I've noticed that a lot of people here have a strong opinion about guns. My Father had his own busines and unfortunately it was in a bad part of town. He didn't hunt, but had rifles and pistols in a locked gun case. Of course all four of us kids new where the key was. (If you think your pulling the wool over your young kids eyes think again.)

When I was about six I became fascinated with them. Two older sisters had never payed any attention to them at all. Instead of telling me not to touch them, yeah that ALWAYS works, he took me out to the country every Sunday and we had target practice. I became rather good at it and never hurt a living thing. That was also something that I'll never forget as something just he and I did together and it was special.

Anyway, here in the south we all got em. Unfortunately a lot of cases don't turn out well but I really, as an adult, respect the way he handled it.

Yur rootin tootin Southern gal.

You're not allowed guns here, I think that's probably a good thing all round.

Ames

i like guns, and my fam has lots...or did have n e ways...now we only have a few...we hunt...but, as long as the guns are used responsibly...theyre not bad or n e thing

Yeh, but if any old person is allowed to have access to guns then you could end up in a very sticky situation!

Ames

if your gun rack has a gun rack on it...you might be a redneck lol

i dont like guns my familiy has some, but i still dont like 'em

I's afeared of that.

I am also in the south and own 1 gun. After a late night knock on my door and no one around that i could see i bought one for protection. I would only use it in a dire
emergency.

janiel...of all ppl, i woulda thought u liked guns haha...

my family has a lot of guns, mainly cuz my dad hunts. the only ones im allowed to shoot at the moment are the 22s lol.

There were no guns around when I was growing up and I have to admit I don't even like toy guns. My husband on the other hand grew up around guns and has a great respect for them.

I am with you Michelle...

I was raised around guns since childhood, and trained early on how to respect and handle them safely. I was in the Army for several years and was exposed to even more weapons there. I have always enjoyed shooting, although I do no hunt and would not do so unless my family really needed food that we could not get elsewhere.

I have several guns now, and I do collect guns. Mainly I keep them for protection of myself and my family. We live in a very rural area and deal with wild creatures both human and animal. We have bears and criminals that try to get into the house on occasion, and I am very glad I do have the gun; it has helped me to avoid many situations that could have ended poorly.

I am a firm believer in the right of citizens to keep and bear arms, but I also agree that guns need to be kept out of the hands of criminals...In my opinion the legal gun owners are not the problem, it is the repeat criminals that use guns to commit crimes that are the problem. Equally I think that it is unfair and illegal to place the burden of trying to fix the problem of gun violence on the law abiding gun owner. The focus should be on catching the repeat offenders who cause the overwhelming bulk of gun related crimes...

i h8 guns why? simply cause they're made for the sole purpose of harming another.. i detest those that hunt you have food in your fridge, and clothes in your closet! how could you harm another innocent creature??! and for sport??!!! sickening

as for protection, there are surely more, humane, ways.

i wholeheartedly agree with you there

Yes there are a lot more humane ways to protect yourself. But I'm 5'7" 135 pounds and if a man over six foot tall is coming after me, excuse me, but if he gets within arms length I'm toast. A gun and my dog have saved me a couple of times when I've been hiking alone in the woods. I have no intention of ending up a dead body tortured and raped.

It's totally a last resort thing but if it's them or me , I'm sorry, it's gonna be them if I have anything to do with it.

good! you would have payed otherwise!!.... (janiel)

hehe

no but seriously, they should try to keep ppl safe without more violence and death occurring.

ahh, but you would put forth a good argument, my fluffy one!

now i say this in shame , i indeed, tho given up all other meats, have failed to give up my chicken.. terrible, i know, but i will continue to try.

my point tho was, those whom hunt for sport, detest me (yes, i know, should be far more specific). if it is for your own survival, i am obliged to understand, but to take pleasure in the murder of another, whether human, or animal, is treacherous(SP?). how can they take pride in such a thing? death of another??

i understand what you are saying about protecting yourself, and not having to or wanting to actually shoot the individual, but not all are so responsible as you dear bunny. its a shame so many so careless & barbaric.

they may have some advantages to them, but to me, the disadvantages are greater.

i respect that they are heirlooms, but they should never be used to harm another, unless dire need. like i said, too many are not responsible enough to hold in their hands, possibily, the life of another.

i was not being specific enough, i apologize, like i said im obliged to understand someone whos life depended on the meat or skin of a deer, for sport, and to have a so called throphy of a decapitated head hanging on your living room wall, however, is horrific behavior.

my heart bleeds

AHAHAHAH Yont me to tell ya bout dem dar trucks in da frunt yard dat don't run?

