Responsible gun onwers: please demonstrate your non-nuttery.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Suggested by this post.

Gun-owners, please help me demonstrate that we are not all fascist homophobic religious nuts.

I’ll start. I’m a black male, late 30s, married, no children. I live in Memphis, Tennessee, in the United States.

Politically I’m a jumble, but in essence I want as little government involvement in people’s private lives as possible. That means that, for instance, I support gay marriage (but also that the government shouldn’t be in the business of solemnizing such rituals anyway); that I oppose Bush (and Obama’s :frowning: ) faith-based initiatives; that I don’t think it’s appropriate to have "under god’ in the Pledge of Allegiance (which I’d rewrite anyway). But I would like to see greater government involvement in health care. I’d legalize most currently illicit drugs and divert resources currently being used on the War on Drugs to counseling and therapy. I think both PETA and MADD are blights are society.

I own a rifle, a shotgun, and a revolver. I want my wife to learn how to shoot, and once she is proficient and confident I want her to have a handgun of her own.
I use the rifle for hunting (in theory–I rarely have opportunity to go these days) and the other two for self-protection.

Anybody else?

2

Well, I…
Umm…
That is…

Nope, can’t help you. :smiley:

3

Proving a negative? I’ll have to consult the Unicorn that you can’t prove doesn’t live under my porch.
He sez I’m fine.
We can babble reassurances to each other until the sun explodes, but we either trust each other, or we don’t.
That’s a paraphrase of something Bruce Sterling said.
I had a fight/discussion with a lady over this issue.

“Why do you have weapons, don’t you care about protecting the children??”

"That’s what the weapons are for, Ma’am.

ETA, I’m white, male, just turned 40, and am similarly armed as the OP.

4

I’m a married, white male, early 30s, and have been an avid shooter for years. I am active duty Air Force, and also politically am “in a jumble.” I prefer to let my views stand alone on their own two feet rather than be ‘assigned’ to a particular party. Given that, I think this year I’m leaning more and more into Nader than anyone else (I simply cannot feed the machine any longer).

I own two AR-15s, and several handguns. I enjoy target shooting. Honestly, I used to bowhunt with my father, however, I’ve recently gotten more involved into other ‘hunts’ which are more exciting: Geocaching and gold panning. Hell, I just love hiking and being outdoors. Besides, just being outdoors is a lot cheaper and less time consuming than going for licenses every year.

Why do I own AR-15s? Well, when I was in college, I knew I would be going into the Air Force, and I thought it would be a good idea to become as familiar as possible with the service rifle I’d be expected to use. I saved up my milk money, and bought my first one–still have it to this day. My wife also later bought me a wonderful sidearm (a Sig Sauer P6!) which is a great plinker and carry sidearm (if I chose to).

To get a little theoretical: I believe it is important to preserve our rights, even though we may not exercise them every day. I do not believe our government will fall tomorrow, casing every able bodied man woman and child into the apocalyptic anarchy some would believe to be at hand; however, Hurricane Katrina and other disasters bolster my argument that it is at least prudent to be armed. I do not carry daily (when I’m not deployed), but I have a permit that I can do so if I choose. Here’s where I get a little anti-government (and quote me on this): Within reason, I do believe the people ought to have the choice to be as armed as the government which is in place (i.e. AR-15s, etc.) I do not believe every Tom, Dick, and Harry ought to be slingin’ Thompson submachine guns around on the streets of Macon, GA or Suffern, NY.

I do believe in state’s rights to regulate firearms. I believe it’s fair for New Jersey, with 850,000 (or so) people in my home county of Bergen to be more restrictive on open/concealed carry than North Dakota (approx 600,000 in the entire state). Statistically, the more knuckleheads compacted in a smaller area, the dumber someone’s gonna be.

So, I’m politically a jumble–a middle of the road kind of guy. I support some regulation, however, believe the onus of choice belongs to the people.

I support gay marriage (it ain’t my business, and it builds families), I agree that religion has no place in politics (however, I recognize that faith shapes political decisions on what is right), but I wouldn’t rewrite the Pledge of Allegiance–it ain’t broke.

