable networks and to take measures to expand schools in the Weishnorian language.” This is a direct allusion to the relations between Belarus and Poland.

By the evening of the 29th, users had created maps, a coat of arms and a flag, as well as several versions of the Veishnoria anthem and even comics dedicated to this country. History, government and other attributes of a non-existent country appeared one after another. In most cases, they are written with a great deal of irony. Local entrepreneurs are already starting to produce passport covers with Veishnoria symbols.

But the more jokes appeared, the more people talked about the existence of Weishnoria quite seriously. On August 30, pages dedicated to her appeared on Wikipedia - first in Belarusian, and soon in Russian) languages. At the same time, sites of government departments of Veishnoria began to appear on the Internet. There was also an "official website" of the country itself, on which, in particular, you can leave an application for a "passport". Almost 4,000 such applications have already been submitted.

Ten facts about Veishnoria that you did not know (folk art):

1. According to legend, the name comes from ancient tribe weishas that no one has ever seen.

2. The capital of Veishnoria is the royal city of Grodno, respectively, Veishnoria itself is a kingdom.

3. But at the same time, Veishnoria has a government in exile, which considers Veishnoria a republic. The Weishnor People's Republic was not recognized by anyone except Russia, whose government liked the abbreviation VNR.

4. State language Veyshnoria is not Russian or Belarusian, as some people think, but Veyshnoria, however, no one speaks it. Nevertheless, 89% of the Weishnors indicated it as their home language and called it their native language.

5. On the main square of the capital of Veishnoria there is a monument to Lenin, who was not even a Weishnorian. Some Weishnorians believe that Lenin founded Weishnoria, others believe that he promised the ancient Weishnorians a salary of $500.

6. Veishnoria has ancient history, which none of the Weishnors know, but every educated Weishnor is convinced that this story is thousands of years old and very glorious.

7. A nuclear power plant is being built on the territory of Veishnoria, with the money of Russia, which Belarus will give. What do you think is the smartest people?

8. An old national pastime of the Weishnors is a trip “for purchases” to Lithuania and Poland. This custom is considered very ancient and important. The government of Veishnoria is preparing a bill on the mandatory trip "for purchases" for all citizens of the country.

9. Almost every Weishnorian has a “Polish card”, while none of the Weishnorians consider themselves a Pole.

10. The national hero of Veishnoria is Poznyak. But the Weishnors themselves do not know this.

“For decades, the Belarusian opposition could not present to the public its image of the “Belarus of the future”, attractive and alternative to how the country sees official authority led by Alexander Lukashenko, - Andrey Aksyonov, expert of the civil campaign Our House, explained what is happening to Rosbalt. - And the nameless officers of the General Staff did it unwittingly - they, in fact, accidentally hit the very point of public expectations. Veishnoria, conceived as an enemy state, turned out to be the very country in which very, very many Belarusians would like to live.”

The last days in the Belarusian Internet community they only talk about “ new country". Someone even considers the appearance of Veishnoria and the hype around her to be a special operation of the FSB aimed at splitting Belarus. But still more of those who actually liked the idea.

“No matter how ridiculous it may sound, but the Belarusian military leaders, without suspecting it themselves, launched an information reaction, which will most likely lead to the creation of a virtual statehood of Veishnoria. People need to play something, says political scientist Pavel Usov. “Moreover, Veishnoria is a dream of a normal country—a political sublimation. This is all the good things that are not in Belarus now - this is a positive reflection of it.”

The specter of separatism

While the majority of users of Belarusian social networks were practicing wit, more serious analysts took the hype around Veishnoria as an unkind sign.

