Gun ownership: Because you can? Or because you need?

Hey

**As always, please move if needed**


Living in a community where guns are NOT a common thing by any means, I have always found it difficult to comprehend the NEED for a gun. However, I will never, ever question anybody's right to own a gun wherever it is legal and common to own one. It's your rights and if you want one, I will never attempt to block you from owning one. Unless it is a nuclear weapon, that may be bad... For everyone... Literally.

However, and this is pure opinion and pure curiosity, and by no way am I trying to offend anybody's right to own guns here... I do have a question to ask gun owners.

I always have felt if you buy a gun... "Because you can"... Isn't it a tad pointless? I mean if you genuinely lived in an area where you have a good chance of walking into a gun crime on your way to get milk, then yeah, you could call it justified. But if you live in a safe city, where crime is low yet you still carry a gun all day every day... Why are you carrying it? I live in a safe town, I can walk at 2am drunk home from the bar and never feel threatened. So I do not carry a weapon. Also, if all the people in the world stopped carrying guns where they were not needed, wouldn't it make areas even more safer?

I have read a couple of gun related threads where people have chimed in about owning a gun is a right, so that is all the justification you need. And yes, technically that is okay. However, I technically can have a 250mph car, do I need one though? I can technically have a 10 bed house, but I don't need 10 beds? I am not saying you shouldn't buy a gun. I simply just want to know, if you are in the category of not really "Needing" a gun, but have one, why?

I understand my current whereabouts in the world and never being apart of a "Gun society" might naively blind me, and I am aware. But I would genuinely like to know the reasoning behind gun ownership.

I want to know this because in my opinion, gun ownership is a hot topic on this website and around the world in general. Yet, I feel I have no right to really chime in because, well, like I said, I do not live in a society where guns are a normal thing. If I an understand the situation better, then maybe that would help?

Again, not trying to cause offence, and not trying to kick up a stir. Just a civilised thread here. I know there are many passionate gun owners on ATS and I am not trying to diminish your passion in any way, shape or form. I am not looking to start an argument. So can we keep it clean?

I know this can be a sensitive subject, so I have tried to word this in the least antagonising way possible! I really have. I apologise for any harm done. NOT INTENDED.



I will be leaving to drive home shortly from work (It's a slow day today) so if I become un-active for an hour or 2, that is why.

Happy new year!

You've just created a 200 response thread. So many opinions on the subject but spouted some of them in an earlier post. Will sit back and watch the mayhem unfold.

Better to have one and never need it , than to need one and not have it...think about it. The world we live in sure the SHEOL isnt getting more pleasant to live in...

a reply to: brace22

Need.

The powerful are overstepping their bounds.

a reply to: rossacus

I was worried that this could turn into chaos. I have tried to word to keep it on point.

However, like Fallout 4, this could potentially spawn a 100000 "Side Missions" throughout the comments.

a reply to: davidporter89


So would you say where you live, that if you did not have guns, you would feel vulnerable?

a reply to: brace22

Just for the record I completely agree with your perspective. Unfortunately you will just receive the same regurgitated standardised responses as though they genuinely believe it, only a few will provide valid justifications based on past experiences. I had one guy earlier saying that people like him protect me?????. You will hear much stranger justifications in the coming hours. Hopefully many will respond with meaningful responses.

Good luck.

a reply to: brace22

American citizens have a duty to defend the Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic. The 2nd amendment is a tool gifted to the citizenry to meet this need.

a reply to: brace22

But if you live in a safe city, where crime is low yet you still carry a gun all day every day... Why are you carrying it? I live in a safe town, I can walk at 2am drunk home from the bar and never feel threatened. So I do not carry a weapon. Also, if all the people in the world stopped carrying guns where they were not needed, wouldn't it make areas even more safer?

I also live in a "safe" city/town. I've talked about this before. I can also walk the streets(unarmed) at 2am and feel relatively safe doing so. Unlike where I grew up. Here's the funny thing, though. Almost everyone in this town is armed to the teeth. I jokingly say the guns and ammo in this town could arm all of illinois.

I grew up in St. Louis in the ghetto. Everyone there had guns too. But I certainly wouldn't walk the streets at 2am. I knew better. So what's the difference? Both places are full of guns. Yet they're a 180 from each other. Maybe it's not the presence of guns that make a place safe or unsafe necessarily. Maybe it's many other factors.

I have a some hammers in the garage I don't need much, either.

Don't tell me I need a permit for those now, too?

Legislation needed on hammers…

Handle length, head shape, side and weight. How many I can own, how stored, license fees, hammer class to demonstrate proficiency, etc, etc.

(portion redacted)

originally posted by: Gothmog
Better to have one and never need it , than to need one and not have it...think about it. The world we live in sure the SHEOL isnt getting more pleasant to live in...

Yep, this is why I have one. Not just for the scenarios I can think of where I would need one, also for the scenarios I can't think of.

Plus, I like shooting it. It's a nice outlet and I like improving my skills.

a reply to: brace22

Yes. All 7 members of the household feel this way. I'm in Kentucky, by the way.

originally posted by: brace22

I have always found it difficult to comprehend the NEED for a gun.

However, I technically can have a 250mph car, do I need one though? I can technically have a 10 bed house, but I don't need 10 beds? I am not saying you shouldn't buy a gun. I simply just want to know, if you are in the category of not really "Needing" a gun, but have one, why?

