weapons better than sobriety, still

Five words that locate exactly where Gately is in his recovery: fluent, instant, expert in the appraisal of a modified Bulldog Special — and a relative novice at the sober life he's a year into. The "still" is the whole point, marking sobriety as the newer, shallower competence, the old lethal knowledge sitting right underneath it, closer to hand. The man staffing a recovery house reads a gun faster than he reads a Higher Power.