Guns?
 

A friends neighbour (who's a cop) recently put the fear of god into them by telling lots of horrific story's of the awful things he sees when he's on his rounds. He has told them everyone should have a gun and they are crazy if they don't. It's got them convinced and they are going to take trips to his shooting range to test some out. I think owning a gun is madness, the sheer idea of having one in the house terrifies me. I don't buy the protection argument, if someone creeps into your house you aren't going to have time to get your gun and shoot them. I think you are far more likely to either be shot with it yourself or accidentally shoot a member of your own family.

I knew before i moved here that lots of Americans are very comfortable owning guns or rifles but i have been surprised at my severity of my reaction to the mere thought of owning a gun. I'm sure i need to stop thinking of them in UK terms, (it never crossed my mind that any of my UK neighbours may have owned a fire arm) and I do wonder if i should just get used to the fact that a large number of people do have weapons.

I guess it got me wondering how many of us ex-pats have become used the the level of gun ownership here and if so have you got any tips how i can become less worried by the fact that my neighbours are probably sleeping with a loaded gun in their bedside cabinets!

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At the driving range?

I think the golf club will have something to say about that.

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ahhhh yes - that would be the shooting range! :o

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Do you worry that your neighbours are sleeping with a drawer full of deadly knives in their kitchens as well? What about the potentially lethal weapons that sit on your drive known as cars? The big problem is not the object but the person using it. Would you be happy with someone who cant drive jumping into a car and trying to drive it near you? Except of course most British people have never had exposure to firearms - except the Hollywood kind - and so have an inate fear bourne more out of ignorance than anything else.

I have owned and used firearms professionally and personally since I was a teenager. My wife and daughter both know how to use and most importantly BE SAFE WITH my firearms and they regularly attend the local range with me to shoot.

The best thing you could do to help allay your fears would be to attend a firearms introduction and safety course with a very good instructor. Before we moved here my wife had never had touched or seen a firearm personally. She now is happy around them and using them.

Oh and yes, I am a British ex-pat.

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When I first got the US I was very anti-gun, and living in loony liberal Los Angeles, almost every American I know agrees. But then I met somebody the other week who owns a couple of guns. He keeps them locked away in a metal box that's bolted to the floor of his closet and takes them out once a week when he goes to the range and shoots. For a large number of people, shooting is a relatively benign hobby. Living in a downtown highrise and keeping a loaded automatic rifle next to the bed is, however, complete madness. As is having a loaded .38 wrapped up in yor underwear draw when you have kids running around the house. Regulation regarding the classification of weapons, their puchase and storage, should be really tightened up, but I'm finding my stance on gun ownership in principle relaxing a little.

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Ah, the good old deadly car turnaround. lol

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And both would be illegal.

Fully automatic weapons are federally banned and the law (in most states) is that if a child is likely to bea ble to get hold of your weapon(s) they must either be locked up, safety locked, or Stored unloaded.

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I think most people the whole US gun thing is a little exaggerated for TV. It's not nearly as bad as it's portrayed, unless you go to a really bad area.

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Not a turn around, simply putting it into perspective for the British sensibilities...we are used to cars so ignore them, we are not (generally) used to firearms so they are brought to the forefront

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My views and experience with firearms since moving to the US are covered in a thread I began last year. Here's the link .




NC Penguin

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Thanks, I couldnt find that to post.

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Then how do all those truck drivers I saw in Nebraska have guns just sitting on their dashboards?

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Being comfortable about firearms is one adjustment I absolutely refuse to make. Guns are implements for the purpose of killing or harming, pure and simple. It's part of the awful hypocrisy of the US government that they allow ready ownership of these weapons, yet in the next breath talk about God and Christianity. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!! How can anybody bear it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

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You make a good point. A gun is only meant for one thing - unless you're shooting for sport which I suspect most people aren't.

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Could be a state thing. I think all states have different laws for transporting firearms.

