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Your stance on Gun Rights
bunny1911
Member Posts: 32 ✭✭
I recieved an e-mail today from another member that started me wondering. Everyone here seems firm on their gun right beliefs. What I'm curious to know however is this...
Are your opinions along the same lines as your parents? Do you plan on teaching/have you taught your children that your opinion is right or will/do you give them all the information, whether you agree with it or not, and let them make up thier own minds?
Personally, my views on not only gun rights, but quite a few topics differ greatly from my father. My mother...well, she honestly couldn't care less either way. But my father and I don't always aree on things. I was raised in a house that had one shotgun. That was broght in by my dad's second wife, and soon after moving in with him she stopped hunting all together. My father never outright said that guns should not be owned by the general public, and always encouraged me to have my own thoughts. He always seemed fine with rifles or shotguns but the first time I bought a handgun he was pretty upset. My mom was upset too, not because she thought that I shouldn't own one per-say, just because she was certain I'd shoot myself in my sleep or something. Dad seemed more dissapointed that I would buy in to that whole mentality.
It was not until well after I moved out of my father's house that I started looking into the ownership and rights involved with guns. And not until I met my husband that I truly even considered owning one. Now that I do, and now that I understand them more, I can't imagine not owning at least one.
Should I have any, I plan on raising my kids around guns of all varieties. I fully intend to teach them about the saftey of the weapons, and when they're old enough take them out to the range whenever is convenient.
I'm curious to know all of your guy's stories.
Are your opinions along the same lines as your parents? Do you plan on teaching/have you taught your children that your opinion is right or will/do you give them all the information, whether you agree with it or not, and let them make up thier own minds?
Personally, my views on not only gun rights, but quite a few topics differ greatly from my father. My mother...well, she honestly couldn't care less either way. But my father and I don't always aree on things. I was raised in a house that had one shotgun. That was broght in by my dad's second wife, and soon after moving in with him she stopped hunting all together. My father never outright said that guns should not be owned by the general public, and always encouraged me to have my own thoughts. He always seemed fine with rifles or shotguns but the first time I bought a handgun he was pretty upset. My mom was upset too, not because she thought that I shouldn't own one per-say, just because she was certain I'd shoot myself in my sleep or something. Dad seemed more dissapointed that I would buy in to that whole mentality.
It was not until well after I moved out of my father's house that I started looking into the ownership and rights involved with guns. And not until I met my husband that I truly even considered owning one. Now that I do, and now that I understand them more, I can't imagine not owning at least one.
Should I have any, I plan on raising my kids around guns of all varieties. I fully intend to teach them about the saftey of the weapons, and when they're old enough take them out to the range whenever is convenient.
I'm curious to know all of your guy's stories.
Comments
These are his and his sisters(13)
I am an absolutist perhaps on the issue of gun rights. I feel if you are such a danger to society that you cannot be trusted with a gun then you are too much of a danger to be freely roaming among the public.
I feel the federal government has no business regulating the use, or posession, of firearms whatsoever.
Side story: the .22 pistol was actually a Belgian made gift that was given to one of my ancestors who was a European diplomat in the 1800s. I held it once when I was 16, when I didn't know my * from a Winchester. Would love to get my hands on that pistol, but instead it is rotting away in my dad's closet.
Anyway, when I was about 18 years old something inspired my dad to buy a Mossberg pump action 12 gauge with interchangable barrels. Apparently our home needed more "security". He wrapped it up as a Christmas gift and had the whole family open it. Needless to say there were a lot of stunned faces around the tree that year. I think the first comment was from my brother saying, "Is that real!?!". Mom wasn't too happy about that purchase, so the shotgun is now rotting away next to the antique .22.
My brother was the first to break the handgun ice. For some reason he secretly bought a Beretta 92F and began taking shooting lessons. He was going through a lot of panic/anxiety issues at the time, so I think the gun gave him a sense of empowerment. I think it may have even helped him overcome some of his issues. Of course, my mom flipped when she found out about the whole thing. She was afraid he was gonna blow his brains out at any moment because of his psychological issues. He ended up selling the Beretta, but then secretly bought a S&W compact 9mm that he still owns.
I always had a distant fascination with firearms, but it wasn't until about 1999 that I finally grew the balls to buy one. I bought a French bolt action rifle from Big 5 for $60. Didn't know what the hell I was doing or what I had bought, just thought it looked cool. Then it stayed in my closet untouched for about 4 years.
