Would You Consider Owning A Gun?

[Durandal]

Sure. I'd love to be able to just go to a shooting range and plug holes in a target for an afternoon. For home defense, just get a 12-gauge. All it takes is one rack pump from upstairs, and any home invader will immediately know what he's up against and run. But most home invaders will hit the place when you're not home anyway. The ones stupid enough to skulk around while people are sleeping usually end up in jail.

But in reality, there are far more effective methods of home defense. Like properly securing your home. It doesn't have to be Fort Knox, but just make sure it's not the easiest target on the block. Keep your shades closed when you're not at home so that would-be robbers can't case your belongings, install a proper alarm system and light timers, secure all windows and entrances and always keep the garage door shut when you're not at home. It's true that if someone really wants to get into your home, he'll find a way, but the vast majority of robbers want to get in and out as quietly and quickly as possible. If it's too much trouble, they'll hit another house.

[aerius]

2. Shooting is fun.
Sorry, but I can't explain this one in words.

It's not a co-incidence that "gun" rhymes with "fun".
I've gone shooting as part of my job training and also as an invitation from my cop buddies. It's fun. There's no other way to explain it.

[Metatwaddle]

Don't own one now, and I don't really see myself needing one in the future. If I did live in an unsafe neighborhood, I'd prefer to move out, but I suppose I'd buy a gun if I had to.

I don't really care to get one for target practice though. Not really my thing.

[Broomstick]

There's no reason in hell you'd want to store gun and ammo separately (except for retarded laws in some countries), provided they are locked up securely, or under direct control.

Small children.

Are not supposed to get their hands on the gun anyway.

But in reality they sometimes do. The results may or may not be tragic, depending on outcome.

I'm sure Mike does not want to experience what one of my police officer uncles did - waking up from an afternoon nap to find a four-year-old pointing a real handgun right between his eyes, giggling and saying "Bang! Bang!"

Fortunately, the kid hadn't figured out where the trigger was.

Interesting.
Apparently he forgot to either lock away the gun, or lock the child out of the room.
Either should've prevented the incident.

Indeed. The one night (actually, morning) of his career he comes home after a double shift on the streets, exhausted, he forgot to secure the gun. The one time in decades. But you know, even the most responsible human being is just that - human. Given enough time people do make a mistake, forget to perform one step in a procedure, whatever. It's an inherent risk in owning a firearm that you may one day be injured or killed by that same firearm.

There is no question that a household without guns is far less likely to suffer a firearm accident than a household with a gun, no matter how well that gun is secured. All it takes is one very human moment of distraction. Are you immune to exhaustion and distraction?

"Locked up securely" might, indeed, include storing gun and ammo separately. Some children are quite adept at getting into trouble.

Adept enough to crack a gunsave?
I doubt that, honestly.

I don't.

I remember how resourceful I was as a kid, I've seen my nieces and nephews do amazing things (my nephew accidently broke into his dad's employer's computer network at the age of 4), and in general it's much harder to keep kids from getting into stuff than you'd think.

Locking up guns and ammo separately means that's two security systems they have to defeat, not just one.

And?
The typical "security system", in this case, is a lock, which requires a key - and usually, the keys for both "systems" are to be found in the same place (the owner's pocket).
No extra difficulty in "defeating" two locks, except for trying out which key is which.

You argue that a few irresponsible idiots is no reason to take guns away from everyone else. Likewise, the fact there are some security systems better designed than others does not mean that there are no good security systems.

Even if the only "difficulty" is in determining which key opens which lock, merely requiring a person to walk the length of a home in order to put gun and ammo together still increases the likelikhood an adult will detect unauthorized child access prior to the occurance of Bad Things.

[Alyeska]

It's fun. There's no other way to explain it.

Bingo. I really wish gun owners would use this argument more often. A great many of those in support of gun control think gun owners are foaming at the mouth conspiracy theorists who want to shoot someone.

A lot of people might get guns for self defense, but MOST people get them because they are fun to shoot.

Contrary to what some believe, Guns have a purpose outside of self defense and killing things. And target practice with a .22 or an airsoft gun does not compare to target practice with a bigbore handgun.

[Darth Servo]

Just having a .22 single shot rifle in the house once made me nervous.

[FSTargetDrone]

Contrary to what some believe, Guns have a purpose outside of self defense and killing things. And target practice with a .22 or an airsoft gun does not compare to target practice with a bigbore handgun.

Speaking of Airsoft...

Behold!

[chaoschristian]

My dad and I share a small collection of rifles. We're training my son to shoot, and he loves it.

We're not hunters, but target shooters.

It's fun and makes for a great afternoon outdoors.

[The Yosemite Bear]

my GF has a 1911m, (with the ammo kept elsewhere), and disassembled. along with a horse....

strangely there are loopholes in the federal government's laws. One of the strangest, is to take advantage of the posse/militia charter. (talk about your laws that are still around over a century later. and since 9-11 has become very popular with the local rednecks)

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

It's fun. There's no other way to explain it.

