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

[ready4ONE 5,400]

If nobody is interested in banning guns then what is the point of all these threads?

The OP said it best, his gun ownership is being used by the gun lobby and their stooges to get more guns sold and on the streets. Many if not most illegal guns start out innocently enough in the hands of a law abiding owner. It is after that they can get used for suicide, accidental injury and death, murder in the hands of an otherwise and previously non-violent person. They can be stolen. Resold until they reach the hands of bad actors.

Guns are not sentient. They don't cause harm without the assistance of a human, or occasionally an animal, but the sheer number of people killed and injured annually should be a cause of concern for all people in general and gun owners in particular.

[Boiler 45,467]

The OP said it best, his gun ownership is being used by the gun lobby and their stooges to get more guns sold and on the streets. Many if not most illegal guns start out innocently enough in the hands of a law abiding owner. It is after that they can get used for suicide, accidental injury and death, murder in the hands of an otherwise and previously non-violent person. They can be stolen. Resold until they reach the hands of bad actors.

Guns are not sentient. They don't cause harm without the assistance of a human, or occasionally an animal, but the sheer number of people killed and injured annually should be a cause of concern for all people in general and gun owners in particular.

The biggest salesman the Gun Industry has is Obama, every time he pontificates sales go through the roof.

Not sure what you mean by guns on the street, and still have no idea what the point is as nobody has made any suggestion regarding those held illegally, the only suggestions have been about restricting legal access.

But good to hear that nobody wants to ban anything.

[lostinblue 1,989]

To follow the parent analogy, as a responsible parent, I wouldn't give my children up for adoption because other parents were abusing their children. I would support laws that keep children safer. I would support laws that punish child abusers. I wouldn't hold on to some delusional notion that making laws tougher for child abusers would somehow make the government come and take my kids away.

A responsible gun owner giving up their gun misses the bigger picture IMO. It's a purely symbolic and unnecessary gesture. There are too many guns in the hands of criminals because there are too many guns period. As long as we continue with this cultural idiosyncratic belief that guns need to be freely and easily obtainable by everyone, the delusion will continue.

So who is supposed to give up their guns in order to make a " number of guns' that you feel should be allowable in this country . Who gets to decide that I can only own one S&W wheel gun or maintain a collection of 20 different models ... Say a M&P R8 along with an outdoorsman or two ... Different calibers of course. I know folks that I target shoot with that have over 10 guns that they just use for target shooting let alone hunting and self defense . .

[Boiler 45,467]

The child abuse analogy is interesting, you would expect the focus to be on the child abusers, not banning say straps in case they were used for child abuse.

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

Thank you for making my point for me. Again, Lost is spot-on with his thoughts. I don't see where he said anything wrong.

Now, I am not accusing YOU of being one of those who think that banning all guns is the answer, but there are those out there who think that. It's in the media, it's on other forums. And it's a foolish notion at best. Look at Chicago. Look at DC. Those are places where guns are banned completely, yet their crime rates are out of sight as compared to the rest of the world. Your partner Trumplestiltskin is often saying how the US is so messed up as a nation because we have guns. But even without gun problems, go look at the crime stats of the UK. Far from a peaceful nation, are they? Compared to say Korea, where guns are not allowed, yet crime is very low. It's the nature of the people who keep it so, not the weapons.

I think I read in an old post that your family lives near Ferguson, is that correct? Or perhaps you used to. I wonder if they, or you, own any guns for self protection? I have only been thru East St. Louis one time in my life, driving to pick up a friends dad at night, and we both had guns near to our hands, and I was thankful to have had them. That was about THE scariest place I had been thru in my life.

Now please don't misunderstand me, because I am all for gun control. However, I do NOT feel that taking guns away from folks who own them now will work. Making it harder via background checks or waiting periods, sure. Making a person take a gun safety course, and pass a test? I am ok with that, too. It should not be harder to obtain a drivers license than a gun. (Then again, I think marriage licenses should require a written test of at least 200 questions, but that's another topic altogether).

The trouble is, with as many guns in private hands already, there is no simple way to get a handle on the situation, at least in our lifetimes. As was stated above, when a child abuser is caught, you don't do anything except punish the abuser. Drunk drivers don't create a panic for taking cars off the streets. Punish the perps, not the vehicle which they used to cause mayhem, eh?

