tourists24
Well-Known Member
Everything was sweaty,,, and puckered...lol..... But it woke me up to a lot of things. I felt totally at their mercy. Never again if I can help it. If I go, then so be it. But I will never be unprepared again
Gun Control Texas Style
- Thread starter Catatonic
- Start date
soberups
Pees in the brown Koolaid
I can imagine few things more traumatic than killing another human being.
One of those things....would be to watch a family member, a loved one, or even an innocent person who I dont know get slaughtered in front of my eyes while I was powerless to stop it.
I pray that I never experience either one.
How 'bout a child getting hold of your gun and killing him/herself or another? Is that traumatic? Yes, I'm pulling out a worse case scenario, but you can't say that it doesn't happen and I would assert that it happens more than homeowners killing burglars. And I in no way suggested in my previous post that killing another human was the most traumatic experience, but it's not the calm, cool, body counting fun and games of the movies and the seeming fantasy lives of some gun owners suggesting that "if only they had been there with their chrome plated .357 blah, blah, blah."
UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)
Well-Known Member
Without going in to any details this is why I hate guns.
tourists24
Well-Known Member
that is a very good worry for someone. The only thing I can say is as a parent you have to be responsible for where you leave your weapon at all times. You also have to teach your children that they are around for one reason and are not a toy. If there are children around that are not yours then you have a responsibility to keep it away from the temptation. I can definitely understand the concern.
I understand the responsibility and choose to eliminate the problem in the home by keeping guns out of the house. The chance of life wrecking experience for the house-hold tragedy is simply too great. I realize I speak only for myself and it is for each to choose. To much risk for too little likelihood of reward.
tourists24
Well-Known Member
It works out for both types of decisions. I just like having that choice and hope it stays that way. I pray for you that nothing ever happens to you or anyone important to you. Then again, I guess you would say the same for me about having a gun around.... lol
little late for birth control....I find it easier to keep children out of the house
trplnkl
555
In 1996 (couldn't find more recent stats), accidental gun deaths of children was #8 on the list of causes, with 1100+ deaths. Not saying even one is acceptable, but drowning was number four on the list with 3,400+ shouldn't we be more concerned with back yard swimming pools thas with guns?
Oh and we should never ever let them ride in a car.....43,600+.
Oh and we should never ever let them ride in a car.....43,600+.
Not around here...
soberups
Pees in the brown Koolaid
I have a small safe with an electronic combination lock in my bedroom that I keep a handgun in. It cost about $40. My other guns are locked up in a vault. My children grew up in a home with guns and at no time during their childhood was there ever an unsecured weapon. Proper gun storage is an adult responsibility, just like proper storage of any potentially dangerous item. How many teenagers steal alcohol from their parents liquor cabinet...or prescriptions meds from their parents medicince cabinet...and then go out and kill someone while driving under the influence? Alcohol kills far more people than guns do, so the same arguments that can be made for banning or restricting our 2nd Amendment rights could just as easily be made for banning or restricting the sale of alcoholic beverages. Are you willing to get a background check and apply for a license and go through a waiting period before you buy a six-pack of beer? Should you have to register that bottle of wine with the federal government? Should the police be allowed to come into your home and make sure your alcoholic beverages are securely locked away and stored seperately from any drinking glasses? Or at some point is it the responsibility of the parent to make the proper choices in their own home?
soberups
Pees in the brown Koolaid
With all due respect, you are buying into an ignorant stereotype of gun owners.
I share your disgust with much of the violent drivel that Hollywood spews out in the name of popular entertainment. I also find it hypocritical that many of the uber-liberal, gun-banning actors (Jodie Foster and Sylvester Stallone to name a few) made fortunes acting in movies where guns and violence were glorified.
But for you to suggest that the overwhelming majority of gun owners "fantasize" about getting to play hero and shoot bad guys is ignorant and completely wrong. I am a member of a gun club, I shoot as a hobby, and none of the people I associate with in that capacity fit the stereotype that you are buying into.
I am a recovering alcoholic who has every reason to hate alcohol, and it would be quite easy for me to buy into the stereotype that everyone who chooses to drink is a stumbling, incoherent drunk who is in denial of his problem. Yet my wife drinks wine, we keep wine in our home, and I have no problem with those who choose to drink responsibly. I see no difference between gun ownership and alcoholic beverage ownership; both are personal adult choices with potential consequences that can be properly managed if appropriate safeguards are taken.
As a recovering alcoholic, I see no reason whatsoever to hate alcohol. As dr bob said, nobody ever had to hold me down and pour the stuff down my throat. I do not hate guns. And when I refer to gun owner fantasy it is specific to the attitude that" if I had been in mumbai or columbine or arizona with my Uzi/.357/M-16/AK, things would have been different." I don't believe it. I wonder how many concealed weapons have been in those situation that have remained concealed out of shear fear. It is absolutely true that adult responsibility is imperative, but is not having them in the home not a viable demonstration of responsibility?
get a pool and then call your home owners insurance and let them know you got it. They are far more concerned with pools.
trplnkl
555
Totally missed the point huh?
Not at all. Your insurance company will easily cover the guns in your house. Tell them of a pool however, and watch your rates sky-rocket if they don't try to find a way to cancel you out-right. Same thing with trampolines. So when you tried to be sarcastic about the dangers of guns relative to pools, I was actually agreeing and saying that yes, pools are considered highly dangerous. So what point do you think I missed...or was it you who was confused?
soberups
Pees in the brown Koolaid
How many gun owners have you specifically spoken to that have that attitude?
Whatever number that might be, how can you then fairly and accurately ascribe such attitudes towards all gun owners?
The common denominator in all of the recent "crazed gunman massacres" is that the criminals who chose to break the law had a monopoly of force to employ against those who chose to obey it.
The feel-good "gun free zone" laws that purported to protect those innocent lives in fact had just the opposite affect...it guranteed that they would be unarmed and therefore helpless.
Rational gun owners do not "fantasize" about single handedly being able to stop such massacres as you stereotypically feel that they do. Rational gun owners merely recognize the reality that no one is safer when only the criminals have the weapons and the good guys have nothing but a "gun free zone" sign to point at prior to being shot and killed by a criminal who had no intention of obeying the rule to begin with.
The only person who was armed on that terrible day at Virginia Tech was the lunatic. Would it have made a difference if I or any other law-abiding gun owner had been there and in posession of a weapon? Perhaps...perhaps not. But how could the outcome have been any worse?
moreluck
golden ticket member
This is the shooting that I remember vividly. I remember being so shocked. Just reading about it now, I didn't realize it was near Ft. Hood.......
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/first100/1001214.html
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/first100/1001214.html
