MEGAN LEE Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Sunday, May 31, 2009 12:00 am
Hundreds of guns, all in a line, breathe fire.
Tommy guns, AK-47s, Uzis, submachine guns - the list goes on and on. Even cannons, from as far back as the Civil War, blow holes in the dirt.
Some are so powerful, they throw the shooter backward.
It's the Rocky Mountain Machine Gun and Cannon Shoot - the 12th of its kind, held once a year in a field several miles west of Casper. Gun enthusiasts, men, women and children, gather for the event each year. Money raised is given to the Casper Mountain Volunteer Fire Department.
Because the weather is rather hot and a bit humid on this day, the crowd is smaller than it's been in past years.
A small airplane is catapulted into the sky with a slingshot. It goes, up, up, and straightens with only the clouds as a backdrop.
As it comes around again, this time a little lower, it becomes more than a plane. Now, it's a target. It whizzes by as dozens of guns shoot at once. The whole line explodes as participants anxiously hope to be the one to shoot the plane down. Shells spray everywhere around them.
Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop. Boom! Pow, pow, pow. Kapop-kapop-kapow.
Thousands of rounds, and still, no one has hit the plane. Where bullets land, puffs of smoke and dirt rise out of the ground. At some places, small objects catch on fire. In the field where guns are shooting, the barrels have so many holes, they're barely standing.
When the cannons shoot, the earth shakes.
It's up to the safety officer to control the line and make sure everything stays safe. From a podium high above the crowd, he shouts orders in a voice that shows the 24 years he's spent in the Navy.
"Cease-fire! Cease-fire!" he screams, and everyone on the line immediately stops shooting.
Once a bullet leaves a firearm, no one has control over it, so safety is a main part of the game.
When he gives the go-ahead, the gun enthusiasts begin again. They rent some of the larger guns and buy rounds of bullets. As they get better at aiming, the shots come out more rapid-fire.
The event's organizer, Stuart Ruben, wears a pin that sums up the weekend event nicely:
"Happiness is a warm machine gun."