My roommate at the time had a father who used to be a highway patrolman and then later opened a gun shop. My roomie and I started talking to his dad about guns and his dad started sending us his copies of Shotgun News. We decided to sign up together for a two-day handgun training class, and from then on I have loved firearms. I bought my first handgun in July of 2001. After 9/11 I bought two more. Now I own 4 handguns and 2 rifles (not including my wife's 1911 and a few antique guns that have been passed down to us).
My brother and I still talk guns with each other. Mom has a "don't ask don't tell" policy with us. I have another brother who is pretty ardently anti-gun (at least in his house). My other brother (I have 3 total) and my dad are pretty indifferent.
Ok, so there's my life story.
-Wolf
She didn't allow guns in "her" house.
(What she didn't know, didn't hurt me.) [}:)]
But then, it wasn't "her" house after I turned 15. [;)]
But that's another story.
As for kids, they were raised around guns.
#1 son shoots competition with me.
We have discussions covering MANY topics.
We agree on quite a few things, but NOT always.
He does have his own mind, I respect him for that.
Guns were forbidden.
I was ten when a hillbilly brother-in-law allowed me to borrow a .22 single shot. The old man was furious..but I kept plinking and shooting rabbits.
Bought my first rifle..a .303 British..when I was twelve..and killed a deer with it on the way home...12.00 at a Western Auto..and I picked it out of a stack 3 feet high and 10 feet long...
The old man ate that deer meat with relish...and the subsequent 70-80 deer over the next few years, also...
Dad told me many times..."You live by the gun...You die by the gun.." So be it. Nonsense...and he was an intelligent man.
I left home just before 15..and by the age of 18 I had 25 guns. Ran into hard times and sold the collection a bit later...and vowed to NEVER AGAIN be in that position. I trade guns today only as the spirit moves me...and "trading one off spirit" moves me less and less every day...
I have no children.However...I have taught many youngsters to shoot...I will do so ANY TIME a parent invites me to. The age to start varies with the individual child...but gun safety starts the day the child becomes cognigent.
quote:My father was a pacifist..believed in Non-Violence as a policy and practice.
Guns were forbidden.
Your father thinks he's a pacifist. A true pacifist leads his life by example, not by passive aggressive behavior towards his children, society, or any other thing. A pacifist will also kick your @$$ if you are not willing to be peaceful, as a last resort. Your dad may actually be a paranoid, or a coward.
quote:I was ten when a hillbilly brother-in-law allowed me to borrow a .22 single shot. The old man was furious..but I kept plinking and shooting rabbits.
Bought my first rifle..a .303 British..when I was twelve..and killed a deer with it on the way home...12.00 at a Western Auto..and I picked it out of a stack 3 feet high and 10 feet long...
The old man ate that deer meat with relish...and the subsequent 70-80 deer over the next few years, also...
This is quite an interesting aspect of the story, right here. Nothing to say on it, one way or the other.
quote:Dad told me many times..."You live by the gun...You die by the gun.." So be it. Nonsense...and he was an intelligent man.
I left home just before 15..and by the age of 18 I had 25 guns. Ran into hard times and sold the collection a bit later...and vowed to NEVER AGAIN be in that position. I trade guns today only as the spirit moves me...and "trading one off spirit" moves me less and less every day...
Your dad took that out of context, and I think you know that. If you insist that violence is the method of solving problems, then you are destined to be "solved" one day, but if you instead insist that some problems cannot be solved by reasoning or logic, then only one option exists.... that makes you a standard human being. What you said about intelligence, I'm sure your dad was a smart man, but the problem I have learned from being a "genius", myself (don't ask me, that's just what the testers when I was in school told me, judging by my score), when you know you are a smart person, it can become hard to accept others' advice, and you may even find yourself unwilling to accept the incontrovertible truth when it goes against your beliefs. That's just the way it is. Being willing to learn is what creates wisdom, the other aspect of human intellect.
quote:I have no children.However...I have taught many youngsters to shoot...I will do so ANY TIME a parent invites me to. The age to start varies with the individual child...but gun safety starts the day the child becomes cognigent
That's a shame, too, that you have no children. I have a daughter, myself, who doesn't live with me (yet), and her step-retard seems to believe it is OK to undermine me at every step, and it pisses him off every time Allie resists it. Poor little girl. She's only 6 years old, and he's trying to turn her into a pawn against me. He's so stupid, he can't even understand why I would be so pissed at him for it, or why I am so involved in taking her from them no good POS's.
Go figure...
But to further answer your question. I grew up in a very liberal family and was basically the first to own a gun of any signifigance. I now own more than all of them combined. I have also been married longer than most of them combined as well.
I am an absolutist perhaps on the issue of gun rights. I feel if you are such a danger to society that you cannot be trusted with a gun then you are too much of a danger to be freely roaming among the public.
