Who Owns Guns?

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[Post New]03/05/2010 17:33
Anonymous
I noticed a lot of comments about military and feds owning guns. Just want to point out that not all military think guns and children (or weapons and civilians) mix well. My husband and I are both former active duty military officers. We both have extensive training and experience in all manner of weapons, in all sorts of places. Neither of us would dream of bringing them into the home. For that matter, we don't even allow the kids to play with toy guns. They aren't toys, and if they ever want to "play army" (or USMC, in our case), they'll need to go through OCS....

And for one of the PPs: why on earth would anyone ever need an AK-47? Or an AR-15? There's just no need for anyone outside of the military and some feds to ever own any automatic weapons. But I guess that's another thread topic.
[Post New]03/05/2010 19:50
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:There was a fascinating segment on 20/20 a while back called "If Only I Had A Gun" in which gun-owners who believed themselves to be well-trained and experienced in handling guns, and who professed to own them for self-defense purposes, were put in a mock Virginia Tech/Columbine type situation where an armed intruder entered a classroom situation and started shooting. They knew this was a simulation (with paint guns) and knew something was going to happen. EVERY last one of them either (a) froze and never got off a shot; (b) shot and missed the "bad guy"' (c) shot and hit innocent bystanders or (d) themselves got shot. The law enforcement officials who were interviewed were not surprised -- they said that unless you are very well trained and can overcome the normal adrenaline rush that would occur in such a situation, you are likely to be unable to respond in such a situation. This is why law-enforcement and the military train constantly to respond to these situations. I think the police officer interviewed said if you even let up training for 3 to 4 weeks, you lose your ability to respond. And by training they aren't talking about target practice -- they are talking about dealing with high-stress, emergency type situations.

All of the subjects of the study were shocked. I think some of the footage is on You Tube.

The show also set up cameras where children were given gun safety lectures, and then immediately left alone in a room full of toys, including a fake gun. Almost every kid pulled out and waved the gun around, while their horrified parents watched from behind a two way glass. Finally, they had an experiment where they hid a gun in a garage and hired young men (teenagers to early twenties) to "clean" the garage. Almost every guy pulled out the gun and messed around with it, and several of them would likely have shot themselves in the head had it been loaded.

Food for thought.



thank you for this. Ugh. I hate guns. I don't want my kids playing at houses where there are guns. People on this forum are more stupid than I thought -- so many of them think guns are okay to keep in a house with kids. They think they're safe because they're locked away. Why? Why? Why?


Niiiice! I'm another spouse of a fed. We have handguns in the house because it's part of DH's job!!!!!! We have no choice! We have a proper gun safe. I'm not even sure my children know where the gun safe is and even if they did and could reach it, they cannot open it. No one has ever asked us if we have guns before sending their children over to play. Presumably, they know we do because of DH's job (and a lot of our DCs' friends are also children of feds). We are very responsible. I find it very unfair of you to call me stupid. As a matter of fact, I think you are pretty stupid for seeing the world in such black and white terms. I'm glad you won't allow your children to come over -- I don't want my children to be friends with children raised by people who are not smart enough to realize that there are nuances to life.

By the way -- I'm pro gun control because I'd really rather have my DH around, not killed in a shoot out. I get hunting and target shooting, but I don't get the whole gun for protection thing, especially when the people who claim to need the gun for protection are not trained in weapon retention.
[Post New]03/05/2010 20:14
Anonymous
SAM2 wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Here is a profile on gun ownership in America from 2005. http://www.gallup.com/poll/20098/gun-ownership-use-america.aspx ....

I'm curious. Does anyone have statistics on handgun ownership? I wonder what percentage of those total firearms numbers are attributable to rifles. I'd imagine a fairly high percentage, but I don't really know.


Well, in that data, 41% of gun owners do not use their guns to hunt. So a sizable number of people are likely to own handguns, since rifles are primarily for hunting / animal control and occasionally for target shooting. Of course people who hunt may use a rifle or shotgun for self-defense, but it is not really the weapon of choice.

Therefore I would infer that the statistics are not terribly different for handgun ownership on the broad questions.

I don't believe in firearms in the home. However, I do not think it is helpful to portray gun ownership as a fringe activity. There are too many non-wackos who own guns. If we are to persuade them, we can't dismiss them with pejoratives. For example, the OP is not going to get anywhere with her line of argument on her husband.
[Post New]03/05/2010 20:20
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:We have hand guns, rifles and ak47's. DH hunts and shoots as a hobby. My 14 year old joined the NRA through boy scouts and is an award winning target shooter. Educate yourself people - guns don't kill, people kill.[/quote

So NOW the Boy Scouts are involved in guns? for what? to train boys to practice target shooting on gays?

