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Just curious about this - yes, a gun ownership poll.

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NRaleighLiberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:28 PM
Original message
Poll question: Just curious about this - yes, a gun ownership poll.
I'd rather this not turn into a flaming nasty thread, but the recent news has me wondering about this...if this sort of poll has been run recently, apologies!
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NightWatcher Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:30 PM
Response to Original message
1. I did this same question several months/year ago...it came out 51/49
gun owners to non gun owners.

I like the breakdown of owners who use for hunting purposes. Might I also rec a "uses for work/protection" category?
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NRaleighLiberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:33 PM
Original message
thanks for suggestions - let's see how it comes out - maybe tomorrow we can do a
more detailed follow up with some further breakdowns.
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NightWatcher Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:34 PM
Response to Original message
6. groovy
people will keep this kicked for several days if it doesnt become a flamewar.
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csziggy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:45 PM
Response to Reply #1
10. Yes, I own a gun to shoot dangerous animals - not so much for defense against humans
But it might be a possibility. I doubt it though. I don't think I could shoot another human being, at least not to defend myself.

But we get rattlesnakes and could have rabid animals around. I have shot two rattlesnakes that were close to the barns and the house The ones I saw away from where our horses and our visitors go, I left alone.
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aikoaiko Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:23 PM
Response to Reply #1
25. I actually saved a screen shot of your poll results and put it on tinypic.
Edited on Sat Apr-04-09 10:23 PM by aikoaiko

see below.

and here too.

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Statistical Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:30 PM
Response to Original message
2. Voted.
Hopefully the mods will leave it in the main forum.

Once it goes to the gun forum the responses tend to be one-sided.

I for one am interested in the % of DU that owns a firearm but does NOT hunt.
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SteveM Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-07-09 02:43 PM
Response to Reply #2
94. Hard to say how many on DU hunt. Nationally: -20% (nt)
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Occam Bandage Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:31 PM
Response to Original message
3. I own a pistol crossbow, and that's it.
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donheld Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:32 PM
Response to Original message
4. I do not own a gun and I don't plan to own one, but
I have no problem with anyone who does own one.
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OhioChick Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:33 PM
Response to Original message
5. Own Several Guns/Protection n/t
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Squatch Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 05:01 AM
Response to Reply #5
52. Me too. Plus I'm buying more this year:
I currently have 2 bolt action rifles, an AR-15 (M4gery), 2 pistols, 2 shotguns.

This year I'm buying one more bolt action rifle and and a revolver.

I hunt, carry for personal protection, and compete (USPSA) with my guns. I plan on stocking up on sporting arms once the buy-now hysteria has passed.
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madrchsod Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:35 PM
Response to Original message
7. i owned several guns when i lived in the country
but gave the guns to my friend when i moved into town. i can`t have chickens,ducks ,and geese in town so i do`t need my varmint rifles any more.
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uppityperson Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:41 PM
Response to Original message
8. I used to own a couple guns, and hunted
Now I would have to borrow one to hunt. I fish though
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amyrose2712 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:42 PM
Response to Original message
9. No guns, a bipolar maniac lives here.
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cliffordu Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:46 PM
Response to Original message
11. I've owned plenty of guns but not at this moment.
I've hunted but not in the last few years and might go back to it if food gets much more expensive.
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NeedleCast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:46 PM
Response to Original message
12. I own more than one, but only one is functional
Two are antiques.
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spin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:47 PM
Response to Original message
13. I own a collection of handguns and two rifles...
but I don't hunt. Recently with the economy in free fall, I've considered hunting as a way to reduce my food bill.

My hobby is target shooting but I also own handguns for self defense and have a concealed carry permit.

Shooting has been a rewarding and enjoyable hobby over the years and I've formed many friendships with some very interesting and intelligent shooters from many different walks of life.
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williesgirl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:48 PM
Response to Original message
14. Own 2 guns, have concealed weapons permit, don't hunt. Got them originally
as protection for a young teenager who I took temporary emergency custody of about 5 yrs ago. She had been badly abused by adoptive parents who sold her on the streets at the ripe old age of 4 and it went downhill from there. At 11 evidently she was too old, so they gave her back to her birth parents who had all 6 of their kids removed when she was 2 yrs old. Once back home, dear old Dad began raping her. Long story, but once I got involved, she gave depositions against all of them and someone literally put a hit contract out on her. We moved from my home to the country and I took precautions to protect her and the rest of our family. Never believed I could do it. I laughed at the time saying my late husband was in Heaven shouting "holy shit, she's armed!". I wouldn't let him bring his Dad's old Gun from WWII into the garage in a locked cabinet! Amazing what you can do when you have to.

