I don't know if some of you are over reacting to the questions I've posed out of some sense of over sensitivity but, in looking back at what I'd already written, I don't see that I ever said anything about anyone's race, which seems to be the issue that many of you are raising. Having been born and raised in a liberal environment and having spent much of my life in far flung corners of the planet I'm one who tends to consider myself a member of the human race and the family of man. Anyone is a "brother." Unless they're female...
And anyone, irregardless of their position on the tonal spectrum, can wear bling. Unless, of course, there's someone here who thinks only select ethnic minorities wear bling...? Funny, I just looked at my Rolex and the wrist it's on is still kinda beige under all that bling...but then, I don't get out much...
Anyone who thinks we deny anyone their rights on the basis of appearance is reading
into what I'm saying, not
what I'm saying. But when it comes to the business of selling firearms we're either making money or wasting time and appearance is tertiary to attitude. We don't need the business of anyone who walks in with the assumption that we are a public service handing out entitlements. We're in the business of selling to customers who treat us with the respect with give them.
Correct me if I'm wrong but, overall, the impression I'm getting is that most of you think there should be no laws or restrictions of any kind. Anyone who comes to buy any gun just needs to hand over their cash. That's it's not our responsibility if they've committed felonies in the past or intend to do so in the future, or not...? As long as they're an American, irregardless of who they are, how they behave in public, what they've done or what they intend to do, they have a Right and we are simply there to fulfill that right? Sounds a bit anarchic to me...
People buy guns for a very wide variety of reasons. Hunting, collecting, sports, personal protection or even to function as a sex toy. Do I care? As long as nothing is being pointed in my direction, in general, no. I own guns that I consider brilliant engineering and design acheivements. Some of them have a certain historical "value" to me. But some of them are always loaded and always with me because I, presently, live and work in one of the poorest and most depressed areas of the country. Our shop is within two blocks of the bus station where, every week, a fresh busload of parolees are dropped off. They come in to the shop hoping to cash their check from the dept of corrections and they want to look at guns.
What should we do? Show them any gun they like? Cash their checks, sell them the gun and trash the NICS form? Maybe give them a free box of shells while we're at it? Hey, they've paid their dept to society. They're still Americans, aren't they?
Most of our customers are honest souls who usually have some idea of what they're looking for and we're happy to help them find the right piece for the purpose. Whether it's a hunter looking for something new for the new season or a single woman looking for something small and light to carry in her purse or someone looking to fill out their collection of classic military arms. We assist and advise. But if anyone comes in and insists on that SKS or that TEC9 we'll sell it to them, if they have the cash and pass the NICS check. But, should we not care or is it simply our job to sell anything to anyone at anytime?
We either have fair gun laws that are in place to protect the wider community or we have no gun laws at all. And those of us who sell guns either have a responsibility to that community or we're just simply cash whores...
And maybe some of you think we need guns because you define the constitution as a directive to overthrow our government if you disagree with their policies. And you envision that day coming because of bans in Chicago or San Fransisco. But, you know what? That's democracy in action. That's because the majority of Americans don't care about their rights anymore than they care about yours. Voter turnout at the mid-terms was 40% and that means that 60% couldn't give a fiddler's fart about any of it, least of all you or me. It also means that we are governed at the will of the majority of the minority. This is your democracy and if you don't like it, run for office or do something positive to change it, instead of just being miserable and defensive. Or would you rather just wait until we're shooting at each other in the streets over our differances? Like the Iraqis...
As far as I'm concerned, I
need my guns as long I live in a country where anyone and everyone has the right to own a gun and no one takes my personal property away from me, on the whims of the minority or the apathy of the majority, until I've run outta ammo... But even if I lived in a country where I didn't perceive that need I'd still be a gun owner because it is, of course, more than a need. Guns are fun.
What I was trying to determine here was whether other members of this particular community felt that, aside from the political rhetoric about rights or their enthusiasm for "playing" with their guns, their gun ownership was also a part of any perceived need for self defense against the remote possibility of running into another gun owner with bad intentions and whether that was, perhaps, a more relevant and legitimate need than preparing to defend against, or participate in the overthrow of, your government because you don't happen to agree with or like the results of democracy...?
What's obvious, from many of the posts, is that a lot of you are naturally defensive, narrow minded and quick to judge. I thought there was something in the rules of this board about "Attack the argument, not the arguer." Sure looks like a lot of you want to make it personal. And therein lies my disappointment with this place. You guys would rather argue and point fingers than discuss or analyze.
You don't like me; you don't like my ideas; I'm not your kind of American because I raise issues that you don't want to address because they don't reflect your agenda? Fine. Ignore me. Just as I will you when I think you're talking out of your lower digestive system.
If all you guys want from this section of the board is for it to be a place to simply affirm your established beliefs then there's obviously little point in posting anything even remotely off your radar or by way of attempting to generate any kind of potentially useful discourse. The last time I checked my opinion was just as valid, and insignificant, as anyone else's...
