Do You Own a Gun?
 

With all the firearms debate sparked by the Virginia Tech shooting, I was curious how many of us own a gun.

I don't own a gun. It doesn't have anything to do with being anti-gun. Until two years ago, I still had kids at home and didn't like the idea of having one under those circumstances.

I do, however, keep a penis with me at all times (oh, sorry, that was a dream I had.)

I own a crossbow. I don't think that counts as a gun.

I own several handguns (including a .22 and a 9mm), a .22 caliber rifle, an M1 carbine, and a Crosman air rifle. I rarely tell anyone that I have these because they are the only items that I own that are worth stealing*.

Just having these at home makes me more law-abiding, because I'm paranoid that if I get in trouble for anything someone will find a way to take away my guns. And yes, I know that that's not logical.

*Of course, I trust all the people who might read this on the internet, or I wouldn't post this.:eyebrow:

No I don't. Probably most of my neighbors do, and I don't mind that most people assume that I do.

7 handguns.

21 long guns.

I figured you would have more.

The wild west lives on!

I should probably get rid of some of them, there are a few that were just collectors and I got because they were available and going cheap at the time. I only shoot 4 or 5 with any regularity.

No guns, just my trusty left hook and a butcher knife.

My chinchillas protect me because they attack on command with the viciousness of that rabbit from monty python. :p

That wasn't a rabbit. That thing was a monster.

It was really a chinchilla disguised as a rabbit.

When I was growing up, we used sports equipment for protection. A guy broke into our house one night while we were asleep, and my dad knocked him out with a tennis racket. Another time, a kid broke in while I was home sick...I had my dad's softball bat in my hand, in case he got too close. But after a few words, he took off.

I'm going to get a class-3, full auto license.
I have not decided what my first will be, my family owns a few.
I know what I want, but it is really expensive, a Barrett M468 assault rifle. What will probably end-up happening is that I will convince them to buy it for the compound and get to take it to target practice whenever I want.
I miss being able to shoot the .50. It tears-up my hands now.
What I have now is a .45 semi-auto and .38 revolver. My rifles and shotgun are at the ranch. Company owned. I can get them when I want. I am going to get a Saiga urban setup 12 gage for my home when I can afford it, though.
Is an over the top folding stock legal again yet? Punk-ass idiots who have no idea what stops people from using guns. Criminals just cut-off wooden stocks, they don't buy special gear, especially tactical gear that makes their weapons easy to ID.:headshake

I don't have a gun.

I might get one when I own a house when I'm older but I won't have to worry about that for a few years.

Having lived most of my life in rural areas I have always had guns in the home. I own 9mm and 22 cal. handguns, 22 cal. and 33 lever action rifles and a 12 gauge pump shotgun. All my neighbors own guns. I don't know anyone who (other than in the military) has ever shot anyone. There is no real crime where I live.

I have the rest.

My mother lives in a rural area, and I kind of wish she'd get a rifle or shotgun, or something. Not really because of any crime element (although there are unruly kids who raise hell in the area sometimes), but a couple of times, there's been gigantic, aggressive bulls that have gotten loose from nearby properties, and came a little too close to her house. Well, maybe not that close, but it made me nervous!

I have a few pistols(.22, .357mag, .40, .44mag , and a 7.62x25mm) , shot guns ( .410 ga , 20 ga , 12 ga ), Rifles ( .22 , .44mag ) , and LOTS of bb and pellet guns , I hunt when I can , shoot for practice and fun , and feel secure .

A shotgun might not be the best choice for a rampaging bull. Well unless it was an autoloader and filled with slugs. She would need something a bit bigger and the strenght to deal with the recoil, not to mention being a good shot with a steady hand. Oh, and a scope.

7mm, .300 Win Mag, etc.

2-.22s 1-12 ga pump 1-9mm Tarus ss

Several.

An armed population can effectually resist not only crime but genocide as well. And really -- can you be overly proof against crime or genocide?:headshake

Or rampaging bulls? ;)

Them too, but for Pete's sake and yours, use enough gun. (Advice attributed to outdoors writer Robert Ruark)

I own a few, but I'm considering getting a lot more

Just curious--why?