“Internet people yearned for the “other Belarus”. The state ruled by Lukashenka Alexander Grigoryevich, for a significant part of the Internet community, is, to put it mildly, a stepmother or something, writes Andrzej Poczobut, a Belarusian journalist of Polish origin, on his Facebook page. “Against this background, Veishnoria, with its mythical army, coat of arms, flag and threat to the “general staff”, becomes the object of sighs and longing for a normal European state, where a citizen is not an appendage to the authorities, but a full-fledged subject public life and can influence their state. Veishnoria has become a kind of intellectual refuge, a release for decades of stress. According to the principle - after all, it could be normal with us. ”

However, as Poczobut points out, this phenomenon has its own back side. The ease with which the generals drew a map, uniting a region that stood out in ethno-religious terms and declaring it an enemy, was the answer with the ease with which people got involved in this game.

“Despite all the operetta of what is happening, this phenomenon cannot be underestimated. The question arises: will another part of society, tormented by its phantom pains, chant the slogans of the “people's republics” with the same fervor? Because instead of the “other Russia” that Lukashenka has been building for 23 years now, many Belarusians will suddenly unbearably want to go to the very real mother Russia that they know from TV ... Games with separatism are always games with fire, ”the journalist sums up.

A similar point of view is shared by political commentator Yuri Drakokhrust. “In the current exercise scenario, a huge danger is actually present. Not that it is a direct military one - oh, Russia will capture Belarus. In this, I believe, even those who voice such alarming forecasts have little faith. So, what's the danger? And in Veishnoria, in the challenge of metaphysics, the magic of statehood, he writes. - What I mean? What I can't imagine Russian general, who will develop a scenario for the exercises, and even more so, show their map, on which one side is indicated - Russia, and the second - some part of what is now considered an integral part of it in Russia. And it doesn't matter what - the Crimea, the Far Eastern Republic (there was one during the Civil War), the independent Caucasus, whatever. Should have torn off such a general's epaulettes. And this is a feature not only of Russia. A map of exercises in Lithuania, where Vilnius and the surrounding territories would be designated abroad, a map of Polish exercises, where the Bialystok Voivodeship is designated differently than Poland, a scenario of exercises in the USA, where Texas is designated not by the United States - this does not happen, it is impossible ".

According to Drakokhrust, until recently in Belarus there was a solidarity national taboo on discussion, especially on banter about revising the existing borders of the country. The current cheerful discussion weakens this taboo. “Cool maps can be drawn in different ways: Veishnoria in the northwest - how funny, some kind of Vitebsk people's republic- also extremely witty. But if a taboo falls on one, why should it be kept on the other? It is better not to wake these demons, they can wake up and in the most unexpected way, ”the observer sums up.

It is very likely that during the month of exercises, the invented “Veyshnoria” will gain a foothold for the informal definition of a region of Belarus with a predominance or a significant proportion of Catholics in the structure of the local population. Indeed, before even a socialized name for its concise definition simply did not exist. But not the fact that everything will be limited only to this.

Belarusian writer Vintses Mudrov believes that the resonance around the fictitious state incites separatist sentiments. “The story of Veishnoria, which flooded the news feed, is nothing more than a deliberate incitement of separatist sentiments in the country,” he says. “After all, there will obviously be those among the Wayshnors who will seize on the idea of ​​separating the specified territory and creating an independent country there, the vector of development of which will be directed to the West.”

Denis Lavnikevich, Minsk

Surprisingly, in America, a lot of things have not changed for tens or even hundreds of years. Along the way, you will certainly see wooden poles, and in eateries above your heads you will definitely have fan blades spinning. Here you can still meet real cowboys on horseback and Indians who carefully observe their customs. And here the second amendment to the Constitution is still in force, guaranteeing the right to keep and bear arms.

Although the Founding Fathers passed this amendment in 1791 to give the people the right to rebel against the government, it now has a slightly different connotation. During the "Crown Techno" we visited Texas - the state where the attitude towards weapons is the most loyal.

How shops are robbed in Texas

A beautiful May day, Saturday, outside the window of our car is 33-degree heat. We pull into a quiet one-story street in Dallas. After passing a couple of blocks, we find ourselves in front of a store, in a small parking lot in front of which a real picnic is organized. This store, like dozens of other similar outlets in Texas, freely sells weapons.