I always hope I'll never have to use it other than target practice. Hope this provides you with a different prospective than most.
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corruptmewithpower Donating Member (411 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:02 PM
Response to Original message
15. I don't have any guns, but I'm very happy we have the right to keep them.
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virginia mountainman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:04 PM
Response to Original message
16. I own several
Edited on Sat Apr-04-09 10:05 PM by virginia mountainman
I collect military rifles, mostly the real ones, not these semi-automatics that LOOK like military rifles,that are wildly sold and vilified today, even tho, I own a few of them. They have their place.

Most of what I collect, are old Mausers, Mosin Nagants, Lee Enfields, Arasakas, Springfields,and my grandfathers 1911 pistol he carried in WWII. I do have a few TRUE Military Semi Autos, an M1 Grand, M1 Carbine, some Yugoslavian SKS's, a couple of CZ 52 Pistols, a P38 Pistol, Tokerev and Makorov pistols.

Their are more, but I cannot recall them off hand.

I used to hunt, but for the past decade, All I have shot, is paper, and old drink containers..

I also have a Concealed Handgun Permit, and I do carry, I have two guns, that I carry, a older Kimber 1911 45, and a much newer Glock 36, also in .45 depending on how I dress. I also carry in North Carolina, West Virginia, Tennessee, and South Carolina, using the reciprocal agreements between the states.

This is not counting my wife's sidearm (she has a CHP too), and rifles that are allotted to my kids (under my direct supervision)

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Buck Laser Donating Member (566 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:05 PM
Response to Original message
17. Actually, I don't hunt anymore, but my guns aren't self defense.
In my younger days, I used to hunt, but have little interest in it now. I do enjoy target shooting, though.
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PufPuf23 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:14 PM
Original message
I own 17 firearms and do not hunt and voted as such
They range in age from the 1870s to 1960s. They were gifts from my childhood from parents or other relatives or inherited from my Dad. Most are hunting rifles but one is a German Officer's lugar/holster with silver decoration my Dad brought home from WWII.

I have not shot a gun since the early 1980s and then it was a 16 gauge with buckshot as a federal forester sampling cones for seed collection. Another Fed who was an active rod and gunner, unlike me, saw the 16 gauge covered with Douglas-fir pitch and kept wrapped in a wool blanket freaked when he looked at it. He took the shot gun home and took it apart and re-finished and told me to never treat it that way again as it was a rare and classic collectible.

Save for 1983 when my mother passed on, I haven't had a hunting license nor hunted since I was 16 in the late 60s and discovered the anti-war movement. That year I got a license to accompany my Dad deer hunting when my Mom was in home hospice.

My mother's parents and then my parents had a hunting and fishing lodge from 1921 to 1957 within a National Forest and both sides of my family had been among the earliest European settlers of one of the more remote and rugged areas of the West to this day. So I grew up with guns and was given a Winchester pump 22 when I was 9. I just don't like to kill nor target shoot nor the smell nor violence in general and haven't since I was a teen at boarding school in the San Francisco area in the 1960s.

I keep an unloaded shotgun in the entry of my home for attitude and decoration.

A friend of my Dad and my summer neighbor, now 93, has several of the rifles now, and save for the shotgun and my childhood 22 that I use for home decoration, the others are in obscure closet behind banker boxes of scientific literature. Cleo restores violins and guns as a hobby and has been doing about one rifle a year. I do have them cataloged and in my will they are listed with other items to go to the county historical society.

The only item I have ever purchased from ebay was a picture of POTUS Hoover flyfishing in the riffle closest to my grand parents resort before he was POTUS.

