This American father is redefining what it means to be a 'responsible gun owner'

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Discuss... ?

This American father is redefining what it means to be a 'responsible gun owner'

Following the deaths of nine people at the Umpqua Community College in Oregon last week, debate over gun ownership has raged again in the US.

While Barack Obama gave an impassioned speech calling on his country to wake up to the problem it faces, and the father of the shooter called for an overhaul to the country's laws, the pro-gun lobby has been just as ferocious in its support for the right to bear arms.

Gun sales across the country have increased since the shooting and Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson made some pretty unsavoury remarks about the Holocaust as a defence for the Second Amendment.

The argument from that side of the debate goes that more guns in the hands of "responsible gun owners" are the best way to stop those who want to cause harm.

But one man, who says he has owned a gun since the age of 12 has won plaudits for turning the definition of "responsible gun owner" on its head.

Steve Elliot, who works for a copywriting and PR agency in California, explained in his post (which has now been shared more than 35,000 times) that while he has lost members of his own family to gun violence, it took the Oregon shooting for him to finally take action.

There are too many guns to do anything about it, the gun lobby says. Regulations are a slippery slope that only limit the rights of responsible gun owners, they say.

My gun is being used to argue against common-sense laws and policies that could reduce gun violence in America, arguments I find unconscionable. Thats what being a responsible gun owner means today Im responsible.

Elliot explains in his post, which is accompanied by a photo of his 9mm Ruger, that he has decided to destroy his firearm - that, ultimately, is what a responsible gun owner should do, he explains.

None of us individually can stop gun violence in America, but as a responsible gun owner, I will no longer be used as a justification for doing nothing about it. Today I did what I could. Today there is #ONELESSGUN.

Read Elliot's post in full below:

I am a responsible gun owner.

I bought my first gun when I was 12. It was a Browning 12-gauge shotgun, and I saved money from my paper route and cleaning a drive-in restaurant to buy it in time for dove season. In the years before I could legally drive, Id tie the Browning across the handlebars of my bike and ride to the fields outside town to hunt.

Ive owned several guns since, and own a handgun now. I bought that gun to keep my family safe, and lock it up to keep them safe from it. Like I said, responsible.

And so while Id like to believe Im not part and party to the gun violence that stains America, I cant. My grandmother shot and killed herself with a gun, and a few years ago my father shot and didnt quite kill himself with one. My stepbrother died in a murder-suicide with a gun, and the husband of one of my sisters co-workers was killed in a mass shooting.

None of that happened with my gun, of course, but after every new mass shooting, Im reminded that I bear a portion of the responsibility for our nations gun violence. There are too many guns to do anything about it, the gun lobby says. Regulations are a slippery slope that only limit the rights of responsible gun owners, they say.

My gun is being used to argue against common-sense laws and policies that could reduce gun violence in America, arguments I find unconscionable. Thats what being a responsible gun owner means today Im responsible. Ive been uneasy about that for a while now, and ashamed to admit its taken two more mass shootings for me to do anything about it.

That ended today. Today I disassembled my handgun, a 9mm Ruger, clamped the pieces in a vice and cut them in half with an angle grinder. Im sending the proper paperwork into the state to report it destroyed.

None of us individually can stop gun violence in America, but as a responsible gun owner, I will no longer be used as a justification for doing nothing about it. Today I did what I could. Today there is #ONELESSGUN.

http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/this-american-father-is-redefining-what-it-means-to-be-a-responsible-gun-owner--ZJGIIpiOPx?

[TBoneTX 45,266]

His free choice.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

It was also the Umpqua shooter's free choice to go on a kill crazy rampage. I'd say one of those choices is easier to agree with than the other...

[lostinblue 1,989]

It was also the Umpqua shooter's free choice to go on a kill crazy rampage. I'd say one of those choices is easier to agree with than the other...

You view a view a peaceful person with a pistol as a bigger problem than a violent person with social issues . He wanted to be famous for killing a lot of people . The more the better in his words. If no a gun to et the deed done well perhaps a pressure cooker . I am sure a lot of folks got rid if their instrument of possible destruction after that Boston bombing . For a while they pulled them off store shelves.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

You view a view a peaceful person with a pistol as a bigger problem than a violent person with social issues . He wanted to be famous for killing a lot of people . The more the better in his words. If no a gun to et the deed done well perhaps a pressure cooker . I am sure a lot of folks got rid if their instrument of possible destruction after that Boston bombing . For a while they pulled them off store shelves.

No. Like the guy in the article I view a society awash with firearms and the disturbing ease with which these seem to be acquired by the mad and the bad as being a problem. More than that, I think it creates a culture in which people feel it is OK to solve their problems with extreme violence.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I completely agree with this:

My gun is being used to argue against common-sense laws and policies that could reduce gun violence in America, arguments I find unconscionable. Thats what being a responsible gun owner means today Im responsible. Ive been uneasy about that for a while now, and ashamed to admit its taken two more mass shootings for me to do anything about it.

[Ban Hammer 13,333]

can he be called a responsible gun owner if he doesn't have a gun anymore?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I have no doubt that's what people will say.

[Ban Hammer 13,333]

next up, individuals who got abortions are responsible parents......

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I guess it depends if you think the man has a point that is worth making, or one that you are prepared to engage with. Or should he be derided because people don't like his opinion or his decision?

What do you think? Agree? Disagree?

Edited October 12, 2015 by Trumplestiltskin

[Jacque67 7,328]

I guess it depends if you think the man has a point that is worth making, or one that you are prepared to engage with. Or should he be derided because people don't like his opinion or his decision?

What do you think? Agree? Disagree?

Why do you care so much? If Americans want to have guns let'um.

[JohnR! 5,495]

If only Adam Lanza's parents had done the same...

[ready4ONE 5,400]

next up, individuals who got abortions are responsible parents......

There are a lot of people who have had an abortion and also have actual children. And yes, abortion can be a responsible option for many due to a wide range of very personal reasons.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

There are a lot of people who have had an abortion and also have actual children. And yes, abortion can be a responsible option for many due to a wide range of very personal reasons.

Totally agree.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

So the reason you posted this thread isn't important? Guess similarly the reason one man destroyed his gun isn't important either. Who cares about the little guy in the big scheme of things.

That's one opinion I guess.

Personally, I think it's important for people to take a stand on issues that are important to them. After all, it's not as though anyone doing that has ever achieved anything important or symbolic.

And on a topic such as gun crime where people seem keen and willing to bury their heads in the sand and offer nothing in the way of a human response over families being devastated, especially on the level that it seems to happen in the US, I think it's refreshing for a gun enthusiast to be honest and say that they don't want to be associated with views that condone inaction or which make them complicit.

Do you never wonder why you don't hear many gun enthusiasts here say anything much about the victims of these mass shootings? Instead it's always hysterical rubbish about freedom and how everyone who doesn't have a gun should buy one and everyone who has one should be able to carry out wherever they want.

Seems strange to me, but there you go.

I mean just the other day a presidential candidate made some pretty appalling remakes about gun ownership and the holocaust, this sums up the mentality entirely - using other people's tragedies to advance his own dubious agenda.

Edited October 12, 2015 by Trumplestiltskin