No Sam, I wasn't being sarcastic there.
Oh? That's too bad.
I enjoy shooting, movies, squash (the game and the gourd) and long walks on the beach. Whatever. But when I want to "blow off some steam" or "relieve stress," irregular base mental conditions driven by overwhelming emotion, it sure isn't with a gun, a throttle, nor a bottle.
A gun, throttle or bottle? What does that even mean? You're conflating very disparate things all of which can have intensely positive or intensely negative aspects. Self-medicating with a 5th of booze to dull the pain? Very negative. Sitting down to a drink with friends to relax and set aside the tensions of the day? Very positive.
Taking a long drive to relax and think and let a change of scenery brighten your mood? Very positive. Getting in your car and driving distractedly or aggressively? Very negative.
Grabbing a gun to go destroy something (or someone) because you're angry? Of course that's very negative. Heading to the range to spend a couple hours practicing your marksmanship, analogous to the meditative, zen, practice of a Kyudo archer with his bow -- or, shoot, just to have FUN -- is a very positive, healthy thing!
If you're unable to understand the differences here, you're suffering an unfortunate mental block that you should probably seek to remedy.
The concept is antithetical to balance, anathema to me, and I'm not even sure what those mean!
You don't understand what that means because it doesn't mean
anything. You just cribbed a pithy saying and used it inaptly.
Seriously, the thought never even crosses my mind and, thinking about it, it's just the wrong thing at the wrong time. No, "bad news has never made me want to go shoot something to feel better" and I am not sure those it has should be allowed to have a gun.
Again, you're displaying a distressing misunderstanding here that the reason one picks up a firearm is necessarily to shoot/destroy some-
THING (or, obviously, some-ONE) -- as though the destruction of that thing was the goal. I don't think a single person polled here at THR would tell you they hit the range to destroy targets. While self-defense training has specific goals which are violent in nature, most shooting is simply a refined skills practice -- a meditation on self, in a way -- and is about as violent or unbalanced as playing the piano or flower gardening.
Yup, I went there. Said it...
I'm a little worried for you. These things you're saying or feeling aren't quite normal.