I believe in the right to bear arms but see no reason whatsoever for assault weapons to be available with the exception of licensed serious collectors. Everyone should be familiar with guns yet discouraged from using them for personal protection. I know I will never carry a firearm for personal protection and do not think in general this is a good idea.

Part of the problem with guns is the violence we see daily on TV and in the movies and the poor and inequitable quality of life that is a feedback to mental illness. I like the Swiss model of relating to firearms. Guns aren't the problem rather the mental hygiene of our society is poor and I blame this on Authoritarian warmongers.
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On the Road Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:14 PM
Response to Original message
18. I Taught Riflery in Summer Camp
and believe the second amendment confers and individual right. But I feel much, much safer NOT owning a gun.
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XemaSab Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:15 PM
Response to Original message
19. I could see myself buying a gun someday, and possibly hunting with it
n/t
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rrneck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:17 PM
Response to Original message
20. I don't hunt
And I live near a community with a crime rate that doesn't really require me to think that much about self defense. But who knows, I may have to move back into some tough neighborhood again...
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-..__... Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:20 PM
Response to Original message
21. "How many guns do I own"?...
More than I need, but not as many as I want. :smoke:
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OffWithTheirHeads Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:21 PM
Response to Original message
22. I own several guns. Between the time I was 13 and the time I was 57
I owned no guns. When G.W. got re-appointed I started buying guns. Now I own many. After watching Katrina and after seeing the Supreme court declare that the police have no duty to protect you, I figured out that "I am on my own." So be it. I now own guns. Lots of guns and much ammunition.

And, by the way, as someone who has spent most of his life NOT owning guns, seeing no real reason to own them, G.W. has changed all that. I now realize that I will have to depend on myself (personal responsibility) to defend my home and loved ones. I can't depend on the police or the government that I had been led to believe had control for oh these many years. Please do not bang on my door aggressively. You may receive a 12 ga. welcome.

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NRaleighLiberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:22 PM
Response to Original message
23. Some really interesting data showing up. Keep voting, people!
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aikoaiko Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:22 PM
Response to Original message
24. We've done this before and results are usually 50-50.

You're poll, although smaller at this point, is showing something similar.

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Statistical Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:52 PM
Response to Reply #24
27. The breakdown on hunter vs non-hunter is interesting
Many non gunowners are under the false assumption that the vast majority of gun owners are hunters.

They seem to think that taking any non-hunters rights is OK because 99.9999999% of gun owners are hunters and they few that are not are right-wing gun nut crazys who belong to a milita.

With poll shaping up at 3:1 gun owners self identifying as non hunter maybe it will wake the gun grabbers up.

Gun owners make up a large % of voting block.
Gun owners are a large % of both parties and independents.
Most gun owners are not hunting
2nd ammendement has NOTHING to do with hunting (hint: it never did).
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NRaleighLiberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 11:14 PM
Response to Reply #27
28. Agreed - that popped out to me as well. very interesting.
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depakid Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 05:12 AM
Response to Reply #28
53. One might infer that to be a measure of cowardice
Edited on Sun Apr-05-09 05:13 AM by depakid
It would be interesting to take that subset of folks through a psychological inventory and find out what else they're afraid of....
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benEzra Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 08:04 AM
Response to Reply #28
84. Nationally, about 1 in 5 gun owners hunts
based on hunting license data vs. ownership rates, so your poll is matching up pretty well.
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X_Digger Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:38 PM
Response to Original message
26. Own several, hunt about every other year or so, also for protection.
I used to be an IT tech servicing telecom equipment all over Texas. Long stretches of empty roads, and some of the most crime ridden neighborhoods in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso, and Corpus Christi. Had my truck broken into multiple times, was mugged 1.5 times (second was attempted, so I call it 0.5).
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frebrd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 12:14 AM
Response to Original message
29. Two carbines, two handguns
I have a WWII vintage M1 carbine and a little AR7 carbine; also a Beretta pistol, a Taurus revolver and a Concealed Pistol License to go with them. I don't hunt.
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Jack_DeLeon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 12:21 AM
Response to Original message
30. I dont hunt but would like to try it someday.
I have a few guns, but I've never had the opportunity to go hunting.

