Why More Americans Want to Own Guns

[God of Mr. Hanky]

I'm not comfortable being in a house or around person with a firearm.

How can you justify that, when you have been invited in? Would you enter the house of one who appears to be drunk or unstable anyway? Are you aware that half of the quaint, proprietary business owners which you patronize while on vacation in the countryside keep guns behind the counter? They need to, and if they are alive and in business they do know how to handle them safely because law enforcement is spread too thin there. You never know who owns a gun or has one in close proximity, but when people who think like you see one in somebody's house, then all of a sudden the owner is a dangerous monster. Then so are half the objects in the house, should you escalate an argument to the point of belligerence. He may use his dick as a weapon! Therefore, you should choose with care the sort of people whose abode or private establishments you enter in with, and if they seem to be decent and safe people before you saw that double-barrel shotgun mounted over the fireplace, then they probably still are after you saw it. If machine guns are mounted all over the walls, then this may indicate an obsessive personality which is potentially dangerous, especially if the eyes are particularly dead compared to those who collect model trucks.

I ideally favor a complete blanket ban on gun ownership with exception of single shot hunting rifles and a massive tax-hike on bullets; I know it will never happen. I am willing to settle on a more toned down version of it though.

You should be aware of the fact that no type of gun can do harm if the firing pin is removed. As for handguns, if you think nobody other than cops need them, then you don't understand life outside of your urban neighborhood. I happen to live in an urban development now, and since I've lost my interest in hunting and target shooting I don't own a gun anymore, but this situation is not so for many US citizens, and their rights need to be respected.

 Is there is a rational need for semi-automatic firearms? Na, there is not need for anything more powerful then a shotgun for home defense. Hand guns, shot guns, and hunting rifles should be the only type allowed by law to be owned by Americans.

Is there really a need for people to collect model trucks? Probably not. Guns are a hobby for some, and any gun is safe if sold without a firing pin. You may find the sort of person with more of an interest in weapons than trucks to be dead-eyed and scary, and in my experience this is the case, but you can't change the fact that such people do exist. If a gun hobby is what keeps the scary dude in the basement taking care of his "babies" instead of out on the street killing people, then I am very much in favor of allowing him to have whatever his money can buy on his own property, so long as it doesn't violate zoning laws, and the potentially dangerous items are de-weaponized. Just because he's got a missile launcher on his front lawn doesn't mean that it could actually launch a missile, if he could actually obtain rounds for it. Also, your town doesn't have to live with missile launchers on neighbor's front lawns, you can deal with this in your zoning laws!

Also as well a 20% percent tax on bullets.

How the fuck can you justify a tax on bullets? That's just utterly stupid, to punish poor farmers and sustenance hunters - oh yeah, there really are regions of the US where people actually live that way! How much good sense do you really think it makes to discourage target shooting, which is essential for the safe handling of any gun which anyone may actually need to use?

[Jello]

As a brit, i've never really understood much about the whole guns thing, in america. (I mean, self-defense, is of course a logical thing, but i've heard some stories that really push past that line.)


But. So long as you guys get a little bit of training on how to actually use the things safely, i've got no argument against guns. I know how to use a gun, was trained as an Air cadet (because hey, teaching 13 year olds to fire a rifle, and an assault rifle is smart, right? ) and i didn't end up shooting anyone.

That's really my only fear, and if that's already handled, then i have no challenge to your gun laws.
Oh, and on the last bit of the OP, you either kick the shit out of them, or get the police. Self defense isn't illegal

[God of Mr. Hanky]

~300,000,000 Americans. ~600,000,000 guns.  Most Americans don't own one gun. Some of my cousins have "the Big Fifty Club", being the fifty people with the most guns. The average for that group is ~170 guns.  This may help show that the problem isn't as ubiquitous as it sounds.

Holy cow!  Who needs that many guns?  Wow.  You can only shoot two at a time!  And if you need to hit what you're shooting at, you would be better to use only one . . .

Gun collecting is a popular hobby. Not my hobby, and then neither are model trucks.

