Getting Older and Changing Attitudes

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jahwarrior

jahwarrior

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i was sitting here going through my first few posts here, and i did the same thing on other forums i belong to. i was surprised at how much my attitudes and opinions have changed on a number of topics, like gun ownership, here's an example:

this is a loaded question. i personally do believe in a certain level of gun control. i think there are a lot of stupid, reckless people out there, who have no business carrying a potato, much less a weapon. and, before anyone flames me for saying that, yes, i know, there is the second amendment to consider. but consider this: do you want the potential child molester/serial rapist/drug dealer/mass murder to own a handgun? and AR15? i know i don't. i believe in background checks. i think anyone who clears a federal criminal check should be allowed to carry in an unlimited fashion anywhere in the US. i also believe in mandatory firearm safety classes for owners. we require people to get driver's licenses and take a minimum of 2 hours of safe driver's ed, why not guns? i think anyone who has a felony arrest for a violent/sexual crime should not be allowed to own a firearm. any felon/ex-felon caught with a firearm should receive a mandatory sentence of 10 years in a federal penitentiary for gun possession. yes, FEDERAL prison. i personally don't like that gun laws vary from state to state. question: why should i worry about if i can carry my gun with me while on vacation? answer: i shouldn't have to. i think gun licensing should be federal, not state, regulated. i just know people are gonna freak on me about that.
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i read this, and i can't believe i thought this way. part of it stems from being a relatively new gun owner. i'm a transplant from NYC, and i had a great deal of misconceptions about guns, and i didn't have as good an understanding of the 2A as i do now. for the record, i think mandatory training to own and carry a gun is a STUPID idea, whether you carry openly or concealed, or only keep your gun at home. i also don't think possession of a gun should tack on additional time for crimes. having a gun while robbing a bank is no different than having a hammer, as far as i'm concerned.

but my changes in thinking isn't limited to guns; i've found a lot of my opinions have changed, while my personality hasn't too much. am i just getting old?:D

i still think some people are too stupid to carry potatoes, and i still think that there should be a national licensing system to cary a gun. but i wouldn't impede someone's right to carry a potato, and i believe the Constitution should be our national license to carry.

who else here has found their opinions and attitudes have changed over the years, and is surprised by their old way of thinking? i wanna see who else got old.:neener: what did you once believe that you no longer believe?
 
I've been lucky in the whole "gun control" deal.. By the time I'd reached age enough to even know much about guns, I had already formed the pro-2A attitude I currently hold.
I did once believe that an AR or similar weapon had no place as a defensive weapon until I learned more about "tumbling bullet" ballistics. Now, I kinda want one. :D
 
MedWheeler said:
I've been lucky in the whole "gun control" deal.. By the time I'd reached age enough to even know much about guns, I had already formed the pro-2A attitude I currently hold.
I did once believe that an AR or similar weapon had no place as a defensive weapon until I learned more about "tumbling bullet" ballistics. Now, I kinda want one. :D
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Be careful!

Ar-15s are a grown mans legos. So many different parts you just want to collect them all!
 
The older I grow, the surer I become the only sensible firearms-related law is the Second Amendment.

Years ago, I favored this and that moderate restriction, common sensible requirement, and even a few reasonable compromises. Time and experience make it clearer and clearer those are actually infringements.

Could some restrictions actually be needed?

Let's try the Second Amendment alone for a century or so. If actual problems show up, our great-great-grandchildren can deal with them then. I predict none would show up; unfortunately, I also have to predict the Second Amendment is the one firearms-related law America will never try.
 
Ar-15s are a grown mans legos.
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Indeed. They are the first gun since the muzzle loader that an average (wo)man with some hand skills may assemble on his/her own.
 
I started out as a Reagan Conservitave, now I am a libertarian. I moved so far right that I came full circle and realized that a right is not something that you should have to prove yourself worthy of exercizing.
 
Here's a thought that I just thunk up...

Gun laws really don't make any difference. If person wants a gun bad enough, they will find a way to get one, whether it is for lawful self defense or to commit a crime.

