Just made my first personal 'protection' purchase!

This whole thread (sans Jo's post) absolutely blows my mind. Packing heat every single day?! Are you serious?! I've actually been the victim of some pretty horrific violence (my last house was home-invaded by 4 guys with a variety of weapons, including guns; I was forced to watch as they beat my hubby) and even after all that, I can't imagine carrying or even owning a gun. I think about what would have happened that night if I DID have a gun, and I'm positive at least 1 person would have ended up dead, but I really can't say if it would have been the intruders or myself and my hubby, or all the above... God, the thought of being in a position to kill someone, even someone who is threatening my well-being, scares the living @@@@ out of me.

Thankfully the only injuries suffered by us were not life-threatening and we've been able to mostly rebuild what was taken from us.

I'm so very sad to read your post and my heart does go out to you and your family facing armed intruders.

Having had a rather heated discussion with my own hubby last night about gun control issues I'll do the same here as I've done in my own home. Since Mike and I come from different countries, cultures and policital leanings - agree to disagree.

I hope all that participate in this thread might do just that and fully respect each other's positions and decisions regarding matters of firearms used for personal protection.


~~Joanna~~

I agree totally. First let me say, Sorry about all of that at your home, That really sucks. As far as your stance on firearms, To each their own, one thing is certon, if you would not be able to use it to defend yourself, then for sure you are doing the right thing by not owning one. That will possibly save your life.

I feel the second amendment is a great thing, but the best thing about our country, is you have that choice. My stance on less laws, more enforcement will never change. I do not agree with gun control simply because they only hinder the law abiding, because the law breakers don't care. I feel if the punishment for the law breakers were more harsh, along with consistant, then we would be better off.

Florida now has a law that is labeled 10-20-life. Basicaly if you have a gun while comitting a crime it is a mandatory 10 years in prison, if you use it it is 20 years, and if someone gets hurt at all, automatic LIFE. This is great and has a catchy toon to it when looking at it. The unfortunate thing is (And I see it with my own two eyes all of the time) the prosicuters rarely use it. I do not understand that.

Oh well, like I said, the best thing is we have that choice.

Cheers to all
Ray

Well that seems ridiculous Ray. For a prosecutor to decide to basically go against the will of the people of that State seems just wrong. Getting new law passed like that must cost a lot of money and people's time so the prosecutor not using that new law seems an awful waste.

Geesh if I ran our home like that - making a rule and then not enforcing it - the heathens...errrr my darling children....would simply ignore me and I'd lose all credibility with them.

My younger daughter is currently on cool down in my bedroom (like time out but you still get t.v.) for excessive bossiness to her smaller brother. Not a good plan especially when mommy hasn't had enough coffee yet this morning LOL. Elizabeth, Queen of the World aka Hoss the Boss is rather NOT pleased with this but in this house we go by a simple rule....say it, mean it, do it.

Society is just way more complicated then it needs to be.

Btw if I was a store owner in that state I'd put up a huge sign for all the lil criminal types to read.....10....20...LIFE...you do the math!

~~Jo the meannie mom~~

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ken

You just go ahead and stay in Europe.

Here in the land................

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I can imagine you saing that to me holding a gun in your hand, just becouse i disagree with you... I have just coment giving my opinion with no intention of atacking anyone here..

It's interesting, Jo. We're in almost opposite situations, yet still on the same side of the fence. I'm an American that moved to Canada, but I've always felt the same way about guns, even while growing up for 20 years in the good ole US of A. I feel that if you want to own one, GREAT. But you better be DAMN sure that it's locked up and stored properly so accidents don't happen, anything less is totally unacceptable.

I have own a gun since I was 18. Started with a 22cal pistol, Then a 25 auto and now a 380 loaded w/ hollow points.

I have never had to use it but there have been plenty of times when things got hairy and it felt good to know my hand was on it in my pocket and in those situations it would have been a much needed equalizer.
Having been raised by a DC police officer I learned to fire a gun when I was around 13yo.
He started taking my son to the range when he was about 11 to learn to handle and shoot a 22 cal rifle. When he turned 14 he started to teach him to fire a 38 and a glock 9mm.
I support people owning firearms as long as they have taken some courses or taught firearm safety. I support a 7 day wait period etc.
Funny my dad was one of the officers that worked on the 1968 gun control act in DC and then worked for years in gun control .
Owning a gun doesnt mean violence wont happen to you because sadly sometimes just you and a gun would only get your a worse situation.

But hey one of the great things about freedom is I can own one if I choose or if I dont choose. Thank goodness we have the right to choose!

I agree compleetly with the proper storage thing. Anything else is just plain old dangerous and uncalled for.

One thing that I have found is if you are going to have guns around your house, one thing that is needed if you have kids is education. I learned by growing up around guns my entire life, that education, and allowed use (Properly) leeds to less curiousity. In other words, if you have kids and guns in the same house, teach them the correct way to handel them, and shoot them. This does a couple of things.

If they see a gun laying around (Which should not happen, but accidents do sometimes) the child will know what it is and what it does. He/she will also know not to mess with it. THis leads me to the next thing. I have several guns in my home. Most are locked in a cabinet that only I have a key to. Of course my duty pistol stays in my duty holster but is out of sight and reach, not to mention, if you don't know how to work the SS III holster, you won't get it out. I do have my evening protector that is in my room with easy axcess, however, when I am not home and the kids are, my room stays locked, not to mention they don't know where it is.

The best thing about it is, If my kids want to shoot, we go out, set up targets, learn about safety, learn about whatever gun we are shooting, learn what the different parts of a gun are, and then shoot. I never tell my kids no when they ask to go out shooting unless we have other things that we need to do. Every time it is the same thing, safety first, remedial training on what kind of gun it is and it's diferent parts, and we shoot safely. My logic for this is not only so they learn responcipal gun ownership, range safety, and gain the ability to shoot, but they are not curious about guns at all. They know what they are, and what they do. When thier friends come over, they don't even think about the guns or have any want to mess with them to impress the friends. They would rather show off the new toy or whatever, the gun is farthest from their mind. THis also means that there is never that, hay dad isn't home, lets check out them guns that we are told we can't touch, sendrom. They know if they want to shoot, we will. Curiousity is what killed the cat, remove the curiousity, and the cat lives. Just my logic.

Botom line, if you have em, take care of em, and use your head. Most police departments have a program that gives away gun locks if you go in and ask. Comon sence is the cure for alot of alements.

CHeers to all

Ray

Interesting thread. You all have stayed a lot more civil than I even expected. :)

While I have never shot a gun (I don't count a pellet gun here) I always have been interested in shooting as my dad has always had guns. He always kept them locked away, but I'd ask him to take them out and show me sometimes. I definitely want to learn how to shoot, and when I live in a more gun-owner friendly state I would like to have a concealed carry permit as it would make me feel more safe in certain situations.

If some person breaks into my home, I want to make sure I can protect myself. Being at the mercy of some criminal is not a situation I ever want to be in.

Great post, Pumba. When I was a kid, my dad always had hunting rifles and shotguns around the house for hunting. Once I was old enuff, he took me and a couple of my friends out to learn how to shoot. Once you, as a kid, learn the arduous tasks of gun cleaning, loading, buying bullets, they kinda lose their "novelty" and just become a boring old adult-oriented item. But in my teen years, I was really interested in learnin more about them, and I was lucky to have my dad teach me. It is one of the few things we did together ebfore he really became a big alcoholic. :)
Movies glamorize guns a LOT; I always think "how can this dude be shooting for so long without reloading, going back to the car for more bullets, cleanin the gun etc. lol! I just hope that kids don't glean most of their gun-knowledge from the movies!