I feel the federal government has no business regulating the use, or posession, of firearms whatsoever.
To expound on this. My mother is 4 times divorced, so I did grow up in a consistantly broken home. No underlying issues, all her husbands were generally good men. She typically had no issue with alot of things I did, bringing home guns,hunting, and such. At the same time she was very good about teaching one to think for oneself and taking responsibility for your actions.
Later, I talked to his younger brothers...my uncles. They grew up in rough neighborhoods in Chicago....and Dad fought OFTEN to protect the younger brothers...their own admission.
We talked often about guns...he about his dislike for them..me trying to articulate the reasons one MUST own them.
Thanks, Bunny1911! [:D]
P.S. Anyone notice how most of us came from Liberal or anti-gun parenting? What could that mean?[;)]
P.S. Anyone notice how most of us came from Liberal or anti-gun parenting? What could that mean?
Kids from the country go to the city .
City kids go to the country.
Liberals kid become conservatives.
Conservatives kids will go lib on them.
Since the 60's three generations of children have been raised by peace nic's and hippies . Now theses peace nic's and hippies are teachers and government reps . They are the anti-gunners and socialists . The surrender monkeys . The dads that are not in the homes. The moms that have bought into this feminist thing and driven the man out of the homes.
Times are a changin .
My folks went to the cities to work and left the farms . I have spent my life moving to the edge of it, getting away from what economic development has done to this country. The greed of my fellow man boggles my mind.
I have been paying attention for 60+ years . Raised 5 children 4 girls and a boy with one of these women . I did however manage to teach them all how to shoot . Now I am trying to save my grand children from the harm done by the public school systems brainwashing .
In this post I am getting to see most of you are young and learning your way. This is a good thing . Don't let yourselves be corrupted by what is happening to this country. We need good people of sound mind to run for public office. People who will not be corrupted by the system and greed of politics . The good people are to busy trying to make a living and keep ahead of what the government thinks it needs to take away from them. The more they take the more we will wakeup to what is going on around us. The government needs to take from the ones who work and give to the people that won't work , the people that along with the socialists that keep them in power. It's not the parties left or right, one is worst than the other. It's a mind set , it's power over others that makes them tic. I am from the government and I am here to help myself to your life to own you body and sole.
Of all the thing you must learn remember this one thing . Make noise the squeaky wheel gets the grease.[8D]
A well armed society is the best form of homeland security.
Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.
A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.
Make yourselves sheep, and the wolves will eat you.
Later, I talked to his younger brothers...my uncles. They grew up in rough neighborhoods in Chicago....and Dad fought OFTEN to protect the younger brothers...their own admission.
OK, this changes things a little. Reading the first post versus this one, I have actually developed two different images of your father.
Kind of like my so-called "father". Formerly a soldier, he decided he didn't like guns, or more to the point, was tired of them. But my father is a coward. A neutered, deluded old coward, and I am ashamed that he is my father. But I am nothing like him in any of the ways that count. I am not a coward. I never abandoned my child, but he did abandon me. I am not a liar, but he is. He lets his fat, nasty wife run his life, and my life is the diametric opposite. I have a loving wife that compliments my every action and stands ready with me for everything that dares approach us.
I used to believe that "at least he didn't take away from me, even if he didn't add anything to it.", but I don't believe that, anymore. He did take away from me by not being my father. I will never understand why someone would do this to their own children, but it happens so often, now....
About dad not being there. I did hunt him up later on in life. If I had hunted him up in my teens, 20's, or 30's well... Do you remember the fight scene, in the song "A boy named Sue" (in the mud and the blood and the beer?) Well, that WOULD have been us. I was ANGRY that he had left us.
Thankfully, I waited quite a while after that, to look him up. From the way things turned out, it was a good idea that the meeting happened after we "both" had matured a bit. When it finally did happen, it went off without a hitch.
Knowing some facts about mom, and listening to what he had to say (he never put her down, but I can read between the lines....sometimes [;)]) I can not fault him for his departure.
Found out he was a police officer at one point, liked guns, and wasn't too bad with them, in his day. Overall meeting him was a "self satisfying" experience.
One other point, more pertinent to this thread. Grandma (who's house I spent some summers at) had a rifle that we used to get rid of the vermin around the place. She also carried a 38 snub nose in her purse, at ALL times. And NO, she did NOT have any kind of license to carry it. No such thing back then. Spunky lady, she was.
I shot deer to eat when I was young...lots of them. Rabbits, Squrrels, Quail.. you name it.
