[V4Vendetta]

Why are they that way? Not trying to be nosy just wondering.

[Pilot]

Most of my extended family are anti, but they live in New Jersey so I don't get to see them much anymore since I moved to Colorado from PA. When I do see them, we don't get into politics. They know my position and I know theirs. If you look up blissninny sheeple in the dictionary, all their pictures are there. :(

[TimH]

Most of my friends are anti, they all seem to think guns cause violence :barf: This is the biggest reason I don't have a pistol permit. I NY you have to have "references" to get a pistol permit & they can't be relatives.

[larry starling]

Pretty much everyone on my wifes side of the family except her mother and father......There all big democratic supporters....:evil:

[Rumble]

Dad's pro; Mom is anti-but-tolerant.

Brothers are all pro. One likes guns in general, but doesn't actually like the act of shooting them, so he's "anomalous pro"; the other is all the way pro. Sister is pro.

My anomalous-pro brother's GF supports the idea that guns are only permissible for law enforcement and military. We get along okay; but we don't talk gun politics.

[Nitrogen]

Yo.
Most of my immidate family are pretty big Anti's, and a few of my coworkers are as well. My mom, and most of her family are rabid anti's. (I've posted about them on here before.)
My father is neutral. My sister, on the other hand, is going shooting with me next time I see her. :D :neener:

Most of my family are anti's just out of ignorance. They watch TV, see the anti-gun messages, and have never handled one in their lives. Concequently, they believe that guns are like a combination of an unstable bottle of nitroglycerin and Hans Christian Anderson's Red Shoes. If anyone touches them, the evil nature of the gun will posess the user; sending them on a massive killing spree at the slightest provocation.
Somehow, they also believe that having a law enforcement badge helps keep the evil nature of the firearm at bay. :uhoh:

My family are your stereotypical hippies. The stories I could tell you...

They are my family, and I love 'em, even though they are a bit odd. Keeps life interesting.

[1911JMB]

I'd say everybody here. The US is deeply divided on gun rights.

[CAS700850]

The in-laws through both my marriage and my brother's marriage. At least my wife saw I was not changing, and married me anyways. She's not ever going to carry herself, but on a few occassions, she's been glad I did. On the other hand, I cannot even begin to convince her family of a handgun's worth. And, worst of all, my sister-in-law made my brother get rid of his guns. Good news: I picked up a Beretta 92 FS and a Taurus .357 at no cost. Bad news is how I got them. I'll give them back to him as soon as he asks.

[P-35/53]

My brother is an anti. The funny thing is he owns guns , I tried to pay for an NRA membership for him about 20 years ago and he went ballistic claiming that the NRA sought out and defended killers. When I asked where he got this info he became angry and accused me of trying to confuse him. He says not all people should be able to own guns . He also is a yellow dog Democrat and when I ask him about the Democrats gun control postion he said he supports more gun control- just on certain people. Sometimes I wonder if he just likes to take the opposite veiw of me. Needless to say we do not talk much and never on Politics or Guns past shooting small talk.

[V4Vendetta]

"my sister-in-law made my brother get rid of his guns."

:D :neener: Sorry to laugh but stories like this just tickle my funny bone. If I was your brother, she'd come home one day to her clothes on the curb & a note that said her shoe collection was at the goodwill store.:D And folks wonder why I never wish to marry.:rolleyes: I'm glad that you'd be willing to give them back to your brother. That shows to me that your a honorable guy.

[Dave Bean]

I'm surrounded by sheeple everywhere, but what do you expect living in NY and working in NJ for the last 7 years?

These people will rely upon the government, too bad they never learned the lessons of New Orleans.

They are anti's until the moment they feel threatened. Once my anti friend and I were walking thru a bad neighborhood, he knew I wasn't carrying, but he said that I wish on that particular day. When he doesn't feel threatened (read: good neighborhood) he's arguing with me on the purpose of carrying.

Hypocrites.

Dave Bean

[CZTom]

I'm pretty much the first in my family to really get serious about guns, but fortunately for me the rest of my family is more or less neutral on the subject, or at least not openly hostile. We did find an old Saturday night special .22 in my Dad's drawer after he passed away, but if he ever fired it I don't know about it (which is probably just as well- didn't look very well made). My Mom was surprised, said she never knew he had it.
My oldest son has a Springfield XD. His wife is an anti, makes him keep it locked up all the time. They have young kids, so her concern is certainly understandable. But I told my son at least you have one gun, and when your wife is against 'em getting that first one is the toughest. I think she'll come around eventually, just needs educating.

