Any gun owners here?

This an interesting forum, with tons of valuable information and expertise. I love to pose the gun owners question to an ecclectic group such as this. I am always amazed at the highly educated/highly experienced folks who share an appreciation for guns in general and SIG and Glock in particular. The liberal left would have you believe that anyone with an above average intelligence would would be repulsed by gun ownership. Are they bad or are they good? Is gun ownership a right granted by our founding fathers?

-=BDD=-

 

Depends whose hands their in

Some people have a legitmate need for self-protection; some people have no business owning a weapon. The balance fall somewhere in the middle.

 

i live out in the middle of the woods so i carry a 38cal simi-auto police backup (real small gun) with me all the time because you never no when a bobcat fox or wolf might come out at you. so star is that a legitmate need to carry one?

 

If you are worried about animals coming at you, you shouldn't live in the woods.

 

you would like that huh? take me out of my woods so you could jump me and send me up on the next launch like the yellow shorts

 

You're not my type

You know, BigFoot (the critter, not the monster truck) lives in your woods; perhaps it is better you keep the gun.

 

I hate guns.



-Steve

 

you sure its not the truck? the past week i been hearing a rumble in the woods and i dont know what it is

 

I've had gas.

 

Nope, Bigfoot's just been eating beans again...

 

I don't own any guns. My eldest brother owns 3. I don't have a problem with gun ownership as long as you are responsible enough to keep them out of the reach of young children, permanently.

 

Where, and HOW, you were raised, makes a difference. I was born and reared in Texas, so I naturally was instructed PROPERLY by my dad at age 8 on gun safety, etc. Went deer hunting first at age 9. Sat in a tree stand and froze my azz off, saw nothing but does.

I own many guns - pistols, deer rifles, AK-47, 2-3 shotguns. I used to have a concealed handgun permit, but let it lapse. I still have one at my side in the door panel of my car - at the ready. Having an unloaded weapon in your trunk does you no good whatsoever. You'll die 5 times in the time it takes to find ammo and load it. Each weapon I have in my house, is fully loaded with one in the magazine. All are on safety, but there are only 2 folks (both of us over 60) in the house, so we don't have to worry about little ones getting into my guns.

When we have company, I move them to the secure location. But otherwise, they are on each side of the bed and in closets near doors.

No looters near here. It's open season.

 

I wholeheartedly agree with you on that one GK. My father showed me where the rifles were when I was young, he then instructed me about what it was capable of and how to check the breech. The he told me if I ever touched them he would kill me. It was an effective detterent.
I'm not a gun owner yet, but when I have the cash I've been thinking about a .40 cal semi auto pistol to keep in the house. Left wingers gasp, I plan on keeping it loaded.

 

Unloaded, it's just a piece of beautiful machinery, of no real use, unless you want to club someone with it.

 

We have a very old Remington .22 single shot, very similar to this one, maybe exactly this one, but I'm not sure. We keep it at Bushnell to shoot racoons, which have overrun our property, and broken in many of our trailers and ruined them. We keep it unloaded, away from the kids, as we usually have plenty of time to load it and take out the coons. I'd rather let all the coons live and avoid any accidents with our kids, heaven forbid. I don't even like to think about it.
I'd like to get an over-under .22/.20 gauge sometime, or a .30/.30. Something about a .30/30 is very romantic!
Ask Cindy about the racoons she shot this past summer.

 

(blush) Well, since you asked....

I was really proud of myself. I hadn't shot a gun for at least 10 years, and like Eric said, it's a single shot, so you've only got one chance to get the raccoon or you might just scare him off or wound him. I don't care for the raccoons because of how destructive they are, but I still don't want to make the poor thing suffer. First one I tried for I dropped first shot.

I lost count of how many more we got, but it was pretty easy pickings, they come right up to our trailer to raid our bird feeders. We started making it easy on ourselves and baiting a stump right by the feeder that is also a perfect shot when you crack the door open.

 

How one views firearms depends heavily on where you live and were raised, and how old you are.

In the country, guns are tools, just like tractors, hoes, plows, and pitchforks. Pest removal is your OWN job, not something you call city government to take care of. And when needed, self-protection is also your own responsibility, with the nearest police presence a long way (and time) away. Kids are taught to respect and how to handle firearms at a very early age, and you never hear of any kids accidently shooting another kid out in the country. "Meat on the table" may come from the supermarket, it may come from your own livestock, or it may come from wild game that you shoot yourself. Categories B, and particularly C, save the family money, which is a good thing.

