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Hunter S. Thompson on Gun Control
by Hannah Palmer and Hayden Simmons 
Through some act of God, I manage to get Hunter
S. Thompson on the phone. He cuts off his answering machine in a
husky voice that sounds like it’s been through far too many
unfiltered cigarettes. “Wha- Who is this?” He asks,
interrupting the awkward, stumbling message I was leaving. I am
caught completely off guard, but somehow, I can identify. I was
raised in the backwoods of Vermont by a father who owned over twenty
guns. I learned to shoot when I was not a day over five years old.
Researching Hunter S. Thompson is like wading in treasure, and it’s
hard to stay focused. Thompson’s style that’s been described
as “wild and breathless.” It reads pure, like tape-recorded
thoughts at 3AM.
Thompson has been the recipient of a large amount literary glory.
I am not at all surprised to see Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
framed by Thackeray and Tolstoy in the Modern Library. Nor am I
surprised that the LAPD issued copies of Hell’s Angels
as manuscripts in combating motorcycle gangs. After all, he did
spend plenty of his childhood rewriting entire texts on his typewriter,
to find the author’s rhythms he says. The Great Gatsby
wasn’t that long, but A Farewell to Arms was 336
pages.
Thompson lives in Woody Creek, Colorado, a one-bar town just outside
of Aspen, as a self-proclaimed “elderly dope fiend,”
in the wilderness. Twenty-four years ago, he ran for Sheriff of
Pitkin County, on the Freak Power ticket, no less. And Aspen almost
voted him into office, apparently supporting the town’s name
change to Fat City, Colorado. They were behind his platform of no
more cars downtown, only bike paths, and the decriminalization of
drugs. Running against a crew-cut Republican, Thompson shaved his
head like Mr. Clean, and identified the Republican as his “long-haired
opponent.” And yet he lost...
For all Horatio Alger talk, his instincts to “piss down the
throats of these Nazis (in the White House),” Thompson considers
himself one of the most patriotic men in America. He’s even
friends with Pat Buchanan, and that can’t be easy. Also a
life member of the NRA and having written a 140 page unpublished
manuscript on the NRA, Thompson’s guns and gun club have become
as a big part of his life as a morning glass of Wild Turkey.
The staff from Contour recently took a few minutes to speak with
Dr. Thompson over the phone:
Contour: “How many guns do you own?”
HST: (pauses. . .) “Oh, 15-16, 20, I’d
say uh. . .Oh- I don’t know, a dozen or so —”
Contour: “Any automatic weapons?”
HST: (talk in background to woman —) “May
be too early in the morning to talk about automatic weapons. . .”
Contour: “Oh, did I wake you up?”
HST: “Yeah — Oh well, Nah — was just getting
to bed-trying to get something to eat.”
Contour: “Would you like me to call
back another —?”
HST: “Oh, uh — who do you work for?”
Contour: “Me? I don’t really work
for anyone — I’m a feature writer for Contour Magazine.”
HST: (grumbling something undecipherable)
“Mmmmh, hmmm, OK...”
Contour: “Could you tell me what kinds
of guns you have?”
HST: “Oh, uh, Yeah. . .well, uh, (pauses,
thinks a moment) I don’t know. . .I don't know..You know,
I got a bunch of 'em. . .”
Abruptly: “Are you a cop?”
Contour: “Uh. . .” Do I sound
like a cop?
HST: “Who is this? A cop?”
Contour: “No, I’m definitely not
a cop!”
HST: (gives phone to a woman) “Are you
with any gun organizations?”
Contour: “My dad’s in the NRA,”
HST: “Well so am I!”
Contour: “Can you give me five reasons
that there should not be gun control?”
HST: “Yeah, read the second amendment
to the constitution five times. When only the screwheads have guns,
who’s gonna watch the screwheads?”
Contour: “Do you shoot every day?”
HST: “Yeah, the recreation angle-what’s
more American than getting drunked up, going out, and popping off
a few rounds?”
Contour: “Are you saying it’s
good to mix alcohol and firearms?”
HST: “No. It’s a terrible thing
to do, something just for professionals. I shot my typerwriter once
with a Nine Millimeter. Bastard never knew what hit it.”
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