Salads are laid out under the awnings and hamburgers are being prepared, a little further away bikers, as if descended from American films about bad guys, are grilling chicken legs and drinking beer. We were lucky to get to the “corporate party for clients”, organized by the owner of a weapons store, a native of Belarus, Igor.

Igor, gun shop owner in Texas

Getting out of the car, Igor asks:

Have the neighbors been warned?

“No, we’re quiet here,” his assistant replies.

- And the police?

"Come, let's talk..."

It is difficult to imagine such a conversation in any other state. Probably only in Texas you can practically openly drink beer and barbecue right on the street, and at the same time not think that people from neighboring houses will complain to 911.

The entrance to the weapons store is blocked by thick metal posts, concreted into the ground and a large boulder. This is robbery protection.

- The most popular way of robbery here is to drive a car into a store at 2-3 in the morning, breaking through a wall or door, load up with goods and quickly run off. Therefore, the entrance should be fortified as much as possible. This point was already robbed once, 50 trunks were taken out. Later, the criminals were found and the weapons were returned, but we decided to strengthen the protection anyway,” Igor explains.

And not in vain. After some time, they tried to rob us again, but unsuccessfully. We laughed a lot when we looked at the surveillance footage. The criminals wrapped a rope around the stone and tried to remove it with a car:

Most often take pistols and AK

Basically, Igor's shop sells weapons and everything connected with it. However, this is only about a tenth of the business of the Belarusian-American entrepreneur. He also sells various accessories for outdoor activities, ski equipment and running shoes.

— We started with optics: scopes, binoculars, rangefinders. Then weapons came up, and we began to acquire all sorts of related products - for example, camouflage clothing and shoes. In general, I am doing business in America immediately after moving from Minsk in 2006, - Igor admitted.

We ask what people buy most often in the store?

- AK is popular always and everywhere (laughs). Well, pistols, of course. We have them in different sizes for everything. life situations. For example, you ride a bike through the forest, and a lynx meets you. In such a case, you want to have something - for example, a compact trunk, so as not to burden yourself with excess weight on a bike ride.

And so - at home one gun, another one at work, well, you can leave it in the car. The people, if funds permit, buy several pieces so as not to carry back and forth.

In addition, according to the business owner, Texans often choose the famous AR-15 rifle in various variations (an American semi-automatic rifle, produced since 1963, a regular police weapon. - Approx. TUT.BY). And here you can easily buy Mosin rifles, with the stamp of the factory, which have lain in arsenals since the 20-40s of the last century.

"Texas has a gun culture"

More and more you feel the unreality of what is happening. Igor discusses popular vending machine models as if he were talking about choosing a shampoo or a beer. It is very strange for a Belarusian to hear such things.

- It's simple. Texas has a culture of handling weapons, from those years. Therefore, no one here shoots into the air and does not run around with a pistol naked - after all, this is seriously punished.

- It is clear when they buy pistols for self-defense, but why rifles?

- To protect the house, well, you won’t go hunting with a gun. Although for hunting guns are better suited.

We ask Igor if it was not scary to move here with children, knowing about the free carrying of weapons?

- Why is it scary? I have two pistols in my car - one is a Belgian FNH, by the way, a popular brand here, the second is a Brazilian Taurus. Not in the glove compartment, in the trunk - I drive the child so that he does not accidentally get it.

“In all the time I have carried a weapon here, I have never had to use it outside of shooting galleries or shooting ranges. And I think the percentage of civilians who needed it is very small.

“Weapons and alcohol are absolutely incompatible here”

Opening a gun shop in Texas was easy:

— There are certain procedures, you need to get a special license. But remembering the Belarusian realities, it is probably easier than opening, for example, a hardware store in Minsk. You just need to fulfill certain requirements - install an alarm, provide storage space, etc.