Grew up...and was directed towards other uses for firearms. After coming back..I hunted a bit. But the magic was gone. Killing a deer held no allure...and my hunting has nearly ended..for perhaps 30 years.
Love of guns...oddly enough, as stated...still holds a fascination such as the first time I beheld a Colt .45...making holes in paper or ringing steel..or merely spinning .22 hulls off a log still enthralls me...and the teaching of the gun is prime enjoyment for this old dog.
Any gun, any time, any place. I might argue a FEW selected instances..but damn few.
As a child things weren't much different, my mom and dad divorced when I was 5 but, to this day remain friends, I was fortunate in the fact that my dad was still there for us and continues to be today. He bought me my first gun, a Daisy Model 66o pump BB gun, probably the 700 of bb guns. He tought me safety and eventually bought me a 12 gauge shotgun at age 9. My mom asked him where he expected me to shoot it and he informed her that he would be taking me hunting. My first hunting experience was a memorable one, some of you may know the name Harold Ensley, he had a hunting and fishing show in the '70's midwest. This was who I went on my first hunting trip with, my dad, Harold Ensley and a man named Bill Skaggs, he owned a car dealership in Kansas. We went hunting Prairie Chicken in sub zero weather and had to wake up at 4:30 am. Best part of trip was gun was too heavy for me so they let me use my BB gun. I killed my first and only Prairie Chicken at 10 y.o. with my Daisy BB gun at 100 feet right through the air sac. I had one before any of the other guys did. Guns have been a part of my life ever since. My mom remarried twice and both of those men were avid gun loversso I have always been around them.
As for the youth of today, the educational system has got them and we have got to get them back quick or as Hitler once stated, "I don't need you, I have your children" will be a reality here at home. comengetit- out!
I recieved an e-mail today from another member that started me wondering. Everyone here seems firm on their gun right beliefs. What I'm curious to know however is this...
Are your opinions along the same lines as your parents? Do you plan on teaching/have you taught your children that your opinion is right or will/do you give them all the information, whether you agree with it or not, and let them make up thier own minds?
Personally, my views on not only gun rights, but quite a few topics differ greatly from my father. My mother...well, she honestly couldn't care less either way. But my father and I don't always aree on things. I was raised in a house that had one shotgun. That was broght in by my dad's second wife, and soon after moving in with him she stopped hunting all together. My father never outright said that guns should not be owned by the general public, and always encouraged me to have my own thoughts. He always seemed fine with rifles or shotguns but the first time I bought a handgun he was pretty upset. My mom was upset too, not because she thought that I shouldn't own one per-say, just because she was certain I'd shoot myself in my sleep or something. Dad seemed more dissapointed that I would buy in to that whole mentality.
It was not until well after I moved out of my father's house that I started looking into the ownership and rights involved with guns. And not until I met my husband that I truly even considered owning one. Now that I do, and now that I understand them more, I can't imagine not owning at least one.
Should I have any, I plan on raising my kids around guns of all varieties. I fully intend to teach them about the saftey of the weapons, and when they're old enough take them out to the range whenever is convenient.
I'm curious to know all of your guy's stories.
Hello, good thread.
In 1992, I lived in Long Beach, a cultural quagmire just
south of, and contiguous with, the city of Lost Angeles (for all
those unfamiliar with the geography of our "poo-heap", as a foreign friend of mine
once called it--but didn't say "poo").
In those days I was a grad student at a little local university in
that town, and I knew little and cared even less about firearms.
My father had been in the military when I was a youth,
but we always dwelled in what I now realize was a luxuriously high
level of security provided by others. "Crime" was a fable we watched
on t.v., and a gun was never in the house.
I spent teen years skipping school and surfing in an affluent
seaside city well south of L.A., utterly oblivious to the urban rot
just north of the Orange County line.
A "minority," when I was a kid, was someone who quietly, politely,
and cheaply did your lawn once a week. You said "gracias" and paid
him in cash.
There were no African-Americans where I lived or went to school
(maybe one, but I'm not sure, so I say "none").
I had no feelings one way or another toward non-whites.
Color was (and still is) an irrelevant and arbritrary personal
characteristic to me.
After drifting into Long Beach to study the most obscure topics I
could find at the local diploma mill (Latin, ancient Greek,
Sanskrit, philosophy), I entered what I soon discovered to be the
socialist/marxist/Mao-ist-dominated teaching profession, and I found
that most non-whites hated and resented whites with a virulent
passion I had only ever seen in black and white footage of KKK
rallies.
With each passing week for a few years, I became a little more
concerned and puzzled about all this hatred of whites by non-whites.
