What does a gun mean to you?

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Lot of good answers in here, liberty, self reliance, etc...

To me, it means "equality", in terms of power to defend myself and my family. Basically, it makes the playing field more even when I go up against the evil people of the world.

Obviously it's not total equality because peoples skills differ, but... I think you get my point.
 
I look at guns as a privelege, like my driver's license. The second amendment says that I have the privelege of owning them and the DMV says that I have the privelege of driving a car. If I misbehave in a car, I will lose my privelege to drive, however if I misbehave with firearms I may lose a great deal more than that.
 
Security!

A gun means security and hope to me! Security in knowing that I can self-protect! I can even the playing field if I must! The hope that I am never raped like my Mom was. But the security in knowing that if I am, it won't be for the lack of trying to protect myself first! The security of knowing that bad things happen to women when they are alone, and knowing that in my heart, 110%, that MY LIFE is more important than the bad guys, and I will take all steps necessary, with my gun, to know that I continue to have security!
 
To me, a gun is insurance. It's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it (as the saying goes).

I am hoping to make it a lifestyle.
 
Bear71...
NO THE 2A DOES NOT SAY THAT OWNING FIREARMS IS A PRIVILEGE! IT SAYS THAT IT IS YOUR RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR THEM!

Owning a car is a right. Driving it is a privilege.

It was stated here earlier, but I agree. The 2A means that I am a citizen and free man of my country - not a subject.
 
A polite and courteous anti asked me a similar question once on the John Kerry Forum (now Common Ground Common Sense), and this was my reply:

Here's some random thoughts, in no particular order.

Proficiency with firearms is a martial art just like Isshinryu Karate or Tae Kwan Do or Kenpo or Tai Chi, and can gives a sense of accomplishment and competence just like any other human discipline. The Japanese concept of bushido applies just as much to the gun culture as to other martial arts cultures. FWIW, I have some moderate experience in the Asian martial arts culture (I was a student of Isshinryu for a year), and there are a lot of similarities between the gun culture and the traditional martial arts culture, and just as with empty-hand martial arts, proficiency in self-defense is a symbiotic benefit that is a worthwhile purpose in its own right. You may find this article interesting:

Guns and Martial Arts (from www.a-human-right.com) (article link no longer working --bE)

Just as with the other martial arts, a lot of gun enthusiasts view training and skill development as an end in itself. A Zen thing, if you will. (BTW, to shoot well you must view shooting in a very Zen-like way; breath control, minimization of muscle tremors, concentration, sharp focus on the front sight, smoothness...) A lot of the shooters I know also have a thing for archery, which is pretty much the same thing. And my wife is into SCA fencing...

Some people pride themself on how well they can smack a small white ball with a stick on a golf course. Others pride themselves on how accurately they can shoot a firearm.

Also, I am a certifiable physics geek, and there are very few inexpensive hobbies that are more physics-intensive than rifle shooting. (Aviation is more physics-intensive, but it's not inexpensive...) Many shooters are mechanically inclined, and I'll bet the percentage of photographers among shooters is higher than in the population at large. My younger sister is a shooter and she also happens to be a professional engineer (she double-majored in Engineering and Mathematics at NC State).

Gun owners also tend to lean individualist rather than collectivist, and have a high view of individual rights. If you hang around the High Road much, you'll find nearly as much disdain for free-speech restrictions and 4th-amendment violations as for the latest gun-grab attempt, and you'll find a lot of sympathy with the ACLU except for their dyslexic view of the Second Amendment (in our opinion, though I know you would probably disagree). Note that individualist does NOT mean conservative; Big Brother communitarian conservatives are as antithetical to the individualist/libertarian mindset as any Big Brother communitarian liberals...

So I suppose it's also a freedom thing. The guns in my gun safe are a tangible reminder that my wife and I are free people. We don't own those at the dispensation of some elite individual; we can own them because we are free people. That's probably a cultural thing and I wouldn't expect you to feel the same way, but the freedom issue runs very, very deeply with most gun enthusiasts.
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Interesting though that even though driving is not a Constitutionally guaranteed right, so long as you have a valid drivers license, you are free to drive anywhere in the USA.

However, in many cases, your 2A rights are curtailed the moment you cross the state line. That infuriates me. CCW permits should be banned unilaterally because the 2A already guarantees that right.
 
Hi David,

I look at it as a privelege even though I know it is my right. Here's why:

When I filled out my CCW application some years ago, I got to check "no" on about 40 boxes that asked "are you this", ""have you done that", "do you do this".

The application is really a probe into your character and past history. In my 35 years, the day I have felt the best about myself was that day when I could answer no to all the probing, I realized that I had led a clean life and "earned" the right to carry a firearm.