City dwellers have the luxury of calling "Animal Control" to get rid of pest or dangerous animals, and have been taught to believe that the police are all the defense that they need. Police defense is a falacy however. They're fairly good at taking reports and trying to find the perpetrators AFTER the crimes have been committed, but they are NOT there to stop crimes, and most times they don't. And even in the rare instance where they manage to CATCH the criminal (the overall average is that a career criminal commits almost 200 crimes for every time he gets caught), they lock them up, maybe, or maybe not, for some fairly short time, then turn them out to prey on society again. Police are a nuisance to the criminal, not a serious threat. The thing criminals fear more than anything are armed "victims" that turn out not to be victims. Every single year, armed civilians stop far more crimes than the police do, usually without firing a shot. The hightest crime rates in our country are mostly the large cities that have restricted gun ownership to its citizens. Add to that the fact that our public schools demonize guns religiously and very inaccurately, and you have a large segment of society that has a very warped view of them.

The compassionate Christian side of me would like to see all bad guys caught and contained, where there's some chance that they'll change, find God, and NOT have a chance to prey on the innocent. But that doesn't happen. Our prisons are temporary training grounds, where bad guys learn from other bad guys, then get sent back out to terrorize more effectively.

The rational realist in me realizes that it's better for society for society to defend itself, and kill the bad guys whenever appropriate. Police and courts can't and won't do it. And acknowledge that criminals fear my guns a lot more than they fear the police.

I grew up in & around Chicago, but my Dad was raised on a farm in Kansas, and Dad raised me with HIS values. He had a .22 pistol and a couple of shotguns, and allowed me to go out rabbit hunting with him and my uncles from around the age of 8, although I wasn't allowed to carry or actually hunt at that age. But he taught me to shoot and how to handle guns properly. I bought my first shotgun myself (al little .410) at age 14 with money I'd earned myself, kept it in my closet, and enjoyed rabbit hunting, clay pigeons, etc.

I guess I'm too lazy to be a real hunter, but I've always enjoyed shooting sports. Target, clay pigeons, etc. Shooting is fun. I currently have my Dad's old shotgun and .22 pistol (antiques as old as I am), plus a S&W .357 Magnum that stays loaded all the time, a Sig P29 compact 9MM that's sweet to shoot and small enough to carry easily, and a Winchester lever action model 92 in 30-30. Mainly for fun. But while I don't expect to be broken into here and now, if it gets serious, I don't plan to be a victim. Insurance is not just for your car our house. And in most big cities, there's a standing joke that goes "Dial 911 and Dominos Pizza and see who gets there first." It won't be the police.

 

GT's view - wow, think I agree with that entirely!

 

having been brought up in england, where guns are NOT the norm, and even the police dont carry them, i refute the need for them as a form of self protection, or civil liberty. however as i now live 'in the country' in a 'far away place' we have just bought our son a gun. although we dont need to protect ourselves from animals, people here do hunt pigs and goats. as we live in a place where guns are around, we decided that the responsible course was to teach and train our youngster in the proper use and care of them. does that make sense? aloha

 

I totally agree with GT on his views. I have the AK-47, only because it was a gift from son-in-law, but it has a 30 shot banana clip loaded at all times.

My dad brought back some Mauser rifles and a German Luger 9mm from WWII and cameras, binoculars, etc. SS daggers, flags, all the memorabilia. Couple of his nephews stole the rifles but I still have his Luger. It is an heirloom, with all the matching serial numbers on all the removable parts, old black leather shoulder strap and belt holster, with pearl-handled SS dagger and scabbard on the belt. I go out and fire it from time to time. Used to blow a huge hole in cactus with it when we would drive from San Antonio to California in the old days.

My wife has a .25 Beretta in her bedside drawer and in her passenger side of the door she keeps a 380 Walther PPK at the ready. She's never shot anyone but I know she would, if the need arose.

Just call us "Bonnie and Clyde"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ha ha ha.

 

still trying to convince the wife we need one
(can't use the y2k necessity argument anymore)
guns don't kill people, but they do make it a lot easier.
There's a lot of sound opinions here.