(Sorry, if any of you out there are people of color; I'm not passing
judgment, just reporting my experiences and perceptions.)
After the announcement of the verdict on the police who thoroughly
beat that wastrel Rodney King (hey, you gotta at least give them
credit for being thorough), all my puzzlement dissipated--in inverse
proportion to the increase in concern about the hatred of whites by
non-whites.
(Again, sorry, if any of you out there are people of color; I'm not
passing judgment, just reporting my experiences and perceptions.)
I had by this time come to realize that I was a potentially
"endangered species" by living amongst non-whites.
Interestingly (and fortunately), just prior to the riot period, my
younger brother had hired on with a large local LEA.
Our family at first thought he had gone cuckoo due to the "stress training" of the
academy, because he developed a POWERFUL allegiance to the cause of
the 2nd Amendment--all the more perplexing because we figured that
if he wanted to carry his weapon off duty, he could.
But he was concerned about US not him!
So we razzed him a little about becoming a "gun nut."
Then the riots came . . .
Needless to say, I heard the verdict announced over the radio and
mentioned to someone near me "L.A. is going to BURN!"
Little did I know that the mini-mall across the street from my
humble apartment WAS GOING TO BURN!!!
And needless to say, on the day of the verdict, I was humbly calling
my dear "gun nut" brother that afternoon begging to borrow guns and
ammo.
I drove out to pick up weapons, get a quick lesson in which end of
the gun to point at the BG, and then went to the store to stock up
on food, candles, and jugs of fresh water--as did the entire town of
Long Beach.
It took an hour and a half to buy 3 bags of groceries.
The store floor was wall to wall people, the store shelves looked
like they had been "Katrina-ed."
Anyway I survived.
...fast forward to the present... I am now a proud and proficient
owner of five different handguns in five different calibers, and I'm
a member of my local firing range known to all the employees...
... and I'm looking forward to getting my first shotgun and semi-
auto rifle as soon as tax season is over...
I still live in the most CCW-restrictive place in CA (outside of the city of San
Francisco): Los Angeles County.
Sheriff Lee Baca is the lone person who decides whether an ordinary
(non-LEO) person will be issued a CCW.
Baca seemingly hates guns.
He refuses to wear one in public even though he is in uniform.
He simply doesn't issue CCWs (that I know of).
The L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. website announces on the second to
last page of the online CCW application: "Remember, it is a
Privilege, not a right to carry a concealed weapon."
http://www.lasd.org/contact_us/inquiry/gen_pub_ccw_app.pdf
Baca has a Master's degree in Social Work (I've been told), and he
sees himself apparently mostly as a social worker, not someone
responsible for public safety.
The "social worker" mentality is not doing much to improve safety in
his jails or in some cities which contract with Baca for protection.
At a recent event in the City of Compton (which, for those
unfamiliar with the geography of L.A., is located within L.A. County
and basically surrounded by the City of L.A. on all sides), the
Compton Mayor Eric J. Perrodin was addressed by a member of the
audience at a community meeting. On January 11, 2006, the L.A. Times
reported the event as follows:
One speaker asked what people could do to help.
"I don't normally say this at a council meeting but the first thing
you can do is pray for us. Please pray for the city of Compton,"
Perrodin said.
Citizens, he said, must work with the sheriff to solve crimes.
"They're going to have to get involved. They're going to have to
tell who these killers are," said Perrodin... "I understand that you
might not want to testify but you have to tell the sheriff what you
know so we can put some of these killers in prison."
[end of excerpt]
So, in crime-ravaged cities seeking protection from a murder rate
that has (according to the L.A. Times article cited above) doubled
in 2005 to 80 from the 42 people reported murdered in 2004, Baca and
crew basically have three things to say to people:
1) No, you may not have a CCW-"it is a Privilege, not a right to carry a concealed weapon."
2) If you want to be safe, then "PRAY."
3) Become an unarmed informant for law enforcement against the murderers.
To make matters worse, the Supreme Court of the State of California
has essentially ruled that California law does NOT RECOGNIZE THE 2ND
AMENDMENT OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION--as is evident in the following
quote:
"...If Plaintiffs ([law-abiding] gun owners) are implying that a
right to keep and bear [legally owned and operated] arms is one of
the rights recognized in the California Constitution's declaration
of rights THEY ARE SIMPLY WRONG. No mention is made in it of a right
to keep and bear arms." ( Kasler v. Lockyer 2000 )
"Lockyer" is CA's state attorney general.
He hates guns too.
If you live in CA and support the 2nd Amendment, you might want to
get involved in changing the law here.
