Rural gun ownership.

[davsand]

102. Can't speak for the OP, but where I grew up animal control was mostly a fiction.

Our county has maybe two or three animal control officers and they are spread pretty thin. (Knowing you live on a ranch, I'm pretty sure you've seen that same scenario yourself.) If you do run into a rabid animal, you may be waiting a while if you call the county for help. That is not intended as a slam on anybody--just a statement of our reality. Add the presence of kids, livestock, or family pets into the mix and waiting hours or maybe even days for somebody to show up to help is not really viable.

As for hunting for meat, yeah, we did that too. Our rule was you killed it only if you were planning to eat it. Can't say it is as "wholesome" and natural as some would like to make it sound, but it was a fact of our lives that we ate rabbit, pheasant, and venison. We knew there was a death carried in the eating of flesh--but it was the choice you make when you choose to eat any kind of meat--be it wild or farm raised. (I've also eaten my fair share of fish, too, come to think of it...) I've always maintained that if we had to kill it and dress it out all by ourselves our nation would eat a whole lot less meat, and there's sure be a lot less waste of food.

We never needed an AK or any kind of semi-automatic weapons, but the shotgun and the rifle did come in handy a few times over the years. I'd hate to see that ability to fend for yourself lost forever.

YMMV.



Laura