"Three percent of Americans own eight or more firearms, a cumulative 133 million of the country’s 265 million weapons, according to an unpublished survey from Harvard University and Northeastern University"



Hard to talk about this without getting political, isn't it?

Maybe just file it away as an interesting fact, not to mention that it allows you to see where you stand.

I own one firearm.
A 1905 Winchester 30/30 rifle my great-grandfather bought new in 1905 for my grandfather, then passed to my father, then to me.

It's stored away from my home, carefully packaged to protect it. Once every few months, I clean and oil it, and once or twice a year my son and I go to a target range and plink some stuff with it.

It will never be in my home, unless in some kind of wall display, with its ability to be fired disabled.

I'm not in that 3 percent :)

I've become skeptical concerning such data saying there are so many firearms owned by so many people. With the climate today, and I have heard this by many, if I am ever asked about my "gun collection" I will not answer with any truth.

I guess I am in that 3 percent and I am not an American.

Gun ownership is nothing to be worried about. Unless the gun owners are mentally ill. And, unfortunately, the US has a lot of mentally ill people.

But for what purpose would you own a gun? Hunting? Target shooting? I'm not being flip, I'm just honestly curious about why you'd want to have one. As far as protection, I guess I believe that idea that we are as likely to be killed by an intruder with our own guns. That, and I don't live with that kind of thinking - assuming that I need to be protected. I don't lock my door. If someone is so desperate they break into my home to get something, they can have it, I'm just not that attached to any of my material things and the sentimental things aren't going to appeal to anyone else. And I don't think I've given anyone reason to kill me.

It's (imperfectly) like a guy who has been a public transit rider for ten years. He finally buys a car. He'll never go back...

Nothing wrong with riding the bus, but...


Next explanation: You turned 16 and got your license and your dad gave you a ten year old car that runs just fine. You're never walking anywhere again...


And the real explanation: the power of life and death...right there in your hand or arms.

When you're target shooting,looking over the sights or through the scope, it's so easy, mentally, to replace the 'target' with the image of the guy who wants to rape your sister/wife/daughter... The odds of it ever happening, with your present to use the weapon are very long, but it's tough to escape the lure.

Even when you clean your weapons, handling them gives you a sublime sense of satisfaction; facts need not apply.

The common refrain of gun owners: "It's better to have a gun and not need it, than to need a gun and not have one." People who are used to 'carrying' often get to feel naked without a firearm on them.

These are just thoughts from the mind of a pacifist on the subject.

please continue to not be a gun owner

sincerely,
everybody

EXACTLY.

Absolutely no reason whatsoever to own a gun in today's modern society.

Should all activities for which there is "no reason whatsoever" be prohibited? Life would be pretty mundane.

You can't be serious.

I don't pack heat, but I do carry a knife. When I don't have it on me I do feel naked. My knife is not your usual grandpa's knife, it is a knife designed to do a great deal of harm when required. It's strictly for defense and for surprise to be used on an aggressor. I hope I don't have to use it, but I'll not go down without a fight.

a nonny mouse Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> But for what purpose would you own a gun? Hunting?
> Target shooting? I'm not being flip, I'm just
> honestly curious about why you'd want to have one.
> As far as protection, I guess I believe that idea
> that we are as likely to be killed by an intruder
> with our own guns. That, and I don't live with
> that kind of thinking - assuming that I need to be
> protected. I don't lock my door. If someone is so
> desperate they break into my home to get
> something, they can have it, I'm just not that
> attached to any of my material things and the
> sentimental things aren't going to appeal to
> anyone else. And I don't think I've given anyone
> reason to kill me.

Guns, and more and more, ammunition, are a very solid investment.

Guns, particularly high quality ones, rarely depreciate and nearly always appreciate. This is particularly true of the AR-15s, which nearly double in value every other election. At the bottom of the cycle, the AR's go for $550 to 600, at the top of the cycle, they sell from $1000 to $1400.

.22 shells are being hoarded across the country. It is at the top of a bubble now, but for a very small investment and a desk drawer, a 10 fold increase could be realized over 4 or 5 years on these shells. I traded a guy 300 of them (originally purchased for under $10) for a nearly new snowblower.