I was raised in the city and dont know anyone who goes hunting, and here in Texas there is little public land to hunt on so you either got know somebody who has some land or pay big bucks for a lease to hunt on.
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20score Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 12:23 AM
Response to Original message
31. How about, I used to own a gun before my children were born. Then sold them years ago.
It's not on the list.
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nadinbrzezinski Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 12:27 AM
Response to Original message
32. You should be specific,
on gun type

Pistols are one thing, long guns (for hunting) are a different critter
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Richard Steele Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 01:12 AM
Response to Reply #32
34. Except for those of us who hunt with pistols.
nm
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NickB79 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 02:14 AM
Response to Reply #32
37. Many hunters use pistols for hunting as well as long guns
And the majority of long guns owned in this country are NOT used for hunting.
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Adsos Letter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 12:45 AM
Response to Original message
33. I currently own two rifles, bolt action, WWII vintage, and they are shooters...
Edited on Sun Apr-05-09 01:04 AM by Adsos Letter
I don't own as many firearms as I did when I was younger, and did both deer and bird hunting: 1 double-barrel Winchester 20 gauge and one Winchester 20 gauge pump (Model 12), both of which my grandfather gave me (bless his heart), 1 Winchester .270 deer rifle, 1 Ruger .22, one Smith & Wesson "Security Six" .357 revolver, 1 Mossberg 500 12 gauge for home defense.

Now it's just a Russian 1936 series Mosin-Nagant, and a German Kar98K Mauser; both are in fine shape, and great for target shooting.

I also once had a Type 99 Japanese rifle (WWII) with the "chrysanthemum" imprint still intact on the reciever, but it was lost in a move, at some point... :(

EDIT: almost forgot the Conncticut Valley Arms black powder .50 cal. I bought when I thought black poder deer hunting sounded like fun...I think the lock has rusted out, at this point (this is what happens when we don't clean thoroughly and keep up our use of WD40, or Hoppes...especially with black powder weapons :( )

My brother-in-law has a dealers license, and has to register with the local authorities as an armory because of the amount, and type, of weapons he has...several gunsafes full... :D
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grantcart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 01:16 AM
Response to Original message
35. Don't have a gun and have had the privledge to live in countries where
private ownership is not allowed.

People talk about the right to own guns and that debate is over in the US. What they do not know is how different it is to live in a country and never have any fear of ever being in a violent confrontation with either an assailant or a cop. (Cops in countries where guns are not owned privately frequently don't even have guns on their person and virtually never need to use one.)

Its unfortunate that we can't have that freedom, but no place has all of the freedoms. The freedom to live in a country that has virtually no gun violence is a freedom I would like to exercise again.
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Fire_Medic_Dave Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 02:51 AM
Response to Reply #35
41. Where can you live and be assured you won't have a violent confrontation?
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grantcart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 04:30 AM
Response to Reply #41
50. Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, England, Norway, Denmark
Sweeden, Switzerland, England, These are the countries that I personally have spent time where both private gun ownership and the threat of random personal assault by a stranger is very rare. I am sure that there are more, places like Finland, Belgium, Netherlands, and so on but I can't speak to it personally.
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Fire_Medic_Dave Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 04:35 AM
Response to Reply #50
51. Physical assault is very rare in England really?
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LeftishBrit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 06:28 AM
Response to Reply #51
56. Relatively so, yes
Edited on Sun Apr-05-09 06:29 AM by LeftishBrit
Violent crime exists, and is a significant problem in certain places; but the murder rates are much lower than in certain parts of America.
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Fire_Medic_Dave Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 03:26 PM
Response to Reply #56
70. We aren't talking about murder rates we are talking about assault rates.
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grantcart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 12:59 PM
Response to Reply #51
68. Yes - life threatening assaults are very very rare.

But a more key point is that the perception of violence is completely different in all of these countries. Even if you go to a 'rough' area at a late hour, the pervasive sense of caution that you have to have in the states is not there.


The most interesting comparison of statistics is between the United States and Switzerland. Because of universal enrollment in the military and virtually all males are required to stay in the reserves and maintain a firearm at home the rate of gun ownership in Switzerland is very high. However their ammunition is kept under seal and they have to bring it in and have it checked on an annual basis. Any missing ammunition is treated with severe punishment.