 

Ownership and care of a firearm is a matter of common sense and a ounce of prefention. If you live in a urban area heavily trafficked by kids (all the way up to 20),you have a responsibility to account for the children who've never seen a firearm except at walmart or TV. I own small arms and long arms they stay unloaded ,away from the ammo,and out of site. There's also a rule in my that there is no playing with toy guns or pretend guns in my home: its my belief that it reinforces bad habits and negates the serious nature of these tools. And teach your children proper firearm safety. When I lived in the sticks I always had my firearms loaded but never was one in the breech thats just irresponsible. I know from experience safetys can fail.

 

I agree with GT totally! I was raised in the country in a small town and taught the safe and proper use of firearms. Two old sayings come to mind: "I'd rather be judged by twelve than carried by six", and " I won't call 911". I believe in both of them!

 

I do agree that toy weapons take the seriousness out of firearms. If you get to play with a plastic gun and pull the trigger and nothing happens then you don't learn what the consequences are. I also believe that when teaching someone about firearms they should always be refered to as a weapon.; I tought sooting sports on a BSA camp and that's how we did it. Firearms are at their core a weapon, always. Once you get that concept then you tend to treat them as such, all the time.
I agree with GK that an unloaded firearm is just an effective club. As I don't have cildren, and don't have children coming to the house I fully intend to keep a pistol loaded in the bedroom. Just not one in the chamber, that's just asking. Besides, half the effectiveness of a firearm in a robbery/intrusion situation is just the knowledge that you're aremd, and nothing tells the intruder that better than the sound of chambering a round

 

I don't understand why the liberals are so against an organization that is defending one of our Constitutional rights - the right to bear arms. The organization of course is the NRA. If they really want to be against an organization, it should be the ACLU. Let me show you why------- "I am for socialism, disarmament, and ultimately, for abolishing the state itself... I seek social ownership of property, the abolition of the properties class, and sole control of those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal. I don't regret being part of the communist tactic. I knew what I was doing. I was not an innocent liberal. I wanted what the communists wanted, and I traveled the United Front road to get it."
Roger Baldwin (a co-founder of the ACLU)

 

We have three 30-06s, a shotgun and a handgun. They are in a gun cabinet in the bedroom. Stating whether they are loaded or not is to assume that they are , or they are not. To be safe, when you take the gun from the cabinet you make your own checks to see whether it is loaded or not...then you know for sure

 

To protect property, and to preserve if needs be the rights of freedom...my guess is yes...

Besides, sometimes I get a little tired of eating food I can't even guess where it came from...

 

that and how much antibiotics and other crap it has had pumped into it...some of which people can be allergic to....

 

Actually, sometimes when no one is looking I'll put nacho cheese on 'em...

 

On your gun???? You're wierd

 

I agree that an unloaded gun is a just beautiful piece of machinery. But an unchambered round, especially in a weapon with a distinctive and audible chambering sound (like a shotgun) can be an excellant deterrant.

If you are using a weapon for defense in an area like your apartment or urban home, you have an obligation to be aware of where the round will go, should you miss your target.

 

Personally I would say you have that obligation wherever you are, in case you miss your target

 

Absolutely. That's true any time you pull the trigger. Tight urban environment and/or other family members in your house just gives you more people around you to worry about.

For minimizing the risk to others, any shotgun should be loaded with light BIRD shot, not slugs or buck shot. At in-house range, before the shot has room to expand, bird shot is devestating, but gets slowed down quickly going through walls. For handguns, there are frangible loads designed to maximize safety. They're basically tiny bird shot encased in epoxy, with a very thin outer jacket fired at VERY high velocity. They shatter when they hit ANYTHING solid, do massive damage to your target, but literally get stopped dead by two layers of wallboard. Still dangerous if you hit a wrong person directly, but the safest thing for wall penetration.

 

post some pics of your piece, Tim.

 

If you are going to have a loaded weapon then I think it should be as powerfull as possible, If you need a gun then you need a gun. My handgun is loaded with Winchester Black Talon
DP (deep penetration). No messing around!!!!! http://forums.majorgeeks.com/images/smilies/mad.gif

 

Thanks for your input, Steve!

