Some people have, I think, truly confused the original point of this thread. While the original primary intent of creating and improving firearms was for their use in warfare (to injure and kill the enemy) this is not, in my opinion, the crux of why this discussion was commenced.
Remember the anti was attributed with, in essence, saying that guns only are for killing. This is absolutely incorrect. Their have been many guns throughout history that were developed for purposes other than killing. Sure guns were originally designed to be used to injure/kill, but oh isn't it wonderful how they have evolved. Some guns are used to punch holes in paper. Sure they can kill but their design is for use as target guns, not as defensive or offensive weapons. Other guns are designed primarily as plinkers. Some are specifically designed for certain kinds of target shooting. Other guns have built buildings by driving rivets, these would include pneumatic air guns (and remember air guns were originally designed to kill just like guns using gunpowder and they were used by the military forces of some countries in place of guns using gunpowder). Other guns drive nails. Some guns deliver vaccinations (is the primary purpose of a vaccination to kill or to preserve life).
Of course, even if the primary purpose of all guns was to injure or kill, can you tell me is there something wrong with that? There is nothing wrong in killing someone in self defense - is there? I do not see that there is. There is nothing wrong with firearms in the hands of righteous citizens. Sure bad guys can get guns and kill with them but; they also can get knives, poison, bombs, cars, propellants, flammable substances, rocks, clubs, chairs, bows & arrows, crossbows and bolts, electricity, shovels, rope, piano wire, vicious trained attack dogs, karate lessons, and then kill in essence with them among many other things. So what? Their using these items to commit heinous crimes of violence and death do nothing to make evil the objects they used. The evil intent comes from the user and the user alone. Firearms are inherently harmless. Bullets are inherently harmless. Leave them be and they will not harm you. It takes the user to pick them up, combine them correctly, act with them in a certain manner to finally harm someone with them. So I wonder what was the point of saying this:
Sorry, but a gun's original primary purpose is to kill/wound a living thing. It launches a projectile designed to penetrate and/or destroy.
Don't go fooling yourself into thinking otherwise. We may USE them for other purposes listed...
when no one in this forum expressed the sentiment that the original primary purpose of guns wa other than for killng? Even the anti had not expressed it. The primary purpose of this thread was in another direction. So who is fooling whom about what?
As for me, I use guns for many things. I first and foremost use guns in my job as an LEO. I carry one for self defense and defense of others. In all of my 26 years in law enforcement I have never shot anyone while I was working. So what was the primary intent of my carrying a firearm. You could say it was for killing but that is incorrect. You could say it was for wounding and that would be closer to correct. Maybe it was for self defense via deterrence. Of course it is nice to know I could shoot to stop someone if I needed to. Note how I said shoot to stop. That is what we are trained to do. We are not trained to shoot to kill. Maybe the primary intent of firearms is to wound rather than to kill at least as far as men are concerned. Really though, the primary intent of their creation is not what this thread was about in the first place.
It was about the statement that guns are only used to kill. This is not at all true as you should know.
The second most frequent reason I use them would be for self defense at all times. This though ties in with work as I usually carry a work authorized pistol with me. I have shot someone while off duty. I shot to stop, not to kill and; yes he stopped without dying as his accomplice also stopped. They were in the process of mugging me. I guess had I killed them it would have been a good or acceptable thing - just as it was a good thing that I realized when to stop shooting.
I also use firearms for target shooting, this would be the third most frequent reason I use them. I actually shoot them a whole lot more this way than I ever have done at work. (yes I have shot them while working but never shot anyone while working.) My children have only used guns for target shooting, with one exception. My son tried to kill something once with a gun. Yes we were on our first hunt together. He missed. Oh well he did fire one shot at a squirrel; let’s see now that was out of about 2 or 3 thousand shots at paper prior to that. I can definitely say his use of firearms is not primarily geared toward killing, nor is the use of firearms by him ONLY for killing.
The fourth most frequent reason I use them is for hunting.
The fifth most common reason I used them was to instill discipline into my children. Now don’t get all bent out of shape by imagining something that did not happen. By teaching them how to safely use firearms I instilled a great deal of discipline into them, the discipline of self control. Along with that discipline came respect for others, respect for life, respect for firearms, self confidence, responsibility, maturity, agility, dexterity and a realization that their father trusts them very much.
The sixth most frequent reason I use them is for collecting/trading and so on.
The overall reason I use them though is because of fun. That even can be construed to cover self defense type shootings. No self defense shooting in itself was not fun but; it sure allowed me to continue breathing and living and having fun. So if some believe that the primary intent of guns is to injure and kill, so what! If others believe that is all guns arused for, they are dead wrong. I have chosen to primarily use them for other purposes while keeping open the option of using them to defend others and myself from harm that would otherwise be caused by criminals. Despite all the semantics involved, certainly you can see that firearms are used for many other purposes than for killing. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that is all for which they are used or for which they are intended.
Best regards,
Glenn B