As a result the use of firearms in crimes or assaults in Switzerland is very low.

The use in suicides however, like the United States, is very high.
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Fire_Medic_Dave Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 03:29 PM
Response to Reply #68
71. I've treated a lot of assault victims.
Many assaults are life threatening whether or not the victim was seriously injured the potential is definitely there.

David
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grantcart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 04:24 PM
Response to Reply #71
72. Let's not quibble

I lived 20 years overseas and never witnessed an assault of any kind. In some of the countries I lived in there were only one or two murders reported a year, murder by means other than a gun are very difficult. Some countries like Thailand that do have some guns and some violence however do not have the random violence of attack on strangers or assault for theft that we have, almost all of the assaults and murders coming out of family or business disputes.

The larger point is that there are dozens of countries that you can live in around the world and never have to worry about somebody with a gun either attacking you randomly or escalating an existing disagreement into a situation where deadly force might be used.
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Fire_Medic_Dave Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 07:23 PM
Response to Reply #72
75. Well that time you qualified the statement and added somebody with a gun attacking you.
Someone else reported that in the last month 53 people had been murdered with knives in the UK. It seems the violent assault with lethal consequences is somewhat more common there. I'll have to disagree with you on the difficulty of killing people by means other than a firearm. It is quite easy to kill someone with a knife and with small amounts of training it's fairly easy to kill someone with your bare hands especially someone who is not expecting to be attacked. I have lived overseas for several years also. The United States is clearly a violent place. My problem was that you said there were places you didn't have to worry about violent confrontation. There are places like that they are uninhabited islands.

David


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grantcart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 09:34 PM
Response to Reply #75
78. Its been a while since I have lived in England and it may have changed somewhat
but you again miss the point. The overwhelming percentage of those 53 people, I am sure, are attacks on people who are familiar with each other, family violence, fights among aquaintences and so on.

Take England out of it.

There are dozens and dozens of countries you can live in and the spector of gun violence doesn't exist.

Every American I have ever known who has spent decades overseas knows what I am talking about and misses it, even those that own guns.

It is a palpable difference. We are never going to achieve that in the United States because even if they stopped manufacturing guns today there still will be tens of millions of guns available. While it is true that someone intent on stabbing somebody can kill them. What guns do, however, is escalate the mortality of situations that would, under the exact same circumstances, not end in fatalities. Family arguments and suicide attempts that in many other countries are resolved with out fatality are resolved here in the heat of a moment with the pull of a trigger, it is simply too easy. Those 53 stabbings in England would be 1000 gunshot victims if guns were as ubiquitous there as they are here.

I do agree with NRA on one point, vigorously enforce the existing gun laws that exist. America will not make any significant advance on reducing the ocean of guns available here because the number of people who want really want guns are absolutely in love with having them.
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Fire_Medic_Dave Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 09:58 PM
Response to Reply #78
79. You miss the point.
This is what you said in post #35. What they do not know is how different it is to live in a country and never have any fear of ever being in a violent confrontation with either an assailant or a cop.

I will submit that while the chances of violent confrontation is much lower in many countries it still exists. I asked Where can you live and be assured you won't have a violent confrontation? That place doesn't exist unless you are on an island by yourself. Clearly in places where firearms are extremely uncommon there will be less gun violence.

Could it possibly be that you are observant and carry yourself confidently and are highly unlikely to be a victim of crime no matter where you are? Despite working in some very rough neighborhoods I've very rarely felt threatened.

Until we have an honest discussion on the way children are raised, decades old problems in the african american community, the racism that still affects many communities, how to deal with violent predators in our society and a serious commitment to mental health in this country we aren't going to make a significant dent in violent crime.

David
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grantcart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 11:42 PM
Response to Reply #79
81. No you have missed the point


The point is that for a large part of the civilized world the way that people exist in basic urban settings is qualatatively different than the urban experience in the US.

Qualitative. It has nothing to do with how anyone carries themselves. The violence which has reached epidemic portions in the United States simply does not exist for hundreds of millions of people.

