Facts is facts...

[hushdawg]

I'm really sick of the anti-gun rants.

Look, here are the facts... 11,500 people are killed each year by firearms in the USA. That sounds like a big number but when you realize that the population of the USA is over 350,000,000 that number becomes a very small percentage.

By comparison alcohol kills a lot more. There are over 75,000 people killed by

Comments

[xphilega]

Hmm. Interesting comparison.

I think the reason so many more people latch onto guns vs. alcohol is because of the intended purpose.

Alcohol (which, for the record, I gave up after marrying Y... not because of him, but because it just makes life simpler and I was never really a drinker in the first place) can be used in many ways: to relax, to socialize, to show hospitality. It is perfectly possible to have a healthy relationship with alcohol and partake in it. I know many, many, many people who have a glass of wine with dinner a few nights a week with no negative consequences.

Guns, on the other hand, were designed to kill.

Not arguing, just explaining why I (who, yes, gets upset at how easy it is to get a semiautomatic weapon.. particularly when juxtaposed with how hard it can be to get quality mental health care!) find it easier to want stricter gun control than to want stricter alcohol control.

:)

[hushdawg]

Guns are weapons. Weapons are made for two purposes: Offense and Defense.

There are over 85 million registered gun owners in the USA right now. More than 1/4 of the population is armed.

The mere fact that we do not have 85 million gun related deaths in my lifetime is evidence that gun ownership is not inherently violent or deadly.

I think the biggest problem that we have is what you touched on; the societal stigma.

[xphilega]

I agree with you. But it still... disturbs me... that 1/4 of the population is armed. Maybe it shouldn't, but it does. I feel like that fear pressures me to arm myself and I don't like it at all.

I just hate to have a tool that has no other purpose than killing or doing bodily harm to others. I may change my mind when I have a child one day (inchallah!). But... I just hate it. :(

[hushdawg]

I can't understand your fear but I respect your position. I know that there is no argument I could make that would eliminate that condition that you have placed on the idea of gun ownership.

[xphilega]

There may be some argument you could make. I don't know. I'm not an angry, un-listening, virulent anti-gun person. I just am afraid of them, and don't like that they are so easy to get for people who do use them for nefarious purposes.

[hushdawg]

It was my poorly phrased way of saying that I don't understand your viewpoint but I can respect it.

[xphilega]

Fair enough. :) I heartily return the sentiment.

[xphilega]

And I was absolutely serious about that first sentence. In some ways my viewpoint might be in the process of changing. I don't know. I really don't know how I feel about them. I'm open to listening to different perspective about it....

[hushdawg]

Well; to be fair Aishah feels the same way.. she's nervous about guns and doesn't like the idea of them so I'm not going to force her to use them. I, however, do wish to continue honing my skills with both rifle and handgun so that I can be prepared to defend our land.

If she asks to be shown how to handle a gun then I'll be happy to teach her ass will my USAF veteran parents (Mom is 5 times decorated marksman) but I will not force her.

The most dangerous thing you can do with a gun is put it into the hands of someone who is nervous about using it.