Igor started selling weapons, among other things, because this is a category that attracts people:

- They often come in out of curiosity, and here are camouflage clothes and optics. So if we don't sell the gun, they'll buy something else.

We joke: for example, whiskey?

- No, weapons and alcohol are absolutely incompatible here. By law, if you have a weapon on you, then you must be sober as glass. If driving a car in Texas allows a blood alcohol level of 0.1 ppm, then only 0.0 for weapons. For violation - prison.

Texas allows open carry of weapons

“We heard that if a police patrol stops on the road, you need to warn that you have a weapon.

- Desirable, but not required. However, they themselves "punch" on the rights and immediately see that you have a license for a weapon.

To obtain a license to carry a handgun, you must complete a one-day course and pass a test. Then it needs to be updated every 5 years, but without passing exams - just by paying a fee and getting a new "crust". Interestingly, for rifles and shotguns, it is not needed at all.

- In general, the issue of carrying weapons in Texas last years is being liberalized, which cannot be said about other states, especially Illinois (Chicago) and California, where, on the contrary, the screws are being tightened,” Igor said. - For example, from January 1, we were allowed to carry weapons openly, before that it could be carried covertly (under clothing). Of course, both before and now, in order to walk down the street with a pistol in a holster, you need a license.

But there are nuances here - for example, civilians cannot enter schools or student campuses with weapons. In addition, shops and establishments may prohibit entry with weapons by posting a sign at the entrance.

If they see a gun in such a store, they will call the police, and the consequences will be the most serious. On the plate (it is called "30.06" or "30.07") there should be not just a crossed-out pistol (the pictogram itself is not valid), but certain text with a certain font size.

It's hard to imagine in Belarus

“Unlike a pistol, a rifle or machine gun, even with a loaded magazine, in Texas you can carry it on your shoulder without any permission or license at all,” the compatriot continues. - It's just that there is a real culture of using weapons, which is on this moment not even close to Belarusians or Russians.

— I am sure that if tomorrow the purchase and carrying of weapons is allowed in Belarus, no matter with what restrictions, the consequences will be unpredictable. After all, this should be inculcated, if not for centuries, then for decades. So that there is an understanding of how to handle weapons, so that no one is afraid of this.

When we were robbed, my head ached not about how to find criminals or stolen goods, but about moral aspects. After all, the weapon was obviously stolen not for some good purposes, not for self-defense. This is also part of the culture,” Igor believes.

- May I add it? - Another Belarusian joins the conversation - Yura, who works in the store. - I managed to serve in the Israeli army, and there the soldiers walk the streets in full gear with loaded weapons, they go into shops, at home, to children. But you can’t just buy weapons like here, there. Why? Because the people are hot, they can shoot each other. There is no such attitude towards weapons as in the USA.

“I wish that if a child found a gun, he was less likely to injure himself”

We ask how conflict situations are resolved in the store, taking into account the specifics of the product.

- We have a common Skype chat, there are certain code words in it, meaning that something is wrong. If we see such a word, then several people slowly, without running around, begin to move inside.

There was such a case when several young people entered the store, who began to behave inappropriately, defiantly. We went to the aid of the sellers, and the conflict was settled peacefully.

Well, all the sellers in the store, and there are always 5-6 of them there, have loaded pistols in a holster, so it’s unlikely that anyone will want to cause chaos, given the possible consequences, the owner summed up.

How do you help a customer choose a pistol or rifle?

— As a rule, people who come to the store already know what exactly they need, or what parameters are most important. If they don’t know anything at all, then we start with the safety level - most buyers are family people, they have children. Often they choose weapons that are safer to use, even if they have a more complex design and a greater likelihood of failures and misfires. It would be desirable that if the child found a gun, then he had less chance of injuring himself.

Then, when choosing, brands are important - agent 007 had Berettas, which means that someone wants just such a one for himself. Someone looks at what the local police use - they mostly have Glocks. So many already have preferences before visiting us.