 

No problem if you live alone, and don't have any neighbors on the other side of light walls. But solid shot penetrates interior walls like they're not there, and innocents on the other side of those walls are in danger from any shots that don't hit their target. Or from overpenetration that goes through the bad guy and hits somebody behind them. You'd hate to injure or kill a wife, child, or neighbor accidently. And combat shooting is NOT target shooting.

If nobody ever breaks into your home or assaults one of your family members at home you may indeed never need to have a gun loaded and ready. But if it hits the fan, you won't likely have time to load it, especially if you keep guns and ammo separated. If someone breaks in, seconds count. Depending on where you are, you may not even have time to get to your LOADED gun, much less take the time to load it.

When I lived in Memphis, my place was broken into once when I wasn't there, and once I was met at my door with a gun in my ribs, and ended up left tied up on my living room floor. I moved. In my new "safe" neighborhood, where crime is not an everyday problem, a man four doors down from me was shot & killed in his living room after an intruder burst in and was terrorizing his wife and kid. The threats are usually INSTANT, with no warning. You won't have time to load your gun.

If you have small kids in the house, either your own or routine visitors, keeping guns loaded becomes a safety issue, and you may not want to keep them loaded, although even then there are gun safes with either key or keypad locks that can be opened almost instantly to access your loaded handgun. But an unloaded gun is useless in most real-world emergencies.

 

The debate about guns most often becomes heated. I must say that this thread has been surprising in its thoughtfulness and consideration of others opinions. Yes, I own firearms; several of them.

There are many reasons why one would want to keep a loaded weapons about; and there are many reasons why one should not keep loaded weapons.

G.T. has been 'on target'. G.T. hat off to ya.

The issue isn't so much keeping a weapon ready for use; but the proper handling, use and storage of a firearm very much is an issue. The average 'joe' has zero training in the proper use of firearms, let alone the use of 'Deadly Force'; I used to work daily with trained professionals, and 2 out of 5 will do something unsafe. Under 'Combat' conditions 3 of 5 will hesitate initially. These are trained professionals, just think of the numbers when you are dealing with the untrained.

I store my ammunition separate from my firearms and those have trigger locks. I am not concerned with my safety, but those of the others that live with me. Besides I am just as deadly with or without a rifle, pistol or shotgun. Then again not many have my training.

 

What kinda training do you have and where did you get it?

 

I spent 24 years in the United States Army. I started my career as an Infantryman with the 82nd Airborne Division and finished it with the 10th Mountain Division. In between I did various things, some of which no one will every read about in this lifetime.

 

Bunch of gun's and dog's here, it's not safe at all. Keeps the boogers away.

Steve

ps. there is no such thing as an unloaded gun.

 

Ah my other Hobbie

It's My Right to Own Guns/Firearms!
So I do, & if it wasnt I would anyway.

If you rely on someone else for your protection ya might end up without any or dead.
I own about a dozen pistols and about dozen rifles from 22 cal up to 50cal.
Every single one is loaded, most are locked up in a fireproof gun safe.
I also own several Bows & Crossbows.
I can shoot a Nat of a Fly ass at 100 yards.


I learned how to handle & use firearms when I was 5yrs old as did my father & so did my children, if they have children I'll Teach them too.
My kids both started at 4 with a pellet gun we would shoot at the small end of cigarett butt at 25 yards.

My favorite's for Handgun's are 45's, 1911 & Ruger P90, Fifles well gotta be AK & MAK 90

 

LOL...this makes me wonder what kind of cigarettes you were smoking.....aren't the shop bought variety uniform in width along the whole length??

 

Yes, they are. I think they were shooting at the round circular end rather than the side of the cylinder.

 

50 caliber?
that's a mean rifle for self protection
lotsa enraged elephants in your area?
of course i kid, i've just never shot anything above a 308.

 

Only gun I currently have is a .44 Mag. Marlin rifle. Don't shoot it much, as my health dictates otherwise. I too was raised around guns & was taught to use & respect them. I think if people were taught the proper way to handle guns & respect what they are, then alot of the problems stemming from thier use would be gone.

Never been much for pistols. I know some folks use them for hunting & that's cool, but only experienced should have one.

 

My shotgun is loaded with an old family receipie of light bird shot and rock salt. Pretty distinctive in the ER.