Bingo. I really wish gun owners would use this argument more often. A great many of those in support of gun control think gun owners are foaming at the mouth conspiracy theorists who want to shoot someone.

A lot of people might get guns for self defense, but MOST people get them because they are fun to shoot.

Contrary to what some believe, Guns have a purpose outside of self defense and killing things. And target practice with a .22 or an airsoft gun does not compare to target practice with a bigbore handgun.

Indeed. I own three pistols, a shotgun, and a rifle, and they all see extensive use at the firing range. And while I stock personal defense and/or hunting ammunition for all my guns, that's not the primary reason I have them. I shoot my guns because it takes a bit of skill and practice to consistently put those rounds in the ten-ring, especially with the pistols and their short sight-radius and recoil. I find it a fun way to practice my hand-eye coordination . . . and each pistol behaves differently and presents its own unique challenge.

There's no real reason for someone to fear a handgun, rifle, or shotgun. Respect, yes, definitely, but fear, no. Most calibers of handgun can be managed both men and women in all shapes and sizes, from the diminutive .22LR all the way up to even the legendary .357 Magnum. The exceptions to this are the really high-power large-bore handgun caliber, such as .44 Magnum, .454 Casull, .50 AE and .500S&W.

[Darth Wong]

<snip retarded idiocy which totally ignores the very concept of defense in depth>

It's too bad people like you are too goddamned stupid to understand the concept of Murphy's Law. If engineers always designed safety systems using your mentality of assuming nothing ever really goes wrong, we'd be fucked.

Reason why certain people should not have a handgun =/= no reason for anybody to have a handgun.

Yes it does, since the utilitarian outcome would be improved.

Don't throw out fallacy names without understanding them. If everybody walks around with guns, that does weaken the rule of law whether you admit it or not, unless you incorporate the unstated and easily falsified premise that all the citizens are responsible.

Did I say anywhere that everybody should be armed?

Hey fucktard, it is not necessary for 100% of people to be armed for my point to be valid.

[Uraniun235]

I don't personally own firearms, but I definitely like having the option open.

Especially when it means I can go out and blast some computers.

[Captain tycho]

As most everyone in the chat knows, I have a rather substantial arsenal, including assault rifles and handguns. I can't say why I like guns; they're just fun to shoot and own. It gives you a real feeling of satisfaction when you get visibly better with a certain firearm at the range, and lets face it, blowing up watermelons and tannerite is fucking awesome.

As for self defense?
I have a 12ga shotgun for home defense, and a 1911
Colt .45 as a carry (I have a concealed carry license.) I wear my .45 just about everywhere I go. I don't do it because I'm paranoid and looking to shoot someone; I hope to all hell that I never have to fire it in anger.
I carry it for the peace of mind that if someone threatens either me or my family I am capable of defending them/myself against an armed attacker.

As for gun safety, I can safely say I've had 2 injuries total from guns since I began handling them. Both of them were, oddly enough, from my Mosin Nagant (It must be that good ole commie love). The first time I got a mild burn on my hand after touching the piping hot barrel. The second time occured while disassembling the bolt. Lets just say I forgot to point the bolt in a safe direction when releasing the firing pin. I now have a lovely little scar on my chest to show for it. I can understand why some people get skittish around guns for the first time, but after firing them for a little while, you realize they're actually very safe if handled properly.

[tharkûn]

And is the preferred weapon of idiots who engage in drunken shootouts at nightclubs because it can be easily concealed, hence carried around everywhere.

On the plus side handguns are far less lethal and accurate than the alternatives and giving handguns to the idiots lowers the body count. I'd far rather have them open up in a night club with Saturday Nigh Specials than with a sawed off shotguns.

[Azazal]

Yeap, currently have the .223 rifle and the .40 S&W handgun.

I have only used then at the rnage and only plan to ever use them at the range. I find shooting fun and relaxing, plus with my rifle I was really into doing reloding, and am looking to get back into it.

Also got to do skeet shooting as a phys ed class back in college, and was looking to get into that, but a decent over under 12 gauge is damn costly, then you figure in skeet, uuugggg. I'll stick to paper targets.

[Darth Wong]

On the plus side handguns are far less lethal and accurate than the alternatives and giving handguns to the idiots lowers the body count. I'd far rather have them open up in a night club with Saturday Nigh Specials than with a sawed off shotguns.

They would only have sawed-off shotguns if they went there planning to get into trouble. The thing about handguns is that they're small enough and convenient enough that these punks literally carry one around 24/7, no matter where they go or what they're doing. They don't need premeditation; just testosterone, alcohol, and stupidity. The only other thing which is unobtrusive enough to carry around everywhere like that is a knife.

