# I don't understand our gun obsession **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 19, 2013, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087 "2013-04-19T00:09:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087/41 "2013-04-19T16:23:11Z")
Humans lack of ability to not repeat history or learn from it. How many governing bodies who actively disarmed their governed and then killed mass numbers of their citizens has there been? Each time the ones who are unable to be willing to be responsible for their own safety, etc., for some reason or the other, cry that it will never happen again… How is that working out for us? And for what percentage of the worlds population, just not the really small numbers that are lucky enough to be born in a very low %age of places that have had the highest success at individual safety. What report of an overall increase in safety for the society, for things that are wanted / needed in the numbers per capita that cars & guns & knives & ball bats & sticks & bombs fall into, have laws already, that COULDor are being enforced, that banning or more restrictions has ever stopped the crazy, criminals, or number of deaths from them each year. Car speed limits do. Machine gun laws do, etc. So we do not need to ban those items. We need to enforce the laws on the abusers, not ban the machines. Why do not people see the correlation of the passing of more & more laws that the people did not get to vote on and the correlation to those governing bodies which then committed atrocities against their unarmed & defenseless citizens. Oh Right !!!, that will never happen again or here. I forgot… ---
**Author:** ![cougar58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@cougar58](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cougar58)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087/42 "2013-04-19T16:49:15Z")
Ask the anti- gun people in the Boston / Cambridge area, where the entire metro area is under house lock down while the remaining Marathon bomber is on the loose, with an assumed suicide bomb with trigger (like his dead brother had that detonated), if they’d like to rent my M1 Carbine. Remember , when seconds count, police are just minutes away. Ps for most of us, it’s not an obsession. No more than my home security cameras, or the air bags in my car. Funny thing, many of my neighbors thought I was obsessed with security cams when I was on the ladder for several days installing them many years ago, until a gunman broke ino a nearby home and shot a young mother to death. Now they’re as common as doorbells. ---
**Author:** ![cougar58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@cougar58](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cougar58)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087/43 "2013-04-19T16:57:33Z")
If I lived in Boston, I would be tempted to walk up to several known anti gun folks homes, while they are under police ordered lock down, with a 5 gallon pressure cooker in my hands, while wearing a backwards white ball cap…then ring their door bell, and watch them piss their pants. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087/44 "2013-04-19T17:07:58Z")
Because today’s situation in Boston is so common, much more common than some dumbass leaving his gun out and his kid accidentally blowing his head off. That never happens, but I’ve lost count how many times armed terrorists have attacked the marathon and then gone on a violent rampage. This is my point, you gun fetishists are a bunch of sad little weirdos living in a fantasy world in which you are the hero, when in reality you’re all just a bunch of losers. We will win the gun debate the way we won the anti smoking debate by making you all look like the sad losers you are. ---
**Author:** ![Obnoxious\_Hood\_Ornament](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Obnoxious\_Hood\_Ornament](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obnoxious_Hood_Ornament)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087/45 "2013-04-19T17:26:08Z")
> [@](#): > > Because today’s situation in Boston is so common, much more common than some dumbass leaving his gun out and his kid accidentally blowing his head off. I love the not-so-subtle “think of the children” vector you’re got there. But really, you could just relax and think of it as “selective pressure” on the species. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087/46 "2013-04-19T17:30:06Z")
> [@cougar58](#): > > If I lived in Boston, I would be tempted to walk up to several known anti gun folks homes, while they are under police ordered lock down, with a 5 gallon pressure cooker in my hands, while wearing a backwards white ball cap…then ring their door bell, and watch them piss their pants. > [@madmonk28](#): > > Because today’s situation in Boston is so common, much more common than some dumbass leaving his gun out and his kid accidentally blowing his head off. That never happens, but I’ve lost count how many times armed terrorists have attacked the marathon and then gone on a violent rampage. > > This is my point, you gun fetishists are a bunch of sad little weirdos living in a fantasy world in which you are the hero, when in reality you’re all just a bunch of losers. We will win the gun debate the way we won the anti smoking debate by making you all look like the sad losers you are. These posts are both equally and remarkably stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087/47 "2013-04-19T17:31:07Z")
Let’s keep this out of debate territory, please. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![cougar58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@cougar58](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cougar58)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087/48 "2013-04-19T17:32:03Z")
Actually, the very common armed home intrusions, that end up with the unarmed victims raped or killed, are better examples of losers. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087/49 "2013-04-19T17:33:03Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Maybe there shouldn’t be. There’s a process for amending the Constitution. Good luck with that. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087/50 "2013-04-19T19:03:38Z")
