Late night thoughts on guns

This came to me while falling asleep, so, seeing if can be made into something coherent. I’ve been searching for the end-all argument for reasonable gun legislation.

I’ve had a couple people agree that, even in the best situations, a true self-defense use of a gun, you are still attempting to wound or kill someone, and that is something that should not be taken lightly. I can agree with all other reasons to own a gun, but that issue rarely comes up.

The new thought was, even though 911 is a poor defense once someone is in your house and pointing a gun at you, and the likelihood that you will able to prepare your weapon and use it properly is low, let’s say you still manage to do that. A person who is confident with their weapon would say that’s why they have it. And there are examples of people accomplishing it.

All of that is negated by the simple addition of one more bad guy with a gun. And it doesn’t help to add more guns for the good guys, but there is still the “one more gun than one” possibility. Or, the gun that is bigger than yours possibility. I’ve heard from close combat experts that an assault style rifle is not the best defense, you have to swing it around and be standing back a foot or two. For the attacker, I’d think it would be a great weapon, especially if it was a second person standing outside the window, while one person goes inside.

It doesn’t take too much imagination to realize that once the regulations are off, the only solution is a world of gangs and militarized everything, the very things that gun owners say they don’t want.

Best thing is to have handguns, rifles and shotguns available. That will cover any number of intruders in the home. The need for self-defense usually occurs on the street though, and handguns are best for that in most cases.

If we had better gun laws, you wouldn’t have the mental need/desire to pack for fear of needing to defend yourself in the streets. The U.K. and Canada have gun control laws and their gun crime rate is lower than the U.S. and yet no one feels the need to pack when they go shopping.

Any number? I never know when you are serious. Do you think you are Neo?

I don’t know. I think the source of the problem is cultural. John Wayne, cowboy heros blasting away, war movies, that sort of thing. Somehow, and I don’t know how, our culture has to change entirely. For example, watch movies from the 50’s. Men forcing themselves on women was portrayed almost as a positive - men being men, women liking it, and that’s in all kinds of movies. But that has gone by the wayside. Similar to using the n word. It’s just not done anymore (in general). Guns, everything about them, needs to go that way.

It has been a little bit.
Doctor Who, from what I recall, avoids gun play.
Also wasn’t a Charlie’s Angles movie “gun avoidance” … or whatever it may be called?
There are probably other examples, but those are two that come to mind.

Such as smoking cigarettes in a movie is almost eliminated.

Most criminals get their guns off the street, so it’s not a matter of lax gun laws.

Source and Use of Firearms Involved in Crimes: Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016 (ojp.gov)

Yeah, those kids today are obsessed with John Wayne.

The fact is guns are just cool and fun. Nobody can change that. People who are anti-gun would change their minds if they tried shooting them.

We still need gun laws, regardless of people get their guns. Maybe most criminals get their guns off the street, but we still need to make better guns.

No they are not.

IF you believe guns are cool and fun, then I’d say you have a problem. They aren’t toys.

I have shot one. I hated it. It was loud, kicked, stunk, and it’s only purpose is to kill. They are bloody disgusting.

Someone has to manufacture them

The NRA had a complete makeover 1977. It was pro regulation before that. I would be happy to return to the gun culture of the 60s, but the NRA lies and says I want to take that away

You know what I mean, you’re been silly…it’s in the culture. And I own a gun, and it IS fun to shoot, but the culture still has to change so that guns are only viewed as recreational, used only in controlled venues, etc. I believe Japan does something like that, where you’re not allowed to store your gun in your house but at a sanctioned location, etc. Because for them, guns are recreational and so why would you need a gun in your house?

No kidding, but what does that have to do with gun ownership?

You are an outlier, then.

Do I really need to spell it out? The Tommy Gun was associated with organized crime and eventually became outlawed, but the manufacturers are too smart to allow that to happen again. Handguns are now made in pink, and marketed to women, by frightening them. Do you believe that gun manufacturers aren’t aware that their guns end up in the hands of criminals? Who do you think is funding the NRA? Who is against something as obvious as requiring some classes before you own a gun? Who is for gun shows where it’s nearly impossible to police who is doing background checks or not?

Less than half of households own a firearm

That’s households. Only 1/3 consider themselves gun owners

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Not really. I know several people who don’t like them and have shot them once. Guns, IMHO, are nothing more than a means to perpetuate cannibalistic barbarism, be it hunting or murder. What would a vegetarian or vegan want with such a barbaric tool that leads to cannibalism of our distant relatives?

The issue is about anti-gun people who change their minds after shooting for the first time.

You want policies targeting gun manufacturers, then?

Now that would help, along with other gun policies.

No. I want money out of politics and sensible gun laws. Laws that reflect 80% of the people in this country.

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Did you ever think that the people Lausten is talking about don’t own a gun because they, for whatever reason, don’t like guns either? It really doesn’t matter if they fired on or not. No one should push someone into firing one just to attempt to make them like guns. They probably still won’t like them, unless they are psychic on some level.