Do you earn a badge for joining the NRA, too?

[Post New]03/05/2010 20:20
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Here is a profile on gun ownership in America from 2005. http://www.gallup.com/poll/20098/gun-ownership-use-america.aspx

It is hard to argue that gun ownership is a fringe activity:

23% of Democrats own guns
42% of households have one gun owner.
47% of men own a gun. (13% of women, too)
33% of white people own a gun.
BTW only 1 in 6 nonwhites do.

I am not pro-gun, but these numbers are too large to attribute them to extreme political views or "very damaged individuals".


The fact that large numbers of Americans own guns doesn't prove gun ownership is rational or pleasant. This is the country that re-elected George W Bush. I think that proves pretty conclusively that at least 51% of Americans are fucktards.
[Post New]03/05/2010 21:09
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Here is a profile on gun ownership in America from 2005. http://www.gallup.com/poll/20098/gun-ownership-use-america.aspx

It is hard to argue that gun ownership is a fringe activity:

23% of Democrats own guns
42% of households have one gun owner.
47% of men own a gun. (13% of women, too)
33% of white people own a gun.
BTW only 1 in 6 nonwhites do.

I am not pro-gun, but these numbers are too large to attribute them to extreme political views or "very damaged individuals".


The fact that large numbers of Americans own guns doesn't prove gun ownership is rational or pleasant. This is the country that re-elected George W Bush. I think that proves pretty conclusively that at least 51% of Americans are fucktards.


You sounds like you are making an educated statement.

[Post New]03/05/2010 21:11
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:One of my childhood friends killed him self at age 14 (by accident) while handling his father's handgun. He thought it was unloaded; he found the key (where it not very well hidden) and got it out to show a friend.

Kids are curious; they're bound to want to see, touch, and hold the gun. They will find thekey, no matter how well you think you've hidden it. Remember how curious you were about taboo stuff when you were little? I certainly recall snooping for x-mas gifts, diaries, etc. I imagine if there had been something like a gun safe key, my brother and I woul dhave snooped for that, too.

That's why there will never be a gun in my house. And my kids won't play at your house, either.


Two of my childhood friends died in a car accident. A teen was driving too fast. The car crashed. Both people in the car died. Does that mean we shouldn't have cars in the driveway? Seems to me each year teens die all over NOVA and MOCO in car accidents. We don't take the cars away though.
[Post New]03/05/2010 21:20
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:This is the country that re-elected George W Bush. I think that proves pretty conclusively that at least 51% of Americans are fucktards.

Don't forget this was the 2000 election, so that's only 47.9% of Americans, plus five guys on the Supreme Court.
[Post New]03/05/2010 21:53
Anonymous
Nope, never have and never will.

I think a lot of people that own them for "protection" have fear issues. What exactly do they think is going to happen?
[Post New]03/05/2010 21:56
Anonymous
Remember that gun-toting soccer mom? She'd wear a handgun strapped to her hip to her kid's soccer games. How strange is that? Must have been some rowdy games.
[Post New]03/05/2010 22:01
SAM2
Member Offline
SAM2 wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Here is a profile on gun ownership in America from 2005. http://www.gallup.com/poll/20098/gun-ownership-use-america.aspx ....

I'm curious. Does anyone have statistics on handgun ownership? I wonder what percentage of those total firearms numbers are attributable to rifles. I'd imagine a fairly high percentage, but I don't really know.

I spent some time searching for stats. Interesting stuff.

Per Dep't of Justice study in 1994 (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/pubs-sum/165476.htm):
* 44 million Americans owned 192 million firearms, 65 million of which were handguns. [Approximately 34% of firearms are handguns, and 66% are rifles.] Although there were enough guns to have provided every U.S. adult with one, only 25 percent of adults actually owned firearms; 74 percent of gun owners possessed two or more.
* The proportion of American households that keep firearms appears to be declining.
* Sixty-eight percent of handgun owners also possessed at least one rifle or shotgun.

Per FBI research in 2005 (http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/offenses/expanded_information/data/shrtable_07.html), at least 75% of firearm deaths are from handguns. and less than 1% of firearm deaths were from rifles/shotguns/other. 14% of the time, the specific type of firearm was not identified, but judging from the reported stats, it seems that 98-99% of the unreported situations would involve handguns.
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