Hundreds of millions of people live in cities where the prospect of an immediate eruption of gun violence doesn't exist. There aren't areas of the city that you are afraid to go. In Singapore you can go down to the docks at 2 in the morning and it doesn't occur you to tap into survival skills. Even cities with a high criminal element like Hong Kong do not have incidents where people are gunned down.

The gun violence in the US has excalated in lethality because not only should everyone have the right to own guns they should have the right to use guns that discharge high volume of rounds in seconds, like the attack at the immigration center.

The problem with what you don't know is that you don't know and this discussion is very much like trying to tell a lifelong resident of Bangkok that there is a qualitatively better way to live than to suck in air that is so polluted you can taste it. They don't know what fresh air is like and explaining it to them is futile. It is an absolute fact that the people in Stockholm or Geneva or Chieng Mai live without the ever present specter of gun violence that we do. If your in the middle of a group of people that have had too much too drink and an argument erupts you are thinking - I hope that no body has a gun. If somebody cuts somebody in traffic and gives them a finger and a pursuit results everyone is thinking "I hope he doesn't have a gun". Work in a place where an odd duck just got fired and see him go to his car and look in the trunk, what are you thinking; I hope he doesn't have a gun.

In embracing the right that everyone should have guns, that they will be inexpensive and that they could be an AK 47 and could take out a dozen people before the police show up you are giving up a right, the right not to have to worry about somebody that is walking around with an AK 47. The overwhelming percentage of people living in the so called developed countries choose that right and there is absolutely no interest, in those countries, to give that right up.




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Fire_Medic_Dave Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 04:32 PM
Response to Reply #81
93. You keep changing your initial claim, clearly because it was false.
No one embraces that everyone should have guns, they are illegal for many people to possess in the United States. No one is asking people in those countries to change the way the live. Ak-47's are highly regulated and only a handful of people in this country possess one legally.

David
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WWFZD Donating Member (165 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 07:11 AM
Response to Reply #68
82. Accurate but highly misleading;
"The most interesting comparison of statistics is between the United States and Switzerland. Because of universal enrollment in the military and virtually all males are required to stay in the reserves and maintain a firearm at home the rate of gun ownership in Switzerland is very high. However their ammunition is kept under seal and they have to bring it in and have it checked on an annual basis. Any missing ammunition is treated with severe punishment."

They are issued a supply of ammo that is only to be used for purposes of the militia. There are harsh penalties for losing or using this ammo.
True.

Swiss males are not prohibited from using their government issued weapons with ammo they purchase apart from the supply that's issued to them for militia purposes. Interesting propaganda but the omission of this crucial fact renders the entire statement false.
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Mudoria Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 01:17 AM
Response to Original message
36. Don't own any or plan to
but I don't oppose anyone who is legally eligible from buying one.
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NickB79 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 02:17 AM
Response to Original message
38. Two rifles: a Ruger 10/22 for squirrels & rabbits, and an AR-15 "assault rifle" for fun
Along with enough ammo stockpiled when it was still cheap to last me a looooong time :-)
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Onceuponalife Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 02:46 AM
Response to Original message
39. I'm with Hawkeye Pierce on this one
I will not carry a gun.
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Fire_Medic_Dave Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 02:52 AM
Response to Reply #39
42. That wasn't the question though.
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Onceuponalife Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 03:07 AM
Response to Reply #42
44. Yeah it was
I voted and you should be able to figure out which way I voted by my answer.
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Fire_Medic_Dave Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 03:16 AM
Response to Reply #44
45. The question was about gun ownership not carrying guns.
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bridgit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 02:50 AM
Response to Original message
40. I don't 'own' one but maintain a permit to carry concealed...
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Forkboy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 02:52 AM
Response to Original message
43. If I owned one I'd have blown my brains out by now.
Seriously. It's best I don't get one...makes it too easy.

