Oh, provenance. You should have said.

All I know is that we have what is called Shooter's Holiday and it's a bunch of retired military and their families getting together on my inlaws' land and shooting guns.

They bring in a chuck wagon to feed everyone on top of the hill at the house and shoot down in the valley of the pecan grove. They bring my husband in with one of his work friends so they have two paramedics on hand the whole day and they enforce ear and eye protection at all times. Only one person is allowed to shoot at a time, they must call out, verify everyone is paying attention to who is shooting, and say how many rounds they are doing. They also have what I can only describe as an obstacle course where each shooter has to shoot certain things in a certain order. They keep score and have a winner at the end of the day. They do have a free shooting period but it's all in one line with guns only pointing one direction very similar to a gun range.

That being said we have every type of gun you can think of. I have destroyed 6 cinderblocks with a Beowulf, watched them shoot off a full size cannon, shot a round shot, practiced with my little 38 S&W, used guns from the 1800's and the early 1900's. I've handled an AK47 and I've had a lot of responsible fun with all these guns. Every single person (children & dogs included) held to the rules and behaved and have for the last five years my in laws have set this up. This is why responsible gun owners want the big toys.

(October 4, 2017 at 4:13 pm)mlmooney89 Wrote: They bring my husband in with one of his work friends so they have two paramedics on hand the whole day and they enforce ear and eye protection at all times. Only one person is allowed to shoot at a time, they must call out, verify everyone is paying attention to who is shooting, and say how many rounds they are doing. They also have what I can only describe as an obstacle course where each shooter has to shoot certain things in a certain order. They keep score and have a winner at the end of the day. They do have a free shooting period but it's all in one line with guns only pointing one direction very similar to a gun range.

It's almost like they know it's dangerous.

Quote:Obviously I'm not sane because I'm not giving up my gun nor am I telling any other good person to give up theirs.

The problem there, as with the Las Vegas shooter, is that it is apparent that he is a "good person" until the moment he opens fire.  Then he becomes a bad guy with a gun.

A little too late for the targets.

I wonder how many of them were packing so that in case "something happened" they could get the bad guy and be big heroes?

(October 4, 2017 at 4:31 pm)Cyberman Wrote:

(October 4, 2017 at 4:13 pm)mlmooney89 Wrote: They bring my husband in with one of his work friends so they have two paramedics on hand the whole day and they enforce ear and eye protection at all times. Only one person is allowed to shoot at a time, they must call out, verify everyone is paying attention to who is shooting, and say how many rounds they are doing. They also have what I can only describe as an obstacle course where each shooter has to shoot certain things in a certain order. They keep score and have a winner at the end of the day. They do have a free shooting period but it's all in one line with guns only pointing one direction very similar to a gun range.

It's almost like they know it's dangerous.

Responsible gun owners are keenly aware of that fact, yes.

Quote:They do have a free shooting period but it's all in one line with guns only pointing one direction very similar to a gun range.

I don't think I've ever been to a gun range where the range master did not have to chew out some asshole for breaking the rules.

The problem with guns is that people are careless.

I'm not quick to call for restriction of technology, but I see no use for bump fire stocks other than entertainment and to facilitate mass shooting. They reduce accuracy and are prone to cause barrels to overheat, which is why he needed so many rifles. They can produce the thrill of automatic fire and are handy for putting a lot of bullets into broad area in a short time, and that's about it.

(October 4, 2017 at 4:57 pm)Minimalist Wrote:

Quote:Obviously I'm not sane because I'm not giving up my gun nor am I telling any other good person to give up theirs.

The problem there, as with the Las Vegas shooter, is that it is apparent that he is a "good person" until the moment he opens fire.  Then he becomes a bad guy with a gun.

A little too late for the targets.

I wonder how many of them were packing so that in case "something happened" they could get the bad guy and be big heroes?

A 'good person' that suddenly becomes a bad guy can make anything deadly. If someone has jumped off the deep end they don't need guns to do it.

Not to mention the 'just in case' thing isn't for a mass shooting by someone holed up out of sight it's for when you are walking back to your car in the dead of night and someone attacks you.

An interesting point from the article is that we have less people owning guns, but those that do own lots of them. I think law abiding citizens should be able to own guns with reasonable restrictions.  I don't see why anybody should have a gun that can easily be used to commit a mass shooting.

(October 4, 2017 at 5:58 pm)mlmooney89 Wrote:

(October 4, 2017 at 4:57 pm)Minimalist Wrote: The problem there, as with the Las Vegas shooter, is that it is apparent that he is a "good person" until the moment he opens fire.  Then he becomes a bad guy with a gun.

A little too late for the targets.

I wonder how many of them were packing so that in case "something happened" they could get the bad guy and be big heroes?

A 'good person' that suddenly becomes a bad guy can make anything deadly. If someone has jumped off the deep end they don't need guns to do it.

Not to mention the 'just in case' thing isn't for a mass shooting by someone holed up out of sight it's for when you are walking back to your car in the dead of night and someone attacks you.

Machine guns certainly make it more effective though. 

And the whole point of an emergency is that you never know what form it will take.