Do you own a gun or weapon?

[orthodoxymoron]

I've never had anything more dangerous than a Daisy BB Gun...and I almost shot my eye out! I support the 2nd Ammendment...but I also support classes, tests, and screenings to make sure that only responsible people who know how to properly use guns...actually have them...legally at least. I'm trying to focus on disaster preparedness, home security systems, non-lethal self-defense, and basic wilderness survival skills. I haven't gotten very far with these subjects...but the way things are going in the world...I may pick up the pace! I can't imagine shooting anyone! I hate to kill a fly! I also like the idea of well-regulated state militias...with an all-volunteer state army under the command of the governor of each state. Bases would be well supplied by tax-dollars...with C-130's, APC's, etc. The purpose would be for disaster relief, firefighting, manhunts, search and rescue, sovereignty challenges, border and port security, etc. This seems to be in perfect harmony with the spirit and letter of the 2nd Ammendment. This wouldn't be a bunch of renegade anarchists running in the streets with their sawed-off shotguns!

[Dakini]

Originally Posted by orthodoxymoron

I've never had anything more dangerous than a Daisy BB Gun...and I almost shot my eye out!

[futureyes]

used to have them in the house for hunting (not me) ... couldn't stand their energy ... when all got sold ... breath of fresh air ...

still got my compound bow ... used to be not so shabby with that device ...

like you ... have dogs that would rather play than protect ... oh well ...

[Carmen]

Yes, I think I'm going to have to 'bite the Bullet' lol and get myself a gun. Not to protect myself from intruders primarily, but to be able to shoot the bunnies and the occasional animal that breaks a leg. The idea of putting something out of its misery with a knife certainly doesn't appeal. I have several roosters fattening for the pot, but they've been fattening for months, cos I'm too gutless to chop their heads off!!! Ahhhhrr.

Our bunny number have built up far too much this season. They make great tucker, so maybe the next skill I need under my belt is to how to use a gun safely.

I am fortunate to live in a place where we lock nothing. The house is always open and the keys are always left in the vehicles. I've never been stolen from. Fearful thoughts and beliefs are great attractors to criminals. Im not sure how I'd handle the situation of starving desperate people arriving at my door. I'd probably just feed them.

I have a strong vision/intention that only people of light are drawn here. I see them coming, and of me helping them with shelter and food. I hold that vision. I have done this for a few years now, and depending on the strength of the vision, it always works.

Love and Light
Carmen

[voltron]

I keep no weapons on me or in my house. Speaking of the fourth dimension we will be in after the 2012 shift, "If you think you need a gun then one will appear instantly in your hand. If you are afraid of being shot then you will be shot. Whatever you think comes true instantly in the 4th and 5th dimensions. So there is no need for a gun." Also there is the law of "Ahimsa." A Hindu word meaning harmlessness toward any one. If you have true compassion for all living things you will not be harmed.

[recallone]

No firearms, but I've got a few equalizers here and there. If someone were to give me a firearm, however - I'd gladly accept it.
I don't think having a gun would necessarily attract the circumstances to use it, but rather the fear would.
No place for fear in all this love. Just confidence in smooth here-and-now-ness.

[dagon]

I own 4 spear guns. I also usto have a remington 870 express 12 gauge. I have hunted with it. but I don't practice it and my views have changed. I sold the gun a few years ago. I liked the sport of it. shooting clays is a lot of fun.



I just bought a marlin rifle model 60 14 shot, 22 cal with a 4x20 scope. haven't even shot it yet. I'm putting together a survival pack. just in case. Im not a gun person really. my last stand.


I am a sportsman. and do some selective harvesting and hunting gathering. love wild mushrooms. and fresh watercress out of a clean stream. add a little fly fishing and a camp fire, and you have quite an evening.


I think I was some kind of tribal hunter in my past lives.

[thuras]

In Austria we have compulsory military or community service.
All male members of our family incl. me served in the army and are militia officers.

So although gun laws are very strict here, we possess some weapons and have a common sense in handling them.

[futureyes]

i am not judgemental on people having firearms if that is what is true and right for them ...

i do though object to parents who have weapons in their homes but do not store them safely ...

when i was ten ... i watched my two friends go into one of their homes and come out with two guns ... easy peasy ...

we were all out on the front lawn ... the two boys pretended they were in the days of the old west ... one on either side of the lawn ...

someone yelled "draw" ... and they did ... they drew their guns and fired ... both who never handled weapons prior shot at the other ...

both shot with precision ...

both guns were loaded ...

it was the day i thought the world stopped ... to see my two friends lying on their lawn ... lifeless ... not pretending anymore ...

i object to weapons not stored properly away from young ones ...

read about incidents like this from time to time ... send shivers up my spine ...

