Why own a gun?

know1know1 Posts: 6,794
edited December 2012 in A Moving Train
Outside of hunting and target shooting for recreation or sport, what is the purpose of owning a gun?

I know the answer will be for "protection", but in my mind that is the same thing as saying "to potentially murder someone".

I am not necessarily in favor of banning guns, but the people who are most enthusiastic about their guns (bragging about them, etc.) disturb me a lot more than those who are most enthusiastic about banning them.

In a way, I feel sorry for people who let fear so dominate their lives that they put their faith and take comfort in a gun to murder someone who threatens them.
The only people we should try to get even with...
...are those who've helped us.

Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
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Comments

  • redrockredrock Posts: 18,341
    know1 wrote:
    ..... people who let fear so dominate their lives that they put their faith and take comfort in a gun to murder someone who threatens them.

    You may have hit the nail on the head. Even if it's not something one will readily admit to. This 'domination of fear' is expressed under the guise of 'god given' right.
  • DS1119DS1119 Posts: 33,497
    Do you have locks on your doors? A security system perhaps?
  • gimmesometruth27gimmesometruth27 St. Fuckin Louis Posts: 23,303
    some people will say "because i can"...
    "You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry."  - Lincoln

    "Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
  • BinFrogBinFrog MA Posts: 7,309
    I am not a gun owner (maybe some day, but not yet). But let me guess: you do not have kids, do you?

    I have a daughter, and another on the way. Why do I even have the slightest urge to own a gun? Protection: damn right. There are some f'd up people in this world and I would do anything to protect my family. Sorry, but I'm not exactly going to ask 20 questions to someone who breaks into my house. I don't care why you are there, and I don't want to find out.

    Before I got married and had a child, being a gun owner never crossed my mind. now I have a home security system, and applying for a gun license is perhaps not that far away.
    Bright eyed kid: "Wow Typo Man, you're the best!"
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  • cincybearcatcincybearcat Posts: 16,460
    DS1119 wrote:
    Do you have locks on your doors? A security system perhaps?

    Interesting. Can you please attach a link to occurrences where these such devices have been used to kill others? Thanks in advance!!!
    hippiemom = goodness
  • DS1119DS1119 Posts: 33,497
    DS1119 wrote:
    Do you have locks on your doors? A security system perhaps?

    Interesting. Can you please attach a link to occurrences where these such devices have been used to kill others? Thanks in advance!!!


    Isn't this living in fear though like the OP wrote?
  • Jason PJason P Posts: 19,138
    DS1119 wrote:
    Do you have locks on your doors? A security system perhaps?

    Interesting. Can you please attach a link to occurrences where these such devices have been used to kill others? Thanks in advance!!!
    I feel there was a time when people were beaten with sacks of doorknobs.

    Not so much anymore. Wonder why?
  • cincybearcatcincybearcat Posts: 16,460
    DS1119 wrote:
    DS1119 wrote:
    Do you have locks on your doors? A security system perhaps?

    Interesting. Can you please attach a link to occurrences where these such devices have been used to kill others? Thanks in advance!!!


    Isn't this living in fear though like the OP wrote?

    OK, if you really think arming yourself with a fatal weapon is the same as putting a lock on your front door...

    It is hardly the same level of "fear". You do realize there are many different levels of different emotions, right? Putting a lock on the door to keep people out is one thing. Buying something that your purpose is to end someone's life is a different one.
    hippiemom = goodness
  • cincybearcatcincybearcat Posts: 16,460
    Jason P wrote:
    DS1119 wrote:
    Do you have locks on your doors? A security system perhaps?

    Interesting. Can you please attach a link to occurrences where these such devices have been used to kill others? Thanks in advance!!!
    I feel there was a time when people were beaten with sacks of doorknobs.

    Not so much anymore. Wonder why?


    Huh, good question. I wonder if anyone has ever beaten dozens of people to death with a sack full of doorknobs before being stopped.
    hippiemom = goodness
  • JonnyPistachioJonnyPistachio Florida Posts: 10,219
    I do know a few folks who have arsenals, and they would invite someone to try to breech their walls so they could make an example of them. One of these is actually a very good friend of mine who is an intelligent guy. He also has four children. While he is very responsible, I sometimes worry that the tiniest mistake can invite disaster. And it is well known that often times when a gun is used it is not for its intended purpose.

