Gun control

[Raeven]

My thought.

Only people who don't want guns should be allowed to own them.

Really? Is that a reasonable position, I mean?

I can't say I WANTED a gun, not like something I'd wish for as a birthday present. I never stayed awake at night thinking excitedly to myself, "Oh, boy! I'm going to go get a gun in the morning!!"

But... when I made a decision to stay on my place alone and look after livestock, I decided I'd better learn to use the guns I had for the purposes for which they are meant. The more I learned, the more of an opinion I formed about what was suitable for me. Not every gun I had via inheritance from my family and my husband was a comfortable fit. So... I bought a few guns that were.

I suppose if I tot up my collection of firearms at this point, I might seem like something of a "gun nut" to an outside person. If I had to, though, I could pretty comfortably distill it down to two, and neither is a handgun. Personally, I'd like to see more action taken on the gun control side for those over long guns, including "assault-style" long guns.

I'm afraid the NRA has completely blown its credibility with me. Whereas they could have served a useful function for representing gun owners in a reasonable way, they have chosen instead to gratuitously goose irrational fears and positions simply for the sake of furthering their own existence. No respect from me, at all.

I was at Cabella's a few months ago, buying ammunition... the register clerk asked if I wanted to "round up" my purchase to make a voluntary contribution to an organization. "Which one?" I asked.

He waved vaguely at a wall behind him and said, "Oh, one of those."

I couldn't make out anything specific, so I asked, "Is the NRA one of them?"

He grinned broadly and said, "Yes, of course!"

"Then no," I replied.

I enjoyed the look of bewilderment that crossed his face, I admit.