Lemmy Kilmeister collected Nazi memorabilia, but there was no evidence besides that (certainly nothing he ever said) which gave reason to believe he was anti-Semitic.

People are generally drawn to artifacts of darker worlds, and items which represent power.

[Jello]

Holy cow!  Who needs that many guns?  Wow.  You can only shoot two at a time!  And if you need to hit what you're shooting at, you would be better to use only one . . .

Gun collecting is a popular hobby. Not my hobby, and then neither are model trucks.

Lemmy Kilmeister collected Nazi memorabilia, but there was no evidence besides that (certainly nothing he ever said) which gave reason to believe he was anti-Semitic.

People are generally drawn to dangerous things, or artifacts of darker worlds. Mystique, occult, and power attract.

This is pretty true. I mean, given the chance, i would go and buy myself either a German or Russian tank from WW2, because those things are badass as hell

[Gawdzilla]

Hobby, for some, obsession for others.

[vorlon13]

Why More Americans Want to Own Guns ?


Clearly, the popularity of joining well regulated militias. Why what a silly question.

[Gawdzilla]

Why More Americans Want to Own Guns ?


Clearly, the popularity of joining well regulated militias.  Why what a silly question.

That worked so well in 1814.

[Lemonvariable72]

~300,000,000 Americans. ~600,000,000 guns.  Most Americans don't own one gun. Some of my cousins have "the Big Fifty Club", being the fifty people with the most guns. The average for that group is ~170 guns.  This may help show that the problem isn't as ubiquitous as it sounds.

Holy cow!  Who needs that many guns?  Wow.  You can only shoot two at a time!  And if you need to hit what you're shooting at, you would be better to use only one . . .

It's not as crazy as it looks on the surface. First off people who hunt will commonly have different guns for different game. Maybe .22 for rabbits, a shotgun for patriarch and 30-06 for deer. Also, well maintenaned guns, last a very long time. Its not uncommon to see guns in a family for many generations. Ex my grandfather has a perfect working order .22 that his father gave him over 50 years ago.

[Gawdzilla]

Holy cow!  Who needs that many guns?  Wow.  You can only shoot two at a time!  And if you need to hit what you're shooting at, you would be better to use only one . . .

It's not as crazy as it looks on the surface. First off people who hunt will commonly have different guns for different game. Maybe  .22 for rabbits, a shotgun for patriarch and 30-06 for deer. Also, well maintenaned guns, last a very long time. Its not uncommon to see guns in a family for many generations. Ex my grandfather has a perfect working order .22 that his father gave him over 50 years ago.

It's not necessarily as crazy as it looks. It can be as crazy as it looks. It is certainly as crazy as it looks around here.

[Thumpalumpacus]

The views of the Anti-Gun people do hold a lot truth. The gun ownership issues have been a massive pain in the ass. I'm not comfortable being in a house or around person with a firearm. I ideally favor a complete blanket ban on gun ownership with exception of single shot hunting rifles and a massive tax-hike on bullets; I know it will never happen. I am willing to settle on a more toned down version of it though. Hand guns, shot guns, and hunting rifles should be the only type allowed by law to be owned by Americans. Also as well a 20% percent tax on bullets. I would want to see further and deeper background checks in place, as well a membership system (Which involves a background check) to buy bullets at a store. Is there is a rational need for semi-automatic firearms? Na, there is not need for anything more powerful then a shotgun for home defense.

I don't think personal discomfort should trump Constitutional guarantees.If you're not comfortable around guns or people who own them, then you should separate yourself from them, rather than endeavor to tell them what they can and cannot own.

A shotgun can be a great home-defense weapon. So too can be a large-caliber low-velocity pistol, which has the added benefit of not being as unwieldy, and being more precisely aimed. A semi-automatic rifle is useful for a rancher hunting predators at long-range, or small-game hunters (where working a bolt will destroy one's sight-picture).

~300,000,000 Americans. ~600,000,000 guns.

That second figure is roughly twice the largest number I've heard for number of guns in circulation. Do you have a source for 600 million guns in circulation?