General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I'm 55 years old and have never owned a gun in my life. [View all]Atypical Liberal
(5,412 posts)My father taught me how to shoot when I was about 7-8 years old. He gave me my first rifle, a Ruger 10/22, for Christmas when I was 10.
I own firearms specifically for self-defense. In fact the first firearm I ever bought for myself was a Ruger P90 .45 pistol for self-defense. I have never had a reason to use it. Once someone came into the back yard of our home and tried to hot-wire my brand-new garden tractor, but no one was home that we know of to stop them. I've never been a victim of violent crime.
I still believe in keeping firearms for self-defense, even though my odds of needing them are low, for two reasons: 1) It's cheap and easy to be prepared. 2) It doesn't cause any problems for most people like myself to own firearms.
I have hunted over the years. I have eaten meat my entire life so I owe my existence to "killing animals". I can tell you from personal experience that killing an animal in a forest is many, many times more humane than having them herded into a slaughterhouse in an 18-wheeler and crammed down the chutes to execution, with the smell and sound of death all around them.
I collect firearms. Some of the firearms in my collection have been in my family since 1904. I own standard, utilitarian arms, and I own fine works of art, and I own sophisticated target-shooting guns.
I shoot competitively about once a month. I have never gone to a competition and not placed at least first, second, or third place.
I just can't imagine having a loaded gun on my night stand because of the small chance of an intrusion by a bad guy.
I agree with this. I used to keep my gun in my night stand, but as soon as I had children, I bought a safe.
I believe everyone who owns guns should keep them in a safe.