Guns will drop again when the country feels they have less chance of being confiscated, and the cycle will start again.

I have a couple of locked closets full of guns. I have not shot a gun in years, and these are simply a diversification of assets.

I am not what many would consider a "gun nut" but many of these gun holders, like me, may be doing it for financial reasons.

has a limited shelf life, and can even be dangerous if too old.

Not much of an "investment" there.

helamonster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> has a limited shelf life, and can even be
> dangerous if too old.
>
> Not much of an "investment" there.


Any sell by date on ammunition is a marketing ploy.

If kept in a dry place, ammo keeps forever.

The cartridges loaded in Sam Colt's revolvers still works today.

"But for what purpose would you own a gun?"

I own the following......here is what I do with them...

22 Rifle, Ithica - got it when I was 7 years old from my older brother for Christmas, used it for target shooting. Keep it in the gun safe.

12 Gage Mossberg Pump Shotgun - Got it for home protection, I used to use it for target/ clay pigeons, now I use it to kill moles in my yard...find fresh mounds, stomp them flat, sit in a chair and have a beer, when the ground starts pushing up, shoot directly into the mound. I also have a 12 Gage mole trap...load up the shell, set the push rod and release, position over open hole, cover with heavy wood box, when mole comes back to close the hole...BLAMMY! Keep it in my music studio...easy access from the back yard.

M1 Garand w/ bayonet, Springfield I think - inherited it from my dad who served in WWII, mint condition, collectors piece, may sell it someday. Keep it in the gun safe.

38 S&W 2" barrel - inherited form dad, keep it in my nightstand for home protection.

38 S&W police special - inherited from dad, keep it in the gun safe

22 revolver - bought it for target, gave it to my adult son.

22 semi-auto, Ruger - bought it for personal protection, gave it to my adult son.

So for me, protection, target, collecting.

Johnny -- no judgment on this, I'm genuinely curious:
Have you ever actually used any of the guns you have for protection for protection?

No I haven't, thank goodness. Hope I never do. But if I ever wake up to find an intruder in my home, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot if I truly felt threatened.

They're running away from the house? No shooting.

They're in the house and not running away? Shoot!

Interesting thing....one of my regular reoccurring dreams is being in a house, and I know people are coming to harm me, kill me. So I get my gun (the .38 S&W 2" barrel), but can't find any bullets....clock is ticking, killers are on their way! Yikes!!!

Now and then, the dream gets to the point that he bad guys are in the house....I have a loaded gun and I try and yell out to the intruders to scare them away.....but I can't yell!! Can't get any volume, comes out as low pitched grunts and moans.....that's when my wife wakes me up :)

Thanks. I'm glad you haven't!

Let's also hope dreams don't come true...:)

I have a very similar recurring dream. Somebody's in the house, I grab my Mossberg and try to rack a round, but the pump is always jammed up in some fashion. It's extremely frustrating.

When I was 25 my boyfriend gave me a 357 Magnum because my landlord was coming into my apartment unannounced. It was creepy and I was scared. I couldn't prove it, but I knew he was stalking me.

One day I heard the key turning in the door. Nobody had a key to my apartment except the landlord. I lived in a townhouse with the bedrooms upstairs. I went and got my gun, sat at the top of the stairs with the gun propped up on the railing and aimed toward the front door.

Sure enough it was my landlord. I told him if he valued his life he'd better turn around and RUN. He did. He also never came into my apartment again. I changed the locks, and then I moved a few months later.

I still have the 357, but not the boyfriend lol. That was a long time ago.

I have an alarm system in my house. If it goes off, it will take the police a long time to get where I live. Hopefully it's a deterrent. If not, I will introduce the intruder to my 38 S&W. Hopefully nobody is that dumb, but you never know.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2016 08:24PM by madalice.

I've thought about that many times. At the very least, I believe he saved me from being raped.

with .38 special or 38 +p loads, and with the correct bullet should still be effective (if you even need to fire it, that is).

You seriously don't lock your doors? That seems absolutely nutty to me. And people don't always kill because they have "a reason." Some people are just sick. It probably doesn't happen often, but it certainly has happened.

I will tell you a true story.

