Do you own a gun?

Cars are not intended as weapons. Also no-one said we shouldnt be reducing our use of cars. But the fact is they serve a completely different purpose, like a kitchen knife, and unfortunately accidents will happen. We dont keep kitchen knives or scissors with the objective of hurting or killing any potential intruders (well some nutters do, but thats another story) we use them for what they were made for, and thats what a car is like. The accidents are an unfortunate side effect. A gun, on the other hand, was clearly purchased with the intention of harming someone should they become threatening in your eyes.
You say not everyone is a bad gun owner...how do you go about being a good gun owner? Only killing when someones stealing your stuff? When your own lifes in danger? When they give you a look that makes you scared? Where do you draw the line? If you can kill someone who hurts you, does that mean the death penalty is ok? Do good gun owners keep the guns under the same roof as children? Do they let their children use guns? Is owning more than one gun ok? Surely 5 or 6 guns in one house is slightly superfluous. All these questions, to me, seem totally ridiculous. You CANT be safe with a gun, and theres no bloody need for any of it. The problem in the US is, with everyone ELSE having a gun, you feel threatened and powerless without one. Prettyreally. Still, the chances of someone breaking into your house to murder your family are significantly low enough to say the risk and nastiness of having guns around is not worth the chance. Its not a horror film
Guns have got their label because they ARE dangerous to have around

 

I am so sick of this whole Guns/gun control debate. I know I've personally wasted a lot of time going back and forth but I will say that the whole issue comes down to THIS:


IGNORANCE AND EMOTIONS VS. COLD FACTS, AND HARD REALITIES
(Anti-Gun side)--------------------- (Responsible gun ownership side)

 

Wow...sound argument man, im converted

 

I'm not anti-gun, but nor am I completely convinced about the usage of a gun for home defense. I live in a relatively bad neighborhood, where the possibility of someone breaking in for my stuff is possible. (not 'probable' mind, but possible.

I have my own opinion on the matter, in that most people who're going to break into your house, unless they're career criminals, are not really looking for a fight. If someone breaks into my house, and they threaten me, I'm more than willing to take a fight to them with the tools at my disposal, which in my case are stashed and displayed pointy weaponry of various kinds. The psychology of having a gun and having a knife are two different things.

with a gun, there's an inflated sense of power, certainly, however, most people who have a gun, that're reduced to breaking in, are less likely to know how to use it properly than people who've trained and gone through hours of practice. That adds a level of 'nervousness' that works in the defender's favor. on the other hand, I have intimate knowledge of how to use the spear/machete/tomahawk/etc that I have, and that lends me a confidence in their use.

Someone willing to step out with a bladed weapon also makes a statement, and it is 'I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty'. There's a certain kind of terror inspired by a knife or bladed weapon, because most people have gotten a cut, and they can remember that. Not all people have the intimate experience of being shot, and that makes them reckless not only when faced with a gun, but when wielding one.

Not to mention, as stated in most LEO training - someone, well trained, with a knife, is infinitely more dangerous at the ranges found in a house than someone with a gun.

To me, home defense is more about knowing and being able to control the home environment than for being able to end a life. With the spear, for example, it's a bulky weapon, requiring a lot of room for certain techniques, but with it, I can control a room with a step or two at most. very few people can control the more primal terror that presents itself when they see an 18" long 4" wide blade darting for their eyes like a snake, nor the thought of it pinning them to the wall.

Would I own a gun? certainly, I've considered getting one for hunting deer (likely a single shot 243), but it wouldn't be the weapon I reach for if I find someone in my house.

Preferably, I'd reach for a sjambok, a stout club, or a bladed weapon. Disarming someone with a weapon they're unfamiliar with, using a weapon they're doubly unfamiliar with, puts the advantage on my terms, and that's what my home defense is about. Neutralization, and only escalating if I have to.