I’ve lived all across the country, and have been exposed to quite a lot of different views and ‘Continental Cultures’. I know what I think is right, and if you don’t agree with me, then we can discuss. Free words and ideas are the lifeblood of this country.

Tripler
My manifesto. :smiley:

Tripler

5

I apologize if I rambled on. My wife is all like “Let’s go to the store! C’mon!!” and I’m all like, “But I’m posting! Give me five minutes!” And she’s all like, "Now! We have to go now!" I’ll be back later though.

Tripler
Yeah, so I get the keys, am ready to go, and where is she? Reading the Dope. :smack:

6

I’d post, but I live in a beaten up trailer in the middle of nowhere shooting baby bunnies to cope with penile insecurity, all the while mumbling about baby killer liberals. Jesus is Lord!

(Srsly, similarly armed as well, hubby conceal carries wherever it’s legal to do so, we’re atheists, we lean libertarian more than conservative but out of the gunowners whose political persuasions I do know, a majority are liberal.)

7

I own two rifles, a shotgun, and a pistol. I haven’t been hunting in years, but enjoy occasionally using them for target practice. They’re also for defense.

I’m 27 and single. I’m primarily libertarian, although I do differ on a few opinions. I think gun laws are a little too strict, at least in some places. I don’t think people should be able to buy rocket launchers or anything, nor walk around town with an assault rifle strapped to their chest, but people should be able to defend themselves and their property.

8

Mid-30s, female gun owner. My share of the firearms in the house are a Ruger .357 revolver, a Ruger 10/22 .22 rifle, a Ruger mini-14 .223 rifle, and a 9mm Sig Sauer P239.
(Wow, hadn’t realized that I’m such a Ruger girl until now.)

How I’d describe me:

  • I am an environmentalist - not of the extremist variety, in the “we need to take care of what we have for our own well-being” vein. I don’t personally hunt, but don’t have problems with it aside from big-game trophy hunting.
  • Politically, I am more left than right - I support same-sex marriage and reproductive choice, and I think many social programs have a place in our society even if some are not exactly on track right now. However, I do think government’s role in our lives should be limited, and that we shouldn’t be spending more than our revenues.
  • I don’t believe in god - and while I am happy for those that find comfort and guidance in their faith, I’d just appreciate it if that faith could stay out of my government.

I don’t carry, because I don’t believe I could proficiently use a firearm in that sort of situation. However, I enjoy blasting the crap out of paper targets!

9

I own one semiautomatic (which I won in a drawing!) . When not in use it stays in a lockbox bolted to the inside of a three-hundred pound cabinet. I intend to get a carry permit as soon as I qualify on the range, but have no plans to carry other than to and from the target range. I believe that a gun is a tool, nothing more or less. Owning a gun does not make you a hero any more than owning an axe makes you a lumberjack. I intend as soon as I can to take classes in home/personal defense so that I actually know how to use a gun in an emergency. I believe that something like “shall issue” should be the standard for gun ownership in the USA; i.e. demonstrate that you’re a knowlegible and law-abiding citizen, and no one should deny you the right of gun possession.

Politically I’m probably closest to what some call a “South Park libertarian”: i.e., I dislike bullshit and ideological fanaticism from any part of the political spectrum. I’m pro-choice on abortion, think Bush and co. are idiots/criminals. I think McCain is half-senile and Obama a closet gun-banner. I’m Christian in an extremely quiet personal way. I accept that millions of Americans hate and fear guns and would gladly see them banned from civil society; I do think it should require an amendment to the Constitution to authorize this, not a slippery slope/ “pecked to death by ducks” strategy of creeping delegitimazation.

10

The OP’s claim of responsible gun-ownership is somewhat undercut by his constant threats to conquer the Earth.

11

I said I was a responsible GUN owner. Never did I claim to be a responsible satellite-mounted-wave-motion-gun-currently-aimed-atthe-bear-flag-republic owner.

12

Yes, but he’s not using guns to do it.

(non-gun owning single female, but I support your right to do so responsibly)

13

I can’t help with the nut portion, being a certified and rabid gun nut, but let’s see what I can do about the rest of it.