[Dakini]

Originally Posted by futureyes

i am not judgemental on people having firearms if that is what is true and right for them ...

i do though object to parents who have weapons in their homes but do not store them safely ...

when i was ten ... i watched my two friends go into one of their homes and come out with two guns ... easy peasy ...

we were all out on the front lawn ... the two boys pretended they were in the days of the old west ... one on either side of the lawn ...

someone yelled "draw" ... and they did ... they drew their guns and fired ... both who never handled weapons prior shot at the other ...

both shot with precision ...

both guns were loaded ...

it was the day i thought the world stopped ... to see my two friends lying on their lawn ... lifeless ... not pretending anymore ...

i object to weapons not stored properly away from young ones ...

read about incidents like this from time to time ... send shivers up my spine ...

This is awful I'm sorry you have this memory.

[Dakini]

A beautiful young woman who worked for me was being pulled out of her car window by a man, while her boyfriend was held down - through the window - by another man. Her boyfriend somehow got ahold of the pepper spray she kept in the ashtray, and sprayed one of them - and they ran away.

After that, we all bought the pepper spray. But it only works if you carry it, right? BC all the times I was threatened, of course I didn't have the stuff with me. I still have it, 20 yrs later, but never used it. I would say I would use the spray if I needed to.

[waitinginthewings]

Does anyone know if pepper spray is legal in Canada. I heard rumour some time ago that it was banned? I would like to get a small can of it, that I can tuck in my backpack when I go hiking etc.

[futureyes]

thanks dakini ... the memory is of the past ... the teaching remains ...

[oldpaganfreak]

Originally Posted by waitinginthewings

Does anyone know if pepper spray is legal in Canada. I heard rumour some time ago that it was banned? I would like to get a small can of it, that I can tuck in my backpack when I go hiking etc.

you can buy bear scare, which is a concentrate pepper spray. any good outdoors store can supply that, but, DON'T test it.
i found out the hard way and opened up a very short blast. i don't know if it'd stop a bear, but it sure as heck would slow down a human. nasty sh*t!!

[waitinginthewings]

Originally Posted by oldpaganfreak

you can buy bear scare, which is a concentrate pepper spray. any good outdoors store can supply that, but, DON'T test it.
i found out the hard way and opened up a very short blast. i don't know if it'd stop a bear, but it sure as heck would slow down a human. nasty sh*t!!

Tks....I'll check out Candadian Tire first. Yes, I'm concerned about stopping a human than a bear.

[henners]

Great post Dakini. Just to let you know some of the things that have happened here in Australia. On the 28th of April 1996, in Port Arthur, Tasmania, a man Martin Bryant killed 35 people and mamed many others. I won't give you all the details, you don't need to know that, but since then,the government changed the law on guns, And i quote " The central provisions of the reforms were the ban on semi-automatic rifles and pump action shotguns, accompanied by gun amnesties and two national buybacks, which together saw some 820,000 guns destroyed. Because of their rapid firepower, semi-automatics are the guns of choice for those intent on killing many people quickly. John Howard introduced the reforms to prevent US-style mass killings, not primarily to prevent criminal or domestic gun homicides or gun suicides."

In the 12 years since the law reforms, there have been no mass shootings. But there is also evidence of wider collateral benefits in reduced gun deaths overall. While the rate of firearm homicide was reducing in Australia by an average of 3% per year prior to the law reforms, this more than doubled to 7.5% per year after the introduction of the new laws, although to the delight of our local gun lobby, this failed to reach statistical significance simply because of the low statistical power inherent in the small numbers involved.

Gun deaths in Australia are dominated by suicides, with about 79% of all gun fatalities, followed by 15% homicides and 2% unintentional shootings. Suicide with guns has what coroners euphemistically call a very high "completion rate". When those attempting suicide use a gun, they don't need a semi-automatic. The trigger gets pulled once, so a single shot suffices, from any gun that remained unaffected by the law reforms. So by removing only semi-automatics, we really wouldn’t expect any decline in gun suicides.

Yet as with gun homicides, firearm suicides in males declined from 3.4 deaths per 100,000 person years in 1997 to 1.3 per 100,000, a decline of 59.9%. The rate of all other suicides declined from 19.9 deaths per 100,000 in 1997 to 15.0 per 100,000 in 2005, a 24.5% decline, less than half that for gun suicides.

Farmers , members of gun clubs, security staff etc are still allowed to own a gun, but the levels of restrictions are enormous.

Unfortunatelly, if the s--t hits the fan in 2012 and enough people survive, those that are prepared with food and resources, will have to defend themselves from those marauders intent in taking what someone else has.

