# Guns are for Cowards? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 22, 2004, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350 "2004-07-22T15:10:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350/1 "2004-07-22T15:10:09Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Nevertheless, guns are for cowards. To prevent another thread from being hijacked. Is is really true that guns are for cowards and if so how did you arrive at that conclusion? Marc ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350/2 "2004-07-22T15:26:59Z")
> [@MGibson](#): > > Is is really true that guns are for cowards It’s an opinion, so it can not be objectively stated to be “true” or “false.” > [@MGibson](#): > > how did you arrive at that conclusion? It’s an opinion, so for all I know, he pulled out of his… er, out of thin air. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350/3 "2004-07-22T15:43:58Z")
I’m not sure quite how rigorous a debate will arise from **Dio** ’s presumably hyperbolical comment - I think he would accept that target shooting is a legitimate, indeed _Olympic_, pursuit even if it’s not his cup of tea. As for those who insist on keeping one at home or carrying it around with them rather than leaving it in a vault at the club or hunting lodge, well, there might be more scope for conspicuously sniffing around _them_ for the smell of fear or a whiff of paranoia, but I’ll let **Dio** speak for himself. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350/4 "2004-07-22T15:51:33Z")
Thanks for the new thread, Marc. ---
**Author:** ![Unregistered\_Bull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3da27b/32.png) [@Unregistered\_Bull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unregistered_Bull)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350/5 "2004-07-22T16:00:49Z")
No. Are you looking for a fist fight or something? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![BF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5ac83/32.png) [@BF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BF)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350/6 "2004-07-22T16:15:12Z")
> [@SentientMeat](#): > > As for those who insist on keeping one at home or carrying it around with them rather than leaving it in a vault at the club or hunting lodge, well, there might be more scope for conspicuously sniffing around them for the smell of fear or a whiff of paranoia, but I’ll let Dio speak for himself. Never having hunt in Yurp myself, I will assume that most hunts are organized affairs where the participants meet at the club or lodge first. Whereas in the States, that would be a rare occasion. Especially in many parts of the country where you can hunt practically out your back door. Firearms at the ready is a legacy from the flintlock over the threshold of the door for use in acquiring meat, or chasing off the hungry bear or hostile Indian. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350/7 "2004-07-22T16:17:20Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > It’s an opinion, so it can not be objectively stated to be “true” or “false.” Questions with objective answers that can be classified as true or false belong in General Questions. This is Great Debates where it is perfectly reasonable to ask someone to justify their statements. Marc ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350/8 "2004-07-22T16:20:09Z")
I assume there are folks who have guns because of fear. They are afraid of home invasions, or being mugged or whatever things they think will happen that they can defend themselves from with a gun. To call that “cowardly” is kind of unfair though. I have health insurance, because I’m afraid of a costly illness. Is that cowardly too? Taking precautions to prevent something you fear is not necessarily cowardice. ---
**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350/9 "2004-07-22T16:47:40Z")
> [@MGibson](#): > > To prevent another thread from being hijacked. Is is really true that guns are for cowards and if so how did you arrive at that conclusion? > > Marc This is MY opinion and a general statement. Killing is or SHOULD be a personal thing. You should be willing to get up close to a person when you end their life. Using your hands, a bladed weapon, even a club REQUIRES physical contact, sensation and the realization of what you’re doing and how hard people will fight for their lives AND the risk that you may have chosen the wrong person and end up in the ground yourself. Using a gun, allows you the option to kill without ‘mess’; from a distance and therefor distance yourself from the act. Of course this is subject to the standard disclaimers. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350/10 "2004-07-22T16:54:32Z")
Real men use an 18"DHIBD as their prefered weapon. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350/11 "2004-07-22T17:06:29Z")
> [@holmes](#): > > Of course this is subject to the standard disclaimers. Such as… “Just like a [ethnic slur] to bring a knife/bat/fists to a gunfight.” That’s not one you want to be hearing when you’ve got a baseball bat. Since there was no link to the original thread, there’s no way to judge DtC’s comment. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350/12 "2004-07-22T17:18:25Z")
A 5’1" female who carries a gun to protect herself is not a coward to fear being overpowered and assaulted by a 6’2" male that outweighs her by 100 pounds. The gun goes a long way towards equalizing the differences that physical makeup have granted to each of them. Guns, of course, may be used by cowards, and I suppose they often are. But guns are also legitimate tools used by people for whom cowardice is not an apt label. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350/13 "2004-07-22T17:19:24Z")
> [@MGibson](#): > > Is is really true that guns are for cowards and if so how did you arrive at that conclusion? Depends on how you use it. An old-west-style shootout at twenty paces requires a lot more courage than sniping at people from under heavy cover 200 feet away, I’d imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350/14 "2004-07-22T17:27:15Z")
If having a gun=coward, then the USA is a coward nation since they have the largest and better equipped army in the world. :rolleyes: Having the edge over others is not cowardice. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350/15 "2004-07-22T17:31:09Z")
> [@holmes](#): > > This is MY opinion and a general statement. Killing is or SHOULD be a personal thing. You should be willing to get up close to a person when you end their life. Using your hands, a bladed weapon, even a club REQUIRES physical contact, sensation and the realization of what you’re doing and how hard people will fight for their lives AND the risk that you may have chosen the wrong person and end up in the ground yourself. Judge colt struck down that bit of chivalry , back in the eighteenth century and effectifly empowered millions of previous victims of genetics, ya know ,the small , the weak , the shy , the down trodden. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350/16 "2004-07-22T17:31:20Z")
> [@holmes](#): > > Using a gun, allows you the option to kill without ‘mess’; from a distance and therefor distance yourself from the act. So does that make the use of a firearm cowardly or not? Would that also apply to slings, arrows, and javelins? Marc ---
**Author:** ![My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Darn_Snake_Legs)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350/17 "2004-07-22T17:33:53Z")
> [@holmes](#): > > This is MY opinion and a general statement. > \ > Using a gun, allows you the option to kill without ‘mess’; from a distance and therefor distance yourself from the act. Well, that’s just not smart. If you are running at me with a knife I would rather have a gun because it lessens the chance that I will be slashed with said knife. I would call that “tactical,” not cowardice. ---
**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350/18 "2004-07-22T17:49:47Z")
> [@My Darn Snake Legs](#): > > Well, that’s just not smart. If you are running at me with a knife I would rather have a gun because it lessens the chance that I will be slashed with said knife. I would call that “tactical,” not cowardice. Oh for Christsakes, I assumed the disclaimer would prevent this. My fault. What I was referring to was CRIMINAL behaviour, not defending one’s self, not being a soldier, and not walking into a room full of gun-totting gangsters armed with only your wits, fists and gadgets…unless you’re prepared. Clearer? ---
**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350/19 "2004-07-22T17:53:03Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > Judge colt struck down that bit of chivalry , back in the eighteenth century and effectifly empowered millions of previous victims of genetics, ya know ,the small , the weak , the shy , the down trodden. > > Declan I thought it was Smith & Wesson. You know, “God make some men weak and some men strong, but Smith and Wesson made all men equal…” ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350/20 "2004-07-22T18:00:22Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > Real men use an 18"DHIBD as their prefered weapon. You forgot the J as in Jelly. But anyway, if someone came at me swinging an 18"DHIBJD, I guess I’d feel a whole lot safer if I had a gun, or at least a samurai sword. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-are-for-cowards/256350.md?page=2)