Here is info. by and about an organization I just found out about
(but do not YET belong to):
"Amending the California Constitution is the best way to restore
respect for the rights of law abiding gun owners. It will also
undermine attempts by local jurisdictions to restrict your right to
keep and bear arms. Candidates for political office will also find
that this initiative represents one of the best issues upon which to
base their campaign for office. ( Remember how Al Gore lost his own
state of Tennessee in 2000? ) The Democrats have learned that
hostility to gun rights can lose an election. We think supporting
gun rights can win one. We need volunteers to put this issue
directly to the voters. As a volunteer you will play a pivotal role
in making this initiative a reality at the county level. Our goal is
850,000 signatures of registered voters in California and we can
only achieve this with your help!"
http://www.tacr.us/ [The Alliance for Civil Rights]
The Proposition:
The inalienable right to defend life and liberty as set forth in
Article I, Section 1 of the California Constitution includes the
fundamental right of each person to keep and bear arms for the
defense of self, family and home. This right shall not be infringed.
1. All State government action regulating the right of law-abiding
persons to acquire and possess arms for the defense of self, family
and home shall be subject to strict scrutiny, in the same respect as
the freedoms of speech and of the press. All county, city and local
government action on this subject is preempted by state law and this
Amendment.
2. This Amendment does not limit the State from regulating the
acquisition and possession of arms by: felons, minors, the mentally
incompetent, and any person subject to restraining orders based upon
their own violent conduct.
Anyway, my folks still live in relative security and have not taken up arms.
My brother, sister and I have all gotten more "conservative" than our parents ever were.
As for 2nd Amendment issues, bro, sis, and I are all PRO-2nd-Amendment.
The folks never were PRO-2nd-Amendment and are only now giving lukewarm consideration to the idea of owning firearms.
The three offspring are very different from the parents in these two respects.
[8D]
Odd thing.
I shot deer to eat when I was young...lots of them. Rabbits, Squrrels, Quail.. you name it.
Grew up...and was directed towards other uses for firearms. After coming back..I hunted a bit. But the magic was gone. Killing a deer held no allure...and my hunting has nearly ended..for perhaps 30 years.
Love of guns...oddly enough, as stated...still holds a fascination such as the first time I beheld a Colt .45...making holes in paper or ringing steel..or merely spinning .22 hulls off a log still enthralls me...and the teaching of the gun is prime enjoyment for this old dog.
Any gun, any time, any place. I might argue a FEW selected instances..but damn few.
I still do. It never held any sort of challenge or thrill or anything, really. I wanted to eat, and they supplied me with food, and that is where it ends. I don't have a single deer head on my wall, or any other thing from the taxidermist on display in my house. I did keep the racks of a few deer, figuring that I killed them, so I will make use of everything I got from them, and I do have the hides from many of them, also. More importantly, I have food.
It isn't a sport to me.
I got into hunting after college, the old man didnt approve. Said something like "I dont believe you should kill anything for fun(foget about the fact that he was an avid fisherman, and wouldnt even throw the small ones back in).
He would always ask me how my hunting was going, even though he didnt approve, got excited when I would tell him of game that I bagged.
Eventually he wound up giving me his rifle and shotgun.
quote:Originally posted by bunny1911
I recieved an e-mail today from another member that started me wondering. Everyone here seems firm on their gun right beliefs. What I'm curious to know however is this...
Are your opinions along the same lines as your parents? Do you plan on teaching/have you taught your children that your opinion is right or will/do you give them all the information, whether you agree with it or not, and let them make up thier own minds?
Personally, my views on not only gun rights, but quite a few topics differ greatly from my father. My mother...well, she honestly couldn't care less either way. But my father and I don't always aree on things. I was raised in a house that had one shotgun. That was broght in by my dad's second wife, and soon after moving in with him she stopped hunting all together. My father never outright said that guns should not be owned by the general public, and always encouraged me to have my own thoughts. He always seemed fine with rifles or shotguns but the first time I bought a handgun he was pretty upset. My mom was upset too, not because she thought that I shouldn't own one per-say, just because she was certain I'd shoot myself in my sleep or something. Dad seemed more dissapointed that I would buy in to that whole mentality.
It was not until well after I moved out of my father's house that I started looking into the ownership and rights involved with guns. And not until I met my husband that I truly even considered owning one. Now that I do, and now that I understand them more, I can't imagine not owning at least one.
Should I have any, I plan on raising my kids around guns of all varieties. I fully intend to teach them about the saftey of the weapons, and when they're old enough take them out to the range whenever is convenient.
I'm curious to know all of your guy's stories.
Hello, good thread.