My youngest brother was at home, in a big city, in his small apartment. He was watching the 10 o'clock news in his bedroom on a Tuesday night. About the time the weather came on, he heard a scraping and a banging outside his bedroom window. The weather was clear, no storm, no branches or trees outside his window. He reached over to his bedside table, grabbed his cell phone and his 9mm, and moved to the doorway, where he could see both his room, the living room with a sliding glass door, and the front door (the only ways into/out of the apartment). He called 911 as the scraping got louder.

He told the operator that someone was trying to break into his apartment and he needed an officer. Gave her his name and his address. He then informed her he was armed.

She instructed him to stand down and wait for the officer. He told her he would not hesitate to shoot if the intruder breached his home.

Right about then, he saw a hand begin to reach around the blinds of the window. He dropped the phone on the ground, and then he chambered a round.

If you have ever seen a pistol, or ever even seen a movie with a gun in it, you know exactly what it sounds like when you rack the slide of a firearm. Fortunately for my brother, so did the thug breaking into his home. The hand disappeared.

When the police arrived (8 minutes later), they found footprints, a screwdriver used to pry open the (locked!!) window, and a hat, I believe.

COULD he have hollered at the guy and scared him off? Maybe. Maybe the guy had a gun of is own and would have just shot him. COULD he have waited for the cops? Sure. Maybe the guy had a gun and would have shot him, or a knife (or screwdriver) and shanked him. COULD he have run out the front door? Maybe. Maybe the guy had a friend. Or, he could have had a gun and shot him. COULD he have "hidden". NO. 6 foot-tall men don't hide well in 700 sq ft apartments.

No. He had the ability to defend himself, and he did. He is hugely grateful he did not have to injure or kill anyone, but he was prepared to defend his own life.

Was his door locked? Check. Window locked? Check. GATED COMLPEX LOCKED UP? Check.

If you are satisfied keeping your doors locked, okay. 9 times out of 10, no problem. But anyone willing to break into your home is pretty desperate and will do all kinds of other horrible things - and I for one am glad my brother didn't feel the need to interview his intruder and find out why he was there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2016 08:00PM by sunnynomo.

Cool, so I don't need a gun for protection, just a recording of chambering a round? Much cheaper and safer! :)

If it ends there, that is great. For my brother, thankfully, it did.

There is no mistaking that sound, or the sound of a pump-action 12-gauge. It makes EVERYONE freeze in their tracks.

If that sound alone will stop an intruder or an attacker, all the better.

Keep in mind, though, that if an intruder is willing to try to continue breaking in, he now expects you have a gun. He will be sure to shoot first if he is armed himself - because he is expecting now to be a target.

Never forget people willing to commit violent crime are unpredictable. If they are crazy enough to try to break in in the first place, they may be crazy enough to try to finish the job, no matter what.

It must be nice to not have to worry about people causing you harm in your own home so that you don't even bother with locking your door. As a single female, I don't have this luxury. I own guns and know how to use them. If someone, stranger or otherwise, enters my home without my knowledge AND permission, I will immediately assume they bear me bad intent and act accordingly. I may or may not ask questions later.

I know TBM's who might be in the 3 percent, as they love to brag about having guns, and even give their children BB guns as baptism or Christmas gifts. They have a crazy friend that scares the rest of us because she brags about having a concealed carry permit, and does have a handgun on her at all times.

Giving a BB gun as a Christmas present is strange?

As ghawd is my witness, I've never watched that movie. Did he get the damn Red Ryder BB gun or not?

Yep.
And he shot his eye out (well, not "out," but a ricocheting bb hit him in the eye) :)

Investigating atheism Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Giving a BB gun as a Christmas present is strange?

It's not in some parts of the US.
In most of the US, and most of the world -- yes, it is.

I got my first gun for Christmas when I was 7 years old.

My 20 year old brother bought it from a friends dad, refinished it, and gave it to me. Still have it 48 years later.

I don't think its strange at all, if your family is familiar with, and OK with guns.

I gave my son a BB gun for Christmas too.

I too received guns as Christmas presents as a child.

I was somewhat surprised that someone here would imply that a BB gun gift would be considered by readers of this board inappropriate as a matter of course.

It's an indication of how different we can see "normal," depending on our locale and environment.

