Guns, what are they good for?

[Jeebo]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Omaha Steve (a host of the General Discussion forum).

I am a 66-year-old Southern white male who has no interest in guns. I don't understand what these gun nuts see in the damn things. What are they good for? The only thing you can use them for is to shoot somebody. There's target practice, but that's not a use, it's just practice. There's self-defense, but in my 66 years on the planet there has not been one single time when I ever had need of a gun for that purpose. Shucks, if I had one, I'd be much more likely to accidentally shoot myself or somebody else. (My mother had two of her siblings killed in domestic gun accidents, one of them when she was a little girl and another one before she was even born.) You can go hunting, but that has no appeal for me. I have no desire to shoot critters and make them suffer and die, and I frankly wonder about the mentality of people who like to do things like that. So what the hell are guns good for? The damn things are totally useless, it seems to me. And the way these guns nuts practically worship the things is frankly perplexing to me. -- Ron

P.S. -- If this looks familiar to you, it's because I posted it about three weeks ago on Thom Hartmann's site.

[TipTok]

1. My house has never burned down but I'm still glad the fire department is around

[Hoyt]

3. My guess is you don't carry a defibrillator -- much more likely to need that, but not empowering

enough for gun fanciers.

[TipTok]

12. If I had one that fit conveniently in my pocket or in my truck I might...

Don't have to be prepared for everything from volcanoes to asteroids but nothing wrong with carrying convenient tools that could potentially be useful.

[Hoyt]

19. Being prepared to shoot someone is wrong, sorry.

[TipTok]

21. Sorry for being wrong?

There are times when it is absolutely appropriate and even morally mandated and necessary to shoot someone.

The odds don't matter. I hope I never have to shoot anyone again. It costs nothing to be prepared and could cost everything if you aren't.

[CompanyFirstSergeant]

22. One does not prepare to shoot someone....

...one prepares to stop illegal activity such as deadly physical force by using the minimum possible force in return, only if one is the non-aggressor and makes a reasonable effort to withdraw from the conflict, if possible.

If that means shooting the person, so be it.

[TipTok]

25. +1

[Press Virginia]

26. Yes. We must prepare to be victims, unable

to do anything that might save our lives or the lives of those we love.

[Hoyt]

29. One can defend themselves without being like this gunner

George Zman with some of his "art work."

http://a2.img.talkingpointsmemo.com/image/upload/c_fill,fl_keep_iptc,g_faces,h_365,w_652/taq1xbmeat6hcaiwqkgq.jpg

[Press Virginia]

31. Really? How are you going to defend yourself

against someone who is armed? Drop to your knees and grovel?

I may not be able to successfully defend myself but I'm not going to prepare myself to be a victim.

[Hoyt]

38. I have defended myself against more than one person armed. It's no big deal, they are

mostly bullies who will slink off when confronted. Anyone that needs a gun to go to the store, has a deep sense of insecurity and likely paranoia.

You ought to try it sometimes. Heck, even the darling of the gun crowd -- Zman -- trained in self-defense without a gun. Of course, he carried in case he intimindated/bullied someone who took it to him.

Most situations can be avoided just by being aware. You ought to wean yourself off the need for cold steel in your pants.

[CompanyFirstSergeant]

32. Yes....

....be like me, a boring looking person who minds his own business and never killed anything other than flies and poison ivy.

[CompanyFirstSergeant]

2. Come over to the Gungeon (RKBA)

Very welcoming to all viewpoints, a rarity these days, it would seem.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1172

Don't go to that other place (gun control activism) most everyone is banned there except the moderator, I suspect.

[Hoyt]

4. Too much gun porn, hatred, show me yours, compensating, support for the george zimmermans, and

other base traits.

Heck, right about the time george zimmerman murdered an unarmed teen, the discussion in the Gungeon was what to do and say to law enforcement if you mess up, like shooting an unarmed teen with your precious daily carry.

[CompanyFirstSergeant]

5. I disagree.

Lots of debate and tolerance for both sides.

Come over and bash a gun owner.

We can take it.

[Hoyt]

9. You are a gun fancier, you are biased and influenced by your need for gunz.

Gungeon won't let me post there, which is fine. Called too many gunners racist during the zman debate. My experience is that most gun fanciers are white guys afraid of POC. But, gunners don't like hearing that, or acknowledging that going to any gun show, gun store, range, etc., is likely to be evidence of the lack of diversity among that bunch.

[CompanyFirstSergeant]

11. "......most gun fanciers are white guys afraid of POC."

....Then why, pray tell, did I work in East New York/City Line for 20 years.....?

Never did figure that out.

