Na, its not about anything. Typically republican and democrats support the right to own firearms at the end user level. When you get up the politacal tree is where you start to see the anti's really going off the deep end.

I was just jagging around because that person joked and called me a red neck. It's all good clean fun, I happen to be a redneck....educated and hard working American redneck. I take it as part of being a good American to take a moment and reach out and help educate my fellow Americans about any 2nd-A topics they may be interested in.... in the case of earlier, I was asked if my semi-auto sporting rifles are legal. So I replied with an enthusiastic heck yea!

Have a good night guys and gals, I have to head home to be mobbed by my wife and 3 children and eat home made lasagna!

 

Oh okay, got you. Yea, I'm a Democrat and I support the right to bear arms, but if that right was taken away I would have mixed feelings. I don't believe guns should be completely illegal, but I believe there should be more regulation of how they are used and where/when you are allowed to have them out of storage.

In Canada for example, they have to give the government an itinerary of what they are doing with their gun and where they'll be taking it and what route they will take to get there. If you get caught doing something you didn't specify, you'll get in trouble. It's a little more hassle but it's safer for the general population. As a result, Canada has little gun violence.

However, I would not support guns being banned completely, because that is a complete violation of the 2nd amendment. Sure I may not need a gun or even want one myself, but there is always that possibility that the government could turn into a Fascist dictatorship in the future (unlikely) and it would need to be overthrown. This is the whole reason for the 2nd amendment... to protect the people from the possibility of a tyrannical government.

And then, even if that never happened, it still is one of the amendments in the bill of rights and we don't want our basic rights taken away.

It's a catch 22... banning guns would eventually mean a lot less gun violence, but then if something happened where we need guns we would be helpless.

That's why I support more regulation. It still allows you to have a gun and the unlikely need to be able to overthrow a tyrannical government, while still creating a safer community. I think strict regulation is the limit. Nothing more should ever be done.

Sorry for the essay lol, i'm just stating my opinion and enjoy the intellectual conversation.

 

We are so off topic, I fear we may get hung and wipped bloddy raw!

Anyways,

You mentioned Canada. I was staying in Whiteby outside of Toronto for a while while working at Pickering Nuclear up there on the lake. I got such a kick out of reading the Toronto paper and seeing how well gun control works. Every day there was murder. One of the greatest I read was where two next door men got to arguing. The one went into the garage and came out with his golf club and beat his good old pal next door to death in the front yard. Awesome! Ban guns, and we will simply find another tool to kill those that need killin! (That last part about needing killin is a joke). The interesting part was that each day there were a couple murders in the paper, but with knives, cars being run over folks, baseball bats, golf clubs and more. Each day was a new adventure...to read the paper and see what new and unique tools were utilized to kill that day. Sure, the death-by-gun count was lower..... but I don't think the overall murder rate was down! It was just more interesting!

Anyways, I see gun bans and gun control as a means to take the legal and lawfully owned guns from the upstanding citizens. Very few of the gun related homicides are from individuals that legally purchased them and are allowed by law to posess them. The small percentage of murders that are from a legal owned gun is going to be slammed over the front of every newspaper in the country. It is the typical agenda of the media to slander the reputation of firearms so that they can sway public opinion towards that of the talking heads on the hill.

Most of us that do legally own a rifle and/or handgun take pride in our collection, spend great deals of time and money saving for and caring for our collection, and would never do something stupid to chance loosing what we have worked so hard for. Consider my guns and my pride in them as you guys would consider your pimped out cars with engine mods and slammed springs with 18" wheels and such. These guys who spend every penny they can on these hotrod cars love and cherish these machines almost like they would a pet or a human. They are truely devoted to thier passion.

Just as they are, most gun owners are as well, DEVOTED. As gun owners, the very great majority of us are active in supporting our 2A rights. We right letters to our state reps, we attend pro 2A gatherings and always try to maintain a positive face for the firearm owners nation wide. We hate when some nut job goes and shoots innocent folks, it hurts us all. From active hunters to competative match shooters...to folks like me that enjoy challanging themselves against paper targets for the fun of it, we all get hurt when someone looses thier head and kills.

We had a boy in this state (Pennsylvania) just 2 weeks ago shoot his 26 yr old step-mother to be. He went in at 7AM and shot her in the skull with a Mossberg childs 20 gauge shotgun. Now.... why did dear old dad allow his 11 year old boy to posses a firearm of free will with no locks or security? The child was and is wrong on MANY levels. He blew this ladies head clean off, wiped the blood from himself, put the shotgun back in his bedroom.... and walked out to catch the bus! He went to school all calm and cool... no one knew until the police came later. This boy is an animal. But his father is just as liable (in my opinion!).

I have 3 children. I have many firearms. Guess where they are? Locked in 2 safes. My wife and I can get to them easily, but you or my kids would need torches. My children are protected from stupid by me. I am the parent and I am tasked in keeping my family safe....not only from others but from themselves as well.

So you see, a gun ban in my opinion will never stop murder, it will only change the tool used in some cases. As for the folks who do most of the killing... they will be uneffected by a gun ban because they buy them and own them illegally from the get-go. They are banned from owning them today just as they were 10 years ago. You can and will only remove guns from the hands of the citizens, not the criminals.

 

Only for handguns. One of my coworkers got a handgun for bear defense, we laughed at him if he thinks he'll have time to get off an accurate shot if a grizzly was coming in for the kill. When I've carried guns for bear defense they're always loaded with 28g slugs. Definitely a fun toy though.

 

I'm not saying banning guns is good, i'm saying more regulation on guns is good.

Funny, I have actually been to Pickering and stayed there for a week. The guy I was staying with (a pretty smart guy) said that the gun laws they have are good and help a lot. Of course they aren't perfect but they work for the most part to do what they were intended to do.

And yea, mudferret, I forgot that it was handguns.