People who live in areas where lots of people have guns/hunt -- it's completely normal.
People who don't, it's very unusual.

Sorta like how mormons think mormonism is normal, and the rest of world thinks it's batshit crazy. It all depends on what you're used to :)

*quickly edited to add that I didn't mean to imply a bb gun for christmas was batshit crazy. My analogy didn't quite fit, sorry!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2016 06:05PM by ificouldhietokolob.

I agree with your observation. It wasn't your comment that I was referencing. It was adoylelb's, which suggested that giving a BB gun for Christmas was obviously only done by unhinged gun nuts. adoylelb didn't seem to think that reasonable folks might choose to do so.

My brothers and I got .22s for Christmas gifts one year. We had a lot of fun target shooting and hunting small game with them. I was in high school, but my next younger bro was in jr. high while the youngest was in elementary school.

My dad gave me a BB gun for Christmas. He even set up a BB shooting range in the central hall in the basement. Mom would often have to step over the target at the end of the hall while she was doing laundry. Mom's first and only rule about BB guns in the house was, "Don't shoot Mom!"

i grew up in a household with 18 guns (that i can remember)

that statement probably sounds insane to most people but every gun in that house served a specific purpose and most were used regularly for that purpose. the exceptions were my grandfathers guns and one commemorative gun that was a gift to my father that still has never been fired. none of hte guns were for "prepping" or even for protection against 2 legged animals (we didn't own any handguns as my father just didn't see a need for them)

hunting rifles:
30.06 - my father's
30.06 - mine
30.06 - my brother's
243 - used occassionally by my mother and sisters (and my brother and i when we were younger)

shotguns:
12 gauge pump - my grandfather's gun that we never used
12 gauge pump - my father's
12 gauge pump - mine
12 gauge pump - my brother's
12 gauge automatic - used occassionally by my mother and sisters
20 gauge double barrel - upland bird hunting
20 gauge double barrel - upland bird hunting - these were used on trips to Arizona (quail) and South Dakota/Nebraska (pheasant)

(note: we used slug barrels on the pump shotguns for bear protection)

22s
my grandfather's rifle
commemorative gun that has never been fired
my father's pump 22 that was his first gun that we rarely used
my father's 22 rifle
my 22 rifle
my brother's 22 rifle
and a beat up single shot 22 with short stock and barrel that was our "boat gun" (mostly just used for trapping)

our home was hardly unique (most of my friends would probably have had more than 8 guns in their home) so i can imagine there might be some truth to the stat in the OP - i just wanted to point out that much of that statistic could easily be made up of normal sportsmen and collectors and not crazies

This sounds like my, and almost everybody I know, house. Although I do have two modern pistols (.357 mag and a .22), both are camp guns, for the occasional rabbit or grouse. And I have a couple black powder guns. Several are family heirloom.

Yeah, my family had more guns than people, but then, they all were hunters, except for me. And they did use different guns for different kinds of game. None of my grandparents hunted, when I knew them, at least. But they all still had the guns from somewhere/someone. As far as I know, all of my siblings still own multiple guns, too. Although only one ever hunts, nowadays.

In the small farming community I grew up in there were several guns in every house that I knew of. I remember when the big push for a 2 year supply of food was going on. The Elder's Quorum President gave a lesson on that and the importance of being able to protect that storage with a firearm. And, of course ammunition. One person asked if it would be acceptable to kill someone who was attempting to steal your food. That conversation grew so heated that class was ended early and it took maybe a year for all involved to mellow out.

How about the argument about storing up cigarettes and whiskey, to use as trade goods. Worth their weight in gold in some market places...

Put me down for five!

.357 Magnum S&W
9 mm Glock 17
9 mm Walther P99
.22 Bushmaster
.22 Remington

If there are 7.5 million members in the US. And 1/3 are Gun owners that own 8 guns each... That is still under 20 million Mormon guns. A small fraction of the total guns in the US.

I own an assault skillet (it has no color... That is how I know it is assault.) I also own a few blades. And have been considering an assault crossbow.

The danger of guns is suicide more than anything else. Where people have depression, it is better not to have a gun.

True. And not a reason to prohibit others from having guns.

It is a reason to restrict them. If anyone in one's family has a tendency towards depression it should not be permitted to have a gun - especially one easily gotten with ammunition handy.