[sm]

Put it this way...I fired most of my family and a whole slew of folks that called themselves my friends.

[Double Naught Spy]

The only relative I know that has definitively discussed with me his anti-gun considerations is the person who taught me to shoot, my father.

With that said, my father is a pragmatic anti-gun person. He was an MP in the military and has another 21 years as a police officer in Dallas. His perspective is this, as paraphrased from memory...

I don't like guns. I don't think people should have guns. As long as criminals have guns, then I am not about to give up mine.

I respect his sentiment about guns, in large part because he seems to understand the true condition of society and in one manner, is very pro gun in the sense that he recognizes the need for guns to aid in the self defense of law-abiding citizens against criminals. No doubt that a lot of his opinion and understanding of society stemmed from his work in law enforcement.

[Hemicuda]

I must be the lucky one... my GF was anti (i fixed that) my mom, sis and dad all carry, and all shoot, and at my last family reunion, my great uncle (great in more ways than one!) organized a shoot-off, skeet, target pistol, target rifle, and .22 and bb gun for everyone...

[MrTwigg]

But I have a few "friends" who insist my collection is an "arsenal". I was just talking with one of them (Whom I haden't seen in a few years.) earlier and mentioned I just bought my son his first "real" gun (Marlin Model 60) and that we brought home two bricks of .22's

"What's a brick?" he asked. "500" rounds I replied. "What the hell is he going to do with A THOUSAND BULLETS ?!?! :banghead:

"Er, ...have fun." I said. I explained that he forgot how fast we went through .22's when we were kids - he seemed to forget we grew up together. Kinda makes me wonder why I still talk to these kinds of people.

There's hope for him tho, he's agreed to go to the club with me for some trap shooting.

Just when does a "collection" become an "arsenal" anyway ? :scrutiny:

[ralphie98]

My whole family, as far as I know, likes guns. I'm still tap dancing around the issue with my in-laws though. They should have picked up some hints by now that I own guns but I'm not ready to discuss the part about me carrying. Most of my friends seem to like guns, except for one. I took him to the range once, and he had an OK time, but didn't catch "the bug" as he said and still doesn't agree with me carrying or even owning guns. I'm glad its not up to him... :neener:

[Strings]

>Just when does a "collection" become an "arsenal" anyway ?<

Depends on who you ask...

anti: if you have more than one gun, you have an arsenal
pro: if you have a room, closed by a steel door, that is full of guns

[Krenn]

Actually, preliminary plans for my home call for such a door, but I wouldn't call it an ARSENAL.... more of a walk-in small arms locker...

now if you have a DEDICATED, STAND ALONE, BUILDING with steel doors, THAT might be called an arsenal.

[Taurus 66]

I used to have specific anti-gun family and friends. They are no longer people I care to associate with, and it's not just because of their hate for firearms (but perhaps 50% of the reason), it's the fact that a few have refused to pay back loans, and others got involved with drugs. I want to keep a clean record. This in combination with that was the icing.

[Nitrogen]

How many of you won't associate with people who are Anti's?

I personally think this is kind of silly. To me, it's like not associating with people of different religions, or differing political opinions. As long as they can deal with who *I* am, I can deal with who they are.

Life gets boring if you only hang out with people who are 100% likeminded.

If I did that, i'd never have been introduced to RKBA at all.

[PGroenewold]

I had a few friends and relatives who weren't so much antis as they were agnostic about firearms. A few of them even owned one or two guns, but really didn't use them actively. I remember the retorts I got when I mentioned my AR: "What can you hunt with an 'assault' rifle? Don't you need a permit for that thing? Why does a civilian need to own one of those?!!"

Interestingly, their comments changed after we spent some range time together. I can think of only one person I've invited to the range who didn't have a great time. Some of them saved their targets so they could show their friends. Others told of showing off the fresh bruises on their shoulders!

The only one who didn't enjoy it was my bride. She comes from a big-time hunting family, and she rarely gives me a hard time about my collection. Heck, she even bought me a Springfield Garand for Christmas last year. But she just doesn't get into shooting. Oh well... she doesn't force me to go into the Coach leather store or the bead stores with her, so I consider that a fair trade.

[Larry Ashcraft]

One sis-in-law who is an anti, not raised by my FIL or MIL. She lives in California, Monterrey to be exact. She wants more gun control because she had neighbors who were felons, drug dealers, and had "machine guns".

I asked her exactly which gun laws her neighbors would obey, since they were already breaking several. I thought a light came on.

