Here's where the gun debate should go!

[Gregg]

...to take up arms and open fire (IN A PUBLIC PLACE) like a bunch of tobacco-chewing cowboys from back in the old western days!

Let's just see about that. I was raised on a cattle ranch and spent a great deal of time on the back of a horse so, at least at that time, I fit fairly close with many folks definition of a cowboy. I gave up the habit years ago, but did occasionally chew tobacco when I was working. I own guns. All that and yet I have somehow been able to resist the urge to turn the world into my personal OK Corral. Either I have super human fortitude that allows me to resist overwhelming temtation ~OR~ that was simply a preposterous, insulting and rather judgmental statement born from too much time watching old westerns on TV rather than searching out true and factual information. My wife will confirm that I'm no superman...

[iris lily]

Let's just see about that. I was raised on a cattle ranch and spent a great deal of time on the back of a horse so, at least at that time, I fit fairly close with many folks definition of a cowboy. I gave up the habit years ago, but did occasionally chew tobacco when I was working. I own guns. All that and yet I have somehow been able to resist the urge to turn the world into my personal OK Corral. Either I have super human fortitude that allows me to resist overwhelming temtation ~OR~ that was simply a preposterous, insulting and judgmental statement made by someone who apparently spent way too much time watching old westerns on TV. Well, I'm no superman...

The huge majority of gun killers in my zip code are as far from tobacco chewin' boot wearin' cowboy culture as you can get, unless you consider hip-hop baggy pants and expensive sneakers to be the garb of the Old West.

[Gregg]

Maybe that's the new west, huh, Iris?

[Gregg]

Gun ownership is a net positive for me. In my younger days I helped put food on the table by hunting. I've had many pleasurable hours with friends and family target shooting. I feel a small sense of security knowing that in an extreme case a gun could be useful defending my home and family. I appreciate the craftsmanship of some of the finer examples I own. I don't have any negative experiences as a gun owner to relate to anyone. That is due in no small part to taking careful steps to negate as many potentially negative events as possible, which is simply something responsible gun owners do.

The real point here is do you outlaw something that has many positive uses simply because a relatively small number of people abuse it? If that is the approach then we should all agree to remove Rx pain killers from the market. They are almost certainly abused 100 times more frequently than guns are. The number of deaths from them has tripled in the last decade and they are a problem in every industrialized country. Even for our even keeled neighbors to the north. From the article, "Available evidence suggests that Canadians are among the heaviest consumers of psychotropic medication in the world". So aren't Rx drugs a much more logical place to invoke a ban if we're trying to save society from itself? Someone abusing gun ownership the way James Holmes did will rightfully make headlines and cause us to debate policy, but a doctor's prescription pad, and the powerful lobbies behind it, can be a pretty devastating weapon as well.

[goldensmom]

Gun ownership is a net positive for me. In my younger days I helped put food on the table by hunting. I've had many pleasurable hours with friends and family target shooting. I feel a small sense of security knowing that in an extreme case a gun could be useful defending my home and family. I appreciate the craftsmanship of some of the finer examples I own. I don't have any negative experiences as a gun owner to relate to anyone. That is due in no small part to taking careful steps to negate as many potentially negative events as possible, which is simply something responsible gun owners do.

That pretty much sums up my experience too, Gregg. I’ve eaten a lot of venison (never hunted for sport), the only pigeon I’ve shot was made of clay, growing up my parents kept the guns in an unlocked closet and said ‘don’t touch the guns’ so I didn’t. My father taught me how to shoot when I was 8 by wrapping his big ole’ arms around my arms. Opinions come from experience* and that’s mine.

*or lack thereof.

[CathyA]

How many people would have been killed in that theater with a hunting gun? It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

[bae]

How many people would have been killed in that theater with a hunting gun? It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

You realize that the best-selling hunting guns over the past decade have been based on the AR-15 platform? And that's where the market is moving? And that even very traditional hunting arms producers have AR-15-based offerings now? And that there are top-notch hunting arms based on the AK platform as well?

The reasons are simple - reliability, ease of maintenance, easy configurability, and so on.

There is very little difference, objectively, between a scary black military-looking semi-automatic rifle, and a modern hunting rifle. Often they are exactly the same item.

For instance, I do a great portion of my varmint control here with a FN P90 rifle, which is a scary-looking very modern semi-auto firearm that has a 50-round magazine, and that the media often breathlessly portrays as the choice of drug cartels because of its alleged armor-piercing capabilities. The reason I use it is because it is tremendously accurate, very light and compact, easy to mount anti-varmint optics on, and can shoot some very nice frangible ammunition that turns into harmless powder when it contacts a hard surface, so there is very little danger of rounds richochetting or travelling any distance through the woods here.

[creaker]

To those who think gun ownership and carrying is a positive thing - do you think private businesses and property owners should have the right to ban guns on their own businesses/properties? I see arguments of carry as a positive thing - however the theatre chain banned weapons from their theatres.

[bae]

To those who think gun ownership and carrying is a positive thing - do you think private businesses and property owners should have the right to ban guns on their own businesses/properties?

Sure. It's their property. But I think they should be able to discriminate about all sorts of things on the same basis.

[peggy]

Sure. It's their property. But I think they should be able to discriminate about all sorts of things on the same basis.

Just wanted to repeat this just in case anyone has any doubts as to the agenda of the NRA. There you go.