Remember, my side-arm saved me from a charging, very large, wild boar. I also had a close-call with a, larger, wild sow... but I did not have to shoot her. However, I am VERY glad I had my gun with me. I have killed more than one rattle snake and cotton mouth that I could not have gotten away from (part of my job was crawling under the canopy of old growth orange trees (checking and repairing irrigation).
They close in behind you and you cannot see inside until your eyes adjust. You also cannot just run out, especially if the snake is in the tree over you or right in front/next of/to you.
Either your gun or machete are all you can use.
A sleeping, then, surprised pig is also a very bad deal.
Rats and large nests of bugs just suck.
One needs a large caliber, reliable, semi-automatic weapon.
Unless, you want to do the job without one? ... feel free.

I've shot IPSC,PPC and Bowling Pin matches.
I rely anymore on old 870 for self protection.
I like my 22, but anymore my Daisy Match air
pistol gets the most exercise.

The sound of an 870 racking in in the dark will
cause people to reconsider their actions.
That is why they are used in prisons.

Tactical buckshot is just standard velocity
buckshot. Cop issue, its just easier to control.
like I said, its my old bird gun.
I can cary it disassembled and with the
magazine retaining nut in my posession,
no one can use it without a visit to a gunsmith.
This makes it kid resistant.

A thief was shot in the night.
Whose hand was on the bow ?
Robb.

Ruger Redhawk .44, Glock 21, .45 ACP. The former lies dormant mostly. Hand cannons aren't my bag. The latter is much more comfortable for range practice and more forgiving to reload errors. Hey......dat brass don't cheap, I'm toll'in' you, sha.

Handguns: .45, 9mm, .22
Rifles: .22 and 7.62x39 (a wonderfully clunky SKS)

Do bb guns count? If they do, I have one. I've shot a .38 and .44 revolver.

My rifles are a .30-06, my favorite hunting & all around rifle, and some others and I have a sniper rifle, which I love. I say "mine" but they are company owned.
I can say, with all truth, with no bragging, that I am an outstanding sniper. Something I love and a grand hobby.
I have always hating hunting and never enjoyed killing. I have only done it for pay and, then, only when it was needed for population control. (though I can say that the meat is exquisite when cooked well and I can cook)

I own multiple guns, don't shoot as often as I used to but would like to get back into practice.
I do not specify makes or calibres due to security regulations at Chez Robinson.

They may or may not make the trip to Texas with me. Still to be decided.

I don't, though Mrs. Dallas has made noise about doing some kind of target shooting before. I'm tempted to buy her an air rifle of some sort for her birthday, but I don't know of anywhere that would be good to shoot it. (Our yard, being kind of postage-stamp sized, and irregularly shaped at that, doesn't seem like a good candidate.)

There's no reason to fuck around, SD, talk to people at a real shooty range.

IMO, everyone should fire a handgun at a piece of paper for a while to see what it's really like.

An air rifle is not going to save your ass.

I would recommend one of two courses of action.

!. Don't buy a gun and accept the fact that if you are ever accosted you will become some sort of statistic. That is a perfectly acceptable position to assume, the majority of people do it on a regular and daily basis.

2. Buy a gun, train with it, shoot it to stay proficient, take a formal handgun self defense course, and never point it at anything you are not willing to kill.

For the best reason of all for having guns... to defend against a tyrannical government and to overthrow it when it becomes necessary.

I took SWMBO to the shooting range a while back. I told her that I didn't mind so much that she doesn't want one but that not knowing how to load/find the safety/aim/shoot a variety of handguns was not acceptable. A few people from DC were there enjoying some of the freedoms that citizens of Virginia take for granted.

Several reasons:

So, like Radar said, we can protect ourselves from our own government;
Just in case our government ever says we can't; and lastly,
If you were playing Dr. Evil and spinning the globe around deciding which country to invade, would you pick the United States? :headshake

I love it!

We use that. :D

An under/over shotgun called Bess and a Stainless Browning 308.

No offense on this comment or anything, but does anyone really buy this, anymore? The citizens of this country? Standing up against the government? People don't even protest, anymore, much less take action on anything. Tyranny would be introduced like boiling a frog and not so suddenly that would cause anyone to actually notice and take arms. Should the government ever get around to repealing the second amendment, we'll have lost so many other freedoms and be so brainwashed that we'll probably gladly hand them over when the knock comes at the door.

What statistic are you insinuating.

The "victim" statistic, probably.

I said "target shooting," not self defense. If I thought a real gun would be beneficial for me to have, I'd have one already.

The day they come for my guns, they will get them bullets first. That's a fact. Another fact is that all individuals are born with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and part of having a life is having the right to defend that life BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.

We have the right to keep any number of any kind of guns we want without any government oversight or records. ALL gun control laws are unconstitutional.