I have fired them, and I got the same empowering rush as I did when I tried cocaine, which told me that, like the coke, a gun wasn't for me.
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Fire_Medic_Dave Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 03:18 AM
Response to Reply #43
46. You are right you shouldn't own one. Very wise decision.
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Forkboy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 03:32 AM
Response to Reply #46
47. I make one of those every now and then.
:)
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Fire_Medic_Dave Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 03:52 AM
Response to Reply #47
49. I admire your insight.
:toast:
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Djinn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 03:47 AM
Response to Original message
48. need another option for me
I don't own a gun, never have and don't plan to if I stay here but if I move to the US permanently then I'll buy a handgun.
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B Calm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 05:15 AM
Response to Original message
54. The idea of allowing citizens the right to own guns is a very LIBERAL IDEA!
So you're damn right I own guns!
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Fumesucker Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 05:28 AM
Response to Original message
55. Define "gun"..
I own three airguns and can hit a dime with my rifle at fifty yards over ninety percent of the time under conditions of no wind.

I don't hunt (except with a telephoto lens) and don't own any firearms (although others in my family do and I can use them if and when I wish).






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rrneck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 11:28 AM
Response to Reply #55
66. There's an interesting question.
How many people have access to a firearm I wonder.
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X_Digger Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 07:43 PM
Response to Reply #55
76. Those would be regulated as firearms under AU, UK, DE n/t
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NRaleighLiberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 09:18 AM
Response to Original message
57. Keep this going - continues to be very interesting data...to me, anyway!
Edited on Sun Apr-05-09 09:20 AM by NRaleighLiberal
So, let's say it is roughly half - and of the half that own guns, perhaps 20% use them to hunt.

So we have 150 or so houses in our neighborhood, 75 of them own guns, and 15 use them to hunt (but I doubt it, since this is suburban Raleigh - I will be generous and say 10). That means that 60 or more houses own guns and don't hunt. And knowing some of the personalities in this neighborhood, that scares the shit out of me. nuff said.
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BigBluenoser Donating Member (289 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 09:49 AM
Response to Original message
58. Own several guns, don't hunt, don't carry, shoot a lot.
Edited on Sun Apr-05-09 09:52 AM by BigBluenoser
I do shoot pistol competitively and am either training or shooting that 3-4 x per week in the range bays. On weekends I shoot rifles with the father-in-law (who does hunt).

Hunted a lot when I was a kid with my dad. But there really is just not enough shooting in hunting to interest me. The only hunt I'd do now is boar with a large cal. revolver. But since I have a high level of self-love and self-preservation, I doubt I'd actually go through with it. But man that would be a yummy pig :)

Edit: what is truly sad is that I even have my garage set up for airsoft/dryfire drills.
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wartrace Donating Member (920 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 09:51 AM
Response to Original message
59. I own seven guns & do not hunt.
Two M1a's.
Two 1911 pistols.
Two 12 gauge shotguns.
One .22 bolt action rifle.

They are merely tools to me. I do not "love" them or worship them, they are used for personal protection & predator control. I hope to never have a need for the personal protection aspects of them just as I hope to never need to use my fire extinguisher or my auto insurance.

I have never "needed" a gun for protection however it seems prudent to HAVE one in case the need ever arises. I can't expect help within a reasonable period of time if I dial 911 where I live. In the county where I live there is no "gun violence" problem. There are very few murders and I can only recall one committed with a firearm in the past several years.
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BigBluenoser Donating Member (289 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 09:59 AM
Response to Original message
60. Btw... Make sure you add up the gun ownership categories.
When looking at the poll results.
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TheWraith Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 10:02 AM
Response to Original message
61. I own a shotgun, and I have a rifle coming to me.
I accidently pushed "I own a gun but don't hunt" before I saw the option "I own more than one gun but don't hunt."

I own a 12 gauge shotgun, and I've got a .30 cal bolt-action rifle on its way to me very soon. They're mostly for pest control, to scare away foxes, possums, etcetera. But I also maintain them just in case I need to scare off people, too.
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BigBluenoser Donating Member (289 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 10:21 AM
Response to Original message
62. Into the Gungeon with you!
Not enough negativity??
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NRaleighLiberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 01:07 PM
Response to Reply #62
69. Now the results of this poll scare me!
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Iktomiwicasa Donating Member (942 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 08:01 AM
Response to Reply #69
83. "Now the results of this poll scare me!"
Why is that?
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NRaleighLiberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 10:30 AM
Response to Reply #83
89. People with guns scare me. nothing more, nothing less.
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Iktomiwicasa Donating Member (942 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 04:27 PM
Response to Reply #89
92. Your fear isn't a rational one.
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slackmaster Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 10:36 AM
Response to Original message
63. I own dozens of firearms as a collection, and have never hunted
Edited on Sun Apr-05-09 10:37 AM by slackmaster
And as investments go, they've done a whole lot better than stocks, bonds, or precious metals lately.