- In a good way, it's like choosing a tennis racket or ski boots, - says Igor. You just find what suits you best and you like it. You take a gun in your hand and by weight, by ergonomics you estimate how good it is for you. As a rule, first impressions are the most accurate. Girls often choose smaller guns in bright colors like pink. Children are also advised to start with small weapons (of course, they cannot carry weapons, but no one bothers, for example, to shoot under the supervision of their parents on a ranch).

At 18, you can go to the store and buy a rifle or shotgun

Igor's store has more than 300 types of weapons, in the center of the room there is a large Browning machine gun on struts. The only restriction for the weapons sold is that they must not be automatic. This applies to all gun stores in the US.

In the room you do not leave the feeling of unreality of what is happening. Here's a gun on sale, here's a "deal of the day" rifle, and with the purchase of these two packs of cartridges, the third one is free. Can anyone really buy this?

“Yes, if you are 18 years old, you can buy a rifle or a shotgun, at 21 you can buy a pistol,” says the owner. - You just need to present your ID to verify the age and give the money. A license is not needed to purchase, only to carry weapons on the street.

Without a license, you have the right to buy a gun and carry a box from the store into the trunk of a car, and then into the house. Also, no one forbids you to take it to the shooting range (again, carry it in a box from the car to the shooting room). To carry rifles and shotguns, we recall, you do not need a license.

You can buy anything in the store - pistols cost from $ 150 (“You better not take such a cheap one,” the seller advised) to $ 4300 (handmade Colt M1911), there are pink rifles that girls prefer to take, and the AK-47 of the American assemblies. After the imposition of sanctions against Russia, this popular weapon began to be assembled in the States under license. An American Kalash costs $750.

Every day, 5-10 weapons are sold in the store. Everyone can come here and try on a weapon for themselves - just like in our clothing store. There are only two important rules - do not point the barrel towards people and do not put your finger on the trigger (by default, the weapon is always considered to be loaded). This is closely monitored by vendors. As Igor warned, they all carry weapons.

- Loaded? I ask one of them and point to the holster on my belt.

- Certainly! Larry smiles back at me.

“I don’t want to rely on the police or the military when someone wants to break into my house”

Born and raised in Texas, Larry owns 7 pistols and a dozen rifles at home. And this is not the limit - here no one limits the size of the arsenal. The weapon is used "for various purposes: for self-defense, hunting and just shooting at the ranch." Larry is absolutely convinced that the right to bear arms is an integral part of American life.

- This is one of my personal freedoms, the right to protect my family. I do not want to rely on the police or the military when someone wants to break into my house or take money on the street. I can defend myself.

Look what's going on in Chicago right now last year, 762 people died in shootings there - TUT.BY), - continues Larry. - There are very strict rules for carrying weapons, but the number of shootings with victims is only growing. The criminal will always find where to get the barrel, why shouldn't I have such a right?

We ask if Larry ever used his arsenal for self-defense and where in general he learned to shoot. After all, carrying a weapon is one thing, but knowing how to use it correctly is another.

“Never used,” the seller replies categorically. “And most people in Texas didn't. And they learn to shoot here at special shooting ranges (shooting ranges), skills can be perfected at regular competitions.

Texans learn how to handle guns responsibly from childhood

Larry has a 17 year old daughter. He said that he takes her to the shooting range, teaches her to shoot from the age of 7 and considers it normal. When she turns 21, he will give her one of his pistols.

But how safe is it to be on the shooting range with a child when there are so many people with firearms?

- Firstly, you initially go through face control. Drunk or inadequate people will not be allowed there. Secondly, there was a case when a person began to behave like a madman, to point weapons at others. He was immediately put down by a shot from a shooting range employee. This is not a joke here.

- And how safe is it to keep weapons at home where there are children? Do I need any special safe for this?

