Gun owners are apparently expecting that it will be harder to make purchases of guns and ammo after Obama's proposed new measures go through, and are stocking up now.
I have wondered whether as a conservative I should feel obligated to buy a gun. Be one of the team and all that. But those who didn't grow up with guns may not have the instinctive caution we should. I shot .22's at Camp Mi-te-na in the 60's, but that was the last of it. I never hit the target* much, either, which I now know is a result of poor fine-motor skills, an unsteady hand, which shows up in many life areas.
So, unfamiliarity plus poor coordination sound like a bad firearms combination to me.
*Okay, I hit the target as such, but not so much those circles, and especially not the inner ones. Archery, same thing. I seldom put the arrows all the way over the hay bales, but only hit the standing circle about half the time.
That is precisely why I think laws requiring gun ownership are as silly as laws prohibiting it.
ReplyDeletePractice and lessons can improve your aim. And haven't you elided the question of whether you believe your personal/home security is at risk and would be augmented by gun ownership.
ReplyDeleteIf I lived in a higher crime area, it might be worth my while. But northern New England has had the lowest murder rate in the country since colonial times. If you look at the possible extremes this becomes clearer. If you lived in a place where there was no violent crime every year, your risk of accidents from bringing a firearm into your home would exceed your exterior risk. If you lived in a battle zone, your risk of accidental death would be negligible compared to your risk of death from attack. Somewhere in between is everyone's crossover point as to which is safer.
ReplyDeleteMy reading of the numbers is that the crossover point is a lot closer to the gun rights side than the gun control side. Most gun control rhetoric is fed by anecdote, and of what people can imagine going wrong with a gun. That has little to do with real measurement.
I originally began to think about owning a gun after an incident at my home made me realize that a nutjob could overpower me and then have a house full of women and children at his mercy. I thought that the idea of having a force multiplier was a very good thing. I also wanted my children (and me) to understand how guns are tools, and how they work, and what they are for, so that they did not have to be afraid of them, regardless of whether they wanted to own one or not.
ReplyDeleteWell, I purchased a pistol last year (I had a couple of .22 rifles inherited from my uncles that I had never fired), and now I have five rifles (including the dreaded AR-15) and three handguns. I enjoy shooting. As a hobby, it's probably not any more expensive than golf. I'm learning skills that may have no practical application right now, but may be the difference between life and death some day.
I bought the AR-15 last week, because as a rational being, I can understand the laws of supply and demand. The dealer has already offered to buy it back.