In 1992, I lived in Long Beach, a cultural quagmire just
south of, and contiguous with, the city of Lost Angeles (for all
those unfamiliar with the geography of our "poo-heap", as a foreign friend of mine
once called it--but didn't say "poo").
In those days I was a grad student at a little local university in
that town, and I knew little and cared even less about firearms.
My father had been in the military when I was a youth,
but we always dwelled in what I now realize was a luxuriously high
level of security provided by others. "Crime" was a fable we watched
on t.v., and a gun was never in the house.
I spent teen years skipping school and surfing in an affluent
seaside city well south of L.A., utterly oblivious to the urban rot
just north of the Orange County line.
A "minority," when I was a kid, was someone who quietly, politely,
and cheaply did your lawn once a week. You said "gracias" and paid
him in cash.
There were no African-Americans where I lived or went to school
(maybe one, but I'm not sure, so I say "none").
I had no feelings one way or another toward non-whites.
Color was (and still is) an irrelevant and arbritrary personal
characteristic to me.
After drifting into Long Beach to study the most obscure topics I
could find at the local diploma mill (Latin, ancient Greek,
Sanskrit, philosophy), I entered what I soon discovered to be the
socialist/marxist/Mao-ist-dominated teaching profession, and I found
that most non-whites hated and resented whites with a virulent
passion I had only ever seen in black and white footage of KKK
rallies.
With each passing week for a few years, I became a little more
concerned and puzzled about all this hatred of whites by non-whites.
(Sorry, if any of you out there are people of color; I'm not passing
judgment, just reporting my experiences and perceptions.)
After the announcement of the verdict on the police who thoroughly
beat that wastrel Rodney King (hey, you gotta at least give them
credit for being thorough), all my puzzlement dissipated--in inverse
proportion to the increase in concern about the hatred of whites by
non-whites.
(Again, sorry, if any of you out there are people of color; I'm not
passing judgment, just reporting my experiences and perceptions.)
I had by this time come to realize that I was a potentially
"endangered species" by living amongst non-whites.
Interestingly (and fortunately), just prior to the riot period, my
younger brother had hired on with a large local LEA.
Our family at first thought he had gone cuckoo due to the "stress training" of the
academy, because he developed a POWERFUL allegiance to the cause of
the 2nd Amendment--all the more perplexing because we figured that
if he wanted to carry his weapon off duty, he could.
But he was concerned about US not him!
So we razzed him a little about becoming a "gun nut."
Then the riots came . . .
Needless to say, I heard the verdict announced over the radio and
mentioned to someone near me "L.A. is going to BURN!"
Little did I know that the mini-mall across the street from my
humble apartment WAS GOING TO BURN!!!
And needless to say, on the day of the verdict, I was humbly calling
my dear "gun nut" brother that afternoon begging to borrow guns and
ammo.
I drove out to pick up weapons, get a quick lesson in which end of
the gun to point at the BG, and then went to the store to stock up
on food, candles, and jugs of fresh water--as did the entire town of
Long Beach.
It took an hour and a half to buy 3 bags of groceries.
The store floor was wall to wall people, the store shelves looked
like they had been "Katrina-ed."
Anyway I survived.
...fast forward to the present... I am now a proud and proficient
owner of five different handguns in five different calibers, and I'm
a member of my local firing range known to all the employees...
... and I'm looking forward to getting my first shotgun and semi-
auto rifle as soon as tax season is over...
I still live in the most CCW-restrictive place in CA (outside of the city of San
Francisco): Los Angeles County.
Sheriff Lee Baca is the lone person who decides whether an ordinary
(non-LEO) person will be issued a CCW.
Baca seemingly hates guns.
He refuses to wear one in public even though he is in uniform.
He simply doesn't issue CCWs (that I know of).
The L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. website announces on the second to
last page of the online CCW application: "Remember, it is a
Privilege, not a right to carry a concealed weapon."
http://www.lasd.org/contact_us/inquiry/gen_pub_ccw_app.pdf
Baca has a Master's degree in Social Work (I've been told), and he
sees himself apparently mostly as a social worker, not someone
responsible for public safety.
The "social worker" mentality is not doing much to improve safety in
his jails or in some cities which contract with Baca for protection.
At a recent event in the City of Compton (which, for those
unfamiliar with the geography of L.A., is located within L.A. County
and basically surrounded by the City of L.A. on all sides), the
Compton Mayor Eric J. Perrodin was addressed by a member of the
audience at a community meeting. On January 11, 2006, the L.A. Times
reported the event as follows:
One speaker asked what people could do to help.
"I don't normally say this at a council meeting but the first thing
you can do is pray for us. Please pray for the city of Compton,"
Perrodin said.