No, no special storage space is required. You just have to make sure your pistol or rifle is securely stashed and the safety is on. If this is so, and the child still finds a shotgun on the closet and, for example, brings it to school, then the child himself will be responsible for this, since the parents, for their part, took care of safety. This point has been explained since childhood, it is also part of the culture of handling weapons and understanding the responsibility for their use.

"Come and take it"

There is another reason why Texans keep arsenals of pistols and rifles at home. Larry believes that weapons are needed not only to protect against intruders, but also from the government.

“We're mavericks here in Texas. We don't want the government to interfere with our personal life, to our business. Let him be engaged in politics, but do not climb me. Therefore, we keep weapons and to protect against power, if necessary.

By the way, we have repeatedly proposed to ban and collect weapons from the people. But who would dare to do that in Texas? On this occasion, we even have an old saying “Come and take it” (“Come and take it.” - Approx. TUT.BY), but for some reason no one comes (smiles).

Despite the most liberal attitude towards guns in the United States, Larry says, no one in Texas abuses them.

“Here you can walk down the street with a gun in your hand, of course, if you have a license, without pointing a gun at people. The most that can happen is someone calls the police. They will come up, make sure that everything is in order, and recommend hiding the gun. But you know what? No one does this - it is considered very bad form. Personally, I would not talk to such a person.

Going to the shooting range with my daughter on the weekend is normal

In order to fully experience one of the main features of Texas, we leave Igor's store for a shooting range.

The main room of the shooting range is somewhat reminiscent of a bowling alley. You choose a “track” (a place for shooting and a target that can be moved to the required distance), take / buy equipment (goggles and tight headphones are required) and go to shoot. You can use it as your own weapon - this is what most do, or buy or rent something right on the spot.

If you are on the range for the first time, you should carefully read the rules, which have a passphrase hidden towards the end, and the staff will ask you to say it out loud before letting you in. So it is checked, albeit formally, that you have read the text.

On our arrival, the relatively small room was filled with shooters and people waiting for their turn. There were brutal men with huge rifles and shotguns, and girls with small pistols, and even small children shooting under the guidance of their parents.

It's hard to believe, but children in Texas are allowed on the shooting ranges from the age of 8, of course, accompanied by adults. Going to the shooting range with your daughter on the weekend or shooting cans at the grandparents' ranch is just as normal here as, for example, going to the cinema or the zoo.

Headphones help keep you from deafening from constant shooting (especially from heavy machine guns), but even with them it's still very loud here. Out of habit, you twitch when you hear a loud shot from the next booth.

The room is filled with gunpowder smoke, shell casings are flying everywhere, which the staff periodically rakes with a special mop. It looks like one of the most popular entertainment among Texans.

We leave Texas, the next point of the route of our Great Journey is New Mexico. Saying goodbye, we ask Igor for his personal opinion: is the right to bear arms still a good thing, or should it be limited?

- Here we need to go back to history and remember how the second amendment appeared. Then every person was given the right to protect himself, his family and property from outside encroachments. This has historically been preserved to this day, and it is in this context that I consider the possibility of carrying weapons to be correct. The rest is regulated by upbringing and strict laws.

I recently read an interesting study that was done here in Texas. People who are serving time in prison on serious charges were interviewed. The main question they were asked was: “What are you most afraid of when you commit a crime?”

And the worst thing for them was not a meeting with the police or a possible punishment for their crime. The most popular response was "get a bullet from the owner of the property".

The United States is the leader in the number of weapons per capita in the world, while in terms of the number of murders using firearms, the country is not among the top ten leaders (18th place), yielding to such countries as Honduras, Venezuela, Jamaica, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico and others.

According to the FBI for 2015, Texas ranked 23rd among all states and administrative divisions of the United States in terms of the number of murders (of all types, including with the use of firearms) per 100,000 inhabitants, with a rate of 4.8.

The leaders in the number of murders - federal district Columbia (24.2), Louisiana (10.3) and Mississippi (8.7). The safest states in this regard are Vermont (1.6), Hawaii (1.3) and New Hampshire (1.1).

