Mainers ...Do you own a gun? (insurance, crime, house)

[Maineah]

They say that Maine residents are among the most heavily armed group of citizens in the country. They also say that the knowlege of the high percentage of gun ownership among would-be criminals is a contributing factor in the lack of crime in Maine when compared to other states who are not so heavily armed. I don't know the reality of the situation. I know that a large percentage of Maine people hunt. No where near as many as in the past though still the number is quite high for a population of just over a million. I also know there are folks who will not want to answer this question due to privacy. I respect that. I personally have guns....several of them in fact. I also have a State issued concealed firearms permit. I rarely carry a handgun though and have the permit to allow me to hide a gun in my truck away from plain sight when leaving the truck somewhere. By law any gun in a vehicle must be in plain sight unless you have one of these permits. Since it isn't such a great idea to leave a gun in the open for someone to bash out my window and steal I got the permit. Do you own a gun?,,do you love guns?,,do you hate them? Have you ever saved yourself or someone else by showing or actually using a gun? Do you think they should all be banned and gun owners are ruining the country?

[Mainer61]

Don't love or hate them, but I definitely have one.

[knightjohannes]

Do you own a gun?,,

Yes.

do you love guns?,,

Love? I woulnd't say love, but I respect them and am not afraid of them.

do you hate them?

I hate how some people use them, but not the guns themselves.

Have you ever saved yourself or someone else by showing or actually using a gun?

No.

Do you think they should all be banned and gun owners are ruining the country?

No, they should not be banned. I go with the definition of the second amendment that says I'm allowed to have one, in case I need one. Militia or no, I want the right to defend myself kept intact. Gun owners are not ruining this country.

[AlisonL]

Have two guns. Don't hate them, don't love them. Guns should not be banned, just some idiots who possess them.
Never had to defend myself with a gun. Have only used them for hunting.

[CapeCodder]

We're considering a gun safety class and the purchase of one.

I have no strong feelings about guns either way.

[Zymer]

Winchester 94, 30-30 lever
Winchester Model 1910, .401 semi-auto
Mauser 71/84, 11mm Mauser (.43 Spanish) bolt-action (black powder cartride) (manuf. 1888)
Mongomery Ward Hercules, 12 guage, single shot
Jennings, .22 auto
Raven, .25 auto (almost embarrassed to admit this one)
Baby Colt, .25 auto (circa 1917)
Ruger Security Six, .357 magnum (4")
Cobray Mac 11/9, 9mm auto
S&W 629 Custom, .44mag, 3" snubbie
Sig Sauer P220E, .45 auto
E. Rander & Potts, .75 caplock (flintlock conversion, circa 1700(?))

Have you ever saved yourself or someone else by showing or actually using a gun?

More than once.

do you love guns?

No. They are tools, though some can be admired for quality, engineering, workmanship, etc.

Do you think they should all be banned and gun owners are ruining the country?

Absolutely not. Everyone [who wishes to] should own weapons, be trained and practiced in their use, and allowed to freely travel throughout the country armed, concealed or not, without a ridiculous morass of licensing and restrictions as currently exists from state to state. Criminals, by definition, do not heed the laws so they serve only to restrict honest citizens.

(In regard to being trained and practiced, I also think *everyone* should serve at least two years active duty in [one of] the armed forces...or at the very least, attend Basic and Advanced Individual Training and finish the remainder of the two years in the Inactive Reserves.)

(But stop getting mired in stupid geo-political wars...but that's a rant for another forum.)

[RMoore007]

I don't personally own one. I have at least six friends that I know of who own a lot more than just one. Several have refrigerator size safes full of their second favorite passions after riding motorcycles. It doesn't bother me in the least. In fact, I'm glad my friends own collections and may carry. Good for them if they feel the need. I also have several friends that are LEO's who always carry. Not to mention the many relatives in Maine who own hunting rifles and more. As a picture I posted awhile back showed us at the "pit" shooting at targets.

