Guns and weapons and bears.. OH MY!

There are still very heated debates on mass killing, gun control as well as any number of conspiracies based on either or both of those topics.
I decided it might be time to put in my thoughts on the subject.

Gun Control
Have a firm grip, but not too tight, use your sights and squeeze the trigger slowly.
Well, I've never had a single gun lesson in my life but I bet I could use one without shooting myself. You can't really control guns or even totally control the people who buy them. The only real way to deal with the issue of guns is to simply stop making them. Although not reliable and I don't know if anyone has ever made a working one, with the introduction of 3-D printers, anyone can make a gun. We can ban all the guns we want, if someone wants an illegal gun bad enough, they will find a way to get one.

Responsibility
Should gun owners be responsible for any damage done by a gun they own. I feel they should. In some states, bartenders are held liable for anything done by a drunk driver that got drunk at their bar. So I feel that gun owners should be responsible if they allow their guns to be used by someone other than them. If you own a gun you should take steps to be sure that you're the only one that can use it. Sure, some will argue that if you have a gun locked up and someone breaks into your house, the amount of time it takes you to get the gun out could be the difference between life and death. If your concerned about a break in during the day when your awake, wear the gun, else you might as well have it locked safely somewhere. If your concerned about a break-in at night when your asleep, try a simple lock box. Or, here is a link to what I feel is the smart way to go. en.wikipedia.org...

Weapons
When I was in High School a friend an I fashioned small weapon replicas of ones found around the middle ages. We hung them in our lockers for show and we both thought they looked cool especially when we had mock fights. These things weren't generally bigger than my hand. Still, we were asked to remove them and take them home. Recently I thought, what if we didn't have guns at all? There's no doubt that we would simply have fashioned another weapon that is just as bad. What about bombs? They can be made from stuff found in a hardware store and you won't have to wait 90 days. What about chemical warfare? Heck, given enough time I'm sure someone walking into a crowd with a sword could do quite a bit of damage. I'm sure somewhere in these forums someone has listed statistics on how much damage weapons other than guns can do.

Build your own military....
Ultimately the U.S.A. came into being because a group of people wanted to escape an oppressive government. They also recognized how easy it would be for any government to stop representing the interests of the people and begin focusing on it's own interests. They wanted to be sure that all Americans could be prepared to overthrow their own government should it become oppressive. If you look at the size of the current US military it would certainly be a feat to overcome the government with a few pistols, some crossbows and swords. That was the intention of giving Americans the right to bear arms. The problem is that some people will get weapons for the purpose of inflicting harm on people and not for rising up against an oppressive government. For this reason I feel that continued use of gun licensing and waiting periods is still a smart move. Sure, it won't keep the guns out of the hands of all criminals but it might keep it out of the hands of some and even a few is better than none.

Bears...
Those poor bears. They never had a chance against a group of hunters carrying assault rifles. Neither did the trees on either side of him, or the small squirrel and every other living creature in a 20 foot swath surrounding a now dead bear. I'm sure some people might find this an exciting experience but lets not kid ourselves, many guns just weren't meant for hunting animals.

OH MY!
Every time something goes boom and the news outlets spread it all over the world, someone gets angry and people start crying out for justice, revenge, or anything to make things right again. Some day these discussions will slip quietly into the background as the world goes on to worry about other things. There will still be dead to bury and people to mourn. So let's not forget that any tragedy has victims and not all of them died. It's people that cause it, not the weapons they hold. If it wasn't a gun, it would have been something else. If it wasn't today, then maybe years later in a bigger crowd. Some events aren't fair but there is nothing that will ever return things to normal.

nb:honestly, sometimes I have something to say and I'm never really sure if I've found the right place to post it, so forgive me if this belongs somewhere else.

reply to post by Myth024


i have actually been afraid to reply to this incase you are like an epic troll, but i'm assuming not... you may get a tad flamed for posting this here (ie us political madness) , and it may have been better to comment on existing discussions rather than start a new one.

reply to post by skalla


It's ok, as long is it's constructive I don't mind strong opinions. I often find that my thoughts don't always fit neatly into an exact discussion or specific forum so I do my best to find one that seems to fit the type of thread I've chosen to start. In my own mind there are certain elements of logic that seem to evade most politicians. I've been hearing about these violent events for some time and I finally decided to share my thoughts and see where the path goes.

reply to post by Myth024


are you from the US yourself hence posting it here? i'm british and tbh i couldnt give a fig as long as the US people get to decide for themselves

as for the bears, how should they be hunted to make it fairer? flint pointed projectiles? iron spears, muskets etc? where do we draw the line and why? kinda just rhetorical but where and why do we decide that technological progress put the predator/prey equation out of balance?

reply to post by skalla

Yes, I live in the U.S. With the talk of gun control being a top element discussed in the news I'm constantly hearing how people want various guns for hunting. The reality of it is that there are quite a number of guns that simply weren't made for hunting. Why would you need to unload a full round into a bear if your out hunting? A rifle will do the job just fine. My point was that we should at least be honest that many of these guns were never made to hunt animals and so I felt that people should stop claiming that's what they want them for. The constitutional amendment wasn't put there to protect hunters but to give the American people the ability to defend themselves from an oppressive government. Washington D.C. used to have a law that banned all guns and that law was overturned by the Supreme Court as being unconstitutional. Why? Because Americans have a given right to be able to purchase and own firearms. That amendment wasn't put there just so people would be able to hunt but so people had the right to protect themselves and their family.

The following post is done with tongue somewhat in cheek

Well, you have your shooting method down pretty good. Keep practicing.
One thing you should have added was to be very sure of what your aiming at.
No take backs, or, do overs, once the bullet leaves the barrel.

We have a couple of adages in the gun community:
You launch it, you own it.
Also, every fired bullet has a lawyer attached to it.

Truly, words of wisdom. Straight from the mouth of your friendly village idiot.


People use big, bad, scary looking semi-auto rifles for hunting purposes all the time. However, there is a caveat.
You have to abide by the limit placed on the number of rounds in your magazine. 5 seems to be a common limit, regardless of what your rifle looks like. This usually requires you to buy a 5 round magazine, if your using a military looking rifle that's capable of running high cap mags. I have one for all my big, bad, scary looking, military rifles. Look out, Bambi.

And, that's just to give your SHTF, zombie apocalypse rifle, a purpose other than taking up space in the safe, while waiting for said zombie apocalypse, and, it's main use, as a range toy.


Remember, you launch it, you own it...

Originally posted by Myth024


Gun Control
...Although not reliable and I don't know if anyone has ever made a working one, with the introduction of 3-D printers, anyone can make a gun. We can ban all the guns we want, if someone wants an illegal gun bad enough, they will find a way to get one.

No need for a fancy printer - just some piping and knowhow:
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