Occasional thoughts
Beware.
Tue, November 11, 2008 - 8:54 PM
The comment today, blew me away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Having a gun that is not loaded and is locked away is totally pointless: why even have a gun? Whatcha gonna say when that perp knocks down your door, crawls thru that window: "wait, hold that thought, let me go dig out my gun, unlock it, load it & then you can come in." uh, duh, what? No, I don't brandish my aussalt rifle (yes, I own one - well, OK, a few - along w/ several other long guns & hand guns) on the front lawn & I can certaiinly understand the aversion towards that personality flaw. However, whenever there's a knock at my door, I answer it with a hand gun, locked, loaded & unholstered behind my back. I keep it next to me when I sleep - as well as 2 bulldogs.
Paranoid? No, call it hightened awareness. Aware that the boogy man is all too real.
I love Teddy Roosevelt's saying: speak softly & carry a big stick. It's the idiot that brandishes their gun on their front lawn, thereby telegraphing that they're armed. The "enemy" then knows what he/she is dealing with & can work their way around that.
My 8 year old grandaughter even has a gun. It tickled the hell outa me when my son-in-law told me he bought her one. I've even given thanks to him that he's tought my daughter how to handle a gun, hand guns & long guns.
Yes, I know the arguement that's coming nex: keeping loaded arms away from children. Well, learning self protection, being tought by a caring/learned parent - rather than treating it as though you're guarding them from porn - the reasons & the hows of handling firearms is valuable knowledge. We allow our children to learn how to drive a car - that's OK (even though a car is a deadly weapon & even though more people die from auto accidents than firearms), but not how to handle a gun. It's politically incorrect.
Firearms have always been a part of American history (entire world actually) because of the need for food & protection. My daughter lives in a very remote part of WY & hunting to stock the Winter pantry is SOP for all folks living in these remote regions. As for a town-dweller, there are animals of another kind that would do me harm if they had the chance. And as for fighting off terrorists, well, anyone that does harm to another person is a terrorist.
And why would a person want an assault rifle? To counter other aussalt rifles.
I'm not afraid of death, but I'll be damned if I'm "called home" by another human. That's between me & my God."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And this is from a 65 year old grand mother.
Weird.
Paynie.
Tue, November 11, 2008 - 8:54 PM -
permalink -
7 Comments
7 Comments |
add a comment |
|
Wed, November 12, 2008 - 12:29 AM
Actually...
I have to say, while I don't agree with her obvious paranoia (loaded gun while sleeping? behind your back at the door? really?) or the sweeping fear or terrorists, I do kind of agree with the philosophy of teaching young people how to handle dangerous instruments with proper care and respect, instead of making them seem completely alien and scary. This is what I also believe about drug education-- I'd prefer we taught younger people what their uses are and how to respect them, instead of using useless (IMO) scare tactics.
On that same note, I don't think I agree with 8-year-olds OWNING a gun of their own any more than I'd allow my young child near drugs. But I understand the power of firearms, and why knowing how and when to use one would be a useful piece of advice for teenagers. One would hope that the same loving/caring parent would have the child-rearing ability to teach tolerance and social skills so their gun-advised children don't go on killing sprees. |
|
Wed, November 12, 2008 - 8:18 AM
Seems to me an 8 year old just took out his father and uncle the other day in Arizona. Great.
I believe that every gun is a loaded gun, loaded or not. I also believe that a redneck with a gun is the epitome of dangerous. Through in an equal part of stupid and christ-almighty! |
|
Wed, November 12, 2008 - 8:51 AM
file this under "she grew up in the south"
ok, so I grew up in the south. my family loves their guns, and I can not understate the word 'LOVE'. my grandfather spent his last days in his gun room, surrounded by the gun collection he passionately built up through his life, which was kind of a perfect metaphor for his inner psychological life, elegant and deadly destructive at an instant. I shot a gun for the first time when I was 8 but I didn't 'own' one. we had lots of guns at my house. my father is a hunter. he taught us very young to respect the power of guns. in fact he told us to treat a gun every time we picked it up as if it were loaded, and to NEVER ever point it at a person (unless we were shooting them in self-defense). I am personally ambivalent about firearms. I'm more a peace-loving type. it is deeply American for people to love their guns. I know my family sure does, especially my sister. I would prefer people to not use guns at all, and to work to do no harm on the planet, but even I realize that is an unbelievably impossible ideal. I hope that we evolve in that direction but I have no evidence that is possible, as it goes against the inherent predatory nature of the human animal. we have a history of consolidating power in the hands of a small, select group of people, and sometimes they run amok. I believe the founding fathers largely wanted to protect the right of rebellion by allowing people to own firearms. also, people needed them to rustle up some food back in the day. I don't think there is any chance of Americans giving up their guns any time soon. maybe my American story will help you understand a little bit of the deep love affair we have with them.
|
|
Wed, November 12, 2008 - 9:14 AM
sobering
This is why you give kids BB guns. An 8 year old does not need to be killing animals....I get very sad when I remember hunting and fishing and being asked to kill and clean animals at that age. At that age I thought the guns were interesting because the adults around me had the guns, but my dad wisely wouldn't give me a gun of any kind. He let me watch him clean and take apart his weapons and explore from the outside while I learned to make my own choices about weapons.
It is NOT NECESSARY TO GIVE KIDS WEAPONS! Killing of any kind (hunting, etc) should be a choice carefully made when a child becomes an adult and can take responsibility for their actions. In some cultures a 13 year old is an adult, while there are other 21 year olds that I wouldn't hand a weapon to! I'm all for teaching kids how to properly handle tools and machinery and giving them proper RESPECT for these tools by leaving them locked up and out of use. Make a mandatory class like getting your drivers license. Who the hell is going to rob them with a submachine gun in rural WY? |
|
Wed, November 12, 2008 - 10:31 AM
I did not grow up with guns around the house, being from England. But I was in a kinda scout troop affiliated with The Royal Airforce. We would shoot on the range about once a month when I was 15. Loved it, but the guns stayed on the range. Before I moved from London at the age of 30, I never saw a gun or heard a gunshot off the shooting range. I am happy to say, the same allies here in LA. I went shooting in the desert with a friend a few years ago, once at a Gigsville event (even safer than the range) and once at a shooting range in Vegas when shooting a film there, but that's it.
I have no problem with guns, it's the stupid people holding them that scare me. Will gun control ever work properly in the good old US of A. Nah. But punishing the crap out of anyone committing a crime with a gun might help. Carjack someone at gunpoint and get 20 years in jail. |
|
Wed, November 12, 2008 - 10:31 AM
i totally disagree.
i think brandishing your firearms on the front lawn is the way to go. |