    My sweet Grandmother owned one out of fear until she shot a hole in a wall and my father took it from her. Thank God no one was hurt.

    I also know quite a few very responsible gun owners. That said, I teeter tottered on getting a gun for awhile because my old neighborhood was very dangerous. I'm not sure if it was fear, cautionary, or simply a responsibility I felt to protect my wife, but I opted to move instead. I didnt like the feeling that I must buy this weapon to make myself feel safe.

    One other thing that often reminded me that I should not get a gun, though I would be the most responsible person EVER (they probably all say this), is that when I have kids, I intend on passing on all my best traits and if they get any intelligence from my wife and not me, they could get to those guns if they really wanted to. ;)

    Everyone is different I guess.
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  • Jason PJason P Posts: 19,138
    Jason P wrote:
    I feel there was a time when people were beaten with sacks of doorknobs.

    Not so much anymore. Wonder why?


    Huh, good question. I wonder if anyone has ever beaten dozens of people to death with a sack full of doorknobs before being stopped.
    Nothing came up in a Google search.

    Apparantly their was an incident in 1994 where Homer led a vigilante group whose main weapon of choice were sacks of doorknobs. It is unclear who many died by those that wielded the power of doorknobs.
  • DS1119DS1119 Posts: 33,497

    OK, if you really think arming yourself with a fatal weapon is the same as putting a lock on your front door...

    It is hardly the same level of "fear". You do realize there are many different levels of different emotions, right? Putting a lock on the door to keep people out is one thing. Buying something that your purpose is to end someone's life is a different one.


    SO now we need to assess levels of fear? We are supposed to tell Americans what they are allowed to legally possess to make them feels safe? Try telling that to this woman. For the record the guy who came into her home didn't have a gun.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/0 ... 83871.html
  • ZosoZoso Posts: 6,425
    BinFrog wrote:
    I am not a gun owner (maybe some day, but not yet). But let me guess: you do not have kids, do you?

    I have a daughter, and another on the way. Why do I even have the slightest urge to own a gun? Protection: damn right. There are some f'd up people in this world and I would do anything to protect my family. Sorry, but I'm not exactly going to ask 20 questions to someone who breaks into my house. I don't care why you are there, and I don't want to find out.

    Before I got married and had a child, being a gun owner never crossed my mind. now I have a home security system, and applying for a gun license is perhaps not that far away.

    Haven't got kids yet but when we do no way guns are going to be in the house.. Infact I would feel safer in a gun free society then with guns in the house with kids around. I know as a kid I always use to look in everything in the house and if their were guns around I would have found them... Dangerous.

    It's a scary mentality that having guns is safer
    I'm just flying around the other side of the world to say I love you

    Sha la la la i'm in love with a jersey girl

    I love you forever and forever :)

    Adel 03 Melb 1 03 LA 2 06 Santa Barbara 06 Gorge 1 06 Gorge 2 06 Adel 1 06 Adel 2 06 Camden 1 08 Camden 2 08 Washington DC 08 Hartford 08
  • Having a child is actually a reason I have for not keeping a gun in the house. I own three guns, and I keep them all at my parents house. Thousands of kids die from guns each year and I don't want my daughter accidentally getting hurt.
  • JimmyVJimmyV Boston's MetroWest Posts: 19,183
    Because you are overcompensating for something else?
    ___________________________________________

    "...I changed by not changing at all..."
  • ZosoZoso Posts: 6,425
    DS1119 wrote:

    OK, if you really think arming yourself with a fatal weapon is the same as putting a lock on your front door...

    It is hardly the same level of "fear". You do realize there are many different levels of different emotions, right? Putting a lock on the door to keep people out is one thing. Buying something that your purpose is to end someone's life is a different one.


    SO now we need to assess levels of fear? We are supposed to tell Americans what they are allowed to legally possess to make them feels safe? Try telling that to this woman. For the record the guy who came into her home didn't have a gun.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/0 ... 83871.html

    The stats conclude that more likely a gun owner will hurt themselves or family more likely then stop and intruder
    I'm just flying around the other side of the world to say I love you

    Sha la la la i'm in love with a jersey girl

    I love you forever and forever :)

    Adel 03 Melb 1 03 LA 2 06 Santa Barbara 06 Gorge 1 06 Gorge 2 06 Adel 1 06 Adel 2 06 Camden 1 08 Camden 2 08 Washington DC 08 Hartford 08
  • cincybearcatcincybearcat Posts: 16,460
    DS1119 wrote:

    SO now we need to assess levels of fear?

