[twoblink]

I'm fairly curious what percentage of anti's have handled a gun before.

Those who don't like Sushi, have often never tried it. I'm assuming this is true for the legislative bloaks who pass laws about things they know nothing about..

(The PRK is a shining example...)

Of course, Washington DC.. Well, Mayor on crack, that's ok, but a woman wanting to protect herself, why, who does she think she is? A disgrace to society.. :rolleyes:

[WhoKnowsWho]

Well, we have seen pictures of Diane Feinstein (sp?) handling guns in all the wrong ways...

[chaim]

My dad became an anti during or just after college. He grew up on a farm in a small town in western PA. I think there is a law or something out there (or maybe just something in the water) so he certainly grew up around guns and was in fact a hunter. It just makes him all the more rabid ("I used to hunt, I've seen what guns can do") and impossible to talk to about it since he thinks he knows all there is to know about guns.

[AK103K]

I asked basicly the same thing over at DU once. Was promptly set upon. Seems they dont like being questioned about reality, just what they want to believe in, truth and knowledge be damned. Their views are the only view, and we are just hairy knuckled gun nuts. Even the few who admitted to firing a gun and liking it were called trolls and harrassed. The only answer is, guns are bad and if you change your mind, your bad too.

I've had my share of run-ins with antis both at work, and with people we know socially. To a one, every one I took shooting(and I've taken a bunch) always came away with a big, Scheiße eating grin on their faces and a different outlook on what guns are and can be used for, other than the bad things they always thought or were told. Then again, that MP5 has a way of doing that to people, even antis. I guess thats why they want to ban machineguns so bad! :D

[Baba Louie]

("I used to hunt, I've seen what guns can do")


and you always add... "In the hands of a miscreant/ner-do-well/eeeeevil-doer"... right? (j/k)

My big sister, who grew up in the same house as I (Dad has a gun or two) is vehemently anti... for no particular reason that I know of. She works for the EPA and is allowed to carry (field work... oil spills, etc) and now that Dad is old, has emphysema and has a limited time left, has decided that she must have some of the firearms that were/are supposed to be left to moi... to remember Dad by. He's somewhat torn on the issue as they've had words... serious words... on the subject over the years. i.e., after she got divorced/2 kids, she came back to live with mom and dad and gave him uber hard time about guns in the house with Her kinder living there... sigh.
I've never seen her hold one or known her to go shooting, even tho my little sister loves the "cowboy" guns that Dad has and will inherit several.

Dad and I discussed this and he asked my advice. I suggested he leave one or three of whichever he desire to my nephew and neice and take one older wall hanger, remove firing pin and leave to big sister for over the mantle in her home, thereby making it a safe club. Its a wall hanger only in that some Trap Door Springfield ammo is darned hard to find. (He has three, so don't freak too badly). Oh, and to give nephew the firing pin so that when big sis goes to that oil spill in the sky, nephew can "re-build" it to a working wall-hanger.

But then again, big sister won't eat meat either. Family get togethers are such fun ("Mom, make MY STEAK rare" :D ) I'm bad. Yet she'll eat chicken and shrimp :rolleyes:

Some people's kids. Still and all I love her.

She has the classic Jeff Cooper defined "hoplophobia", a very un-natural fear of weapons (ex-60's hippy chick donchaknow).

Adios

[Double Naught Spy]

And twoblink, just how would you go about determining the number of antis who have never handled a gun? You are looking for a census on an event that has not happened.

[MrAcheson]

Antis handle a gun? But then the evil gun spirits might possess them and make them do horrible, violent things against their will! :rolleyes:

[Baba Louie]

MrA.,

Ain't that the truth? They really fear themselves and their lack of self control in that should they actually hold an evil (shudder) gun, it'd probably be used in a nefarious manner against their will and better judgement. Of course that's a stereotypical response and I know that I should not generalize like that... but I did anyway.

Adios

[Rogelio]

Anti gun people suck!

Most have not, as happended to me about a week ago..I went with my girlfriend and another couple for an ice skating evening, I was not carrying but my friend had a Glock 25.