That's a call for the family, rather than government, to make. A tendency toward depression in some members of the population also is not a basis for a general proscription of firearms. With freedom comes some risk. There is risk with some purely recreational activities that are magnified with depression or certain personality traits, eg alcohol use. At least firearm ownership can have utilitarian value, such as protection, food provision, in addition to recreational value.

because each and every one of them keeps a loaded metal looking pistol on a table at the side of the bed. These are my IN LAWS, AND THEY HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO UTILIZE THOSE GUNS except at a gun shooting range and what they see on television. Like an electricians mate had the opportunity to shoot someone when repairing things & walking on corridors in a mulistory boat- I am not seeing it. But he packs. they all do. and I don't, I wouldnt' touch a firearm. I don't see why these kids (they are all less than 55) feel like they need them, or what they're going to do with them.

These kids weren't raised with violence. These kids weren't raised with weapons, except a borrowed deer shooting weapon from a neighbor. Ok well maybe the males were, conditioned, that they too would have their own deer knife and deer weapon someday, they might have wanted that. Whats really unsettling is the female relatives carefully putting their black t shirts and black pants on with gloves & special black attack sun glasses (they never wear that) Its like toys to them, its like special Barbie gear. They have long formal dresses & baby doll shoes for parties too. This is another look, in the closet. its like a costume. And the females face looses all expression, its like they are posing, and strike a James Bond hard assed face, and hold their pistol out in the air. Its like watching a majorette or flag girl carefully hold the flag one arm up, one arm facing straight forward serious like, before the parade judges. It is a sureal turn about on the females "real" lives, it belies the happy smiling workers and family member they are the rest of the time- and frightens me terrible whenever I see it. These are the stalwarts of community and family striking a desparate hard ass alternative persona and the switch is paradoxical. Their safe lives in suburban multi level multi car garage multi hundreds of thousands of dollar suburbs with multi burglar alarm electroic camera systems stepping into their James Bond tough ass now after bagging groceries on scholarships to get through university graduate schools, phemonemally successful nerd careerists- play James Bond ever night when they go to bed and put an armed gun down by the bed. Patting it as they put down their glasses they could shoot themselves in the face. No one shoots deer in the family. They buy their meat from Costco or eat it served on a cruise ship. They don't even go fishing, they walk by the water on the trail. They don't cut up their meat (even buy a side of beef), they buy premade ham & egg frozen breakfast sandwhiches to put in the microwaver, they have never never even killed and ate an animal, or even feather a turkey for thanksgiving- these kids are so "townie" they are wonderful but their act of being down country, down home, its, its a pretty good show. Its just yuppies in the family buying gunnies now they cannie.

I hated visiting when my girls were little, there was the licensed _____ and the professional _________ with a load black pistol on either side table of the big rectangle bed- and they didn't even lock the bedroom door. I did everything I could to sleep somewhere else. My husband would say, they're just my family, they're GOOD people (implying, not like your own. But my folks could at least handle their guns. And my folks knew at least how to use their guns, how to control them. My dad slept with a gun. Remember the time I went to check on his oxygen and he drew at the door as I opened? Someone told me, ___, you don't belong in his world. He didn't draw a gun on you, he drew a gun on whoever was the door, because, in his world, he had to.) Now my father, he was safe with his gun until he was lacking oxygen (literally- you know, it changes your brain if you get a little short, on oxygen that is) but those people from my husband's folks, they don't live in a world they need to draw their weapon on whoever opens some door in side their house where ever they be sitting to be safe. That is not their world.
I do not trust them with their gun. I do not trust them to handle their gun, I don't think they can do it. Its that simple. These folk god love em, are neither combat trained, nor life trained to live in that world.
But they could afford a pistol with bullets in the handle shaped like James Bond (it used to be a favorite movie when they were teens) Who knew, they would want one to.