> [@Duke\_of\_Rat](#): > > But it still scares the bejezzus out of a shitload of people that I own even a single gun, and that’s strange to me. > > It’s the unknown _potential_ that somehow, sometime, for some unknown reason, I might actually operate one of these objects that freaks people out. This. And the anti-gun people accuse _gun owners_ of being afraid?? :dubious: I can only assume that it’s because, not wanting guns themselves, the only type they can imagine wanting to own a gun is the potential-psychopath gun fetishist. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087/51 "2013-04-19T19:47:11Z")
> [@Obnoxious\_Hood\_Ornament](#): > > I love the not-so-subtle “think of the children” vector you’re got there. > > But really, you could just relax and think of it as “selective pressure” on the species. Oh I do, but sometimes decent people get hurt. ---
**Author:** ![JLRogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@JLRogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JLRogers)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087/52 "2013-04-20T07:12:53Z")
I understand the first amendment says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”, etc, etc. What I don’t understand is why believing in and practicing religion seems to be an obsession for so many people. Unabashedly smug Internet posters the world over call it a delusion. What is it about religion? Why are people so enamored with it? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087/53 "2013-04-21T02:08:23Z")
Pretty much same reason: fear. ---
**Author:** ![Fat\_Chance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8baadc/32.png) [@Fat\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fat_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087/54 "2013-04-21T05:19:06Z")
There are many great and compelling reasons provided here for why people like and want guns. Being a car guy, I get alot of it - the discussion, mechanics, modification, community, debate, experience, power, fun, etc. But why the big push back on registration, insurance, and license? Are people really truly afraid the “government will take our guns?” Whether its a hobby, self defense, collecting, or something, asking owners of a potentially very dangerous item to be licensed to show they learned how to use it, and to register it to track ownership, and require insurance to provide liability coverage, isn’t an outrageous thing to ask I wouldn’t think. Another note - the entire “pass along my rifle to my grandchild” thing as being against background checks, etc. - my grandmother wanted to give me here 1972 Dodge Dart when she couldn’t drive it. Signing over a title, and having me have to go register it and insure it in my own name wasn’t a big deal, and not really all that expensive. Why would doing the same for a gun be so different? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087/55 "2013-04-21T13:23:02Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Pretty much same reason: fear. Nope. I own 8 guns. Every one of them handed down to me by a family member. Each one has a history of it’s own and has meaning to me. You are quite simply wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087/56 "2013-04-21T14:21:26Z")
> [@Fat\_Chance](#): > > But why the big push back on registration, insurance, and license? Are people really truly afraid the “government will take our guns?” No, gun owners are really truly afraid that the people publicly and vociferously advocating the abolition of private firearms ownership may someday be in a position to enact their agenda. Registration databases are for preventing the unlawful possession of firearms; the problem is when all possession becomes unlawful. Or as the frat boys’ motto goes, “Say anything, but get her panties off”. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087/57 "2013-04-21T21:47:17Z")
> [@Running\_with\_Scissors](#): > > What is it about guns? Why are people so enamored with them? I think people are interested in self protection. Ask a Secret Service agent why he has multiple guns, and I believe that they will tell you that it is the handiest reliable way to protect one. People cannot depend on the police in our society anymore, and even if a policeman shows up, he will be armed with a gun. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087/58 "2013-04-21T22:08:24Z")
> [@Saraya](#): > > Most English people don’t - however of all the Europeans, you should be the most supportive of a means and method to ensure that England never again falls under anything but Republic/Democratic rule. I’m no fan of the current government, but I’d far rather they were in control than some people who think owning a gun gives them special rights- how can you enforce democracy by such non-democratic means? It doesn’t even make sense. One man, one bullet? ---
**Author:** ![Peanut\_Gallery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/838e76/32.png) [@Peanut\_Gallery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanut_Gallery)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087/59 "2013-04-21T22:10:00Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > There is no constitutional right to drive 100 m.p.h., and there is a constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Say there had been an Amendment that said, “The people’s right to drive 100mph shall not be infringed upon.” Do you think we’d have a national cult of people who insisted on driving 100mph at all times? ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087/60 "2013-04-22T01:34:05Z")
> [@Peanut\_Gallery](#): > > Say there had been an Amendment that said, “The people’s right to drive 100mph shall not be infringed upon.” Do you think we’d have a national cult of people who insisted on driving 100mph at all times? Well, we might have a national cult of people who insist on driving 100 mph when prudent and safe to do so. Like, say, the Germans. There are plenty of areas in the US where this would be possible. Hell, I’d support that. Where do I go to propose a new amendment? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-our-gun-obsession/656087.md?page=4)