Citizens, he said, must work with the sheriff to solve crimes.
"They're going to have to get involved. They're going to have to
tell who these killers are," said Perrodin... "I understand that you
might not want to testify but you have to tell the sheriff what you
know so we can put some of these killers in prison."
[end of excerpt]
So, in crime-ravaged cities seeking protection from a murder rate
that has (according to the L.A. Times article cited above) doubled
in 2005 to 80 from the 42 people reported murdered in 2004, Baca and
crew basically have three things to say to people:
1) No, you may not have a CCW-"it is a Privilege, not a right to carry a concealed weapon."
2) If you want to be safe, then "PRAY."
3) Become an unarmed informant for law enforcement against the murderers.
To make matters worse, the Supreme Court of the State of California
has essentially ruled that California law does NOT RECOGNIZE THE 2ND
AMENDMENT OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION--as is evident in the following
quote:
"...If Plaintiffs ([law-abiding] gun owners) are implying that a
right to keep and bear [legally owned and operated] arms is one of
the rights recognized in the California Constitution's declaration
of rights THEY ARE SIMPLY WRONG. No mention is made in it of a right
to keep and bear arms." ( Kasler v. Lockyer 2000 )
"Lockyer" is CA's state attorney general.
He hates guns too.
If you live in CA and support the 2nd Amendment, you might want to
get involved in changing the law here.
Here is info. by and about an organization I just found out about
(but do not YET belong to):
"Amending the California Constitution is the best way to restore
respect for the rights of law abiding gun owners. It will also
undermine attempts by local jurisdictions to restrict your right to
keep and bear arms. Candidates for political office will also find
that this initiative represents one of the best issues upon which to
base their campaign for office. ( Remember how Al Gore lost his own
state of Tennessee in 2000? ) The Democrats have learned that
hostility to gun rights can lose an election. We think supporting
gun rights can win one. We need volunteers to put this issue
directly to the voters. As a volunteer you will play a pivotal role
in making this initiative a reality at the county level. Our goal is
850,000 signatures of registered voters in California and we can
only achieve this with your help!"
http://www.tacr.us/ [The Alliance for Civil Rights]
The Proposition:
The inalienable right to defend life and liberty as set forth in
Article I, Section 1 of the California Constitution includes the
fundamental right of each person to keep and bear arms for the
defense of self, family and home. This right shall not be infringed.
1. All State government action regulating the right of law-abiding
persons to acquire and possess arms for the defense of self, family
and home shall be subject to strict scrutiny, in the same respect as
the freedoms of speech and of the press. All county, city and local
government action on this subject is preempted by state law and this
Amendment.
2. This Amendment does not limit the State from regulating the
acquisition and possession of arms by: felons, minors, the mentally
incompetent, and any person subject to restraining orders based upon
their own violent conduct.
Anyway, my folks still live in relative security and have not taken up arms.
My brother, sister and I have all gotten more "conservative" than our parents ever were.
As for 2nd Amendment issues, bro, sis, and I are all PRO-2nd-Amendment.
The folks never were PRO-2nd-Amendment and are only now giving lukewarm consideration to the idea of owning firearms.
The three offspring are very different from the parents in these two respects.
[8D]
Excellent, excellent post. Kinda long, but well structured and overflowing with insight and intelligent thinking and decision making. Worth the read by far. Might want to think about not posting in red though because that makes it a little harder to read.
My brother, sister and I have all gotten more "conservative" than our parents ever were.
As for 2nd Amendment issues, bro, sis, and I are all PRO-2nd-Amendment.
The folks never were PRO-2nd-Amendment and are only now giving lukewarm consideration to the idea of owning firearms.
The three offspring are very different from the parents in these two respects.
[8D][/red][/size=4][/font=Times New Roman]
[/quote]
Excellent, excellent post. Kinda long, but well structured and overflowing with insight and intelligent thinking and decision making. Worth the read by far. Might want to think about not posting in red though because that makes it a little harder to read.
[/quote]
Thanks, Mr. Fox.
Another reader commented similarly about another FLASHING NEON post I did.
Sorry.
I'm nearsighted, so I keep thinking I'm doing everyone a favor by posting these firetruck red posts in jumbo size font.
I edited my post.
Feel free to edit my posts when you quote them.
As for the length, I wanted to show how a person could start out with no understanding of firearms or the need for the 2nd Amendment and wind up where I am now in life.
The funny thing is that I was sort of "liberal" before I went to college and moved to the inner city--BOY HOWDY DID THAT EVER CHANGE!!!
[:p]