Yup! Hearing the way people talk about their guns can be pretty chilling. I know one guy whose eyes light up when he talks about guns, like a small boy talking about toy trucks or video games. I've heard gun owners openly fantasize about gunning down an intruder, as if they were thirsting for the opportunity to kill another human being. Really creepy shit.
I'm not sure what kind of people you surround yourself with that even remotely talk about guns like that, but that is a vocal minority. I own several guns, but I own them for a purpose, naturally one of them is for self-defensive purposes, I intend on protecting my property since generally it would take a police officer roughly 30 minutes to respond to my area, and secondly, for hunting, I'm sure you've already made some snap judgments on my character for hunting, but I actually do my self/family good as well as encourage healthy populations among the animals I hunt. I also don't hunt for sport, you won't see me mounting any animals on my wall, it's strictly used as a means to provide food so I don't have to encourage the disgusting conditions chickens, cows, pigs are brought up in for food. There's valid reasons for owning guns, and valid purposes for those uses.
Self-defense is an especially valid reason for those living farther from town when it may take police a long time to respond. My old place would have been about 15 minutes from police response unless you're lucky enough to have a patrol car in the area. Not a common occurrence, but with the number of meth heads around here I'd rather not place bets on an officer being nearby to help me if someone breaks into my house.
Forget meth heads, if you're far enough away from town, you get a gun to protect yourself, your family, and your pets from cougars and wolves. At least that's why my family had a gun. It's 2am, the horse is freaking because there's a bobcat in the pasture with him, you're going to want a shotgun.
I'm not sure what kind of people you surround yourself with that even remotely talk about guns like that, but that is a vocal minority.
I don't surround myself with people like that, but you can find them in many gun debates online. Gun owners will often let their guard down online and let you know how much they'd love to dust some punk. Personally, I don't want to have the weight of killing somebody on my conscience. If you want to steal my shit, I'll try to stop you if I can, but I'm not going to try to kill you. It's just not worth it. Surprisingly, a lot of gun owners don't feel this way, though. Killing somebody while protecting their property is completely justified!
I'm sure you've already made some snap judgments on my character for hunting,
I really don't have any problem with people who hunt for food, and I wonder why you would assume that.
I hope you understand that all gun owners are not like that. I don't even think it's a majority think like that. Yes, there are some sick people out there, but there is a very large population that likes just hitting the range, and doing it competitively.
"Yup! Hearing the way people talk about their guns can be pretty chilling. I know one guy whose eyes light up when he talks about guns, like a small boy talking about toy trucks or video games."
If it was just that and that person wasn't one of the people from the second half of your post then he just sounds like any other enthusiast to me. Maybe it would beore clear if I rephrase that sentence.
"Yup! Hearing the way people talk about their *cars can be pretty chilling. I know one guy whose eyes light up when he talks about cars, like a small boy talking about toy trucks or video games."*
Now I understand what is "chilling" to you about is probably that it is something that is lethal (not just capable of it but is its original intent). I can get why that might be scary but please try to remember that not everyone who is enthuastic about guns are like the second half of your post (dreaming of being able to gun someone down).
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I am not trying to put words in your mouth, I just enjoy shooting skeet/trap and I've had perfectly reasonable friends who love collecting guns.
It's only a matter of time before somebody mentions cars...
And yes, hearing somebody talk about guns as if they were toys is pretty creepy, no matter how "responsible" they are. Guns are deadly weapons. It's not like a sword or an axe or even a crossbow. It's a weapon that makes it so easy to kill people a lot of times it happens accidentally.
I think we have to be careful not to vilify all gun owners and people who like guns themselves. There's a difference between being a gun enthusiast who really enjoys collecting and learning about them and someone who genuinely wants to shoot someone.
Literally every gun owner I know is a responsible normal adult human who has gone their whole life never pointing any of their guns at another human nor do they fantasize about doing so. If you have friends that fantasize about killing 'an intruder' with their gun, you might look into getting new friends who aren't douche nozzles, because that person sounds like a dick.
Most of the gun owners I know grew up having guns as protection against wildlife like cougars, bobcats, and wolves (I grew up in the boondocks), and it's not something that they would ever think of using against another person.
If you have friends that fantasize about killing 'an intruder' with their gun, you might look into getting new friends who aren't douche nozzles, because that person sounds like a dick.
These aren't friends. These are people online. On the Internet, people tend to let down their guard and tell you what they really think. So if you or I knew a gun owner like that personally, we probably wouldn't know, unless we were very close to that person.
