Time for one of the postings that will offend almost everyone in one way or another.
I grew up in a family where guns were considered fine. We didn’t have guns around us all the time, but when Igot older I learned that there were a couple guns in the house. I grew up in a family where guns were just something that was out there, and that they were to be treated as a tool that could hurt you if you didn’t use them correctly. I wasn’t taught to use a gun as a kid. My parents just didn’t do that. My mom’s family always struck me as not being in favor of guns, but not opposed to them either. My father’s family has always been pro-gun. I can remember there were always talks of guns at family events, and always bullets or guns being given as presents at Christmas.
I had a good friend growing up whose father was a cop. As a result there I also learned a respect for firearms. His dad was really good at never leaving a gun out, and I can honestly say I have never seen a gun just left out in any location I have ever found myself.
Guns aren’t toys. They aren’t something you play with. They are something you can use as a tool. That may be to hunt, protection, or even for entertainment, but they are not toys that you leave around and “forget about”.
Personally I have only been shooting once in my life. I was 16 and my youth leader, Dezi, took my friend Josh and I out into the desert to learn how to shoot. I remember it being loud and fun. I wasn’t very good. I am not sure I hit anything I pointed at. But we also talked about what not to do. It was a learning time. I had a gun for a period of time when I was in college. I was living alone in an apartment in Tucson that was a bit shadey, and I remember one of the first nights I lived there I heard gun shots not too far away. I asked my dad and he let me have his single shot .22 rifle. I still remember him telling me, “This won’t kill anyone it is to scare someone. Shot them and then hit them with the rifle. That is about all you will be able to do with it.” I kept it under my bed and thankfully never had to use.
I have wanted to own a gun and go shooting. I think target practice looks like fun. I Think it is something that I would be ok at, but never great at. But I think it would be fun. But I don’t need a gun, so what is the point of me owning one. Yes it would be a form of entertainment, and maybe once we move to Idaho I will meet people that go shooting and will therefore make a connection there, but until then I am not pursuing the purchase of a gun.
Now for the gun rights side of things. I am not convinced that owning a gun is a right. I think it is a privilege. I know there are people out there saying, but the second amendment says I have a right to own a gun. And while yes it does, that was written in a time where the general public would and could become a general militia if the country was being invaded. We don’t have that concern anymore. So, I find that argument a bit lacking in strength.
I think that people should be allowed to own guns. But I don’t think all people should be able to own guns. You can see that is true in the USA in the last 20+ years. Mass shootings have happened by people that should not have access to guns. They should not have the right to own a gun. You look at where these events have occurred and you see that it is the “bad seeds” that are the cause of the problems. These mass shootings tend to occur where there are signs saying that guns aren’t allowed: schools, malls, and churches. The law abiding citizens aren’t going to have their guns with them there since there are signs telling them not to have them, so the bad guys know they are more likely to be safe if they show up there with guns. If you look at a lot of the incidents of mass shootings in America once another gun is present the killing tends to stop. The bad guy doesn’t want confrontation. They want things to be easy. This is why I am not opposed to guns on school campuses. If you have trained individuals that are armed and the bad guys know there are likely trained people present there will be less chance of a bad guy showing up with a gun at that location.
To me this just shows that guns aren’t the problem the people are. We need a good way to prevent certain people from access to guns. I am not sure how you do this in the USA. Guns are available everywhere, and it seems as if anyone can get their hands on them if they want them.
There are certain guns though that I personally wouldn’t mind seeing taken off the market. The high capacity, rapid fire weapons that are based on military guns just don’t make sense to me for personal ownership. I realize I said earlier that guns can be a form of entertainment and there are those that may find those types of guns entertaining, but with the issues that can arise from those weapons I would argue that the wants don’t outweigh the negatives that are created by the “bad seeds”. Yes I am saying that the negatives created by a few would impact the wants of the “good seeds”. But too bad. I believe it will make the USA a better place if we got rid of the ability for “regular” people to buy guns like that. Spend your entertainment money on something else.
I think the police (yes the government) should have the ability to take guns away from people. There would have to be some kind of EXTREMELY good reason for it though: felony convictions, abuse issues, mental health issues, to name a few. But I also don’t think the government should be able to take guns away from people that have never had issues with the law, that don’t have mental health issues, and are considered “good” citizens. Yes, I know that once you allow the government to take guns from one group what prevents them from taking them from everyone – some of you out there are saying that right now. I hear you. But I think that is the reason for good law making. You can’t have the government react and make laws. You need the government to be forward thinking and form laws that work well and will encourage the law-abiding citizens to support those laws, and help prevent the bad guys from getting the guns they want.
I also would like to see the NRA (National Rifle Association) return to its roots. It is my understanding that the NRA used to be a big proponent of gun safety, gun awareness, and gun training. I think it would be great if the NRA would promote and provide teaching and learning environments for people, like myself, to learn how to safely use and own a gun. I think that if people understood guns better than those that “hate” them wouldn’t hate them as much as they do. Once you learn about something you get rid of so many of the misunderstandings you have about them. It doesn’t mean you learn to love guns, but you may come to a point where you understand the people that do like them better. And that is never a bad thing. But the NRA seems more content right now (and in the recent past) to promote the right of gun ownership and how the government just wants to take it all away so you have to be ready for it by buying more guns and ammo. It sounds like so much fear mongering, and it isn’t helpful. It creates this view to many non-gun people that gun people are all crazy and gun-nutty (Now it is true that there are some out there they are a bit gun-nutty).
The political message of gun rights is so polarizing for a number of people. And for some reason it has classified itself as either pro-gun Republican or anti-gun Democrat. I don’t get that. Why do guns have to be a political thing? I know it is because of some of the things I have written about above. We need government intervention and regulation in some ways, but we also need the government out of guns in ways as well. I don’t want the government to know how many guns I own. They just need to know that I am capable and able to own a gun (or more than one). That is where the regulation should stop in my opinion.
To summarize I don’t have issues with guns and gun ownership overall. I do wish there were better regulations on guns and gun ownership. I would say I am quite firmly in the center of the gun debate. And I think we need more people like me to have a voice letting the law makers know where we stand and how to make both sides come together, at least a little bit.