When he asked for a safe box (I do not think that ice skating with a small of the back holster is such a great idea) the guy at the counter told us that they had none but they could leave the gun in the shoe rack!!!!!!!:what:

Well, we told the guy he was nuts because it was a FIREARM and we asked for the manager...he just kicked us out of the place!! He said he did not like guns and was afraid of them (maybe because he has never even touched one???) and he was not going to admit one in his place of business!!

Well, long story short, he called security and said that we were ILEGALLY carrying guns (idiot, my friend showed him his license), so we had a really bad time..arrgh! He just wasted my afternoon...

By the way..great post MrAcheson!!

Anything similar happended to you guys?

[Majic]

I work with one who in the past couldn't wait for deer season to open. Then he got married and his wife laid down the law that there was to be no guns in her house. He promptly sold all his rifles and shotguns. Now he chastise me every time the subject of shooting comes up saying I have no need or use of the amount of firearms that I own. I used to debate him over it, but now just call him a henpecked hypocrite and just walk away. That really frost his gonads.

[anapex]

Well much like Chaim's father I grew up in a small town in south-western PA. And yes it's basically an unwritten rule that you atleast have to have one shotgun or one deer rifle ;) . My sisters and I grew up around guns and my dad and I went hunting every chance we got. Yet my oldest sister acts like the biggest anti in the world. I think it's more of a "my little brother can't be old enough to buy a gun yet and handle it responsibly" kind of deal more then it is a total hate for them.

Oh and "knowing what a gun can do" IMHO just makes me respect them and treat them that much better (the gun that is).

[jdege]

When you talk about Feinstein's anti-gun positions, never forget that she was there the day Dan White assassinated George Moscone and Harvey Milk.

She claims to have been among the first to reach Milk's office, after the shooting, and I have no reason to disbelieve her.

[willyjixx]

i dont know but they probably use the same arguement on why illegal narcotics should be banned. you dont have to use them to know there bad. course thats just propoganda and the reality of it is that most of the antis probably are rooting for decriminization.

hey Majic! someone got a discount on those rifles an Shotguns your "Pal" sold. they got a free pair of b____

[twoblink]

DNS..

I was actually looking for personal accounts; like "I've talked to so many anti's who've never touched a gun" or "Everybody I've talked to, even after handling a gun still fear a gun"..

As for Feinstein.. She's got a CCW!!! and she's an anti to the Nth degree!! :barf:

[lee n. field]

Well, we have seen pictures of Diane Feinstein (sp?) handling guns in all the wrong ways...

And I've seen a picture of Chuck Schumer blasting away with a sub gun of some sort, with a big grin on his face.

[willyjixx]

fineswine knows shes not a criminal. she dont know about you

[MrAcheson]

i dont know but they probably use the same arguement on why illegal narcotics should be banned.

The only problem with the drugs=guns ideology espoused on this board is that drugs do change your mental state. Unless you are dimmer than a 1 watt bulb, holding a gun will not fundamentally alter how your brain works. You might feel safer and more powerful, but thats because you are safer and more powerful.

On the other hand using narcotics will fundamentally effect how your brain operates because thats the whole point. This is not to absolve the addict of responsibility for their actions, but its the truth. People high on some drugs will do things they wouldn't or couldn't do before because parts of their brain aren't working and other parts are on overdrive. And the effects linger because of the substances many drugs leave behind.

[dfariswheel]

People are always attempting to explain or demonstrate firearms to anti-gunners.

They completely misunderstand the situation.

Whether anti's understand the difference between a real military assault rifle, and a look-alike, or the difference between a low powered round like the .223 and the 30/06, IS TOTALLY IMMATERIAL.

Anti's don't CARE about all that, they don't like guns PERIOD, and not only don't want to know all that stuff, they are actually PROUD of their lack of knowledge.

In other words: Don't try to confuse my "feelings" with the facts.

In short, anti's don't like guns, and nothing else matters. In their view, there is no possible difference in a .50 Browning M2 machine gun, and an Olympic .22 short, single shot Free pistol.
A gun is a gun, and ALL guns are evil.

Every time I see people attempting to demonstrate or explain why this gun is different from that gun, I witness an exercise in futility.