When someone sold my husband and me an old trailer and found out how we went off trail and camping (before the bug kill decimated the forests * upped the fire risk) they told my husband he oughtn't be going out without a shot gun. How the heck he is going to drive a truck around with a shot gun in it when it is legally impossible to park within 1000 feet of his work place! Really?? So I'll just stay in a campground instead of off a dirty road somewhere. My husband & I have never figured out how to travel with a weapon since our tiny car hit a deer driving up a Sierra river canyon trying to get home one Thanksgiving. Deer knives belong on mountain roads, not suburban urban men & youth. What would you think if you saw a person walking around with a fishing pole in East LA? or Oakland, Fresno, or Vacaville? It just doesn't fit, these things have a place. And ever since that chain saw movie, you can't walk around carrying a bush trimmer let alone a saw on the street without upsetting people something terrible.

I recall when my dad died, a boss came to the funeral & asked for my father's gun. maybe plural, whatever. I said go search the house. Maybe on the couch or his last pick up in a brown paper bag where he kept papers on the floor? Who knows where he put his gun the last time he touched it, before he got hauled in the ambulance to die. I don't know! I wasn't allowed to touch my father's gun. or reach and touch and hug him without him first starting the embrace, or I could ask hey how about a hug? I couldn't touch his shoulder or arm from the back - I knew better.

Now how about these darling yuppie babies, these darling kids
in my inlaws family loading up their special black pretty James Bond guns. I hear they put on expensive stereo speaker things and got lessons once to go to lessons, because they could finally afford something (unlike ballet, piano, gymnastics, private league sports where you had to pay a fee and buy a uniform- these kids were raised POOR. free lunches. no lessons. no paid teams. no paid travel. Now, they got the money! they buy cruise ship tickets now! and James BOND guns!

They frighten me. I don't like spending the night at their places.



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2016 06:29PM by paintinginthewin.

his fields without a gun- since someone escaped from the county jail (dumb rural jail) and was hiding in the walnut grove. And all the sherifs deputies searching for the man in custody- like to give my secretary friend's brother ptsd, now every time he drives up the avenue between orchards he doesn't feel so comfortable and safe. She said the managers and owners have been carrying guns the past 20 years on her families corporate farm land. She married out of land, she isn't invovled in it, except to visit so she'd notice. She's sees how its done.

This is not a little farm near a farm house. These are production facilities withroots.

I wonder about the farmers trying to run cattle near the southern border. Some people's lives are not the same.... like my suburban multi level homes with multi car garages in multi multi thousands of dollar suburbs with multiple burglar alarms all armed blinking red lights multiple survelience camera systems surround, even in their house- playing JAMES bond. I hope they get eye surgery soon, I'll stop worrying about them firing their gun patting the table for their glasses when they have a cold putting down a kleenex knocking into their loaded fire arm hurting their spouse or shooting themself in their nerdy little face. Some guns have no place in such babies homes & hands. They do not understand it, its like they were watching cartoons one day, and said: "We want one of them too!" and my sister in law said, "uh ok, but can I have the costume?" and my brother in law startled, looks her in the eye, and said: "sure______" and that's how they went to buy their first gun.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2016 06:08PM by paintinginthewin.

I don't own a gun.

I don't hunt, I sometimes get depressed as hell, and our house is frequently crawling with kids. I figure the chances of me doing something rash or of a tragedy ensuing are greater than the gun doing us any good.

I personally own a few. From AR15's to small, conceal carry hand guns. A lot of my friends and I are former military (infantry and SP) and we go out on the range and keep up on the skills and take our wives for dates. I do carry a handgun, daily. I carry so I can protect myself and others in the case of a bad situation (hopefully I never have to use it). I also own for the unlikely, but possible event that "Red Dawn" ever actually happens. I've had thousands of dollars of training with these things and tactical situations. I also made an oath that I would protect my country and those around me. I don't feel that oath expired the day I got out of my uniform. I guess I kind of feel I owe it to others to be prepared in the event of horrible situations where people need defending. :)

I view owning a fire extinguisher. With a little luck and if proper precautions are taken, neither is likely to be needed. The problem however, is that IF one is needed, it is usually needed quite quite badly!

I own a couple of each but fortunately have never HAD to use either one.

My husband and I own several guns. I'm not going to list them on a public forum like this.

But I will say that YES, we HAVE used them for protection! Several times, actually:

1, When a copperhead snake was sitting right off the bottom step of the stairs we use to get in and out of our house. I'd rather kill the snake than let the snake strike out and bite a member of my family - a distinct possibility, given where the thing was sunbathing.