    No, you just have to be smart enough to understand reality and want to help make a change for the better.

    I don;t want to talk all guns away, but what we have isn't working. And those spouting off about their 2nd amendment rights continue to stop progress.

    It's time to stop kidding ourselves. What is going on will not get better without change. Change in gun control laws, change in mental health, change in our entire culture (love of violence). But instead, we will all just shout back and forth at each other and hoard our guns and ammo and wait for the next mass killing.
    hippiemom = goodness
  • dignindignin Posts: 9,336
    DS1119 wrote:

    OK, if you really think arming yourself with a fatal weapon is the same as putting a lock on your front door...

    It is hardly the same level of "fear". You do realize there are many different levels of different emotions, right? Putting a lock on the door to keep people out is one thing. Buying something that your purpose is to end someone's life is a different one.


    SO now we need to assess levels of fear? We are supposed to tell Americans what they are allowed to legally possess to make them feels safe? Try telling that to this woman. For the record the guy who came into her home didn't have a gun.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/0 ... 83871.html

    Still waiting for that story where granny defended herself against an intruder with her AR-15.
  • JonnyPistachioJonnyPistachio Florida Posts: 10,219
    Zoso wrote:
    I know as a kid I always use to look in everything in the house and if their were guns around I would have found them... Dangerous.

    It's a scary mentality that having guns is safer
    me too -- I was a nosy little fucker, but thankfully my folks didnt keep guns in the house.
    fisherman wrote:
    Having a child is actually a reason I have for not keeping a gun in the house. I own three guns, and I keep them all at my parents house. Thousands of kids die from guns each year and I don't want my daughter accidentally getting hurt.

    Good to hear.
    This reminds me, one of my best friends is a cop, and of course has guns in his house. They are in a safe. But nothing is ever 100%. I, personally, couldnt feel good if I wasnt home, knowing there was a gun in my house, even if its in a safe. But thats just me.
    Pick up my debut novel here on amazon: Jonny Bails Floatin (in paperback) (also available on Kindle for $2.99)
  • JTHJTH Chicago Posts: 3,238
    I have a friend who is a cop. He's got two kids and he does not keep a gun in his house. I always figured that was some kind of a job requirement but apparently not.
  • I have a couple of rifles and a shotgun that I used hunting when growing up. They are at my parents house 500 miles away. When I was single in my 20s I bought a handgun because I was living alone in the city, and for some reason I felt safer with it.

    Now, I am married with little kids, so that thing has a trigger lock on it, and is locked in a little safe in our closet.

    I honestly have no idea why I still have it, I haven't touched it in months or shot it in years.
    My whole life
    was like a picture
    of a sunny day
    “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
    ― Abraham Lincoln
  • JTH wrote:
    I have a friend who is a cop. He's got two kids and he does not keep a gun in his house. I always figured that was some kind of a job requirement but apparently not.
    my sis and her husband are cops..they dont have the guns in their house..are in locker at police station
    "...Dimitri...He talks to me...'.."The Ghost of Greece..".
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  • I own a 9mm. Its in a "hand scanning" safe next to my bed............

    I've posted in other threads and no one cares to comment on my situation. I bought it for protection. We had multiple death threats made to my children. Terrorizing signs placed in our neighborhood. Harassing phone calls. We called the police and they did nothing. I mean absolutely NOTHING. They said they could do nothing when it was just a threat. After the last one, the detective wouldn't even call us back.

    So yes, if the person responsible for these threats decides someday to take it to the next level and enter my house......I will MURDER him or her.

    End of story why I own a gun.
  • know1know1 Posts: 6,794
    DS1119 wrote:
    Do you have locks on your doors? A security system perhaps?

    Yes - but no booby traps.
    The only people we should try to get even with...
    ...are those who've helped us.

    Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
  • I own a 9mm. Its in a "hand scanning" safe next to my bed............

    I've posted in other threads and no one cares to comment on my situation. I bought it for protection. We had multiple death threats made to my children. Terrorizing signs placed in our neighborhood. Harassing phone calls. We called the police and they did nothing. I mean absolutely NOTHING. They said they could do nothing when it was just a threat. After the last one, the detective wouldn't even call us back.