I hear a lot of people saying things like, "I want to exercise my 2nd amendment right" or my "Constitutional right" to own a gun.

Our rights don't come from the Constitution or from government. We're born with rights and government at any level has no legitimate authority or power to violate them or even to limit them. I don't require any permission from the government to own any weapon I want with any kind of ammunition I want, without any serial numbers or records of purchase.

My right to own guns is not for others to decide how I will exercise, and is not up for debate. My right to own guns is not associated with being part of a militia. Also, the reasons I want to own a gun are completely irrelevant as long as I don't use them to violate the person, property, or rights of a non-consenting other who is not doing the same to me.

If I want to prop up a wobbly table leg with a gun, it's my right to do so. If I want to build a house with walls made entirely of loaded and working guns, I have the right to do so.

Everyone is born with rights but once you join a society you give up some rights to be accepted in the society.

How are we born with rights? Did a little certificate pop out with your little head?

If our rights don't come from the constitution then gun controls laws (not having that right) are not unconstitutional, by that definition. Contradictory.

Again, where do your rights come from unless you are god or satan? (OH GOD before everyone freaks I'm being tongue-in-cheek...don't get on me about god or satan, or even santa.)

Having rights or not having rights is a societal concept. They did not just appear at birth.

Argue the right to own guns or not within our society, because that's where we are.

In other words: HUH?

Right now they come from my, and other's, arsenal. As our founding father's wanted it.
Molon Labe

I like melons as much as the next guy.

Are we BORN with rights, or are they afforded us by our constitution? Who was born with rights first, our founding fathers, or the first quadrapedal to become bipedal?

It's like being born with original sin, only opposite. Get the pope.

Wow.

Uh-huh, I'm not arguing that. What I was asking is if you really believe that firearms keep a tyrannical government at bay. Do you really think the population would rise up and overthrow the government should the need arise?

Honestly, I don't for one second. The small group that takes arms against the United States from within will be viewed as Waco-like extremists/terrorists, no matter what the reason for the revolt, and the complacent masses will back the ATF/FBI while watching the breaking news on CNN with little concern for anything more than the entertainment value of the spectacle.

What rights, besides the 2nd amendment, and how many do you think a tyrannical US government would have to take away in order to spark the masses to rebellion? I'll even go as far as to say it would be entirely possible to repeal the 2nd amendment, slowly, without violent reaction or much more than a strongly worded speech from the NRA. Handguns first, assault rifles next, then limit everyone to single shot bolt action rifles. Other governments have done it with ease. Run the proposals under the guise of safety, security, "terrorism", "for the children", and public benefit and the laws will pass.

People will continue to say that firearm ownership enables citizens to "overthrow the government when it becomes necessary" but it is little more than an outdated, fantastic dream that will never be lived no matter what atrocities the government imposes on the people. Fear of indefinite detentions and the force of organized armies in the present day always outweigh the fragmented will of armed individuals.

Our rights come from natural law, which is part of the laws of nature. Where does gravity come from? It's a constant. It's a universal law of nature and is no more or less immutable than our rights. Rights are undeniable and self-evident and are with us from the moment of birth.

If you're unclear about natural law or rights, I suggest you read up on them because they are the foundation of our laws in America.

And yes, all gun control laws are unconstitutional, and a direct violation of our natural rights.

False. Your rights end where another person's begin, but you do not "give up" your rights to be accepted in society. Society has no rights. Society is a collection of individuals. Individuals have no legitimate authority or power to deny another person to exercise their rights. They therefore can't legitimately grant this power to government.

The right to own a gun is within natural law, it's just like gravity? Since the beginning of time? I had no idea!

Gravity is pure physical science. Rights are a concept.

If the 2nd amendment were entirely repealed, it would do nothing to negate our birthright to own any number of any type of guns and ammo we choose without any government oversight or permission.

And yes, if the government were openly disarming citizens and attacking them on a widespread basis, the people would take over the government. There are very few in the military who would fire on Americans even if ordered to do so.

Well now you do.

Natural rights are no less immutable or deniable than gravity itself. They aren't a "concept" or an "idea". They are real, tangible, and undeniable.

As the founders said, they are self-evident.

Pull your skirt down, your snide ignorance is showing.

Molon Labe

When the Greeks came to Sparta they told the Spartans to lay down their arms...the Spartans replied "Molon Labe"...
"Come and take them"

Do I have the right to shoot and kill you?