# Do you own a handgun ? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 26, 2010, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452 "2010-10-26T23:04:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452/61 "2010-10-27T19:41:15Z")
British. It took me about two months and some form filling to import a low-power, plastic BB gun. No, I don’t own a handgun. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452/62 "2010-10-27T19:45:53Z")
American. Own a firearm, but not a handgun (it’s a pump action shotgun). ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452/63 "2010-10-27T19:58:37Z")
American - no, but I’d like one. Primarily for target shooting, fun, and maybe deer hunting (there’s a special handgun season). Of course I would keep it in the locked gun cabinet, with a trigger lock, and unloaded. If I had the dough, I’d certainly go pick up a Ruger Blackhawk Hunter with the Bisley grips (if possible). Probably in .44 mag. But that potential purchase is years and years off. I do our a 12 gauge and a .22 for hunting and target shooting. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452/64 "2010-10-27T20:02:45Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Piss of liberals, most likely. A “piss of liberals” is a good collective noun! And I’m liberal. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452/65 "2010-10-27T20:46:16Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > A “piss of liberals” is a good collective noun! And I’m liberal. A murder of crows, a flock of geese, and a piss of liberals. I like it. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452/66 "2010-10-28T02:40:06Z")
I own four. Black powder .50 cal–not as fun as I thought it’d be. .22 revolver–cheap for plinking/target shooting. .40 cal for protection. .45/410 for _real_ protection. ---
**Author:** ![History\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@History\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/History_Geek)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452/67 "2010-10-28T08:30:03Z")
I own three handguns, in fact. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452/68 "2010-10-28T10:22:52Z")
I carry a S&W M&P 9c for personal protection. Also have a Walther P22 for target practice and plinking. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452/69 "2010-10-28T14:56:31Z")
American. Never had the slightest inclination to own one. Personally I feel much safer without one than I would if I carried. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452/70 "2010-10-28T15:31:57Z")
> [@The\_Surb](#): > > Meh…killing sprees are a dime a dozen. Where do you live? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452/71 "2010-10-28T15:53:13Z")
American. I own one .38 revolver that is crappy, but reliable and I’ve got everything the way I like it on it. It’s kept loaded in a box on the nightstand where its primary use is as a coaster. We don’t have children, so no need for locks, etc… If someone gets past the dogs, and bothers to look in the crappy box under the water glass to steal the gun they can have the damn thing. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452/72 "2010-10-28T17:49:51Z")
American, no, simply because my state has taxed, license-fee’d, and 'at the local sheriff’s discretion’ed the fun out of it. I had the chance to get my hands on a WWII vintage M1911, too, for sixty bucks. Problem is, would have cost a couple hundred to keep it legally for something I’d mostly polish, take apart, put back together, and maybe shoot once or twice a year. Home protection? Not so much. I admit, I have a kind of hacking sword under my bed just in case… okay, I wanted the sword anyhow, but it’s under my bed for that reason. My area does get some home invasions, so it doesn’t hurt to have something. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452/73 "2010-10-28T18:17:15Z")
Twenty-eight percent of American Dopers have a handgun for personal protection. Forty- two percent of American Dopers own a hundgun. At this point in the poll. Given that this board is predominantly liberal, I’m inclined to believe that these figures would be much higher for the average American. One does assume that gun rights is a fundamental conservative stance. I knew Americans owned more hundguns than Canadians, but these numbers are mind-blowing. ---
**Author:** ![Cowgirl\_Jules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@Cowgirl\_Jules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowgirl_Jules)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452/74 "2010-10-28T19:24:55Z")
Probably most board people who don’t own one aren’t remotely interested in either reading the thread or answering the poll, so your statistics can be way off. I know I don’t open threads or answer polls if the subject matter is uninteresting to me, even to provide a negative response. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452/75 "2010-10-28T19:57:14Z")
I don’t have a handgun at the moment, but I’d like to buy a .22 at some point for plinking at cans, etc. For home protection I have an old bat that I got at a thrift store. If the dog ever turns on me, he’s gonna have _SUCH_ a goose-egg! I do have 4 rifles, though: a .54 & a .32, both black powder guns that my grandfather (a gun smith) made, a .270 hunting rifle and a .22 long rifle. I haven’t shot any of them in years, because there’s no good place nearby to do so, but I do like shooting. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452/76 "2010-10-28T20:44:36Z")
> [@Cowgirl\_Jules](#): > > Probably most board people who don’t own one aren’t remotely interested in either reading the thread or answering the poll, so your statistics can be way off. > > I know I don’t open threads or answer polls if the subject matter is uninteresting to me, even to provide a negative response. The thing is that at 200 poll respondents plus , the interest appears to be up there with the more popular polls on the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Box\_A\_Rox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47774/32.png) [@Box\_A\_Rox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Box_A_Rox)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452/77 "2010-10-28T20:45:21Z")
I’m an American and own a .380 automatic, that was my dads. Owning a gun for personal protection and using it are two different things. I would only use it as a last resort. If a criminal were in my home and heading for the door, leaving with a bag full of my possessions, I wouldn’t shoot. Nothing I own is worth shooting someone. I would have no problem using it to protect myself or a loved one. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452/78 "2010-10-28T20:46:26Z")
> [@Norse](#): > > In some European countries (amongst others, my home country), I’m curious where that is. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452/79 "2010-10-28T21:35:30Z")
> [@Box\_A\_Rox](#): > > If a criminal were in my home and heading for the door, leaving with a bag full of my possessions, I wouldn’t shoot. Good, because in most states, that would be considered Murder. ---
**Author:** ![Box\_A\_Rox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47774/32.png) [@Box\_A\_Rox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Box_A_Rox)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452/80 "2010-10-28T22:03:57Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Good, because in most states, that would be considered Murder. I understand that Chimera, but you’d be surprised at the number of people that WOULD shoot someone over the price of a $200 camera or watch, and consider it justified. Many Americans think it’s perfectly legal to shoot under those circumstances. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-handgun/558452.md?page=5)