Maybe someone else can answer.

I seen what guns can do in my 15 months in country Vietnam and that is enough to last me a life time

We know and ain't nobody gonna convince us differently either

Oh, wait... Wrong commercial..

Norman Rockwell dinner plates is boring, bland and lame... unless of course you're collecting them
to use as targets at the range, sand pit, etc.

Don't understand it at all. Why the 'hair-trigger' response to regulation of military assault equipment? If you want to go constitutional, just join the welll-regulated militia down at your local recruiting center.

VERY few people are allowed to own it, and the ATF has to approve you. I haven't seen one post on here not agreeing with that.

I consider mine utilitarian, not cool or something to be passionate about. They are for protection from wild animals and two-legged ones while hiking and trailrunning, and to protect my animals from predators.

I am a law-abiding citizen and a liberal, who has fought passionately for LGBT and women's right, as well as education for those who most need it to improve their lives. I loathe the NRA. I am legally allowed to own firearms and conceal carry them. I have passed all the required NICS and mental health checks, I have completed an extensive course to get my CCW.

I don't understand the "thing" against liberal gun owners. I am not directing this at you, OP, but at others. I don't think I have to justify this to anyone.

This has been frustrating to me.

But I believe that it does guarantee an individual right to bear arms, and as such, until and unless the Constitution is amended, that right should be protected.

I have a couple of handguns, four rifles and two shotguns. The rifles, shotguns and one of the handguns are always unloaded, with the ammo locked up in a separate location, unless I'm down at my former in-laws' home in NC, target or skeet shooting. One handgun is loaded, with the safety on, in my night stand. I have a concealed carry permit, but have never utilized it.

The problem, in my mind, with banning firearms is that someone that is going to break the law isn't going to suddenly stop and say "Uh oh, I can't use a gun to rob that 7-11, that would be against the law." Chicago has a great deal of gun violence, yet they have stringent restrictions - that hasn't stopped the gun violence. Until a couple of years ago, DC also had stringent gun laws, and again, those laws weren't stopping gun violence.

Yes, thousands of people are killed by firearms every year, but I don't know how many of those deaths are a result of legally v. illegally obtained guns, and that, to me, would be the important statistic.

That's what my friend told when I asked why she needed a gun.

your friend sounds a little paranoid.

Nothing to be "passionate" about, a gun is simply something you have, just like a lawnmower or a washer and dryer.

Just in the rural area of another state.

Or, perhaps, hair dryers?

Just "tools", you know.

it is hard to explain, but I'll try. I guess it is similar to people who restore the old cars; I don't get it but think they look really cool.

I enjoy target shooting as a mode of relaxation and mental reset. When you are fully focused on the target, trying to be 100% in touch with your body to place that round exactly on the "X" there is no room for anything else. It is like deep meditation. When you are finished you feel very refreshed and your mind takes a new look a life's problems.

I hunt but have more in common with you. I use the camera far more than the gun. Call me sentimental but I prefer watching critters in their living state.

I carry daily for self defense. I do not look for trouble; I do not expect trouble. I realize sometime stuff happens and wish to be as prepared as I can be.

I enjoy my rather small collection for the precision and workmanship that has gone into making these devices. Simple combinations of parts and springs that can produce such power and precision.
Most of the guns I own are rather old. My one 'assault weapon' became obsolete in about 1950. I would enjoy owning an AR as I became proficient with their military cousin while I served but I still can find better uses for the money than a gun I will occasionally shoot.

I am not sure If I have answered your question. Feel free to ask questions.

Tools to be used in multiple circumstances.

They are the most effective means of self defense for the weaker members of our society and those most targeted, including women and GLBTQs.

Where I live, they are a necessity for survival. Then again, I live in an extreme area.

Passion for accuracy and for the Constitution. And while I dislike foolish consistency I also dislike foolish inconsistency. I fear I'm stuck with inconsistent foolishness, but figure it could be worse--it could be consistent.


I'm male, straight, and white. Does this mean I should be indifferent to women's rights, GLBT rights, and racial equality/civil rights? "Ooh, I don't like that right. Let's ignore it. This one's inconvenient, so let's figure out a way to change the meaning of the words. And this one doesn't go far enough--yeah, they could have said what they meant and meant what they said, but let's assume they didn't mean what they said and figure out what else we can make them always to have said." That, I figure, is fairly consistent foolishness.

And most of the 2nd Amendment argumentation is too silly to even apply the big word "fallacious" to. Now, some rights I'm more into than others. But that doesn't mean I won't defend even the ones I don't necessarily think are top of my list.


Similarly, I like accuracy and even precision, at times, in words. I like "say what you mean and mean what you say." If either the speaker or the listener doesn't agree on the meanings of the words used that's not possible. It radically disempowers the speaker and the hearer, which is bad. But if one or both sides are sure they understand the words and they're wrong, then it's disastrous. Without good will there's no real willingness to fix the problem. And without a sensitivity for text cohesion and coherence, something that partisanship and advocacy seems to squash in the cradle, most don't even recognize that there is a problem. That's the entire "assault rifle"/"assault weapon" dustup. If you don't know the difference, if you don't know how an automatic differs from a semiautomatic or even what semiautomatic means, you don't understand the debate and anything you say may have some emotional weight but little propositional content.

it is just as much about quality time with my family as it is the guns themselves.

I'm sure you instructed the kids the proper use and safety involved. I was as a kid (sorry to say a NRA sponsored course my father enrolled me in) and it taught me discipline, but above all respect of ANY weapon.......something that has stayed with all my life. Safety, safety and above all SAFETY just wasn't taught.......it was the central theme and EVERYTHING else about firing and owning a weapon revolved around safety.

I abhor the NRA and what they represent. Where is the common decency and respect for other citizen's? The short answer is it doesn't exist.

I own weapons and target shoot once in awhile, but I'm not passionate about gun ownership. Just something I enjoy to help relax.

GP