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What is needed is just plain common sense. We need to adopt a more adult attitude about firearms that should be reflected in responsible gun laws. There is no reason for anyone not in the military or police service to have weapons designed for use in combat. Likewise, the public obsession over handguns for personal protection is beyond reason. Unless you are a qualified expert, or police-trained in handling small arms, it is a mistake to think you will be safe in you home with a loaded pistol. (You are more likely to shoot yourself than ward-off anyone intent on doing you harm.) If you must have a gun for protection, then get a 12 gauge, double-barrel shotgun, load it with medium bird-shot and keep it ready to hand. For most people, you are probably better protected with a cell phone with one-touch dialing for emergency calls.
Just because you cannot think of a reason to own a weapon designed for combat does not mean there is no reason. It is pretty obvious that you know very little about firearms. Bird shot? Seriously?
I carry a Mossberg model 500, with an 18.5" rifled barrel and an extended tube magazine loaded with Brenneke sabot slugs. I also carry a Ruger Redhawk .44 Mag revolver with special loads as backup.
There are more critters than just humans that pose a threat.
Just as an aside, I'd like to point out why banning semi-automatic firearms or high capacity magazines will do little good to thwart the determined killer.
Have a look at this video:
Top Gun - Fastest Cowboy Action Shooter - YouTube
Now, to be fair, he's trained hard to be able to do that, but that's 24 rounds in 16 seconds (1.5 rounds per second), fired accurately enough for a mass-murderer, using 130 year old technology. He got 9 rounds on target out of a lever gun in 2.5 seconds. On paper, the semi-auto AR-15 appears to crush the older style weapons, but in practice, it's not much deadlier than an old open topped lever action 30-30 rifle with stripper clips or box magazines (in fact, the .223 is a smaller cartridge than the 30-30). Edit: For rampage style attacks. For combat operations the AR-15 is clearly superior.
Personally I think people saying this caliber or that is not good for this or that is not conducive to a good discussion. The crazy fringe on our side will not talk any regulation and are busy making tin foil hats and burying gold and food for the coming end times. LOL
That said, guns are not going to be baned, but I can see a possibility of a Clinton style assault ban. I still say it won't happen but I can see that its more possible today than early last week. We as gun owners must admit that a semi auto with 30 or 40 or more round mag is much more deadly than a single shot shot gun. There is no way a guy could have done what this shooter did with a single shot shot gun or rifle. No one could have, so if there is a difference between a single shot rifle and a semi auto with 40 rounds, then there is albeit a smaller difference in a pump or lever actions rifle or bolt action and a semi auto and 40 rd mag. The question is do we do something to restrict semi autos? The non gun owner says yes, the gun owner says either no way I like to shoot my semi auto or if you take those, you will come for my bolt next.
I think the sentence I bolded hits the nail on the head. Firearms owners and people who have bothered to educate themselves about firearms realize that the Clinton ban didn't work, and similar legislation won't work either. The uneducated anti-gun crowd feel that they have to do something, anything, to stop the violence (which is impossible to do). So, if one ban gets passed through and the anti crowd realizes that it didn't work, gun owners are afraid that they'll come back with the argument that the ban didn't go far enough, and enact more stringent bans.
To paraphrase (probably badly) an old saying, death by a thousand wounds is just as effective as death by one wound. Whether it is one piece of legislation or a series of small legislative moves, the 2nd amendment is at risk when the right to bear arms is limited to only what some people think is acceptable.
Agreed, I own a 12 gauge as well. A lot of people don't know this. They assume a pistol is easier to manipulate because it's smaller and they can be more accurate but shotguns are better for close encounters and home defense.
There is no perfect solution and I think most gun owners want that. They don't want to sacrafice anything and keep dismissing arguments until they find one that doesn't allow them to sacrafice something. That's never going to happen. You are going to have to ban something. To get something, you have to give something. Educating the general public is not going to solve anything. The crazies don't care about that.
The gun advocates are people who handle guns responsibly. However, this is why I fail to understand why they have so much opposition to gun laws. As a gun owner, I will be honest, I don't think everyone should be capable of having a gun. I believe that more now that I actually own guns and recognize this is a great responsibility and there are people who are not capable of handling them. There are a lot of idiots and mentally unstable individuals that shouldn't have a gun and we need more laws and regulation to limit access. The responsible individuals will ultimately be able to obtain the weapons of their choice so I don't understand why they are so opposed to types of bans or increased regulation.