Or they're scared WASPy folks in conservative neighborhoods. I lived in a suburb in Texas for a bit and once went to a local neighborhood crime watch meeting, mostly to get to know my neighbors. All I learned was they're all itching and willing to shoot a man they think is sneaking around dressed like the cable guy.
Yup! Hearing the way people talk about their guns can be pretty chilling. I know one guy whose eyes light up when he talks about guns, like a small boy talking about toy trucks or video games. I've heard gun owners openly fantasize about gunning down an intruder, as if they were thirsting for the opportunity to kill another human being. Really creepy shit.
I'm not sure what kind of people you surround yourself with that even remotely talk about guns like that, but that is a vocal minority. I own several guns, but I own them for a purpose, naturally one of them is for self-defensive purposes, I intend on protecting my property since generally it would take a police officer roughly 30 minutes to respond to my area, and secondly, for hunting, I'm sure you've already made some snap judgments on my character for hunting, but I actually do my self/family good as well as encourage healthy populations among the animals I hunt. I also don't hunt for sport, you won't see me mounting any animals on my wall, it's strictly used as a means to provide food so I don't have to encourage the disgusting conditions chickens, cows, pigs are brought up in for food. There's valid reasons for owning guns, and valid purposes for those uses.
Self-defense is an especially valid reason for those living farther from town when it may take police a long time to respond. My old place would have been about 15 minutes from police response unless you're lucky enough to have a patrol car in the area. Not a common occurrence, but with the number of meth heads around here I'd rather not place bets on an officer being nearby to help me if someone breaks into my house.
Forget meth heads, if you're far enough away from town, you get a gun to protect yourself, your family, and your pets from cougars and wolves. At least that's why my family had a gun. It's 2am, the horse is freaking because there's a bobcat in the pasture with him, you're going to want a shotgun.
I don't surround myself with people like that, but you can find them in many gun debates online. Gun owners will often let their guard down online and let you know how much they'd love to dust some punk. Personally, I don't want to have the weight of killing somebody on my conscience. If you want to steal my shit, I'll try to stop you if I can, but I'm not going to try to kill you. It's just not worth it. Surprisingly, a lot of gun owners don't feel this way, though. Killing somebody while protecting their property is completely justified!
I really don't have any problem with people who hunt for food, and I wonder why you would assume that.
I hope you understand that all gun owners are not like that. I don't even think it's a majority think like that. Yes, there are some sick people out there, but there is a very large population that likes just hitting the range, and doing it competitively.
"Yup! Hearing the way people talk about their guns can be pretty chilling. I know one guy whose eyes light up when he talks about guns, like a small boy talking about toy trucks or video games."
If it was just that and that person wasn't one of the people from the second half of your post then he just sounds like any other enthusiast to me. Maybe it would beore clear if I rephrase that sentence.
"Yup! Hearing the way people talk about their *cars can be pretty chilling. I know one guy whose eyes light up when he talks about cars, like a small boy talking about toy trucks or video games."*
Now I understand what is "chilling" to you about is probably that it is something that is lethal (not just capable of it but is its original intent). I can get why that might be scary but please try to remember that not everyone who is enthuastic about guns are like the second half of your post (dreaming of being able to gun someone down).
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NOTE:
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I am not trying to put words in your mouth, I just enjoy shooting skeet/trap and I've had perfectly reasonable friends who love collecting guns.
It's only a matter of time before somebody mentions cars... And yes, hearing somebody talk about guns as if they were toys is pretty creepy, no matter how "responsible" they are. Guns are deadly weapons. It's not like a sword or an axe or even a crossbow. It's a weapon that makes it so easy to kill people a lot of times it happens accidentally.
I think we have to be careful not to vilify all gun owners and people who like guns themselves. There's a difference between being a gun enthusiast who really enjoys collecting and learning about them and someone who genuinely wants to shoot someone.
Literally every gun owner I know is a responsible normal adult human who has gone their whole life never pointing any of their guns at another human nor do they fantasize about doing so. If you have friends that fantasize about killing 'an intruder' with their gun, you might look into getting new friends who aren't douche nozzles, because that person sounds like a dick.
Most of the gun owners I know grew up having guns as protection against wildlife like cougars, bobcats, and wolves (I grew up in the boondocks), and it's not something that they would ever think of using against another person.
These aren't friends. These are people online. On the Internet, people tend to let down their guard and tell you what they really think. So if you or I knew a gun owner like that personally, we probably wouldn't know, unless we were very close to that person.
Or they're scared WASPy folks in conservative neighborhoods. I lived in a suburb in Texas for a bit and once went to a local neighborhood crime watch meeting, mostly to get to know my neighbors. All I learned was they're all itching and willing to shoot a man they think is sneaking around dressed like the cable guy.