Guns

No, President Obama sent ACORN members to my apartment to take it away.

I always kinda wanted a gun, but then I would have to be a gun owner.

I'm probably going to get one in October.

I don't own a gun, maybe someday. They are really fun to shoot at the range, or out in the country. I have only shot a few types of guns, but my favorite of them was the Glock (easy to use and hardly any recoil) and the S&W .357 which was so powerful you can feel the shockwave if you are standing behind someone who is shooting it!

I swear that I don't have a gun. No, I don't have a gun. No, I don't have a gun.

In my pants.

In all seriousness, my parents have all three of mine back in Texas. Colt .45 ACP and the Mossberg 12-gauge that were my grandfather's, a dinky Remington 22 long rifle that was my first gun.

Totally typical liberal who believes in gun control, blah, blah, blah. But jeez, getting to shoot at milk jugs in my friends football sized backyard with a .45 Colt and Desert Eagle was soooo much fun. So I'm pretty conflicted right here.

I'll be getting a 9mm soon. Love target shooting.
I've shot:

Handguns: 9mm, 357 Magnum, 38 special

Shotguns: 410, 20, 12, 16 and 10 gauge (which hurt)

Rifles: 7mm, 303, 308, 30/30, 22, 22 magnum, and a blackpowder rifle and a bunch I've forgotten.

No, I use my fists.

Yes, I do.

What got you talking about them, Phil?

I'd like to own a gun some day. Yes, I live in Texas and I don't own a gun. Yet.

I'm the same way.

I fucking love guns, shooting them is fun as hell. Don't want one in my house though.

That said, I have some I inherited from my grandfather, antiques and such. I doubt I'll ever shoot a burglar with my 100+ year old flint lock.

wrong time to post, sorry.

Did you shoot yourself?

It's not really a phenomenon. The whole issue of gun culture has really been blown out of whack by some. Fringe elements of the Right-leaning try to claim it's some sort of patriotic act or declaration of their national pride.

The Left-Wing tends to idolize it as the tools of some invisible army that's going to burn down the Starbucks and destroy the ACLU.

The sad thing is how many people don't realize how much fun it is just to shoot shit. Old chairs, cars, milk jugs, plastic crates, etc.

While I'm not that big on hunting animals, I see the appeal. It just never did much for me.

LOL. No, I posted too much details about the time I fired an M16. I don't have any gun btw.

I fucking dare someone to break into Sneakypete's place.

I took his post to mean he's getting the 9mm soon to pad his arsenal.

Yup. Grew up around guns, always liked them, generally hated the people that fetishized them too much due to their crazy politics. I'm not as crazy about them as I used to be, but won't turn down the chance to target-shoot and I prefer knowing my way around one/being able to shoot to the moral superiority of being able to say "Fuck you, I'd never touch a gun."

I don't own any, nor have I fired anything other than a BB gun. But I used to collect Guns and Ammo and other publications, because as has been mentioned, shooting just loks like a hell of a lot of fun. My dad was on the navy pistol team when he was in the service, but ironically never owned one himself. If I were to get one, I'd probably start out small (maybe a .22 just to get the feel of a firearm), but would eventually upgrade to something I've always wanted: a Smith & Wesson Model 57 .41 magnum. Been in love with those ever since I read about them in "Red Dragon". But honestly, I'll probably never do this. My wife surprised me a few years ago by saying she'd actually feel BETTER if there was a gun in the house (if you knew my wife, you'd agree she hardly seems the type), but now that we have a kid who's just old enough to have the manual dexterity to manipulate one, I at least have serious misgivings. I can't even get him to devote the concentration necessary to manipulate simple video games yet, so him being aware of and handling a gun? Doesn't sem feasible. But then again, I was born & raised in urban NJ, where dudes in da hood was da only ones wit gins, yo. Maybe if I had been reared in an area where gun ownership by law-abiding types was more commonplace, I'd feel differently. Do any of you who have posted so far, or future posters, have kids? What's your take on gun safety as pertains to them?

BTW, great question, Phil. I love your incisive social inquiry type posts. Keep 'em comin'.

Pretty much the same. Of all the social issues that get attached to a particular side of the political spectrum due to the inane nature of the two-party system, gun ownership always seemed like one of the most arbitrary.

Don't currently own one, since I'm poor and anyone breaking into my place couldn't make off with anything but a beat up Xbox and my virtue, and on any given night it's a toss-up if I'd even bother defending them. I could see owning one when I can afford one and have more valuable things to protect.

I own a Chinese model SKS 7.62x39 rifle, a Ruger MkII .22, and a Rossi .357.

The only gun I bought was the SKS. My neighbor got drunk and shot a hole in his wall, being the idiot he was. The cops came and noticed he had gunpowder and a small piece of pvc pipe in his closet and called the bomb squad. An ATF agent knocked on my door and asked if I knew him. After a few questions, he handed me a box with the 2 handguns in them and all the ammo they could find. It turns out that he was a felon and couldnt own guns. I had fun at the shooting range the next day.

-SKS (Chinese & Russian versions)
-.45 pistol
-AK-47
-M-14
-.22 in a bullpup configuration
-another .22
-12 gague shotgun

I said virtue, not life.

To be honest, I think gun ownership is way overrated in terms of home defense. In my case, I have a one bedroom apartment and certainly wouldn't keep a gun loaded in it. So I have a hard time picturing a circumstance where I could get it out, load it and use it before an intruder covered the maximum 8 feet from any door or window to my room.

Having a gun might make me feel better by giving me something, some kind of plan, in the case of a home invasion. But in that respect it's a luxury item, and not a high priority on my personal wish list.