Now this will anger many, because I have used the word "earned", because it is the opinion of many that any and all Americans no matter their character, their criminal record or their propensity towards violence should be entitled to keep weapons.

I believe the "good guys" should be required by law to keep firearms while the "bad guys" are, by any means necessary, denied them.

The huge can of worms is obviously defining what is and what is not a "good guy". It is my right to have firearms of all sorts because I know that I am one of them.
 
A gun means never having to say, "Please don't hurt me!"

Of course it could also mean saying, "Please don't hurt me!" with an ironic smile on your face as you buy time to get to it.

That's one big reason why anti-gunners hate you having guns. They're pathetic, helpless losers, at the mercy of the next sociopath who wanders by. They're profoundly offended by the fact that YOU don't have to rely on herd statistics as your only defense. They view society as one big game preserve. It pisses them off that some of the antelopes have fangs and claws with which to disembowel the lions and they don't.
 
They are the stuff my childhood memories are made of, and there are a few I even consider old friends.
 
Responsibility

I may never have to use it to protect myself, by friends, family or country.

But I must be responsible TO MYSELF to use it carefully, to not injure myself or others accidentally, to keep it out of the hands of those who might misuse it, and not to be tempted to misuse it myself.

It means I am an adult, and no excuses if something goes wrong. If I can't be responsible with a firearm, should I be trusted to drive a car, have a pet or a child under my care, and make any decision that affects other people?

Sorry if you loathe Ani DiFranco, but she had it right.

"maybe you don't like your job
maybe you didn't get enough sleep
well, nobody likes their job
nobody got enough sleep
maybe you just had
the worst day of your life
but, you know, there's no escape
and there's no excuse
so just suck up and be nice"
 
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William Wallace
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I'm I the only one who sees Wallace like he was seen before Braveheart came out? A terrorist akin to bin Laden who broke all the decency and rules of war? He got what he deserved in the end and it really upsetting to see people try and pass him off as a hero.

As for firearms to me they are fun diversions mainly. Quite frankly if it ever came to oppression I doubt many people would really cope even with firearms. Take Iraq, Iran, or even Afghanistan for example. They had dictators in charge and one of the highest concentrations of ak47s in the country. Being armed doesn't garrentee freedom for citizens from the state on many occasions. It does become a useful tool however in feeding and clothing if need be, it does help maintain some civility, which a good example was the results of banning firearms in town in the western expansion of the US in the 19th century and crack downs that we don't even see today, leading to alsorts of violence.

Its just a shame the government in Britain managed to use the scare of communism coming to take over the country and the socialist threat to ban firearms so heavily in the 1920s. Before then about the only people not allowed to be armed were the police force so they wouldn't act as a personal army enforcing the rule of the leader of the country on others. Fear of the people uprising and kicking out their rulers like what happened alot in the 19th and early 20th century (French Revolution and Russian Revolutions comes to mind). In the US its been quite different once we got into the 50s on up that peaceful non armed protests and economics have been used as the primarly weapon of freedom, since the one thing they seem to hate the most is a dent in their checking accounts and even after such leaders have been blown away for example Martin Luthur King Jr. the message continued and caused such outrage such changes came to pass.

This is the 21st century and you just can't get away with armed rebelion anymore in the US, especially with the constant reinforcement of patriotism and nationalism and the heroifacation of any president.
 
Wallace was a terrorist, one of the original guerillas. He moved a battered, raped and brutalized people to action though. And hey, you never know when you'll need a crazy man with a big sword, so don't knock him too bad. I hope if we get to that point some crazy person with a big rifle will stir us up:evil: .

And you have all summed it up nicely. Guns mean freedom, liberty, safety, equality and everything else American life used to encompass. They are also memories of walking the swamp shooting with your Grandpa.
 
It's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it (as the saying goes).

I am hoping to make it a lifestyle.
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This philosophy gets REALLY expensive when you start applying it to all aspects of life. Trust me!

(Not that it's a bad thing;) )

Those of us who have fallen for the romantic notion of being 100% self-sufficient have dropped a ton of cash on generators, nasty 4x4's, greenhouses, medical equipment, etc. Just so you know what you're getting into here...........................
 
What my gun means. It means to me I can walk into any neighborhood any time of day and feel safe. It means no one will hurt me or anyone i know. It represents all that is righteous and all that is evil. That about sums it up... Oh, chicks dig guys with guns not scars.
 
Tradition. Strength. Independance. Self reliance.

And oppostion to those who would take them away from me.
 
What does a gun mean to you?
It means the the government does not have a monopoly on the means of coercive force. That is a healthy thing in a free society.
 
Security.
Safety.
Freedom.
And an essentially less-harmful "hobby" than drinking. :D
 
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