    So yes, if the person responsible for these threats decides someday to take it to the next level and enter my house......I will MURDER him or her.

    End of story why I own a gun.

    Yeah, death threats on my kids, and I might go in full Rambo mode there.
    My whole life
    was like a picture
    of a sunny day
    “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
    ― Abraham Lincoln
  • Jason PJason P Posts: 19,138
    My Dad has two handguns that he tried to keep hidden and out of reach when I was young ... but as someone noted, kids are nosey. Every once in a while I'd take them out and shoot them ... with no training. Thankfully I never accidently shot myself.

    One of my best friends accidently discharged his .22 and the bullet grazed my other friends arm. He didn't require major medical attention so we patched him up and he wore long-sleeved shirts for the rest of the summer because he was afraid his Dad would take his .22 away if he found out about the incident.

    :fp: :mrgreen:

    If you have kids and guns, please make sure you have trigger-locks at the very least and keep that key secure.
  • I own a 9mm. Its in a "hand scanning" safe next to my bed............

    I've posted in other threads and no one cares to comment on my situation. I bought it for protection. We had multiple death threats made to my children. Terrorizing signs placed in our neighborhood. Harassing phone calls. We called the police and they did nothing. I mean absolutely NOTHING. They said they could do nothing when it was just a threat. After the last one, the detective wouldn't even call us back.

    So yes, if the person responsible for these threats decides someday to take it to the next level and enter my house......I will MURDER him or her.

    End of story why I own a gun.

    What is the reason for the harrasment?
    I also find it very hard to believe that any law enforcement agency worth it's salt would take a death threat
    as anything but serious and do "nothing" about it.
  • know1know1 Posts: 6,794
    I own a 9mm. Its in a "hand scanning" safe next to my bed............

    I've posted in other threads and no one cares to comment on my situation. I bought it for protection. We had multiple death threats made to my children. Terrorizing signs placed in our neighborhood. Harassing phone calls. We called the police and they did nothing. I mean absolutely NOTHING. They said they could do nothing when it was just a threat. After the last one, the detective wouldn't even call us back.

    So yes, if the person responsible for these threats decides someday to take it to the next level and enter my house......I will MURDER him or her.

    End of story why I own a gun.

    Thanks for the honesty. That is exactly my point. The purpose of guns outside of hunting or target shooting is murder. It's not protection.
    The only people we should try to get even with...
    ...are those who've helped us.

    Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
  • Jason P wrote:
    My Dad has two handguns that he tried to keep hidden and out of reach when I was young ... but as someone noted, kids are nosey. Every once in a while I'd take them out and shoot them ... with no training. Thankfully I never accidently shot myself.

    One of my best friends accidently discharged his .22 and the bullet grazed my other friends arm. He didn't require major medical attention so we patched him up and he wore long-sleeved shirts for the rest of the summer because he was afraid his Dad would take his .22 away if he found out about the incident.

    :fp: :mrgreen:

    If you have kids and guns, please make sure you have trigger-locks at the very least and keep that key secure.

    And there are other common sense things. My dad locked up ammo, guns, and bolts/magazines in different places. I remember as a kid, I found the key to the guns once, but never the other two things.
    My whole life
    was like a picture
    of a sunny day
    “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
    ― Abraham Lincoln
  • I own a 9mm. Its in a "hand scanning" safe next to my bed............

    I've posted in other threads and no one cares to comment on my situation. I bought it for protection. We had multiple death threats made to my children. Terrorizing signs placed in our neighborhood. Harassing phone calls. We called the police and they did nothing. I mean absolutely NOTHING. They said they could do nothing when it was just a threat. After the last one, the detective wouldn't even call us back.

    So yes, if the person responsible for these threats decides someday to take it to the next level and enter my house......I will MURDER him or her.

    End of story why I own a gun.

    What is the reason for the harrasment?
    I also find it very hard to believe that any law enforcement agency worth it's salt would take a death threat
    as anything but serious and do "nothing" about it.

    The reason for the harassment is not the issue. Threats were made, Police stopped by my house, listened to the voicemails, DIDN"T EVEN TAKE FINGERPRINTS FROM THE SIGN that was left outside. Told us to contact them if anything else happened......something else happened, detective didn't call us back.......
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