[Penforhire]

Feinstein probably has an unreasonable fear of Twinkies too...

[Hutch]

The 'wheel has hit it "right on the screws". They (anti's) in many cases are proud of their ignorance, defiantly ignorant, willfully ignorant.

There was a big USA Today spread many years ago regarding gun control. It may have been in run-up to the Brady Bill or AWB, don't remember. The editors actually made a statement in the body of one of the main articles that not only had no one in the newsroom ever handled a firearm, most didn't know ANYONE who ever had. I'm gonna go find that reference...

[waynzwld]

I knew an anti some years back that NEVER even held a gun. We were at the astronomy club (it's out in the boonies) working one day when another friend and I started talking about guns. This anti pipes up and says that he thinks all guns should be destroyed and that only the government and law enforcement should have guns. I ask him if he ever shot one. He says he never held or fired one. So, being the helpful person, I proceded to pull out my AMT 45 Backup (don't laugh, it has been 100% reliable from day one), pull the mag, clear the chamber and hand it to him. He has a really strange look on his face as he handles it and looks it over. I then ask him if he wants to shoot it, amazingly he says yes. So I let him shoot it (I only put 1 round in the mag, just in case). He proceeds to fire just one shot at 5 yards from the target (an 8-1/2"x 11" sheet of paper) and misses it entirely! I tell him to try again, but he hands the gun back to me and then says "I could never own a gun, I would get mad at someone for cutting me off in traffic and I would shoot them". "I felt so powerful with that gun in my hand, I don't think I could control myself"

In other words, all antis are clinically insane!

[Iain]

Want to hear of my revelations?

Being British haven't had much opportunity to use guns, air rifles and air pistols being about the sum of it. Not particularly anti-gun when I came here, was more interested in the reasons given for owning guns. Few weeks of posting and reading here and I support your rights to own guns and believe that your reasons are just as valid as the reasons given by the other side.

There is a point to some of what the anti-gun people say - some have actually seen the effects of guns in the wrong hands, the argument about 'guns in the right hands' notwithstanding, some have seen some pretty nasty things. Some haven't seen anything and know nothing, but it is too easy to dismiss them all as 'know nothings'.

[Penforhire]

We still end up dismissing people who've seen something. Fundamental reason, to me, is the damage a handgun does "in the wrong hands" is not any different than the damage done by a poorly driven automobile. Anyone looking to restrict guns should also be looking to restrict cars to a certain mass and engine power. And the list of dangerous items extends ad infinitum.

So in the end, an anti who's been somewhere and seen something is just as easily dismissed as a know-nothing. Responsibility should never be assigned to a properly functioning object, only a person.

[willyjixx]

thanks! you just summed up the anti's mentality!
dimmer than a 1 watt bulb, :D

[Sunray]

"...guns in the house with Her kinder living there..." Didn't you two ever get told, "My house. My rules." from your da when you were teens? That doesn't change just because she moves back in with a herd of ankle biters.
Most antis have never seen a firearm, never mind shoot one. If you can get them to go shooting they usually become instant converts.

[hso]

How high is up? How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? Somewhat fewer than all of them. It isn't that anti-gun folks haven't handled a guns it's that they're afraid and the gun isn't the issue it's the object to be focused on.

[goon]

While I feel that I may draw some fire for saying this, I feel it needs to be said anyway.
The truth is that the power of a firearm is awesome. It effectively gives each man the power of life and death over others. It also does give others the same power over him.
When I think about the worst case scenario of something going wrong while I am shooting, it scares the hell out of me. Bullets go really fast and they can't be called back. It bothers me so much that I no longer plink in the woods. Eventhough I always had a solid backstop and I almost never see other people when I am hiking, I am still uncomfortable with the thought of a stray bullet taking a chunk out of someone.
I feel that fear is necessary.
I realize the power that I wield when I fire a round of .308 downrange.
That power requires awesome responsibility to use it safely, and some are simply not up to handling that responsibility.
If that is the choice that serves them best, then how can I fault them for that?
The thing I take exception to is the fact that they are telling me that I can't handle that power just because they can't.
The average person couldn't handle a race car at 200 MPH, but there are those who can.
How are guns any different?