Should we, then, outlaw a spear? It has, like the gun, no other purpose than to wound or kill. I believe the factor here that a lot of people are overlooking in this debate is control. If you can control your firearm, and use it for home defense - more power to you. If you come into my home, I can control my environment, you, and your firearm, which puts it into my hands. The local thugs have a standing rule to not break into my house, because they know I have weaponry scattered, and that I know how to use it. Knowing someone's got a gun isn't a deterrent, but someone who's capable of turning one into shishkabob, or who doesn't have to stop and reload, is a whole different level of deterrance. The local PD know that I have said weaponry, and they've told me directly 'if we get a call on your place, we know that we may not have to worry about prosecuting the perp. Just tell us if we need to bring a meat wagon or not.'

They know me as a responsible owner, and so are not concerened about me going off on a rampage through the neighborhood, and several of the neighbors have said that they feel safer, just because the local thugs don't like to come into the neighborhood anymore after seeing 'crazy white boy' throwing around a spear, or doing forms with a knife or machete.

The argument, however, that michael posted is somewhat simplistic. There are valid reasons on both sides, jsut as there are invalid reasons on both sides. Both sides of the argument have been fueled by logic and emotion, reason and irrationality.

There is a hard reality that I live in a bad neighborhood. But that doesn't mean I have to be paranoid. There's a hard reality that I could move, rather than keep a firearm.

I'm sure I've rambled a bit, but for me, it's all seemed rather pertinant information.

 

got a mossberg 500 12 gauge and a 40 cal 24/7 taurus

all good stuff
also in order for me to keep peace in my fam ill need to be able to protect them from people who want to wreck that peace

 

currently I have 26 most were my grandads which i inherited.most are long guns but i've got a few nice pistols too. all quality only colt's and smith's for my pistol collection.but i do keep all types of hammers for trading purposes so im me if you've got something to deal

 

The sad reality is that the facts and arguments on the pro-gun side has been censored from this site to the tune of hundreds if not thousands of post.

oh and yes you CAN be safe with a gun. People do it every day, live their whole lives with guns and never have one single incident.

 

There are plenty of pro gun posts on this thread I highly doubt thousands of posts have been censored

Well just goes to show the need to have guns isnt quite so great now, is it? There are also many thousands of cases of harm caused by the possession of guns, so im not really sure you have a leg to stand on

 

i live on a working farm,i "need" guns. they are a tool.

unless of course you think i should just allow predators to eat my stock. and how would you propose i humanely kill my animals for slaughter? hit them over there head with a hammer?

i also hunt for food as well,the fact is i dont own a gun for protection i own my guns because they are a useful tool to guarantee my sustainability.

you have chosen a life where a gun is not a necessity,i have chosen a life where it is. neither lifestyle should be looked down upon by the other,nor should they be forced upon there opposite IMO..
simply because you choose to live the life you do and see no need for guns does not mean there is no place for them in society.

 

I said definitely hundreds and maby thousands. I have a screen shot of this forum of a gun thread showing the fact that almost 500 post were removed from the one single thread. So 500 in one thread and i say there is a good possibility there have been thousands.

Im not sure how it shows weather there is a need or not a need. It does show that there are people responsible enough to own guns without incident. While it is true there are thousands of cases where guns caused harm there are also thousands of cases where guns prevented crime and violence.

And as hippiehillbilly said there are different reasons to own guns, just as well as there are different reasons not to own guns. I think neither outweighs the other.

 

I grew up with guns, but since all the legal bullshit you need to go through in Canada to legally have and store them, and the fact that I don't hunt I haven't had any for about 20 years.

 

I'm glad I live in Kentucky.

 

i have a 22 rifle and a shotgun. i hate guns but i live on a farm so u never know when u will need one, i.e. once we had a crazy bull that got out and kept charging us and i almost had to shot him, something i would not be happy about!!!

 

i hope you were not going to shoot the bull with your 22,,that would have REALLY pissed him off! lmao...

 

i have a spud gun.
now, where're me spuds?!..

 

"i hope you were not going to shoot the bull with your 22,,that would have REALLY pissed him off! lmao..."

NNOOOOOO!!! my dad has a jap rifle. i would have used that!

 

I wish I had a gun.

 

I own several rifles which have been passed along in the family. and I use them regularly.

 

I don't have one and DEFINITELY, I will never want to have one.

 

I happened to get an unregistered .38 special... Its pretty sweet.