I might try hunting some day when I have a lot more free time. Right now work, home, and other hobbies consume all I have.
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Iktomiwicasa Donating Member (942 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 10:41 AM
Response to Original message
64. I own 27 long guns
and a half dozen handguns, in various types and calibers. Hunting provides me with 75% of the meat that I consume.
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dashrif Donating Member (353 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 11:09 AM
Response to Original message
65. Guns
I own a lot and I hunt p-dogs, turkey, hogs, coyote, deer, paper, steel, bunch of plastic bottles+ next year I hope to hunt bear they just voted it in I will need a new gun I am thinking 45-70



Oh and my son passed his hunter safety class yesterday and today we will go and get his first hunting license
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Iktomiwicasa Donating Member (942 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 12:29 PM
Response to Reply #65
67. 45-70
is a great round. I have a Sharps in 45-70, and two Highwalls in 45-100 and 50-90. I shoot them with the traditional black powder loads of course :)
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dashrif Donating Member (353 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 05:00 PM
Response to Reply #67
73. Do
You cast your own lead and load with black powder sub or real black powder?
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Iktomiwicasa Donating Member (942 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 07:18 PM
Response to Reply #73
74. I cast *some* of my own
and load with Goex cartridge black powder.
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east texas lib Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 07:45 PM
Response to Reply #65
77. The Marlin would be an excellent choice...
I own a Marlin #1895SS in 45-70. Moderate to heavy recoil depending on the ammo used, good sights
( semi-buckhorn with gold dot front sight) and a smooth action. You won't be disappointed.
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petronius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 10:11 PM
Response to Original message
80. I own several firearms, but my only 'hunting' is with a speargun (nt)
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a la izquierda Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 08:46 AM
Response to Original message
85. Don't own one, don't plan to.
I have a healthy respect for guns, having grown up with a dad who hunts. I don't care if people own guns, but I surely don't want anyone bringing them into my classroom. I've never lived in a place where I felt so insecure of my personal safety that I thought it necessary to have a gun (and I've lived in some unpleasant areas of Los Angeles)-I lived there alone for a time and I'm a rather small female. I have dogs and a baseball bat. I'd prefer not to accidentally shoot my dogs and I played softball for 12 years. My rationale: I know my house better than a crook and if you manage to get past my dogs (unlikely), you probably won't have a skull left.

But, at the same time, if I ever needed to buy a gun, I suppose I would.
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Furyataurus Donating Member (142 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 09:01 AM
Response to Original message
86. I own 4 firearms
2 semi-auto handguns, 1 marlin 336C 30-30 and 1 Remington 870. Haven't been hunting yet. Been going more to IDPA competitions to get better at shooting.
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Xela Donating Member (787 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 09:21 AM
Response to Original message
87. I own more than one gun but don't hunt....and I also plan on continuing buying more.
Too bad I couldn't vote for two items.

Xela
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benEzra Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 10:05 AM
Response to Original message
88. Fellow North Carolinian here...
My wife and I both own guns, and both of us are nonhunters. She owns a 9mm and a collectible 1952 SKS that she enjoys shooting; I own a Smith & Wesson 9mm, a civilian AK lookalike, and a couple of antique bolt-actions.

I am open to the idea of taking up hunting someday, and the AK would be a suitable deer gun here in ENC, but up to this point have not done so.
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Road Scholar Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 01:18 PM
Response to Original message
90. Fellow North Carolinean here too. I burn powder at the shooting
range.I was teaching my grandson shooting safety 'till the right wing nut jobs bought up all the ammo.
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aikoaiko Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 01:59 PM
Response to Original message
91. Moderators -- this poll only makes sense if you keep it in GD.

Please consider moving it back.
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