[twoblink]

goon, "With great power, comes great responsiblity". That's from Spiderman's Uncle, not me!!

So you are right..

The problem might lie in the fact that anti's have NO SELF-CONTROL. They are usually the more violent ones, and so they must do things to protect themselves from blowing up..

I'm all for that, if you don't think you can keep your cool, and not shoot someone because they cut you off.. Well, you shouldn't be a gun owner..

That said, the problem is, as much as I hate 1911's, I can't imagine restricting people who want one from owning one.

It was like the "10 car law" they tried to pass in California. "Nobody should own more than 10 cars".. it pollutes and wastes space.. who are they to tell me how many cars I can own? Jay Leno was the biggest spokeperson against that law (I can't imagine why as an owner of something like over 100 cars...)

Most anti's I know, have never touched a gun. Most anti's I take to the range, end up wanting to buy a gun :cool:

[Shooter 2.5]

Baba Louie,

I don't see where Trapdoor ammo is hard to come by. It's probably a 45 -70 and that's common as dirt. If it's a 50-70 like mine, that may be harder but I understand even that stuff is making a comeback.

[Moparmike]

Anyway...While my limited knowledge of journalism may stifle a complete response, isnt it in the Journalism Creedo or something that a journalist fully know about the subject that he/she writes about? Wouldnt that include a view from not only the gun-banning side but also the pro-rights side as well?

The only flaw in the above argument is that the journalist has to be writing an UN-BIASED report about it WITH NO LEANINGS. Too bad such neutral reporting is nowhere to be found.

[Parker Dean]

Originally posted by goon
The truth is that the power of a firearm is awesome. It effectively gives each man the power of life and death over others. It also does give others the same power over him.


I beg to differ. It isn't the gun that confers such power, it is the will that confers the power of life and death.

[Standing Wolf]

...fineswine knows shes not a criminal. she dont know about you...

I can clearly demonstrate I'm not a criminal: I've been photographed, finger-printed, and checked by a wide assortment of law enforcement agencies, and have the concealed hand guns permit to prove it.

Feinswine, by contrast, is a leftist extremist and avowed enemy of the Bill of Rights.

Whom would you trust?

[MrAcheson]

Actually the real problem with most antis is that they think what applies to them applies to everyone. They may have serious moral concerns that they can't handle the responsibility of firearm ownership (and often they are right about this). They may have had bad experiences with firearms (violent crime victims or simply don't enjoy shooting). In many cases these are valid concerns, but it is when these concerns are generalized to the entire populace that the trouble starts because some people have good experiences and are responsible enough.

What makes Feinstein so reprehensible, is that she feels she is responsible enough to own and carry weapons, but that the general populace should not have provision for these same rights. She knows the truth, but fights against it through ignorance or stupidity or elitism or simply for personal gain.

The truth is that guns are neutral. They can be used for evil by people lacking character or knowledge. However they can also be used for good by those abounding in character and knowledge. It is our responsibility to see that the good uses of firearms remain while the evil uses are kept to a minimum. I believe, as do most people here, that the true way to keep evil to a minimum is to give individuals the freedoms and the rights to fight it on a daily basis.

[goon]

I beg to differ. It isn't the gun that confers such power, it is the will that confers the power of life and death.

I agree with that point, but...

At this one job I worked at, there was this real @$$#0LE I had to deal with. He would get violent with people, and on one occasion, he took it upon himself to threaten me.
Having just gotten out of the Army, I wasn't the type to just cower like a little sissy. I also knew that he had at least fifty pounds on me.
I made the only choice I could to avoid having to kill him to win; I picked up a 20 oz claw hammer and told him to have at it.
He didn't.
True, I could have put a real hurting on him with that hammer, or possibly even with just my hands, feet and teeth.
But it would have been much easier to do so with a rifle.;)

BTW- If there are any antis out there thinking about how awful it is to make it known that you are willing to kick butt to keep yourself safe, think about this.
I didn't actually have to use that hammer on him, I just had to convince him that I would.