Touchy subject either way, owners just have to be more responsible and use common sense! I see a lot of guys carrying weapons in grocery stores, hardware stores,etc and that makes no sense to me. If you feel threatened in your daily routines something is wrong with that picture and for some I think it is clearly an ego thing!!! They have a gun and now their John Wayne lol or some have so many can start their own Army. I have a gun but it's strictly for protection at home.

 

My answer is not in the Poll. So i will explain!
I feel about Firearms the same as I do about alcohol. I have no need for either! But if that's your thing Cool. I think guns and alcohol add to the Opertunity for accidents to happen. Having a Baseball Bat, walking like a ninja and being able to egress my house in total darkness is protection enough! But that's me!

 

I am personally pro-gun. I believe every civilian should have the ability to own one if they desire, have the funds, are medically capable (ie don't have some sort of mental health instability), and don't have any major background issues with the law. I think the people who are massively anti-gun and who think that all non-police/non-military guns should be taken away are unrealistic. At the current point we are at in this country, guns are too prevalent to take away. It will be impossible to get rid of all guns and will in turn penalize the law-abiding people who decided to turn them in.

I believe there are 3 good uses for firearms:
-Sport (going to the range / out away from houses and target practicing with friends to hone your skills and compete against friends).
-Food (ie hunting)
-Protection (either for home defense or for personal carry protection)

For the last point above, I see it as being no different than a First Aid kit or a fire extinguisher. It gives me the OPTION to handle a situation if I see fit while waiting for fire/police/ambulance to arrive. I get that it's not for everyone, there is a lot of responsibility that goes along with it and a lot of potential liability. However, many things are a potential liability- including your car. If you are careless, you could very easily kill someone with your car on your way to work tomorrow (and how many people can't even manage to handle driving responsibly?).


I do own a variety of guns, although admittedly I've got rather cheap collection. I can't see spending $1500 on a tricked out AR and $1k on crazy optics and then be afraid to really use the thing for fear of damaging it. I prefer taking the same budget and buying a variety of cheaper guns. I carry a Glock 20C. I have a few guns just for fun (like an AK47 pistol, SKS, MPA .45, etc). I've even got a few that you can hunt with (Mosin Nagant, etc). I have plenty of variety to have fun with at the range.

 

I am the guy who is against guns. Every now and then a poll like this pops up on the forum and I always chime in because I am quite passionately against them and the right to bear them.

Remember that story a few years ago where the toddler in the shopping cart at Walmart shot (and killed) his mother with her own gun after going through her purse. Tragic. But it was her right, right? So where is my right, as a Walmart shopper, to not get shot by random idiocy? For your right to be protected, the rights of idiots (not just criminals) must also be protected.

A few year back somebody polled the forum about how many people actually carried a gun in there Monte Carlo and something like 80% of members said they did. That is insane. Your car can not protect your gun. It is easily stolen and into the wrong hands. Realistically, you will not be able to draw your gun to protect a carjacking - that is a sure fire way to get shot. Or worse, a sure fire way for an innocent bystander to get shot.

When you own or carry a gun, you are inviting gunfire into your world - not protecting against it. I do not understand how this can bring you security or even a sense of it.

I love America. I defend America and Americans and their values to all sorts of ignorant a**holes who think they are better. And it is often said by myself and others that I should be American and live there. But I can not see eye-to-eye on this matter and ultimately I would choose not to raise my family in the USA because of the damn guns.

No one in my entire family owns one. I barely know anybody with a handgun (though I know a few who have hunting rifles). There probably isn't a person on my street who owns one - I know this might sound crazy to you, but it's true! And that is a genuine sense of security that you don't get from having a gun in your pocket.

I'll leave it at that...

 

How do you propose to get the guns away from the criminals?

I wouldn't be 100% against the idea if there was some way to ensure that they could truly get all of them (although I do believe there is still a legitimate use for them in hunting), but I've just never heard anyone come up with a plausible solution.