I live in a rural part of New Zealand guns are a part of most peoples lives . They are used for protection pest control and hunting . I have used a gun my husband has used one and even my eldest son has used a gun allthough I won't allow them in the house . They are deadly and we don't take time to teach peple the simple rule of never , ever , EVER point a gun at something you don't intend on killing .
Over the last few years I have noticed a hideous trend of gun totin on television and in movies , nobody ever reasons with anyone, and we teach people by showing them your first reaction should be to pull out your gun and aim it at the nearest person . That attitude appauls me .

Guns may have practicle uses but we can't shut our minds off to other avenues of thought and reason and protection .

I love guns!!! & I'm not even a redneck... I like to have my freedom thanx! I agree with you completely man_in_mudboots!!!!! Handguns, rifles, whatever keeps us feeling safe. I can see if ppl object to hunting, ecpecially if you shoot an animal for no reason, but to protect myself from some crazed idiot, I'll stick with my guns thank you! That way I'm safe instead of being some idiot trying to 'talk' some1 out of killing you or try to find a more humane way of protection, that's just suicide, if I'm threatened I most certainly WILL react with my gut instinct wich would probably be to kill before I GET killed...
ppl have their opinions about guns I respect that, but NO ONE WILL EVER TAKE MY 2ND AMENDMENT RIGHTS FROM ME!!!! U can have my gun after I empty the clip out on you! I guess I'm just another Millitary bound chick!

I don't "love" guns and I don't encourage their use. I will use one for self defense as a last resort. More to the point of my story was that my Father had the good sense to handle it the way he did when I was such a small child. Some of you have talked about having children and I just thought it might be something you didn't think about. It also brought my Father and I closer together.

Sides thet if ya gonna live heren ya gotta git with tha prograum.

Yes, you are. I didn't read this, only the title, and that's how I came to my decision.

I like guns. Never owned one before, nerver touched one either as they are banned here.
So what am i going to do to get a gun?- join the army (not really the main reason why i'm joining just a bonus )

yeah lets introduce youngsters to guns as young as possibel.


I disagree strongly woth the right to bear arms.

ALthough i understand that guns are so stupidly and irresposibly widespread in america it is dangerous not to own one.

The problem is that there are so many people with guns over there.

But you have to start somewhere. it will take a while but gun crime would decrease.

WHereas in britain and many other european countries when we realise dthere was no need to keep weapons in a civilised country anymore legislation was passed and slowly but surely the amount of guns in cirulation has fallen to almost non-existen levels.

Gun crime in europe is practically non-existent.

I mean the difference between america and britain could not be more stark.

After Dunblane (our appaling version of your tragic columbine) the government introduced even more stringent laws almost instantaneously. Its is against the law to own a .22 calibre weapon now.

There hasnt been another incident of its kind now in nearly 10 years.

WHat i dont understand is that america doesnt at least seem even to be trying to curb its gun crime and incidents like columbine seem to be commonplace.

how can anyone justify widespread gun ownership being a good idea and teaching for example a 6YEAR OLD how to use a gun being a good thing, when shcool shootings are so widesread????

iT just beggars belief.

In my opinion its irresposible, selfish and plain daft.

Guns should be left to soldiers.

How can gun owners admire a man who holds a NRA rally in a town that has just experienced a high school shooting and say something like they would have to pry a gun from his "cold dead hands" when many of their kids where "cold and dead"?

Id like to see which of the members of the forum respect Charlton Heston.