Gun laws mainly restrict practicing with a gun. A person in a country with laws against gun ownership will not be able to practice with it openly. A felon in America risks being recognized if he goes to a range to practice. Those of us who collect and reload and cast bullets can do so more publicly in America than those in countries with more restrictions.

I think the fact that there is so much gun violence in those countries that have attempted to restrict gun ownership is proof.

Not trying to hijack or drift the thread, but the OP pointed out how his viewpoints have matured as he has aged. Mine have too.
 
Gun laws are a form of collective punishment because they treat everyone as a potential criminal before the fact just for having a tool that some people misuse to harm others.

Assault is an action, not a tool.
 
It never ceases to amaze me that when something bad happens, even the most devout pacifist and staunchest pro gun control liberal will summon the Police, you know, someone with a gun. And remember, when seconds count, the cops are only minutes away! South Carolina almost passed a no permit needed carry law this year. Maybe we can get it through next year.

Don't be afraid to admit to changing your positions, it shows you are still alive, growing and thinking.
 
When I grew up in Eastern Kentucky in the '50s I never heard "Gun Control" simply because everyone I knew owned guns and hunted. Friendly shooting matches happened anytime two or more men happened to get on the subject of any firearms. We didn't have a range, we had the Eastern part of the state and shot wherever it was safe. We had never heard of gun grabbers or people wanting to take our guns and if someone mentioned it we just laughed. In school we were taught the 2nd Amendment said we could own firearms and we believed it. Those were simple times, didn't bother to lock doors or outbuildings. We hunted for meat, not sport. In my opinion a better life in a better time.
 
jahwarrior, with you being a transplant from NYC, I can understand how your original "misconceptions" about guns came to be. I'm sure you were inundated with the evils about firearms from your earliest memories, but your eyes were opened as you grew older.

IMO, you have come a long ways from your early beginnings, and now realize that law-abiding citizens are the backbone of the 2A, and concealed carry training can equate to basic police training.
I was born and raised in upstate NY, and had a pistol permit since 1967. I retired and moved to NC in 2004. I've always been pro-2A, and despised the liberals running NYC.
My aging has only reinforced my support of 2A freedoms.



NCsmitty
 
It never ceases to amaze me that when something bad happens, even the most devout pacifist and staunchest pro gun control liberal will summon the Police, you know, someone with a gun.
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I don't follow this. Your "gun control liberal" isn't thinking that society can get along without armed force. He is just (mis)placing his trust in the Police to take care of things.

I'm in favor of mandatory handgun education. There's not much that's as dangerous as a handgun for which education is not mandatory.
 
There's an incredible blindness here.

The average High Road member wants zero restrictions on ownership, wants - demands - open carry, and would prefer fewer restrictions on full-auto firearms. Coolio.

This person also, however, believes that every gun owner will be the jovial hail-fellow-well-met overweight sweating clown in the next bay over at the shooting range they frequent.

But do remember that some vicious gang-banger would be able to snag a Mossberg 500 PGO and carry it openly into your convenience store and open fire. Legally. And not a dang thing you can do about it.

Violent, lawless gang members, with jackets and colors and so forth, with Glocks and suchlike strapped on their hips. Marching up in your face and demanding $20 "or else."

Maybe, and I could be in the minority, but gun laws as they are currently structured seem to prevent this kind of thing. Maybe, and I could be wrong, but our current laws seem to allow we law-abiding citizens to carry and make it hard for the BGs to do so. Maybe severe relaxation of current law would be a mistake.
 
I feel that all mainbases should be covered before letting someone own/buy an arm, such as a criminal check, general competence of firearm use. Other than that, a civilian should be able to own anything excluding:

Automatics ( still purchaseable with a few hoops)
Plastic/nonmetal arms (safety concern)
 
Living in Albany NY and coming from very anti gun parents my views have changed quite a bit. Granted, I'm only 16 so I'm still forming opinions about a lot of things but in 3 or 4 years I have went from wondering how anyone could be crazy enough to want an AR or AK to wondering how anyone could be crazy enough to think people shouldn't be able to have them. I'm still sort of in favor of background checks for violent crime but I'm on the fence. As you get older and become more informed views change.
 
