If you outlaw guns, then only....

[Aliantha]

What...don't finger guns count? I've shot lots of them before.

[mrnoodle]

Originally Posted by Pangloss62

I don't approve or disapprove of anyone. I just make observations.

Yeah, that was just a snide comment, not directed at you in particular.

There were two times I killed a living thing with a gun. The first was when, like many young males, I just had to have a BB gun. When I got one, I shot at cans in the back yard. Then, when doing so, I saw some movement in the trees. It was a cute little Chickadee. Almost as if some switch went off in my head, I pointed the gun at the little bird and pulled the trigger. It fell to the ground and started fluttering around in obvious distress. I was beside myself with guilt, and couldn't stand watching the little bird suffer. I crushed it with my foot as hard as I could. Put it, I still hope, out of its misery. That sucked.

I did that as a kid. It felt horrible. If it's any consolation, birds don't have a huge capacity for recognizing pain.

The second time was when the guy across the street (this is Alabama, mind you, and I was from Massachusetts) assumed that I was not getting a proper upbringing by my father because he (my father) did not drive a pickup truck. He took me hunting for squirrel of all things. He pointed to some motion in the tree and told me to shoot. I did. It fell, but got caught in the cleavage of some branch. He shot at it about 4 times to dislodge it. It fell to the ground. He cooked it. It was full of shot; and the whole experience was full of shit.

That one's funny to me, sorry. I'm thinking that Field & Stream won't be accepting your submission any time soon, however.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

All these threads have some pretty tough talk about having guns to protect yourselves, your family and your stuff - about killing criminals. But when push comes to shove, and I ask you (the collective you) to put your balls on the line and declare exactly what would make you shoot someone, the excuses and hedging comes out.

Then I sandbag you yet again, Spexx, as your latest challenge fails before superior, clearer, more moral thought:

I shoot when someone must stop what he* is doing or innocents bleed or die.

This is both the moral and the legal answer.

Jay-zus, Spexx, pushover much? Or are you simply being an expository advocatus diaboli?



* (nothing gender-specific here, just a respect for the rhythms of the language)

[Pangloss62]

So you're projecting your own poor impulse control on gun owners?

I was 10.

I get the impression that you are, or think you are, perfect. Maybe your are.

Your good impulse control must be fun at parties.

[Pangloss62]

That one's funny to me, sorry.

Yeah. In retrospect it is funny. At the time I felt it was just plain stupid, and I did not feel as bad as I did with the Chickadee; especially since the latter is the State Bird of where I grew up before moving to Alabama.