Arguments from 'need' are generally pretty pointless. Because in the end, you don't "need" anything beyond a minimal number of calories and some water. You don't even "need" clothing and shelter, if you are in the right climate. If you're NOT in the right climate, you don't NEED to be where you are, and should readily relocate.

You don't "need" education. You don't 'need' entertainment. You don't 'need' food to taste like anything as long as it's nutritious enough. You don't 'need' to have a car at all. You don't 'need' a house of your own. You don't 'need' a phone, a computer, or a television. You don't 'need' to continue living past your reproductive age. "Need" is one of those really hollow arguments against something, because in the end, it's really ok for life to be nasty, brutish, and short. It doesn't 'need' to be otherwise.

I carry at work (when I'm actually AT work and not on TDY, another story) because I double as a FSO. I carry on the way to work and home because I'm lazy and just put the thing on when I dress. I occasionally pack in public but not all that often.

I have a lot of firearms, because I collect certain types, and I used to shoot competitively when I had time (and instruct) so I've got a couple of safes full of sidearms, shotguns and long rifles. I believe I could outfit a small third world country.

a reply to: intrptr
Come on man...the OP couldn't have been more polite in his request. That response is very limited. You know guns to be dangerous and can not draw any parallels between the 2 other than they can be used as weapons. Your responses are normally thought provoking

a reply to: brace22

It's simple. You don't know you need it UNTIL YOU NEED IT

My Story:

I live in a very small rural town with a VERY low crime rate. BUT we do have crime. I work in a hospital. We often have drug seekers that are NOT HAPPY when they don't get the meds that they want. As I was leaving work one day a car pulled out of the ER parking lot behind me (I am a small woman). We all have markers on our cars so you know I am an employee. He decided it was my fault that he didn't get his drugs. He tail gated me flashing lights and blowing the horn for about 3 miles. Then we came to a red light. He got out of his car and came up to mine. Trying to get in the door, yelling and cussing the whole time. I was on the phone with 911 at the time this was happening but no cop near by so they are just hearing what is happening....not there to help. The operator asked if I had protection. I reached in my glove box and pull out my pretty pink pistol......and drug man ran like hell.

I was blocked in at a red light with no way to drive away. The cops were on their way but not there to assist me. When he ran off I pulled into the first lot and waited for police. They caught him only to find that he was a known criminal that had a gun on him. (I live in an area where almost EVERYONE is armed)

This is why I will NEVER leave my house unarmed.

Mine comes from both a want/need. I became disabled several years back and can no longer do the rough and tumble kind of fighting I once did, so it is there for my protection. 10 years ago, a stand up fight would have been no problem...now, well let's just say I'm not as good as I once was.
I like the challenge of putting a small piece of lead in to a target far away for the same reason people play darts or pool. It takes skill and hours upon hours of practice. It's not a case of being afraid of someone kicking down my door in the middle of the night...but I had it happen once. I had rented a house and a man showed up convinced his old girlfriend still lived there and he wanted to see her now and didn't give a damn if he had to "kill everybody in the place to get to her". Do I need to say he was drunk? He came in with a hammer. I had a .357. No I didn't shoot him, but the only thing that stopped him was the fact that I had a gun.. I've had to use a gun 4 times in my life, but never actually had to shoot because a large bore firearm aimed at your head is a great deterrent.

When criminals are asked where they like to do their dirty work, they say that they like places where people don't normally carry guns.
And sooner or later they will make it to a town such as your own.
You always hear when home invasions and things like that happen. ....these things never happen here.
And as things in this country continue to get worse this kind of thing is only going to spread out to the " safe " places where the bad guys will not have much resistance.

Speaking only for myself, I'll first say that I don't carry a firearm and don't see a 'need' for it in my circumstance. Although I wouldn't hesitate to use a firearm to defend myself or my family from a deadly threat, nor would I ever support a position that denies that right to other law-abiding citizens, I primarily own firearms for sporting purposes. I collect, I go to the range, and once in a great while I might go hunting. At some point, it may be that I decide to get a carry permit and exercise that right, and again, I fully support the right of others to do so.

In short summary, my position on the matter is simply this: If a person has a record of being a law-abiding citizen, I don't see a reason why they shouldn't be able to defend themselves and their family as they see fit, including carrying a firearm if they so desire. I live in an area where the overwhelming majority of people own multiple firearms and virtually all of them do so without incident. I don't live in fear knowing that, statistically, every 4th adult I pass in Walmart is probably carrying a concealed firearm in my state. It doesn't concern me at all, because its never proven to be a real world problem, at least where I'm from.

At the end of the day, we all need to take a step back and respect the fact that we have different cultural values on this and other issues, not just from country to country, but here in the US, its even from state to state. A set of laws that work for one group of people may not work so well at all for others. Although I suspect we disagree on gun rights, I think you understand this. I just wish more people did.

a reply to: rossacus

You know guns to be dangerous and can not draw any parallels between the 2 other than they can be used as weapons.

People are dangerous, not the tools they employ. You know as well as I the propaganda associated with firearms…

Gun man, gun violence, gun crime, all media generated terms to demonize inanimate objects.

I introduced, hammer man, hammer crime, and hammer violence, to show how silly that sounds and hopefully, get some to realize it isn't the murder weapon but the intent. The person the pulls the trigger that intends to do that is the problem. But like you just revealed, that wave crashes agains a rocky shore of conditioning in the main stream.

Next up, car crime, car men, and car violence…

a reply to: brace22

If someone doesn't want the responsibility to own a firearm, then they should be free to choose not to own one.

If someone wants the responsibility then they should be free to own one.