Of course, I have no illusions about being able to actually keep the handguns out of their hands by simply passing a law, but I'm just pointing out that things would be easier if there weren't so many handguns in circulation.

[Mr Bean]

I want an MP7 baad as it'd be a perfect home defense weapon to replace the M1 Carbine I'd be using now where I not staton'd in DC. But then gun ownership is a familiy tradition. Heck I have an Uncle with a working Patton tank. So I am not alone or unique.

[tharkûn]

They would only have sawed-off shotguns if they went there planning to get into trouble. The thing about handguns is that they're small enough and convenient enough that these punks literally carry one around 24/7, no matter where they go or what they're doing. They don't need premeditation; just testosterone, alcohol, and stupidity. The only other thing which is unobtrusive enough to carry around everywhere like that is a knife.

Maybe my personal experience is biased, but I've seen gang members who carry a sawed off shotgun 24/7, or at least often enough when I saw it and they always had the same bulge. This was of course in one of the worst neighborhoods in Detroit where firepower was heavier than normal

[Medic]

The laws certainly aren't changing drastically in the states so why not?

There are idiots out there, like the one's who shot my friend but I doubt CA is one of the states w/ concealed weapons permits available. And knowing asshat lawyers in any state, you practically have to be shot first, bleeding and dying to defend yourself.

Still, the option's better than a knife and probably better than running. Fucktard idiots.

[Plekhanov]

Well I went for "I feel even the police should not carry guns" as I took that to mean most police shouldn't (which is incidentally aslo the opinion of the vast majority of Police Officers in the UK).

The only people who should have access to weapons as dangerous as guns are those who have a legitimate professional need for them ie. specialist police officers, customs officers, park rangers...

I just can't see that fun alone is a good enough reason to give people access to weapons that can so easily kill and as for ‘protection’ I feel a hell of a lot safer in a society in which hardly anybody has guns which is what I’m lucky enough to currently live in. IRL I’ve only ever seen guns in museums, being carried by customs officers and foreign policemen and that’s the way I’d like it.

[Rogue 9]

I would like to; unfortunately, I can't at present. When I'm not living in places that forbid weapons, that will change in a hurry.

[Surlethe]

I don't currently own a gun, but I'd like to keep the option open to do so in the future. Very little irks me more than taking away options, especially at this point in my life. When I do get a gun, though, I'm sure as hell going to keep it safely stored and locked up when I'm not using it, with the ammunition on the other side of the house; when I have siblings as young as six, and will probably have children, nephews and nieces, and eventually grandchildren, there is no way I will ever risk a firearm accident because of negligence.

[Darth Servo]

On the plus side handguns are far less lethal and accurate than the alternatives and giving handguns to the idiots lowers the body count. I'd far rather have them open up in a night club with Saturday Nigh Specials than with a sawed off shotguns.

You don't need great accuracy indoors in a crowded room.

[Hotfoot]

I'm frankly of the opinion that using weapons as home defense is not a good idea. Any situation in which you could use a gun effectively in home defense means keeping ammo and weapon in one place, near or in your bedroom, and as such, is a safety hazard, especially if you have kids. You're better off securing your home against intrusion, something which can cost the price of just a few choice guns if you do it right. I'd rather keep the bad guys out than have to shoot them if they got in. Especially if you have kids, imagine how bad it could get.

Besides, I'd like to point out that most robberies happen during the day, when the family is not at home. In that case, any unsecured weapons will likely be stolen, and you might have to deal with the fact that your weapon could be used in a violent crime.

Handguns, frankly, have a tough case against them. They're useful for peace officers and security forces, but I can't really think of a good reason for civilian ownership other than collecting, which is pretty weak (gee mister, I'd like a nuke, I'll just put it on my mantle, honest). They're damn near useless for hunting, and if we have to revolt against the government, a rifle would be much more useful anyway.

That said, I'd like to own a handgun for range shooting and collecting, but I don't think I'd get up in arms if I couldn't.

[AMX]

Indeed. The one night (actually, morning) of his career he comes home after a double shift on the streets, exhausted, he forgot to secure the gun. The one time in decades. But you know, even the most responsible human being is just that - human. Given enough time people do make a mistake, forget to perform one step in a procedure, whatever. It's an inherent risk in owning a firearm that you may one day be injured or killed by that same firearm.

Explain to me again how storing gun and ammo separately would have helped in this case, seeing how he forgot to put it away.

Reason why certain people should not have a handgun =/= no reason for anybody to have a handgun.

Yes it does, since the utilitarian outcome would be improved.

That can be constructed as a reason why nobody should own a handgun (a pretty darn weak one, though); but you still failed to show that nobody has any reason to own one.

Hey fucktard, it is not necessary for 100% of people to be armed for my point to be valid.

It is, however, necessary for irresponsible individuals to be among the armed persons.