The thought of leading an armed rebellion against the new communist overlords is the furthest thing from my mind in regards to my firearms. Defending my family or myself from criminal intent doesn’t explain most of mine, either. I own a couple dozen guns because they’re a fun and interesting hobby.

I’m also pro-gay, pro-choice, pagan/atheist (depending on if I’ve been drinking or not), want to legalize pot, blah blah…
There’s just no way anything anyone says will sway the opinions of certain posters, nor the anti community which is only slightly more rational, IMO.

14

I’m similar to you, except that I’m single, white and have no kids, and live in Maine, other than that, we’re identical (and we both want to take over the multiverse :wink: )

agreed, you put it quite succinctly, my mindset is very similar

I have;
2 .22 caliber carbine rifles, a Harrington and Richardson single-shot, and a Ruger 10/22 with a 3-9X scope, used for plinking, target shooting, and varminting

2 12-gauge shotguns, a Mossberg 500 pump-action that I use for skeet/trap/sporing clays, and home defense, if it ever becomes neccecary (which I hope it never does), and a family heirloom Parker VH side-by-side made back in the 1930’s that I basically look at, Parker shotguns are rare, expensive firearms and I don’t want to damage it, it’s got 98% of the original case-hardening colors on it

a Taurus PT-99AF 9mm semiautomatic, it’s a Beretta made in Brazil on Beretta equipment, Taurus bought the Beretta factory in Brazil after Beretta’s military contract with Brazil ran out, and continued on making the 9x series, making their own improvements to the design (like putting the safety on the frame where it should be), the Taurus is used for target shooting, and, if it ever becomes neccecary (and I hope it never does) home/personal defense

I’ve grown up with firearms, and had the importance of firearm safety pounded into me since I was old enough to hold my first BB gun, I have never pointed a firearm at anyone, and have never raised a firearm in anger, I hope I never have to

My response to the "Guns are BAD!!!11!!one!1 " crowd is;
"Guns are an inanimate object, no more “good” or “bad” than a pencil, a toaster, or a stapler (or whatever inanimate object catches my whim at the moment), it’s the person behind the trigger you have to worry about, it’s the intent that’s good or bad, the gun is a mindless, inanimate thing, nothing more

15

I’m the classic “home defense” gun owner. I’m female, white, 28. I have a boyfriend who usually lives in the house, but he isn’t always here and often comes in very late. I also have a security system which I use religiously, and if the alarm going off doesn’t scare an intruder away I have no problems shooting him.

I have a Mossberg 20 gauge pump shotgun in the little “junior shorty” Bantam size, which is very comfortable for me. (It came with a little coupon to upsize it when I grow up.) It lives under my bed, and I take it trap shooting with my dad down in Florida every couple of months. I didn’t used to keep it loaded, but I was alone one night at 3 AM when I woke up to this godawful screaming. I debated on whether to load the gun or not, and finally ended up calling the cops, and decided that if it was serious enough to call the cops it was certainly serious enough to load the gun. I’d practiced loading it in dim lighting before, but the sounds had me so freaked out that it took me forever to load the gun, which was just unacceptable, so now I keep it loaded. I would not do this if I had kids, or anybody else in the house who I didn’t feel I could trust with a loaded gun.

I also have a Smith and Wesson .357 revolver that my dad really wants me to get a concealed carry permit for. I don’t know how comfortable I feel about that. My boyfriend likes it because this way we both get a gun on our side of the bed and he feels more comfortable with the handgun.

I practice fairly regularly with both of them, but I’ll tell you I don’t like shooting the handgun much. Trap shooting with the shotgun is fun - it’s outside in the open air, it’s a fun sport. It’s an awesome feeling when you blow one of them orange things to hell. Shooting the handgun on the indoor range makes me uncomfortable. It’s dim, inside, full of very serious looking people, smells like shooting things, and you’re shooting at a “person”. It just isn’t fun to me. It makes me anxious. I do it because you shouldn’t have it in your house if you aren’t comfortable using it, but it’s something I do because it’s important, not because I really enjoy it.