I can pretty much guess which ones admire the shite.

I love guns. I don't hunt though.. I do love target shooting...

My favorite: the 22.......... It has no kick.......







And one with a scope.... I don't use a scope, but that is just cause I am that good with my aim







Reese

ohhh my grandpa taught my mom and her brothers to shoot cans off a fence w/ his rifle and shotgun....lucky....sadly he sold them before he could teach us

but i like guns they are pretty....altho i wouldnt wanna shoot some1 with one... unless they are attackin me or my fam. shoot not to kill but to harm. hunting for fun.... baaaaaaaad!! :cry: theres a shooting range up in NH...where u can fire anything from a hand gun to a semi-automatic ...the min im 18 lol im taking mom up there besides she said she would lol

but you gotta have a licence to use a katana you can take lessons on how to use em and stuff...my friends sister has one....lol she can cut u up into lil tiny pieces if she wanted to. i like katanas better tho...takes more still to use one then to shoot a gun. and they are shiney
seee!! look how pretty!!

I target shoot Wun... I have done it for years upon years. I don't have to justify owning a gun for that practice. If you have ever done it, then you would see how much fun it could be. Just like shooting 8 ball, which I also love to do.

If you are against guns because of the violence that entails 'owning guns' than I can understand that. I have no need to debate anything with you on owning guns. It is my right, and yours not to like it.

no i dont mean in a kids hand like in a locked case lol i wouldnt keep a gun out in open in some sock drawer. a locked case that sits on top of a tall dresser..for display only. people do that with old old ollldd revolutionary rifles that actually still work. they are pretty too look at but the ones that are used to kill people they dont look so pretty.

katanas can be just as deadly tho....maybe even more at times. but then again anything could be used as a weapon. whats scary is to use a katana..you need to be trained inorder to get the full effect...w/ a gun u just point and shoot.

I keep ALL my weapons at home, safely with me. I do not just have a .22.. I have knives, swords, stun guns a 'new' taser.. I have all sorts of neat little things.. But, I keep them locked up, and put away, for my enjoyment only. I am sorry that you don't see 'anyone' as being responsible enough to do this, but I am 30 now, and skilled enough to handle everything that I own..


Reese

im not saying every american is a nutter .

im quite sure you an joc man millions of others are very responsible with your guns .

The wider issue is that i believe there is no place ina modern society for the individual subjects to own a weapon.

Law enforcment and security services in my opinion are the only ones who actually NEED to have weapons.

Joc how many times have you had to use your weapon in self-defence?

Same to you reese?

I like the idea of handgun control lowering crime however in my countries case...

Since Australia's 1996 laws banning most guns and making it a crime to use a gun defensively, armed robberies rose by 51%, unarmed robberies by 37%, assaults by 24% and kidnappings by 43%. While murders fell by 3%, manslaughter rose by 16%

i do understand that due to there being so many guns in america there is MORE of a case for civilians being armed.

i just think that something needs to change or it will just continue to spiral

oh an joc i totally respect your wish to defend your family.

Thing is where i live we always leave the door unlocked (by accident mostly ) at night and ive never had any trouble (thats not to say that crime is non-existent lol we have plenty).

I can also walk from my house to my g/f (which is about a mile) with no fear of being shot or maimed whatsoever at any time joc.

Now i kno there is a total exageration of this on the outside of america but if thats not the case then you shouldnt need a gun.

Why is it that Canada is so different to the USA?

Gun Laws.

Here we don't have guns. And as such, we don't have terrible crimes. We don't have kids shooting each other in school hallways, hell, we don't have paranoia, no one locks their doors when they're home, NO ONE WORRIES. No one has a gun. Everyone is happy. No gun-crimes.

Quite simple. I know where i prefer to live.

if both of you answered no in all your lifetimes then why do u need a gun???

WOW, Wun, I don't think I would be brave enough to walk around the streets here or anywhere I have lived, at night, without some form of protection... And, I always remember to lock my doors... Call me a freak...

Reese, that to me, sounds like an AWFUL, awful place to live.