I am not taking sides here, but if i was an american, i would purchase a gun before the laws change. In Australia, if you know the right people, you can get anything.

Henry

[Humble Janitor]

To me, buying a gun means buying into a culture of fear and I'm not interested in doing so.

[henners]

Don't get me wrong, i do not like guns and will never buy one. Some people seen to think they need one IMHO.
Last year in Sydney we had the World Youth Tour with the Pope visiting and approx 350,000 Catholics visiting the state.
I had a tour with a Polish priest that lived in Canada. He had 6 guns, 4 rifles and two hand guns. I asked him "isn't that against the Catholic church"?
His reply was that " guns don't kill people, people kill people ".
I still don't understand......................

[orthodoxymoron]

Originally Posted by henners

Don't get me wrong, i do not like guns and will never buy one. Some people seen to think they need one IMHO.
Last year in Sydney we had the World Youth Tour with the Pope visiting and approx 350,000 Catholics visiting the state.
I had a tour with a Polish priest that lived in Canada. He had 6 guns, 4 rifles and two hand guns. I asked him "isn't that against the Catholic church"?
His reply was that " guns don't kill people, people kill people ".
I still don't understand......................

The Lord is my shepherd...but just in case...I have 6 guns...4 rifles and 2 hand-guns!

[Swanny]

macrostheblack there is nothing wrong in protecting yourself and those you love

[macrostheblack]

Originally Posted by Swanny

macrostheblack there is nothing wrong in protecting yourself and those you love

You are correct swanny.

I too would do anything to protect those i love.

But i will never resort to handling a firearm.

I would never wish to harm another by this method to protect those closest to me - that is someones son/daughter too and all it creates is an endless cycle. In my opinion it is a bad example to display.

But i understand your requirements for needing one. There are many foolish people out there that feel power when holding a weapon. They dream and go along with thier ego - resulting in many accidents.

Education is the key.

In my work i have met many walks of life including criminal types. When you act neutral and offer your ear - they then loosen up and display a desire to climb out of the guilt of their ways. In nottingham where i work there are many terrible gangs using knifes, guns etc. Ive spent time with many of them and gained their respect. When I am around them their character changes and the need to show off deminishes. There lost children alot of them, who only want someone to talk too - to help them.

If this insults you Swanny in any way, then we shall have to agree to disagree.

Mark

[oldpaganfreak]

the gun registry in canada has made criminals of a lot of old farmers who have never broken the law in their lifetime. the gun lobby in the u.s. will do the same.
for rural people, guns are tools, not weapons.

i had to kill a 61/2 foot black bear on my porch last fall. i had tried to scare him away the day before. i shot him through my kitchen window before he came in through it. my rifle was a tool that saved a lot of damage and maybe loss of life.
apparently the vast majority of guns that have been legally registered in canada belong to the military and police, yet canada has more guns per capita than the united states.

either there are a lot of people that just destroyed their guns, or there are millions of criminals in canada, created by the gun registry.

the gun registry in the states will be no more effective. canada has 33 million folks (more or less), while the u.s. has 300 million plus. canada has wasted billions of taxpayers dollars on our registry. how much do you think that the gun lobby in the u.s.will write off?
(that's a rhetorical question. the americans will waste hundreds of millions to no avail.)

so, whose money is being wasted??? yours and mine, comrades!!

[Swanny]

Originally Posted by macrostheblack

If this insults you Swanny in any way, then we shall have to agree to disagree.

Not insulted at all.
I know that if a gang of starving armed killers were knocking my door down, with the intent of killing me and my kids (if I had some), raping my wife (if I had one) and then stealing our food and water I would shoot first and then have a nice little chat with their mothers afterwards.
When TSHTF and gangs are running wild do you really think people will want to listen to what you're saying?? It's a nice thought to think that these gangs have a soft and caring side but back in the real world they will just take what they want. When THSTF the time for talking will be long gone.
Once they have been to your house they will move on to the next.
Sorry but I think your vision of the furture is a lot different to mine.
If it comes down to me or them then I'm going to try my hardest to make sure it's them.
Good luck

What is it they say... 3 days without food they will steal for it, 5 days without food they will kill for it.

Recent gun sale statistics. Turn down the audio when watching, it's not necessary & is actually distracting. Give it a minute before the words appear on the screen as the stats are visually shown. The original site seams reasonable, statistics are likely accurate.
http://republicbroadcasting.org/?p=308

[oldpaganfreak]

Originally Posted by Humble Janitor

To me, buying a gun means buying into a culture of fear and I'm not interested in doing so.

to me it means protection, food and security.
a gun is an essential tool, where i live.