Oh, because I didn't concern myself with what color my students were....

Yes, that's it!!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_New_York,_Brooklyn

[Hoyt]

18. Not sure what that means, but one person is not most.

Ever seen a graduating class of Ayoob Massad's training course on "Combat Shooting." In addition to lacking much diversity, you have to wonder why the hell someone in America needs a combat shooting course.

[CompanyFirstSergeant]

20. A group of guys....

....buying guns, yes, mostly white.

Do you read minds? Do you know what they hate or do not hate?

Why do they need a combat course for... cops take privately held courses, as do security officers, military and, yes, civilians.

Nascar - who needs to go around in circles? Cars have accidents, ban it?

NBA - who needs to bounce and then throw a ball? Balls go into the stands, ban it?

NFL - who needs to wrestle in the mud and snow? Kids get broken collar bones, ban it?


East New York, Brooklyn is one of the most violent neighborhoods in the nation.

EDIT TO KEEP UP WITH YOUR EDIT: No, I don't like the meaning of the Confederate flag.

[Hoyt]

27. Sorry, civilians here don't need a combat shooting course unless they are in groups like this.

[hack89]

36. The AA community appears to have a thriving gun culture.

how does that fit into you world view?

[Hoyt]

39. Not anywhere near the proportion of white folks. Most Blacks I know are against guns.

[CompanyFirstSergeant]

15. Porn...did someone say porn.....?

Me, I prefer Mature....

[Duckhunter935]

34. I disagree

All should look at the respect shown to other viewpoints by the RKBA supporters in that group

[LanternWaste]

6. I too suspect only that which validates my biases.

" everyone is banned there except the moderator, I suspect..."

I too suspect only that which validates my biases-- much more convenient for the undisciplined mind.

[CompanyFirstSergeant]

8. It's a lighthearted invitation to a debate....

...not a statement of fact.

Humor.

It's called humor.

Relax.

[TipTok]

13. Not in her vocabulary...

[Bonx]

7. It's familiar because it's a standard anti-gun argument.

"I don't want or need one. So why do you ?"

[Hoyt]

10. If gunners are honest, their need for a bunch or one in their pants is "standard" as well.

[Bonx]

16. Uh, ok.

[CompanyFirstSergeant]

17. Outside Waist Band Carry...

...K-frame revolvers are too big to fit inside a waistband.

[jmg257]

14. "Shucks, if I had one, I'd be much more likely to accidentally shoot myself or somebody else"

Well a person does need to know his limitations.

Growing up around them, I never had much worry about being able to use one safely, you learned that one early on. Easier then doing lots of tough things - like raising kids - those rascals have minds of their own!

Always found shooting guns a blast - whether target, plinking, and/or skeet shooting. Like shooting hoops or playing catch, just another way to challenge oneself (and family/friends) to get better, have some fun, etc.

[Initech]

23. They're for eating tasty animals and keeping the king of England out of your face!

/Simpsons answer

[Brickbat]

24. "I don't understand...frankly perplexing..frankly wonder...totally useless..."

I'm getting the feeling you're not actually interested in hearing responses from people who might have answers, and that their answers, because you find them perplexing and difficult to understand, are somehow invalid. And the way you openly wonder about my "mentality" makes me think you're really not interested in a discussion at all.

[Throd]

28. Then don't own one.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

30. FANTASIES of

"defensive gun use".

Google that phrase and you'll hit widely disparate estimates of the extent to which gun owners "hit the jackpot" and shoot or ward off criminals intent on harming them.

Most of the definitions of "defensive gun use" used in biased and bogus surveys are completely worthless for distinguishing actual crime prevention from intimidating somebody who disagrees with you.

My philosophy is that very few people set out intending to cause anybody else harm, but that many, many people have been misguided or deluded by errant cultural forces and superstitions. IMO, people who waste hundreds or thousands of dollars on "defensive" weapons are like lottery addicts, pouring more and more money down a huge drain in pursuit of something that's just not going to happen in a thousand years. Much more likely than the actual chance for "defensive gun use" is losing a child to careless weapons storage, shooting oneself or somebody else by accident, killing or maiming somebody out of momentary anger, or committing suicide by pressing one button.

[Duckhunter935]

33. ...

[hack89]

35. Recreation. Comptetive target shooting. nt

[hughee99]

37. If you don't understand why anyone would want or need a gun, you shouldn't get one.

Personally, there's a whole bunch of things I don't understand why people would want or need, like cigarettes, jewelry, pet cats, skinny jeans, or a beard.

[Omaha Steve]

40. Locking after a review by forum hosts

There are a couple guns groups you can post this in.

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