For clarification, it was not just rifles, that was merely an example (and I will continue to use it below). Rifles aren't banned in any urban or suburban areas that I know of, it was part of a conversation where I was trying to highlight reasons why people of other backgrounds living in different areas might push for such things, because if you know why your opposition is doing what they're doing, then you're better equipped to defeat them.
A shotgun might be too much recoil for a senior citizen, and handguns are hard to aim accurately.
I think you might be stretching here. Senior citizens are a minority group, and handguns are not hard to aim accurately at short distances, which it most certainly would be. In any case, a 20 gauge shotty is always an option.
My grandfather is 82 and he can still fire practically anything under the sun without problems. He is a small man, not even 5'5"
No, I'm very conservative, and I've taught (very) liberals to shoot.
Yes, and you speak only for yourself, which is great. Do you feel that a majority of other "very conservative" individuals are just like you in this respect?
First of all, why would a law abiding citizen resent non-corrupt policemen?
They would not, but, and especially in major metropolitan areas, there are a good number of corrupt policemen, and MANY more that are prejudice and treat law-abiding citizens as criminals by default because of the way they look. Also, police brutality and excessive force are problems in these areas as well. Have you ever been to one and lived amongst these people? You go and you come back and tell me if they're justified in resenting the police.
I think we should point out that they would be far better able to defend themselves from crime if they had a gun. Maybe they just never considered it, and this would give them a new view on the subject.
That's the idea, but you have to change the way you're doing it if you want it to work.
Really? There is probably a range somewhere in the city, and although you can't hunt in the city, you can always go outside the city.
You've not spent much time in the city have you?
Ranges can be few and far between, ESPECIALLY ones long enough to have some fun with a rifle proper. In the city, there are no outdoor ranges outside of those owned by gun clubs which are difficult and expensive to get into. The longest indoor rifle range I've ever personally been to in an urban or suburban area was 25 yards, and I've been to 5 or 6 different ranges in my city and the surrounding area. Many of them are cramped with few lanes for high caliber rifles, most of them don't even allow rifles that aren't pistol caliber (in fact, there are only 2 within a 40 mile radius of where I live where I can go to fire a rifle that is not pistol-caliber). A rifle is, in fact, extremely unpractical in urban or suburban areas.
I'm not saying that I like it, I most certainly don't. It's just a fact.
Also, "outside of the city" in my case is at least a 2 hour drive, thanks to urban sprawl (bull****).