It is noteworthy that, both in dangerous (Louisiana and Mississippi) and safe from this point of view states (New Hampshire and Vermont), special permits for the purchase of weapons are not required, nor do they need to be registered.

A license to carry a handgun from the above jurisdictions is required in Louisiana, Texas, Hawaii, and the District of Columbia.

Hawaii and the District of Columbia have some of the strictest rules - you need to get a permit to buy, and you need to register the gun.

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In the United States, military exercises will be held, the legend of which shocked the population of the country. According to it, the US military during the maneuvers will "fight" ... with the state of Texas, which in this case is the main enemy of the United States, according to the German edition "Deutsche wirtschafts nachrichten" (German economic news).

The US military will conduct large-scale exercises in various US states from July 15 to September 15, 2015. They will simulate fighting in the environment of various states that are marked as “hostile”, “generous”, “unsafe with a tendency to hostility”, “unsafe with a tendency towards friendship”. California has already deployed National Guard troops.

The state of Texas plays the role of the main enemy of the United States in the exercises. More than 1,200 american soldiers. This is the so-called. "Green Berets", " Seals”, the US Air Force, the National Guard and others.

That is, in the legend of the exercises, the American military leaders departed from the traditional "color identification of the parties" ("green" versus "blue") or from the designation of some abstract "enemy state", appointing their own state as the "adversary", and even one in which the ratio to Washington and to the "feds" in general has always been ambiguous.

Some experts see in this legend the main idea of ​​confronting separatism and "hybrid war" in the countries of Eastern Europe, such as Ukraine or the Baltic States, indicating that the organizers of the maneuvers sought to model the complex administrative and ethnic division of several small states.

However, a significant part of US civil society sees what is happening a little differently. They believe that the federal authorities are preparing to suppress unrest in a possible civil war in their country, which may arise in the event of attempts by the US government to replace the federal model with a de facto unitary one, and to restrict a number of freedoms and rights, both Americans and states, as sovereign formations.

It should be noted that in Texas and a number of southern states who made up the Confederation during the years of the war between the North and the South, there is a very strong distrust of Washington, which, in their opinion, is building a fascist police state, encroaching on the constitutional structure of the country laid down by the Founding Fathers.

In addition, religious traditions are very strong in these regions, hostile to the liberal "innovations" introduced by Obama and his predecessors, such as homosexual "marriages" and the legalization of marijuana.

In these states, the positions of "civil militia" or minutemen, voluntary associations of armed citizens who consider it their duty to protect the American constitution, traditional values ​​and Christianity, are very strong. And the news of the impending "war with Texas" disturbed them greatly.

You can also add that a number of "confederate" associations treat the fighting Donbass with great sympathy, seeing in this some analogy with civil war in the USA (fortunately, the battle flag of Novorossia is very similar to the banner of the Confederation). Not so long ago, rallies and pickets were held in a number of southern states in support of Novorossiya and against Obama's policy in Ukraine.

In Texas itself, which entered the United States as independent state there have always been separatist sentiments. To this we can add that a significant part of the Spanish-speaking population dreams of creating "Atzlana" - the country of the Aztecs, which should include all the states that were taken by the United States from Mexico. In this sense, they consider their resettlement beyond the Rio Grande, into the territory of the invader, as the beginning of the reconquista.

It should be noted that dreams of "Atzlan" are becoming almost the "official" ideology of the developing alliance of Mexican drug cartels, nationalists and ultra-left associations. In the United States, there is fear that as Russia strengthens its position on the continent and its military bases appear, this trend can be used by Moscow, and " hybrid war will begin in their own South. It is clear that all these fears are based solely on the delusional fantasies of American strategists and analysts.

It should come as no surprise that the United States, under the leadership of a black liberal, is rapidly moving out into the era of Forrestal and McCarthy. The White House scares its own citizens with paranoia.