Gun Owners and Non-Gun Owners should come to a Meeting of the Minds

[warmfuzzies]

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I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! But I dont think any of our neighbors are anit-gunners.... I guess I wont be able to use it either....ah well, the trials of living in the country!

 

[Heelers&Chickens_OhMy]

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To my family, this sounds silly. No joke. Their response?

"The police can protect you"
"You could shoot an innocent person"
"What if a child found your gun?"
"Guns are dangerous"

Now, please understand I am in favor of supporting our right to bear arms, but this is what they would say. People kill people, not guns. And people who do stupid things with their guns (like accidentally shooting some one innocent), should have their gun priveldges suspended.

 

[rabbithaus]

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"You have a right to a gun and I own it to protect myself" Sounds like someone who want to shoot for no reason?

At the risk of starting an argument, (which I really dont want to do...) This is very funny to me. Maybe I am farther off in the boondocks then I thought, but this sounds like a very normal thing to say to me!

I guess maybe if stating the truth in simple terms makes one sound like a redneck, I cannot fathom a better thing to be!

I'm a country girl now living in a more 'urban'/'liberal' area. Yes, as silly as it may sound, the 'I have a gun for personal protection' does come off as, hmm, overly aggressive and uneducated to many non-gun types. The perception is that you are taking too much pride/enthusiasm about your ability to kill/main someone and are probably trigger-happy and looking for trouble/an excuse to shoot someone. Don't ask me to explain why but that is what I have observed.

 

[warmfuzzies]

I could tell this wasnt something you agreed with, Heelers&Chickens, But I just cant believe it when I hear people say things like that... it really does sound like a joke to me, I laughed.

It also scares me, that someday people who are really against ANYONE having guns, not just themselves, are going to have this country defenseless.

But I wasnt trying to attack you or anything, I hoped you could tell.

 

[Heelers&Chickens_OhMy]

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That is dead on what I am trying to say.

 

[Heelers&Chickens_OhMy]

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Oh no, I am very in favor of owning guns....but since I come from a liberal family, I do think that we (citizens) don't need access to every form of firearm available (like a tank. Or a missle launcher. Or fully automatic rapid-fire weapons). Yes, I know those are 'the fun ones'....but those can do a lot of damage...a LOT of damage and that worries me.

I'm not feeling attacked - but it is tough to walk the line between 'guns are fun' and 'guns are bad'.....'guns are fun in the right hands'?

But again, my liberal parents would tell you civilians don't need guns - we have a military. Yes, they are forgetting that if we ever wanted to overthrow the gov't we would need ammo. But that's a silly idea to them to.

Rabbithaus is dead on though - if you like to shoot guns, you're an ignorant redneck who drinks too much and shoots things for no reason and clamors on about protecting yourself from 'imaginary' criminals. At least, that's what the 'take the guns away!' folk believe.

 

[LittleFeat]

Heelers&Chickens_OhMy :

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That is dead on what I am trying to say.

I think maybe the point here is that "the person saying it". If the person is SAYING they have a gun for personal protection, they may very well be a little too enthusiastic about it. I'd be willing to bet the majority of permit holders never mention they even have a permit. If not for this discussion, I'd never bring up that yes I have a permit.

And I have a feeling this topic is getting way away from being "predator" related and more political. But I'd hate for a political issue to deny me the access to shoot a coyote or any other predator that might be after my chickens!

 

[Reinbeau]

The fact that some choose to interpret gun ownership as 'redneck' or overly aggressive just means the Brady Bunch and their ilk have really pounded their ill-informed message home. For those of you who haven't swallowed the Kool-aid, if you want straight facts, go to Gun Facts, which has just recently been updated. Read the statistics, all with citations, read the truth about gun ownership, gun crime, and learn how to fend off the misinformation that's rampantly disseminated by our wonderful liberal mainstream (I call it lamestream) media.

You can think I'm a redneck if you want, that won't stop me from arming myself, knowing how to use those arms, and knowing how to truly keep myself safe. I am responsible for myself and my family, I take those responsibilities seriously.

"Remember, when seconds count, the police are only minutes away."

 

[Heelers&Chickens_OhMy]

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Well.....when asked 'why do you need a gun', what do you say? "Personal Protection"? "It's my right"? "I like guns"?

LOL..."I like guns" wouldn't go over well with most folks I know.

I suppose this is similar to the BSL around pit bulls. Pit bulls are a powerful breed of dog very capable of killing something. However, most pit bulls are not vicious killers, and the one who lives with me is the biggest sweetheart. But, if you've never owned the dog, aren't a big dog person and only heard about them dog fighting and killing on TV, how would you feel about pits? How do you explain to some one that things need to be evaluated on a case by case basis?

And to keep it on the chickens topic....one day when I move from the city to the country, heck yes I want to be able to protect my family, flocks and herds! I do plan on investing in a livestock guard dog for help though

 

[wombat]

So about losing your GS. So glad to hear about your new GS "fuzzy friends."

Thanks, but that was years ago. The new fuzzy friend is 10 years old already ... and nobody's bothered our place on his watch. Nobody bothered the place when the old friend was on duty either, but we had that break-in within a month of his passing.

As for the police, they were a bit embarrased. One of them told us "I've been working here for five years, and I never knew there were houses back here."

So ... we will never be without a dog again, and my wife learned how to use a .45 after that incident and is about an 8-ring shooter now.​