My own experiences in life have not influenced me to purchase one yet. I just never found the passion after hunting a few times when I was a kid. And I was drafted in the army in '71 in a Miltary Police company. I carried a 45, drove my own jeep, had an interpreter where we were both in civilian clothes. I was a PMI (Provost Martial Investigator.) Kind of 007 stuff. I guess after I got out of the military, I just wanted to stay away from any kind of weapon and the passion to own one hasn't caught up with me yet. And I don't want to have that responsibility.

There was a thread on another forum about riding motorcycles and carrying while traveling across the country. There were many who wouldn't even go across their state without being armed and on the other extreme was me. It never even occurred to me that I would need a gun on my 8700 mile motorcycle trip in June of '06.

But I have found something interesting about owning guns. These same buddies also own knives and have collections of those too. Is that common?

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by Zymer

Winchester 94, 30-30 lever
Winchester Model 1910, .401 semi-auto
Mauser 71/84, 11mm Mauser (.43 Spanish) bolt-action (black powder cartride) (manuf. 1888)
Mongomery Ward Hercules, 12 guage, single shot
Jennings, .22 auto
Raven, .25 auto (almost embarrassed to admit this one)
Baby Colt, .25 auto (circa 1917)
Ruger Security Six, .357 magnum (4")
Cobray Mac 11/9, 9mm auto
S&W 629 Custom, .44mag, 3" snubbie
Sig Sauer P220E, .45 auto
E. Rander & Potts, .75 caplock (flintlock conversion, circa 1700(?))

Have you ever saved yourself or someone else by showing or actually using a gun?

More than once.

do you love guns?

No. They are tools, though some can be admired for quality, engineering, workmanship, etc.

Do you think they should all be banned and gun owners are ruining the country?

Absolutely not. Everyone [who wishes to] should own weapons, be trained and practiced in their use, and allowed to freely travel throughout the country armed, concealed or not, without a ridiculous morass of licensing and restrictions as currently exists from state to state. Criminals, by definition, do not heed the laws so they serve only to restrict honest citizens.

(In regard to being trained and practiced, I also think *everyone* should serve at least two years active duty in [one of] the armed forces...or at the very least, attend Basic and Advanced Individual Training and finish the remainder of the two years in the Inactive Reserves.)

(But stop getting mired in stupid geo-political wars...but that's a rant for another forum.)

More reasons to like you Zymer! Wow a list and everything! You have some nice firearms listed there. Guns,beer, if you have a motorcycle it's a trifecta!

[Acadianlion]

I had a client once who's business I insured. He wanted me to take his homeowner's policy so I went to see his home. In a large room in the center of the house was an arsenal. He had the most amazing collection of firearms of all types, including an incredible collection of custom made English shotguns that were worth....oh, around $150,000 alone.

I urged him to get an alarm system as that would be necessary for insurance. He declined. He said a lot of locals knew that he had a big collection of guns and was an avid world wide hunting enthusiast. He said with a little smile, that he "wasn't worried" about being broken into.

He also had a terrific collection of trophy heads from his hunting expeditions. And the elephant hadn't been mounted yet, nor a coupld of other big specimens. I asked him with gun he had used on some of the big game.

He looked at me with a surprise on his face, and said, "Oh, I wouldn't hunt with a gun. All of my trophies were taken with bow and arrow."

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by Acadianlion

I had a client once who's business I insured. He wanted me to take his homeowner's policy so I went to see his home. In a large room in the center of the house was an arsenal. He had the most amazing collection of firearms of all types, including an incredible collection of custom made English shotguns that were worth....oh, around $150,000 alone.

I urged him to get an alarm system as that would be necessary for insurance. He declined. He said a lot of locals knew that he had a big collection of guns and was an avid world wide hunting enthusiast. He said with a little smile, that he "wasn't worried" about being broken into.

He also had a terrific collection of trophy heads from his hunting expeditions. And the elephant hadn't been mounted yet, nor a coupld of other big specimens. I asked him with gun he had used on some of the big game.

He looked at me with a surprise on his face, and said, "Oh, I wouldn't hunt with a gun. All of my trophies were taken with bow and arrow."

Nice story Acadianlion...it wasn't Ted Nugent was it?