I don't own a gun, though I would like to. But I have fired them and even though I tend to be a bit of a pussy in that area and they kinda freak me out I did enjoy it. Not so much the shotguns or rifles I've fired - as I never could find a comfortable way of holding it, but handguns are a lot of fun.

I grew up with guns on the periphery, an uncle frequently took me target shooting, I was in Air cadets and did session of marksmanship with a .22 rifle and peep sight. The best experience with guns was by far The Gun Store in Vegas. I spent more there than the strip club. It was worth it though, I got to shoot full automatic's like the Uzi, MP5, M16, Thompson, and several handguns and a mounted machine gun. It was all targets of Hussein and Osama.

We have a different relationship with guns here in Canada though. I was given an antique shotgun by my grandfather and I ended up given it to an uncle as I didn't want to have to go through the licensing for myself and the gun registration. Too much of a time and money hassle. Though at some point I'd love to join the very active sports target shooting club here in town.

There's always a chance of a zombie pandemic, ain't there?

As someone who both loves guns but also sees this uniquely US subject as an outsider, I just don't get the fascination with people hoarding guns. But I love shooting. I grew up around plenty of hunters so on non military stuff I've shot with .22s and a bunch of shotguns both automatic and pump action, mostly Benelis and Berettas. While I was in the army I jumped on every chance to try different stuff. So I've shot with an HK G3 (both A3 and A4), a FN-FAL, and an HK-11. The only pistol I've shot with was my issued 1911 .45 which together with my other issued weapon, a G3-A4 are the ones I'm most comfortable with. As for heavier stuff, I've used an M-60 (lame), an MG-3 (which makes the most awesome sound), an FN-MAG (easily the best built weapon I've ever laid my hands on) a Browning .50cal (fun as hell) and my tank's 105mm main weapon.

But as much as I'd love to have a place where I can go and shoot guns maintained and overseen by professionals I don't really want to actually own any.

not being snarky, just honestly curious, what's the desire behind owning an automatic?

(if anyone says it's because they're shooting a fan version of bad boys 2, i'm tracking you down and high-fiving you to death.)

I'm comfortable around a variety of firearms, but I only own one gun: a single-barrel, pump action shotgun that's oiled but has never been fired.

I had this vision of going out skeet shooting with the guys from work. The reality is that I'm not going to tell my wife that she's got the kids all Saturday while I go out and screw around with the boys.

Nope. Fortunately that is illegal around here.

I don't hunt, so why the fuck would I need a gun for?

If I owned a gun, I'd be in prison now. My traffic temper is monumental. I'd shoot everybody all the time. Family. Friends. Brian Austin Greene (and I like that guy). Just a bad bad idea to put a firearm in my hands. Can you imagine my blood-lust after seeing Punisher: War Zone? I'd have shot my neighbor as soon as the credits rolled. Not to say I'm mentally ill or nuthin', but yeah. I'd be a fucking shoot-freak.

So no, I don't own a gun. Thank your god.

Thank you God. Because Read really is crazy. And since he's Canadian, he's harmless.

Actually, this thread is a good exemple of Canadian gun culture vs American gun culture.

*fires a red white and blue Tommy gun through a Communist flag, drinks a beer*

Take it back.

The harmless or the crazy? (Mind you, I'm also a bit of short fuse. Thank you 10 years of martial arts...)

As I've said before in another thread. I don't own a gun, nor have I personally, ever owned a gun. Been to the shooting range a whole bunch and fired off a few rounds, I'm surprisingly an excellent shot but I'm not really keen on having a firearm in the house, especially with a 5 year old. I prefer to live in a safe neighborhood rather then own a gun. You don't need a gun to run from a home intruder and if that isn't an option, you don't need a gun to inflict damage, you'd be surprised at how very little force is required to rip an ear or two off and then skin the shin(if you're wearing shoes) or buckle the kneecap and you've got plenty of time to grab your loved ones and leave the premises.

I'm pretty liberal, and believe reform on gun control would be welcomed as far as making the availability of weapons a bit more stringent. We test people to drive cars, but not to buy guns?

That said, I'm a fucking gun NUT.

2 .45 M1911 (my favorite)
1 Beretta 9MM
1 Taurus 9MM
1 .357
1 20 gauge pump action
1 Chinese SKS
Assorted hunting rifles, and soon, very soon, I will finish building my M4. I absolutely cannot wait to get my paws on that completed machine. It's actually how easy it is to build an M4 with almost zero traceability that had me thinking about how gun control, and testing, more background checks, etc. are probably needed.

My wife inherited a shotgun and a 9mm pistol when her dad died. Even though they're unloaded, trigger-locked, and hidden, I'm sort of profoundly uncomfortable having them in the house with two kids.

Still, Overlord makes a good point about zombie pandemics.

Buy a safe. Kids or not, guns need to be locked up in a decent safe. Hidden doesn't mean much, just think about what lengths we went to as kids to find Christmas gifts early.

Don't own a gun but like many in this thread I do like going to the range. I've got a few friends in the RCMP so I get to go pretty much whenever I want. I never, ever want to fire a gun off the range. I also don't understand the desire to have automatic weapons and cop killer bullets.

On the other hand, I do own a 45 pound recurve bow and a 60 pound long bow. Plus, a really big piece of rattan with which to hit intruders.

I lean pretty far left on a lot of things... but I still want to purchase a gun at some point, mainly for the house (i.e. protection).


Problem is, anytime that kind of money gets accumulated, there are so many other (non-violent) fun toys I want to buy. Guitars & musical accessories, DVD's (and soon, Blu Rays), etc. etc.

That's one thing I'll never understand. What's the rationale for having a AK-47? Self Defense? Hunting?

And Ryan, just strap grenades to your arrows and you'll be 10x more awesome than BillyG. The only thing better than that is owning a Apache Attack Helicopter. Which can be brought down with explosive arrows.