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Thankyou - thats a very interesting post :)

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because you cannot carry a concealed weapon in Nebraska..:)

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The funniest arguement in favor of gun ownership is the old "it's not guns that kill, it's people" (If it hasn't been said in this thread yet, it will eventually)

I think you'll find that it's not nuclear wepons that kill, but the people that press the ignition button. It's not heroin that kills but the person pushing on the syringe plunger. It's not Sarin Nerve Gas that kills, but the person who pulls the pin on the cannister. Most objects designed for the sole purpose of killing are pretty harmless when left untouched on a shelf. They are banned however, because when a human being start playing with them, bad things happen.

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I don't really have a problem with them, much rather know that if someone had a gun, that they were able to go to a range and train how to use it though.

Don't need a license to own a gun in maine unless your buying/selling in a gun shop and it's a new weapon...but pistols aren't really that big a deal over here, plenty of rifles and shotguns, and some really scary monster cross bows...big cross bow hunting seasons in maine...and there's still quite a few accidents because people aren't say using them, more often because there drunk...still can't see how you can mistake someone wearing those dayglo orange jackets for a deer though :D

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Because I assume they dont have many unsupervised children driving round in the trucks?

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You are correct on every count. All inanimate objects are just that until someone uses them. I most definitely wouldnt need a gun to kill you if you attacked me.

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Next time put a smily, or I may start taking you seriously.

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I dont believe in them. I prefer the enigma that comes with not using them...am I serious or not? Who knows.

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Your breath is THAT bad ?

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other end.

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Mr Sibsie has a collection of all of those. He's a prolific deer hunter and pretty good at it judging by our freezer. I was anti gun when I moved here and anti hunting. Of course I knew bugger all about it at the time. I've since changed my opinion, though I always wear a bright orange reflective saddle cloth and helmet when I go riding in the woods during the season.

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Like most things people complain about in the States, it depends on where you are.

The only guns I've seen here are my father-in-laws and he only uses them for shooting rattlesnakes (although he has threatened to use one on me once or twice).

We hear the odd one or two go off during deer hunting season, but that's it.

I haven't felt the urge to buy one, so I won't. I wouldn't trust myself with one. Most people around here have grown up around them so to them it's not an issue.

My experience so far has been minimal, and I like it that way.

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...so that they only shoot the horse? Mmmm... horse burgers... a la Francais!

I was once told the story of Emperor Wilhelm II who is said to have shot a courtier he disliked in the arm while out hunting deer. As the courtier lay wounded Wilhelm walked up and the courtier asked "But sire, when you took aim I shouted "I'm not the deer""

...to which Wilhelm is supposed to have replied "I'm dreadfully sorry. I could have sworn you shouted "I am the deer"

:)

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Dayum but I hope not. Having massive great Murphy horse shot and falling on me would make for Pancake a la Sibsie. :eek:

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Im sorry but I now have one hell of a mental picture...and its nowt to do with horses.

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OK. Thanks for sharing your fantasy... :p



NC Penguin

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Your welcome....its the bright orange saddle cloth that does it.

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I didn't know whether I would feel comfortable using a firearm but having had the training, plus instruction from the other half who's used pistols in the past (as a teenager, all legally of course), I'm feel I can trust myself with firearms. Regular practise all helps tremendously. No point having firearms without practise to at least keep up skills.

<<snip>>



NC Penguin

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But when do you know to take a refresher course. After you blow off a toe??

:D

Regardless of how much training I had, I still wouldn't trust myself with one. Just not a weapons man. My anatomy is big enough that I don't need to substitute it with a long barrel.

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That's what visits to the shooting range is all about. Also, one might be using an inappropriate caliber or pistol for one's abilities.

e.g. might be some time before I use a .45.

Definitely not an anatomy thing for me. Don't see myself a a Dirty Harry (or should that be Harriet?). :rolleyes:



NC Penguin

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I had you down as a .50 Desert Eagle kinda gal as well....one down each stocking top and one in the purse.

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Guns are an arse substitute? I never knew! ;)

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Talking of which, I assume you've all seen the cop shoot himself in the foot in front of a classroom full of school kids while teaching them about gun safety?

No?

Cop Shoots Foot

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Yeah, caught that one on eBaums world a while ago :D

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And to those who say they prefer if only criminals and cops have guns....I hope this makes you feel safer.