{"id":110474,"date":"2025-06-05T12:02:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T17:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=110474"},"modified":"2025-06-05T12:02:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T17:02:00","slug":"110474","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=110474","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

By the way, just in case it needs repeating;
\nThe Second Amendment isn’t about hunting.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

BLUF
\nLike many in rural Berkshire County, guns are a part of his life and he has opinions about firearms: He looks down on hunters that use big automatic weapons \u2014 \u201cThose guns are for law enforcement,\u201d he said \u2014 and he\u2019s not a big fan of handguns, either. He owns four guns: a 12-gauge, a .22 rifle, and two muzzleloaders.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Everybody on our street owns a weapon\u2019: An 800-resident Mass. town has the state\u2019s highest rate of licenses to carry<\/a>
\nThere are towns that voted Democratic last fall where not only are guns a part of a way of life, but they are also ubiquitous.<\/p>\n

PERU, Mass. \u2014 By at least one metric, here is the\u00a0gun<\/a>\u00a0capital of Massachusetts, a hamlet that shares its name with a South American nation and is home to about 800 residents nestled in the hill country of the Berkshires, just under three hours from downtown Boston.<\/p>\n

The center of town consists of a few nondescript buildings along\u00a0Route 143. There is a tiny library and an unremarkable-looking town office building that sometimes is unlocked even when no one is there. As in many New England communities, there is a church painted white, and a patch of grass memorializing the town\u2019s war dead. There are no gas stations, convenience stores, restaurants, or bars. There is a single blinking traffic light in Peru\u2019s 26-miles-square.<\/p>\n

But\u00a0there are guns.<\/a>\u00a0Many\u00a0guns<\/a>. According to a Globe analysis, Peru has the highest per capita rate of licenses to carry in Massachusetts. Nearby Savoy, with a population of about 645 people, according to the 2020 census, is No. 2. (The Globe did not count communities with a population of less than 500 in its review.)<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody on our street owns a weapon,\u201d said Dave Drosehn, a 65-year-old retired machine tender and Peru resident.<\/p>\n

The politics around firearms and gun control remain bitterly divisive, both nationally and locally, but even inblue Massachusetts, which\u00a0has one of the most strict gun-control lawsin the nation<\/a>, there are towns that voted Democratic last fall where not only are guns a part of a way of life, but they are also ubiquitous.<\/p>\n

Places where rural culture and gun culture are inextricably linked. Places, residents say, that people in Boston just don\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n

To find them, all you have to do is head west.<\/p>\n

Inside Ozzie\u2019s Steak and Eggs, a greasy spoon in Hinsdale, a town over from Peru, Drosehn was about to tuck into a turkey wrap on a recent day. He has hunted all his life, he said. There is a camaraderie in the sport, particularly hunting deer.<\/p>\n

Like many in rural Berkshire County, guns are a part of his life and he has opinions about firearms: He looks down on hunters that use big automatic weapons \u2014 \u201cThose guns are for law enforcement,\u201d he said \u2014 and he\u2019s not a big fan of handguns, either.He owns four guns: a 12-gauge, a .22 rifle, and two muzzleloaders.<\/p>\n

Indeed, hunting is the oft-cited explanation for the gun ownership rate in this part of the state, and perhaps the most obvious.
\n<\/p>\n

Peru has 286 licenses to carry, or LTCs, according to state data, meaning about a third of its residents have that permit.<\/p>\n

Compare that with Boston, where there are under 16,000 LTCs, meaning about 2 percent of its residents have such a permit. It has the third-lowest rate in Massachusetts, after Amherst and Somerville.<\/p>\n

Towns like Peru represent something of a hunter\u2019s paradise.There is plenty of wildlife and large swaths of untamed forest crowd the backroads. There are sun-dappled valleys, green-canopied mountains, and rivers that cut through nature\u2019s tableau.<\/p>\n

Peru Police Chief Bruce Cullett pushed back on the notion of a gun culture locally, saying it would be more accurate to say that rural culturehere has a firearms component. Simply having a license to carry, he said, does not necessarily make someone a gun person or a firearms enthusiast, or even indicate that the person actively owns a gun.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe majority of LTC holders in Peru view firearms as practical tools used for hunting, protecting their family\/pets\/livestock, and for recreation \u2026 the same way they have been used for generations,” he said.<\/p>\n

The environs around here teem with game.\u00a0More than 500 deer<\/a>\u00a0were harvested across all hunting seasons for the animal last year, in the wildlife management zone that includes Peru.\u00a0In 2023, state data show<\/a>, 80 black bears were harvested in Berkshire County.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a hunting culture,\u201d Bob Lamb, 71, of Cheshire, said of the area. \u201cLots of great places to hunt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lamb, a gunsmith,<\/a>\u00a0chomped on a cigar in his shop as he was working on refurbishing a Stevens visible .22. This specific rifle dates to 1928.<\/p>\n