Quotes:

>But do remember that some vicious gang-banger would be able to snag a Mossberg 500 PGO and carry it openly into your convenience store and open fire. Legally. And not a dang thing you can do about it.<

>Violent, lawless gang members, with jackets and colors and so forth, with Glocks and suchlike strapped on their hips. Marching up in your face and demanding $20 "or else."<

And those same gang-bangers could just pull up to the store and walk in with the shotgun...

And they could stick the Glocks down into the front of their pants and pull their shirts down over them...and walk up and demand your money...and there ain't a thing you can do about it.

You really believe that gang-bangers will open carry on their way to commit a crime?
Thus far, their usual modus operandi has been to keep the gun out of sight until it's time to start shooting. Restrict guns all you please. The gangstas will have them long after yours have been confiscated. Uh...you know...for the children.

Ole Coot...Born in Harlan County. (Benham)

"In the deep, dark hills of Eastern Kentucky...a place where I trace my blood line.
I saw it was written on a hillside gravestone...You'll never leave Harlan alive."
 
Dreamcast270mhz said:
Other than that, a civilian should be able to own anything excluding:
Automatics ( still purchaseable with a few hoops)
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How do you justify this?
Do you think that full auto weapons are somehow inherently more likely to be used in a contra-social manner?


Dreamcast270mhz said:
Plastic/nonmetal arms (safety concern)
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What specific weapons are you talking about here?

What safety concerns?
 
There is absolutly nothing that you can do with a firearm to harm other people or their property that is not already covered by an existing law.
 
Many of my opinions and attitudes have changed over the years, surprisingly as I aged I found myself becoming more socially liberal. The one belief I have that has only gotten stronger over the years is anyone convicted of using a firearm, or any weapon, in the commission of a crime has their original sentence doubled. Nor would the D.A.s’ be allowed to play let’s make a deal this sentence.
 
Plastic/nonmetal meaning it can pass through metal detectors because it contains no metal parts, ala glock 7.

I do not think automatics are anymore dangerous- in the right hands. In order to purchase an auto from ffl, a person must take a competency class. Would you want someone, who knew nothing about how an automatic can climb so quickly, purchasing and using one, at risk for hurting himself and surrounding bystanders?
 
Dreamcast270mhz said:
Plastic/nonmetal meaning it can pass through metal detectors because it contains no metal parts, ala glock 7.
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:eek:You are joking right?:eek:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf8sC_1deyM LOL


Dreamcast270mhz said:
Would you want someone, who knew nothing about how an automatic can climb so quickly, purchasing and using one, at risk for hurting himself and surrounding bystanders?
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Ever shot a machine gun? :rolleyes:


The rules of safe firearms handling are the same regardless of the weapon used.
 
I have, a 1919 and a KG-9 registered conversion owned by a local C2.

Yeah the same rules I know but still a competency course will make it a bit safer.

And yes I know the G7 is fake, just using an example. But still, a metal detector obviously means NO
 
Hmm, mandatory education for firearms purchases? I suppose you are thinking that a parent or other mentor teaching responsible use is a forgotten practice? And I suppose we should have similar mandatory training for crotch rocket motorcycles or Corvettes or Ferraris or souped up Mustangs or 200mph Bugatti Veyrons? All of those can hurt innocent people if used incorrectly.

Maybe we should determine approximately how much alcohol it takes before a person is legally impaired and limit alcohol sales to slightly less than that amount. Beer could be sold in a two-pack, wine bottled in something similar to the old Coca Cola shorties and liquor only sold in mini bottles and only one per customer.

Do a quick Internet search under "Alvin Greene" and see what a bunch of uneducated voters did right here in South Carolina last year. Maybe we should make voter education mandatory too. That appeals to me as making much more sense than some mandatory firearms class most likely presented by the big egos at the local gun store.

Dang, now I see why there are so many one or two line replies on this site. It sure times you out fast!
 
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