My dad’s been getting me guns lately (in the last few years) because I think it makes him feel like he can protect me, and also it’s something we can do together and enjoy. For his birthday this year I got him some nice shooting stuff - good comfortable ear protection of his own, a nice shell pouch, etc., and he was really tickled. He especially likes the trap shooting because since he had a stroke he can’t read very well or see stuff like that (it’s in his brain, not his eyes) but he can see things that move quite well. The guy can’t read a menu, but he hits more clays than I do.

The guns do make me feel safer. I live in a decent neighborhood, but one street down is a pretty bad one. I’ve had stuff stolen out of my yard, and the one time in his life my boyfriend left a window down in his car he had to chase a homeless lady out of it with a golf club. Obviously, the kind of people who steal a flamingo from your yard are not the kind of people who break in to your house to rape and murder you, and I’ve never had anything happen where I really felt I’d need the gun (except for that weird screaming thing), but if I need it I feel confident I can use it. The guns also make other people feel better about me living alone where I do - my dad and my boyfriend definitely like it that I have the guns.

If I had kids, I’d never store my guns the way I do. Now I have them out for maximum accessibility, but obviously if I had kids (or house guests) the equation would change.

A gun is just a tool. There are plenty of people who shouldn’t have this particular tool; plenty of people shouldn’t be allowed to drive, either.

16

Politically, I’m right in there with Skald and Lumpy. I call myself a Social Libertarian. Meaning that I want government completely out of people’s individual lives - drugs, gay marriage, prositution should all be legal - but I believe that the government’s true job is running the larger social conventions that we need as a society - roads, schools, welfare, health care, the military, etc.

I am a Benefactor Member of the NRA. That’s the level just above Life membership.

I own three pistols and about a half-dozen long guns, though none of them are high caliber hunting rifles. My one fatal gun owning flaw that I hope to correct someday. I got my first bb gun when I was 8, my .22 rifle (that I still have) when I was 12, my first shotgun at 13. I hunted with a Christian boy’s group in my teens, which was a great way to learn about guns and hunting - in a group with 20+ kids and 8+ adults all hunting pheasants at once.

I worked Armored, which is Armed Courier, meaning that I carried a gun on the job for 14 months in a downtown area. Very crowded. I was happy that people like myself and my partner were on that route and not some of the “cowboys” driving other routes. In that capacity, I serviced the county courthouses and the county jail, which gave me a good inside view of those facilities in daily operation.

Unlike a lot of other gun owners, as I have posted on this board on numerous occasions in the past, I HAVE held a gun in my hand in self defense. Five times I had a gun in my hand to stop someone from breaking into my house when I was home. Once I had a gun in my hand to deter two young men from mugging me in an isolated wayside rest at 6am on a Sunday morning. Three times as an armed courier I had a gun in my hands to deter would-be thieves. In each instance, I merely displayed the weapon. I did not point it at anyone, I did not fire it, I made no verbal threats. I have never fired a weapon at another human being and I sincerely hope that I never have to.

17

Hail Skald!

I offer, humbly, to be a secret minion, if the excellence that is the Rhymer should see fit to give this agent notice of any lethal effects about to motion down in his vicinity. I am, occasionally, doing business in The Peoples Republic of Kalifornia.
This would be us demonstrating our Non-nuttery, would it?

The gun owners I’ve met seem to have the self confidence to not take anything too terribly seriously.

18

Well, it took until post #14, but I’m finally out-gunned. No, not outgunned by MacTech…outgunned by every prior poster combined. :smiley:
What can I say? A man’s got to have a hobby. Mine’s collecting Mausers. I feel about guns the way Hunter Thompson felt about drugs:

  • We had two bags of grass, 75 pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers . . . and also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls.

All this had been rounded up the night before, in a frenzy of high-speed driving all over Los Angeles County – from Topanga to Watts, we picked up everything we could get our hands on. Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can.*

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And of course, the motto of the Aspen Gun and Rod Club.

“Death before Dishonor.
Drugs before lunch.”

Does anyone know the model of .45 HST did himself with?

20

My attention span isn’t long enough to actually “collect”, right now I’m just trying to get two of everything and then I’ll go back and work on a collection.

For some reason I’m rather uncomfortable listing my collection, I suppose one could search all my previous posts and find most of them. I just checked and [DEL]there’s[/DEL] there were slightly more than 2 dozen … before the boating accident.