Do you own a gun?

[Miulang]

Re: Do you own a gun?

My neighbor does that. He came over and we were chatting about guns and he said he did not want to have one in his home but he has NRA sticker on his truck and on his window.

He said he thinks it scares criminals.

At the very least, it would cause the potential perp to stop and think twice. A cop once told me that if someone wanted to break into my house badly enough, he could do it. So the name of the game is to make it harder for that person to break into my house than my next door neighbor's!

Miulang

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Do you own a gun?

Is there a reason one might want to keep this information private?

Let me answer your question with a question.

If I started a thread here with the poll question:
"Do you have a stash of porn in your home?"
- and you knew that other readers would be able to see your name if you answered "yes" or "no," would you answer?

Or would you think "that's really no one else's business"?

I think questions regarding personal gun ownership fall into a similar category (although one could say that, with guns, it's the government's business as well.) It has nothing to do with judgement of those who do or don't (in either case, guns or porn) - it just steps over the line (for me) of what's okay for someone else to ask in public. Your line may vary.

[Cameron]

Re: Do you own a gun?

Is there a stigma behind gun ownership that I'm not aware of? It's never been a big deal to me. As hard as try, I CAN'T relate admitting the ownership of guns to pornography. Perhaps it's because I grew up learning that guns where ok, if used responsibly. Where as I was taught that pornography is degrading not only to women but too self and should be avoided.

I guess it just comes down to your feelings on guns.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Do you own a gun?

Is there a stigma behind gun ownership that I'm not aware of? ... I guess it just comes down to your feelings on guns.

And I guess you didn't quite absorb this part:

It has nothing to do with judgement of those who do or don't (in either case, guns or porn) - it just steps over the line (for me) of what's okay for someone else to ask in public. Your line may vary.

[blueyecicle]

Re: Do you own a gun?

Is there a stigma behind gun ownership that I'm not aware of? It's never been a big deal to me. As hard as try, I CAN'T relate admitting the ownership of guns to pornography. Perhaps it's because I grew up learning that guns where ok, if used responsibly. Where as I was taught that pornography is degrading not only to women but too self and should be avoided.

I guess it just comes down to your feelings on guns.

Have you watched the news?
I grew up in the country and guns were the norm.
But not nowadays. Just watch the news or Rosie O'donnell for 5 seconds. Of course it depends on where you live.

[WindwardOahuRN]

Re: Do you own a gun?

We had a total of nine guns when we lived in NY---shotguns, rifles and handguns. My husband belonged to a hunt club (no, not the Bergen Hunt and Fish Club or anything like that, lol). I liked to go up to the cabin in the Catskills and target shoot but never killed anything, at least as far as I know.

All our guns were locked, double-locked, triple-locked in a big heavy gun locker, with ammunition locked away elsewhere. Wouldn't have done us a helluva lot of good unless we had a lot of warning if a home invasion situation had come up but with two daughters and their boyfriends around I was willing to take my chances on the home invasion scenario versus an "oooh let's go look at your Dad's guns" scenario.

We sold all the guns before we left.

[Miulang]

Re: Do you own a gun?

All our guns were locked, double-locked, triple-locked in a big heavy gun locker, with ammunition locked away elsewhere. Wouldn't have done us a helluva lot of good unless we had a lot of warning if a home invasion situation had come up but with two daughters and their boyfriends around I was willing to take my chances on the home invasion scenario versus an "oooh let's go look at your Dad's guns" scenario.

That's a VERY good point, WORN! If you can't use a gun without having to unlock it or take it out of a secure locker, is it really good protection in a home invasion situation?

Miulang

[sinjin]

Re: Do you own a gun?

Baseball bats never go off accidentally.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Do you own a gun?

Baseball bats never go off accidentally.

Tell that to Sammy Sosa.

[greentara]

Re: Do you own a gun?

Tell that to Sammy Sosa.

LOL


Hate to say it but it's not about the guns. The murder rate in Jamaica is one of the highest in the world per capita and guns are illegal there. There will always be some wacko that will get a weapon and shoot up the place. A university is a PUBLIC building; much like a convention center (where I work) they are very porous buildings security wise. My heart goes out to the victims and their families but this could not have been prevented no matter how many ways one analyses it.

[sinjin]

Re: Do you own a gun?

"Approximately 37,500 gun sales, including 17,800 handgun sales, are completed every day in the United States. The increasing number of gun owners has elevated the danger of guns being acquired illegally through robberies and burglaries. In 1994, more than a quarter-million households experienced the theft of one or more firearms; nearly 600,000 guns were stolen during these burglaries."
http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/pubs/gun_violence/sect01.html

[Da Rolling Eye]

Re: Do you own a gun?

Just to be clear - I have no issue with guns, or the majority of gun owners. In my own experiences, I've found them to be responsible owners and users, quite aware of the dangers and willing to take the necessary steps to prevent any tragic circumstances.

But my original question stands, and I'm surprised that there haven't been more responses along these lines (yes, Craig - I saw you ask again.) Maybe I have a trickle of Libertarian in me, but it seems like the correct response is "none of your damn business." Ask me about shoe trees, no problem; but ask about gun ownership --- with a PUBLIC poll, so everyone can see who answers --- I have concerns.

For me, normally it would be "none of your business", if it were a face to face inquiry. Doesn't matter who. Some relatives don't need to know this info. But online, I'm active with several shooting related forums so there's no secret about it that my user names have guns. We make sure that we don't submit personal info online or keep anything in our puter. Kind of a common sense thang in the first place. A perp would have to do more work than it's worth to obtain any info. With that, we have security bars and doors and several dogs in the house. Also, I don't tell all online.

Only thing that can't be helped is that the gov't knows who, what, where and how many, thanks to our gun registration laws.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Do you own a gun?

For me, normally it would be "none of your business", if it were a face to face inquiry. Doesn't matter who.

I had a boss once (president of our company at the time, ex-Marine) who came into my studio and asked, point blank (pun intended), how I felt about gun control.

Talk about an uncomfortable situation.

I never had a chance to respond - instead, he was just using that question as an opportunity to ramble on at length about how HE felt. (Strongly in favor, as it turned out - and he knew that response would surprise people.)

Nice enough guy - but that always struck me as a bit over the line of "appropriate workplace discussion." (He left the company years ago, btw.)

[Hellbent]

Re: Do you own a gun?

Without handguns, what would we do when the zombies attack?

[WindwardOahuRN]

Re: Do you own a gun?

Without handguns, what would we do when the zombies attack?

They can also be killed by blows to the head. Yes, it would require getting closer and increasing the chances of being bitten but, when it's you or the zombie, you gotta do what you gotta do.