The Bruce Lee Firearm Collection...
Now most folks don't know this, and quite a few...especially some modern martial artist, will react with the same horror to the notion that Bruce Lee owned guns that religious fundamentalists do when confronted by evidence of evolution. But the fact remains, Lee owned guns.
Now it is well known that many of his contemporary martial artists and associates such as Ed Parker were avid gun collectors and shooters. Ed Parker was known for his collection of AR-15s even in the late 60s and is often cited as being the one who got Elvis Presley involved in collecting what would come to be known as "black rifles." Other Lee associates such as Steven McQueen are known to have been NFA collectors. And despite Lee's martial prowess he is never known to have been dismissive of guns in his films. To the contrary in "Enter The Dragon" he quips the line 'Now why doesn't someone pull out a .45 and "bang" settle it?" as an alternative to a government agencies complicated infiltration by martial artist assassin scenario. Of course plot constructs had to be such that for whatever reason firearms were not an option in order to prevent the movie from being 15 minutes long. In another film "Return of the Dragon" when threatened by the Mob, Lee inquires about buying a gun for protection. A line that can still make modern martial arts devotees who think "real fighters don't need guns" cringe.
Now it is not known exactly what firearms Lee owned. Despite his modern "non classical" approach to most things, he tended to gravitate towards the traditional when it came to his weapon collection. It is unlikely Parker convinced him to buy a AR-15 but a few sources suggest he did own a 1911 handgun and a .38 revolver (probably an early S&W). And from my personal collection of rare Bruce Lee photos here is the only "known" photo of firearms owned by Lee.
He bought these two antique rifles in Rome while filming "Way of the Dragon" (released as Return of the Dragon in the US).
And while most people know he was skilled with the nunchaku, most do not know he was skilled with many "traditional" Chinese weapons such as the Three Sectional Staff as seen here in another rare photo.
And while many Lee devotees have seen footage of him doing a one handed, two finger push up almost nobody has seen him doing "thumb" push ups with arms extended above his head. I cannot begin to describe just how difficult this is to do.
And one of my favorite Lee photos (although not terribly rare) is of Lee with his young son Brandon. Many martial artists were dismissive of Brandon when he began making films which incorporated martial arts and stated that he was never a serious student and only recently began his training prior to making films such as "Rapid Fire." This photo easily disproves that misconception as well.
Well I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into the man that was Bruce Lee. And despite having as much reason as any man to think "I don't need a gun", Lee was intelligent enough to know what works and what works best when it came to personal protection. And if a guy like Bruce Lee tells you "You might want to get a gun for protection", then the Sarah Brady "You don't need a gun" argument becomes that much more ridiculous.
It's hard to be a ACLU hating, philosophically Libertarian, socially liberal, fiscally conservative, scientifically grounded, agnostic, porn admiring gun owner who believes in self determination.
Chuck, we miss ya man.
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Originally Posted by St.Michael
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