I do think it is a bit of a stretch to worry about getting shot by a baby at walmart (or any other accidental discharge in public). You could get hit by lightning walking through the parking lot, hit by a car, killed by a part of the building that falls because it wasn't secured right, etc etc. Certainly crap like that happens, but there is no way to be 100% safe. Worrying about every bad thing that happens will drive you crazy.

 

You all know that there are other Weapons out there that if people wanted to use them to a bad purpose they would. Not long ago there was some idiot that used a Car and ran over folks. So can we ban cars? nah, doesn't make sense?
I used to teach firearm safety and Rifle, Archery.
The one thing I always did in my class was bring toy guns and I would ask the students to go get one and bring it back to me. When they would bring me back the toy gun, they always had there finger in the Trigger guard.
Most of the kids I had were 4H kids maybe age 9 and up, but I insisted that a parent attend the class also.
When I see adults handle a firearm they do the same stupid thing, and that folks is why people misuse firearms, ( they don't know what to do with it).
After my class both adult and child were well experienced in what to do with a gun. What if you find one along the road, what will they do!?!?!?!?!?


I watched a documentary on HBO a while back the Program was called all sports. The story was about a child that was killed in a Hunting accident in Wisconsin. The Father had enrolled his son in the State sponsored Hunter safety class, after the class the weekend before the Hunting season begins the child can go with a mentor and Hunt Pheasants or what ever.
So the Father wanted to shut down this practice in that State. Why? Who's fault was it that the kid had this accident????? The Father! Why because he wasn't proactive enough to go along and help, reinforce good hunting practices.
My son took the same class and he wanted to go, and I let him and I went along. Some folks shouldn't never handle guns, they are to stupid!!
I don't care who I make mad if you are not safe I will let you know. They taught this when I was in the Military.
My Son and I hunt when I can, and we are always safe, my son-in-law never had the same instruction. When he goes along I want him out in front.
Most of the guys have Hunted with are so quick they are scary, and they miss a lot. I always tell them if you are that bad of a shot give it up, I get all the stuff they miss, after they are empty.
Now if you outlaw guns the only guys who will have them are the bad guys, and the cameras and signs they have up will not save your life.
If you question that, I can prove it to you. (It worked with Drugs didn't it).
Then the bad guys will go door to door and rob you and do what ever they want, and if you are a survivor they will come back tomorrow and get what ever they want!
Thing about a well trained Carry and Conceal person, is they don't need to worry about the bad guys, they will be there equal.
2 experiences I had one was in New Jersey a few years back the Hotel I stayed at had armed guards in it and it was a Major chain hotel, then I was in Iowa at this restaurant and they had signs all over about the Cameras that they had for surveillance.
I told the waitress that was very uncomfortable to be watched all the time you are eating.
Both of these areas to me were extremely dangerous.
Now most all legal firearms owners don't want to hurt anybody, they don't want anybody telling them that guns are dangerous either.
We don't need gun control, we need stupid people control.
You take everyone of these idiots who killed recently from the Theater in Denver to the Connecticut School.
Put them in the Slammer before they killed, and in all cases they knew these folks were unstable? What is up with that.
Just one thing Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin didn't want there citizens to have guns either, you remember how that one turned out, let us not repeat history.

 

i see some nice opinions here

 

I am totally pro gun. I got into competition shooting last year resulting in me buying my first handgun. I mainly shoot 9mm and carry from time to time. I have a M&P pro 9mm and Ruger LC9s. Highly recommended. I shoot various rifles and shotguns. Mostly for sport or fun and have my own shooting range outside of town with steel targets and about 375 yards of shooting.

 

just a refresher on this topic, i see we have some new members and also would like to see more opinions, i went and got my glock 17 thursday, and i have fun using it at the range, it will be for the range, but for protection if someone decides to invade my home, but im sure the german sheppard will get to them first

 

I'm all for guns, I own many of them from pistols, rifles, shot guns, "assault" weapons etc. The wife also owns 4 pistols and 2 rifles. We conceal carry almost all the time as well.