2, Several times, when skunks, raccoons, or snakes invaded one of our chicken houses. I'm pretty sure we saved the life of one or even many of our chickens as a result.

3, When my husband and I were sitting in a Waffle House eating a late morning breakfast. Three questionable guys in hoodies and sun glasses came in and immediately spread around the restaurant, rather than stick together, sit at a table and order a meal. These guys were big time looking all over the place -- it was pretty obvious they were casing the place. So my husband casually opened up his jacket, and let them see one of the two handguns he was carrying on him at the time. (My husband and I both have legal permits to carry a handgun in our state.)

They saw his piece. Not long after that, they walked out of the restaurant without ever having sat down to order a meal -- but also without robbing the place.



Let me point one thing out: NO city is bigger into gun control than Chicago.

How's gun control working out for them?

(HINT: They had 50 shootings and 13 killings in just one weekend, back a week ago! That was just one single weekend, mind you...)

Let me tell you about a city dwelling friend of ours.

He was about 80 years old at the time. He and his elderly wife were visiting downtown Memphis. It was Elvis week, and they had a hotel room down there.

They parked their car in one of those parking lots that you have to pay to park in. Then they were walking the half of a block to their hotel, when several young men -- again, clad in hoodies and sunglasses even though it was nearly night time -- started moving towards them, from different angles.

He and his wife were both expert marksmen -- their sport of choice was competitive shooting competitions. They both had many trophies earned because of their expert marksmanship.

Both of them were carrying that night.

When they saw the young men moving towards them in a way that would shortly surround them, they too pulled their jackets back to uncover their guns.

The guys moved away. I guess they had to rob somebody else that night -- the small, elderly couple they figured would be an easy target, just wasn't going to be so easy to rob.

Somewhat interesting episode playing out in nw saskatchewan right now...for US folk without a map its east of alberta and west of egypt...seems for several months local farmers have been invaded with kids from neighboring area...theiving ...vandalizing...even threatening female members of the family if hubby is in the field..in broad daylight yet....some have started to carry firearms in vehicles for protection...three weeks ago a carload threatened a mans wife and daughter and he responded with deadly force...details still emerging...hopefully we never find ourselves in such a condition or have to decide what measure to take...easy to talk about till you actually face harm or threat...glad most have never had to put an injured animal down or butcher one for the winter...i hear hammers in skilled hands work ok...id prefer not to try it...ahhh civilization is wonderful...right up till it isn't..i have learned one thing...its best to never say never...you dont know what youd do ...have an old neighbor from croatia who claims he knows what its like to want to kill someone...with the history of that area...ill give him the benefit of the doubt

When I was a kid we lived on a farm. We had a variety of guns and used them primarily for hunting and for control of the rabbits that ate the crops.

After I grew up I never have owned a gun again - mostly lived in suburban neighborhoods that my wife and I thought were safe.

We now live in an active adult retirement community near a large Western city. A few years ago I awoke one morning to find the garage door and front door wide open and several things missing - mostly electronic stuff. One camera was missing that was kept in a closet just outside the master bedroom.

I have since wondered what would have happened if we had awakened and were confronted by these guys. We have discussed getting a gun but have not acted upon it. We have taken several measures to make our house safer.

I see both sides of this issue but I sincerely hope the government doesn't ever take away our right to make that decision for ourselves.

Never had a gun, never wanted a gun, never needed a gun, never seen anyone carry or use a gun except for police and soldiers.

I think it depends on what sort of society you live in.

Tom in Paris

I'm in the pro-gun camp, even though I've never owned one, unless we count airsoft. Which is funny because my parents are both anti-gun. I used to be into archery and shooting at targets was really fun.

Unfortunately I don't trust myself with a gun yet, since I've had pretty bad depression in the past. But I do think it's a safe investment. There's so much violence and crime in the world today... If some thugs broke into our house and threatened my family I'd want to at least have a chance, and something like a knife or sword won't do much good.

Anyone see that video of the criminals that enter an internet cafe or something to rob the place, and one of the patrons pulls out a concealed pistol? Good stuff. I think we'd have far fewer victims of gun violence if EVERYONE owned a gun.