But I was probably mistaken, since she made the statement "Larry was cheering during the Columbine incident" after that. The single nastiest statement ever made that was directed toward me.

She has been conditioned by being raised in California all her life. Not her fault, I guess, but I will never forgive her for that statement.

One less sister I guess, Sandy agrees with me (and Sandy carries).

[The-Fly]

Both my parents. One brother is a tad anti, the other doesnt really care either way. My parents are appalled that i have a ccw and enjoy hunting birds, praire dogs, etc, which makes it all the more fun :neener:

[cbsbyte]

I only know a handful of pro gun people. Even so, In the long run it really does not matter if my family is anti or not since they are still my only family that I love. I would not trade my good friends, even if they don't like guns, for a thousand pro gun people who I never met.

[Croyance]

My family. They grew up during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong (and lived through British occupation for that matter). They saw the second abuse their power beating up on locals, they saw the first kill from boredom.

[Ruger451]

Yeah, my family is mostly ok. Dad owns, I shoot w/ my brother and my mom "says no" but doesn't really care.
My girlfriend and her family, on the other hand, man, what a nightmare. I live with my girlfriend and her younger sister in a house owned by their parents, all of whom are super-anti. My girlfriend doesn't care about me going to the range, but she is flipping her lid over ownership. It completely cracks me up to think that her father, mother, three sisters, and her all think that a gun could be at all dangerous from inside a locked safe.:scrutiny: But whatever, we'll figure it out, or we won't/:banghead:

[MedGrl]

I have 3 very anti friends. One of them is a complete pacifist. I am slowly wining him over though. He asked me what the feeling i get whn I shoot a gun is...he is very much into how emotions rule ups and was trying to guage my "intent". I told him It was just fun to shoot. and that i knew if it came down to it I would be able to defend myself though i pry to God it never will come to me having to use lethal force. He seemes to be thinking about that and I've an open invitation to all of my friends to come to the range with me. The other two won't tell me why they are against guns and I have gotten them to stop trying to convince me that guns are bad by saying we should just agree to dissagree at this point. BUt...mabey i can get them to the range with me eventualy.

[stevelyn]

Had some anti family membersand aquantances.....never friends, but I disowned disassociated myself from them all long ago.:p

[TexasRifleman]

I have a brother-in-law that's completely afraid of guns.

The topic came up once that I carried all the time, he asked me to leave his house since I was carrying since I might shoot the dog or something I guess.
His father in law stood up to leave as well (he's a Deputy Sherrif in Colorado). He said he was also carrying and was leaving. The brother-in-law said it was OK for him since he was a cop. We both left together and neither of us will go back.

I asked him how he would defend his wife against an attacker. He told me that since he played Rugby at an Ivy League school he could take anyone that tried. :rolleyes:

I left, but I heard later that his wife, my sister-in-law, ripped him a new one over not being able to protect her. Seems she'd never thought of it before and found his arrogance to be too much.

She contacted me and asked me to go with her to pick out a handgun. She now owns a Ladysmith and has it hidden from him in case SHE has to protect the home.

I just don't get it.

[TrafficMan]

some folks that i work with are anti, but i just avoid discussing politics with them.

Dad is pro, Grandpa is pro. Sister is indifferent...espescially after her boyfriend blew his head off with a 12ga. :(

most of my buddies aren't gun owners, but they like guns.

[danurve]

My sister was a rabid anti. We went round and round about hunting as well. She even started to talk to the rest of my family about my evil ways. Well most of them ignored her, so what, there are to many deer around here anyways kind of attitude. Well my kids got wind of her goings on and basicaly told her; look your not our parent, don't pretend to be one, we support what our dad does and if you don't wise up your not going to see us anymore.

These days she asks how my 'catch' or season went.

[Just_a_dude_with_a_gun]

Yep. My wife is anti-gun, and a card carrying liberal. Thankfully for her, she's also anti-divorce. Guns are legal, and I am licensed, and she'll live with it, or live elsewhere.

It was the only time we'd ever disagreed on a household issue, and also the only time I had ever told "what was what", and "how things are gonna be". It doesn't hurt that we had just been burglarized....

I am also in NJ, working in NYC. Surrounded by squeamish whining victims, and illegally armed thugs. Sometimes If I look too hard, or think too much about it, this place really does suck.

[IllHunter]

Hey I grew up in NYC and there are alot of liberals there!