The reality is this is cultural. Most gun owners share a culture in a common. Most of them are paranoid and distrusting of the government. They believe in "patriotism" and are overzealous about this. They immediately view any type of ban as an infringement upon their 2nd amendment rights. This type of fanatical culture IS the problem and it needs to stop. Look the government is not looking to harm you or take away your rights. Just apply some common sense, no one is taking your guns away. We are trying to keep guns out of the hands of idiots not you.
I agree with your statements. I have lived next to the Michigan Milita who always talked about numbers on the back of signs to guid the UN when the take over happens. Always a consperiacy never anything happening. Stupid people following other stupid people, following others taking advantage of the stupid people. Kind of like religion. LOL
What is needed is just plain common sense. We need to adopt a more adult attitude about firearms that should be reflected in responsible gun laws. There is no reason for anyone not in the military or police service to have weapons designed for use in combat. Likewise, the public obsession over handguns for personal protection is beyond reason. Unless you are a qualified expert, or police-trained in handling small arms, it is a mistake to think you will be safe in you home with a loaded pistol. (You are more likely to shoot yourself than ward-off anyone intent on doing you harm.) If you must have a gun for protection, then get a 12 gauge, double-barrel shotgun, load it with medium bird-shot and keep it ready to hand. For most people, you are probably better protected with a cell phone with one-touch dialing for emergency calls.
I have owned a pistol for 39 years now and I have never shot myself. I do believe gun owners are not the ones obsessed about guns, it is the anti gun people. People I know who own guns rarely ever talk about guns. Sometimes I am really surprised at the people who do carry a gun, I would never of thought they would.
The problem is not the gun, it's the shooter. Lets examine him closer and see if maybe our answer to this is not there.
So turn off your TV and think about this on your own not from outside influence. I have owned guns all my life including many semi-automatic rifles and never once has the thought of committing a mass killing crossed my mind. But I do think about how I would react if I was in public and something like what happened last Friday happened. I am prepared to defend myself and if 911 is your answer than so be it, I have no problem with that, it's just not my choice.
I own a 12 gauge shotgun for home defense and a 380 semi-automatic for close encounters. Shotguns are a much more suitable weapon for home defense than a handgun.
We don't own a handgun, but I'm a fairly small woman, and I could take down a home invader with a 12 gauge without having the light or environment to even aim accurately--I could just point and shoot. We live in the country, so we have a big, super protective dog that sleeps in the house and would go nuts if anyone tried to break in--she's better than any alarm system. I don't see why anyone would need more than that.
Personally I don't know the answer. I think the reason there has not been any or much action is because the answers are difficult. If it were easy as putting a stop sign up to fix a problem it would have been done. Just making things illegal does not always help. Look at the Marijuana laws. A total failure. But I think we can do some things to make it hard for criminals to get guns, and other things to make people who are mentaly unstable not get them. Nothing is perfect but we as gun onwers can not just sit in the corner and say, nope nothing can be done. If we do this we risk no being part of the conversation and then we will cry when its illegal to own an AR. Look at how far this has gotten the Republicans in Congress. They are hated and lost an election they were though to have in the bag.
I have owned a pistol for 39 years now and I have never shot myself. I do believe gun owners are not the ones obsessed about guns, it is the anti gun people. People I know who own guns rarely ever talk about guns. Sometimes I am really surprised at the people who do carry a gun, I would never of thought they would.
The problem is not the gun, it's the shooter. Lets examine him closer and see if maybe our answer to this is not there.
So turn off your TV and think about this on your own not from outside influence. I have owned guns all my life including many semi-automatic rifles and never once has the thought of committing a mass killing crossed my mind. But I do think about how I would react if I was in public and something like what happened last Friday happened. I am prepared to defend myself and if 911 is your answer than so be it, I have no problem with that, it's just not my choice.
Very good point. There are a handful of people who know that I own firearms outside of my immediate family (meaning my wife and children). Those people are either extended family or people that I have known for years. Only 2 people know where my firearms are stored, and those are myself and my wife. My children know what a firearm is and I have taught them basic child-level safety, which is that if they see a firearm on the ground, on a table, or anywhere else other than in the hands of myself or my wife, they are to leave the area as fast as possible and find a responsible adult. My children are not yet mature enough to handle a firearm safely, but when they are they will be taught to do so responsibly.
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