The stock of the gun he had been working on, was \u201cratty\u201d when he received it, he said. That part is currently wedged into a vise attached to his workbench, which has a vast array of tools. Nearby, rifles in a row stand up against a table, atop which a collection of handguns sit. Elsewhere in the shop were more rifles \u2014 there were dozens of firearms here \u2014 as well as machinery to make gun parts.<\/p>\n

Guns, he said, \u201care very safe.\u201d It\u2019s the hands that handle the weapons that bring with them questions of morality and criminality.<\/p>\n

One town over from Cheshire, in Dalton, Jim Smith, 68, agreed with that sentiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t fear guns, I would fear people who get guns illegally, that\u2019s who I would fear,\u201d said Smith, who grew up hunting in Savoy, where his family homestead is located. \u201cRegular gun ownership, by law-abiding citizens, they have nothing to fear at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like any community, none of these rural towns are political monoliths, and to dismiss this corner of the state as MAGA country would be inaccurate.<\/p>\n

Despite high rates of gun ownership and a prevalent hunting culture, Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president,\u00a0last fall defeated now-President Trump, the Republican candidate, in huge swaths of Western Massachusetts<\/a>, including Peru, Hinsdale, Worthington, Cheshire, and Savoy.<\/p>\n

Dotted throughout the Berkshire hill towns are the occasional political signs. Some express support for Trump, others the opposite. Some extol the need to protect the Second Amendment. Some encourage people to contact their state representative to voice their opposition to\u00a0a gun control bill that passed last year.<\/a><\/p>\n

Among some gun owners out here, there is an underlying distrust of Beacon Hill. The state Legislature, some said, does not understand their way of life. The real power brokers tend not to be from places like Peru, and too many of those in Boston-centric circles of state power think Massachusetts \u201cends at Worcester,\u201d said Lamb, the gunsmith.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t know what goes on out here,\u201d he said. \u201cThey just don\u2019t get it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Out this way, Governor Maura Healey is the butt of much criticism from gun owners. Healey, said Wally Fritz, a 74-year-old from Worthington, is \u201cprobably the worst thing for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf she had her way, there\u2019d be no guns,\u201d he said.
\nA Healey spokesperson said in a statement the governor supports the Second Amendment.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe also supports the strong gun laws that have made Massachusetts the safest state in the nation, including banning ghost guns, strengthening ERPO to keep guns out of the hands of people who are a danger to themselves and others, and investing in violence prevention programs,\u201d said Karissa Hand, the spokesperson.<\/p>\n

Out here, reported instances of violent crime are almost unheard of. For instance, Savoy\u2019s police chief, Jordan Koch, said there has not been a shooting or homicide in town during the past 20 years.<\/p>\n

In Worthington, Fritz said he never locks the door to his home, where, in the basement, there are trophies from a lifetime of hunting. Seven deer heads are mounted on one wall. Multiple turkey beards hang from one beam, a few bear pelts from another. A Trump hat also hangs among camouflaged hunting gear. In two recycling containers on the floor are piled an untold number of antler racks. Fritz estimates he owns about 20 guns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I can\u2019t hunt and have my guns, buddy,\u201d he said, his voice trailing off. He paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts, and then said he wouldn\u2019t give up his firearms without a struggle.<\/p>\n

Fritz spoke about what his hometown used to be like, lamenting that some newer residents don\u2019t wave when they see you out and about.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone hunted, everyone had a gun, and everyone knew there was a gun,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that\u2019s one of the reasons we had no crime. If you know there\u2019s a gun in there, you ain\u2019t going in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Savoy, Wayne Haskins, 66, has maybe a half-dozen guns. Several are hand-me-downs from his father.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people that have guns, let them have them,\u201d he said. \u201cIf they\u2019re not doinganything wrong with them, let them have them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last time he shot a gun was about 10 years ago to kill a raccoon that had broken into his chicken coop and was slaughtering his birds. Many people use guns to protect their animals, he said.<\/p>\n

He knows other gun owners are driven by a fear of the unknown. In recent years, his wife bought a pistol for protection: \u201cJust in case,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But, most of the time, he said, \u201cThe guns just sit there and collect dust.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By the way, just in case it needs repeating; The Second Amendment isn’t about hunting. BLUF Like many in rural Berkshire County, guns are a part of his life and he has opinions about firearms: He looks down on hunters that use big automatic weapons \u2014 \u201cThose guns are for law enforcement,\u201d he said \u2014 … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rkba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=110474"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110475,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110474\/revisions\/110475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=110474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=110474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=110474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}