[SeanSw]

My father and mother are both anti, but nowwhere near as vehemently against guns as my sister is. Both parents have moral issues with violence of any type (and we all know that guns=violence....) and my sister is a diehard liberal activist, being well known in these areas for her activism.

Interestingly enough, both sets of grandparents, who are not exactly gun enthusiasts, didn't instill this anti-gun attitude on their children. They are still quite accepting of firearms and didn't bat an eye at hearing I had been purchasing firearms. My grandfather who passed away when I was very young even had a membership at my sportsman's club about 25 years before I did, and I never knew until mentioning my new membership to my grandmother.

Naturally, there's still that one estranged uncle who moved out west in his youth, hoarding away firearms and making moonshine in the mountains..... I can thank him for my first foray into firearms!

[V4Vendetta]

"He told me that since he played Rugby at an Ivy League school he could take anyone that tried"


My mom says the same thing. She wouldn't mind kicking a BG or punching him, but using a gun would be evil:rolleyes: . I'm not giving up on her yet. That's what families do. I tell her that in the event of something going really bad*, I know who's house she will run to:) .


Civil unrest, military coup, natural disaster & zombie insurrection.

['Card]

This is probably connected with the fact that both my wife and I are from rural areas in southern West Virginia, but I can't think of anyone on either side of our family that I would consider "anti-gun."

I mean... there are degrees to it. Obviously some people are so pro-gun that they think if you're not armed-to-the-teeth 100% of the time then you're clearly the worst brand of card-carrying liberal pinko... Most of my relatives probably wouldn't see much point in concealed carry, and probably don't own and aren't interested in owning a pistol, but just about all of them own a hunting rifle or two and a shotgun.

[M.E.Eldridge]

I don't know of any friends or relatives who is anti-gun enough to try to spread the BS behind their cause. I don't really associate with anti-gun people because I can't stand them. They're always a bunch of whiny, America hating,liberal tree-huggers:barf: .

[tellner]

Relatives who are anti?

My parents, but they don't give me any grief over it.
My sisters, and they do to the point where the youngest one will never allow me in her house again since I once brought a pocket knife in. I have cut off all relations with them until that changes.

Friends who are anti?

None that I know of. Friends I have a choice about...

[PlayboyPenguin]

Most of my family are very pro-gun. All of them hunt or shoot for sport. They are also all democrats. The only exceptions were my grandfather and one of my aunts who both despised guns. Both were hard core republicans. Politics has little to do with gun ownership. In fact I read a story about one of the past census' findings that stated the vast majority of gun owners in the USA identified themselves as democrat or independant(it was framed on the wall of a gun range I went to). I myself am a registered republican but find myself at odds with the party alot since the mid 90's. I keep my love of gun and my more liberal social politics and my more conservative fiscal politics seperate from one another.

[gearbox]

My good friend is anti-gun and I actually debated it with him and his best friend (who is also my friend and at the time he was pro-gun). In the end he stuck to his guns and refused to believe that so many Americans are gun owners, that so many times per year a gun is used to stop crime, that the chances of a gun owner having his gun used against him is 100% related to will and resolve.
Two days after 9/11 he said "any more of this [expletive] and I'm going to get a gun." Since then we've been defending American soil well, as opposed to the Thai's, Indonesians, Britons, and Spaniards. C'est la Vive?

[Chrontius]

Mother: lawsuit-phobic. Taken her to the range; she didn't suck and asked for a half-dozen more 'free range time' coupons after that.
Sister: afraid of her own actions, to the best of my ability to tell
Father: Stopped talking about 'cop killer assault rifles' when it was pointed out that any rifle would cut through body armor designed for pistol rounds, plus a couple more logic injections. May be neutral, now. Has formally adopted a live-and-let-live worldview.

[fantacmet]

I'm 28 and live wth my mother for the time being until my degree is finished. She is anti-handgun. Although she understands the need. My sister and her husband are pro gun unless you have children. Although they do believe at the age of 8 a child should shoot a single round so they know and respect the power of one. Most of the rest of my family are mixed on it. Most are anti-handgun but pro rifle and shotgun. Go figure. Although as a whole they don't believe guns cause violence, they just don't see the need for anyone to own a handgun.

Rev. Michael

[f4t9r]

Some friends and some family. No big deal they have that right.:banghead:

[GEM]

Yep, so we don't talk about it unless we can have rational discussions. Just like I have friends who have crackpot social conservative ideas. As long as they don't rave - they are good friends.

Life is too short to not be friends with fundamentally good people if they disagree calmly and rationally about some position.