Actually I'm not. Here are some of his quotes:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?app=forums&module=post&section=post&do=reply_post&f=145&t=570521&qpid=7853853

The trouble with gun control is this Marvin .It actively degrades defensive capabilities of non-violent people..You view a view a peaceful person with a pistol as a bigger problem than a violent person with say a knife

French train terror attack hero Spencer Stone "repeatedly stabbed" in chest 'while protecting friend'

http://www.mirror.co...ews/world-news/

Gun control makes people helpless, fearful and dependent on the authorities who promise safety but cannot deliver it... public colleges and universities do not have a general legal obligation to protect adult students from violent acts by other students. The police show up to write the report

The only thing you do in banning guns is eliminating the ability to protect self and family from a human predator ...such as the Virginia polytechnic shooting .. Ever read that account from the surviving students.. Chilling That fellow left and came back to make sure folks were dead. .. No one was there to protect them even from the second assault.

And in this thread:

The only thing you desire is make it harder for the law abiding citizen to own a gun . You really desire a total ban on all guns. That pesky 2nd gets in the way

And that's just this week, if you go digging back a bit further you'll find more of this rhetoric.

As I've said before, no one has said anything about banning guns, but it's the first thing Lost brings up whenever the subject is broached. That's why I point it out, it's this type of insanity that hampers the gun debate. And for the record, most mass shootings are done by law biding citizens. The VA tech shooter wasn't a criminal. Adam Lanza was a law biding citizen before he went on his rampage.

And why would it make it harder for you to get a gun? If you don't have a mental condition or a criminal record, you'll be fine. As it's been said here time and time again, if you have nothing to hide, what are you afraid of? I would love for psyche evaluations to be part of the condition to obtain a firearm. I wonder how many people wouldn't make muster.

[decocker 7,198]

nope. only place i ever see any talk of banning guns is from gun nuts. fin.

[Dakine10 5,452]

So who is supposed to give up their guns in order to make a " number of guns' that you feel should be allowable in this country . Who gets to decide that I can only own one S&W wheel gun or maintain a collection of 20 different models ... Say a M&P R8 along with an outdoorsman or two ... Different calibers of course. I know folks that I target shoot with that have over 10 guns that they just use for target shooting let alone hunting and self defense . .

I did not say anything about limiting the number of guns an individual can own. I'll gladly answer your question anyway, however, before that happens, I'm still waiting for an answer to mine.

To refresh your memory, that question was what is your issue, personally, with having a system of background checks? Lets assume a working system could be designed without the current loopholes. What is your problem with that?

[JohnR! 5,495]

So true. The moment anyone starts talking intelligently about guns, the nutters translate it into a speech to ban all guns, everywhere. Limited minds with limited comprehension skills.

nope. only place i ever see any talk of banning guns is from gun nuts. fin.

[decocker 7,198]

So true. The moment anyone starts talking intelligently about guns, the nutters translate it into a speech to ban all guns, everywhere. Limited minds with limited comprehension skills.

everyday on fb i see talk of banning guns and it's all coming from the same people who claim a gun grab is about to go down after every mass shooting.

[Boiler 45,467]

Truly excellent news nobody is looking to ban guns.

CEHST will be a lot quieter.

[decocker 7,198]

Truly excellent news nobody is looking to ban guns.

CEHST will be a lot quieter.

technically, the noise level shouldn't change. considering no one was talking about it in the first place.

god forbid someone actually use their brains and make the obvious connection 'less guns = less gun violence'.

[Boiler 45,467]

god forbid someone actually use their brains and make the obvious connection 'less guns = less gun violence'.

Does it matter if that is true or not? As it is a non issue?

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Does it matter if that is true or not? As it is a non issue?

Gun violence is an issue. I'm not sure how you are confused by that very simple fact.

[Dakine10 5,452]

Does target shooting use the same areas of the visual cortex that reading does? I sure hope not.

[decocker 7,198]

Does it matter if that is true or not? As it is a non issue?

truth always matters in the long run.

i'm not saying that banning guns is a non issue, i'm saying that people advocating for improved gun control aren't the ones salivating all other themselves waiting for obama to finally show up on his door to door 'i'm confiscating all your guns' tour. this is a gun nut's nightmare, nothing but paranoid delusion.