If you don’t, no need to reply telling me you don’t. I live in the woods with some critters. I live pretty far from neighbors/police so having a gun gives me peace of mind. I also hunt and consider myself a gun hobbiest. I enjoy shooting targets, cleaning/organizing, reloading and earning food with guns.
I have a deep and abiding fear of paper targets.
Sorry, I find humor helps me deal with bad situations. And as a progressive in the US, that is where I currently find myself. Large numbers of people profess that they would be happy to murder me, my family, and my friends, because we aren’t misogynist, racist, homophobic, and transphobic sociopaths. I put a high value on human life, and I would not kill someone over property, but I am willing to kill to prevent others from being killed.
I believe in using as little force as necessary. I believe in de-escalation. I believe that deadly force should always be a last resort. But having a firearm leaves that option on the table, in case nothing else works.
I hope that we can eventually all get back to treating each other like human beings. Right now I don’t think I can count on that from everyone.
I think they are interesting from a mechanical perspective.
Mostly for protection and also for emergencies. I don’t hunt anymore because I can not make good use of the animal and also I don’t even particularly like game meat, but it’s nice to have that option if stuff goes to hell in the future. The defensive aspect I have used several times.
To me it always seemed crazy to trust other people with your protection. Not only are governments almost always run be psychopathic pedophiles who will murder millions for any number of reasons while surveiling the rest of the population, but humanity in general is not at all trustworthy. Most people are pretty evil. They will hurt innocent people. That’s how humans on average are.
It’s half and half. There are occasionally kidnappings and armed robberies where I live so I’m grateful to have the right to defend myself, it’s good to be prepared for any unforseen disaster that might befall us, and I think firearm ownership is an important political right (it seems very suspicious that some of the people who are most eager to impose their political ideas on the rest of us are also very eager to ban one of the tools we might use to stop them). But honestly I just like guns, shooting is fun and I do it competitively, they’re interesting machines to study and tinker with and they have a lot of interesting military history attached to them.
Yeah user Treczoks in here is particularly suspicious on that front.
For me firearm ownership is about responsibility and independence. If you’re going to eat meat, you should participate in the process and understand what it means. If you don’t trust the state with a monopoly on violence, you should be a part of distributing that power as widely as possible. Guns are one of the most powerful tools in the modern world, and I value them for the same reasons I value my drill or computer: they expand my capabilities.
Want.
Lifelong anti-gun libtard here.
I think guns are primarily for people who fear. I think fear is the primary motivator for firearm ownership. I would like to live in a society where fear doesn’t push people to own firearms. That is not our reality. That is not the society we live in.
There are masked, unqualified paramilitary federal goons entering our communities and harassing and assaulting AMERICAN CITIZENS. I passed my history classes. I enjoy reading up on history in my own personal time. I know where things like this often lead, and I’ve come to accept that it’s time to arm myself. A significant portion of our populace also supports what is happening and would be perfectly fine with people like myself, who want everyone to have healthcare, a good education, and to be fed, being “removed” from this plane of existence. These people are everywhere. I understand that they are not actively going out and killing people like me, but they are voting to persecute and harm people like me and the people I care about.
That’s enough for me to arm myself out of fear.
I don’t believe this to be a good society. I don’t believe this to be an intelligent society. I don’t believe this to be a safe society going forward.
I haven’t purchased a firearm yet, but I’ve been out shooting with friends a number of times and I’ve been asking questions to get ready for the process of acquiring at least one.
Liberal-libertarian here- I think the married gay couple should have AR15s to defend their marijuana crop and adopted children from attack, confident in the knowledge that single payer healthcare will be there if they get hurt.
I also follow history, at least a little. And I think even a light perusal of the last 100ish years should be enough to show anyone that ‘it can’t happen here’ / ‘it won’t happen here’ are foolish attitudes, as the current situations are demonstrating.
I’m curious if you regret your past support of anti-gun policies, knowing that they are directly making it harder for you to acquire a gun for self-defense today?
And FWIW if you have any gun questions or want to know anything about specific guns, safety, culture, etc please feel free to reply or DM me.
I’m curious if you regret your past support of anti-gun policies
Not really.
I’d prefer to live in a society that doesn’t perpetuate enough fear to cause people to desire firearms for self defense. Those societies do exist. And 10+ years ago things weren’t as they are now in America. The situation has degraded. We could have gone down another path that could have led to less fear and gun ownership, but that’s not the future we chose for ourselves.
So I’ve had to shift my expectations. That’s why I don’t really regret advocating against guns in the past. I still don’t like them. I still think more guns will cause more problems. But our society is becoming more ignorant and our decisions are going to lead to more people being more destitute and more desperate, which will increase crime, as political violence also increases, so the bottom line is you have to protect yourself.
Need
With the political environment in the US I am increasingly feeling unsafe and feel like a gun is almost a must have now
Want, we have coyotes and I have a small dog. They usually stay away when I’m around but the last time they barely turned tail once I aggressively went to engage them after picking my dog up. He’s always on a leash but I feel more comfortable carrying a .22 with me when we go out after dark during the winter after that last encounter.
I had the same concern and instead got a big dog to watch over my small dog, my kids too but like also my small dog.
Great Pyrenees.
The coyotes don’t even come around anymore. 95lbs of the laziest guard dog ever is enough to deter them. And so good with the kids - they can lay on her and she don’t give a fuck. Though she can move when she needs to - I’ve seen her in action.
Best part is that she is always ready. I don’t gotta walk around with a gun, or run to get it from the safe. She is always there guarding us.
That said. The gun would have definitely been cheaper in the long run. My dog’s food budget quadrupled.
That sounds like the most incredible dog! Thank you for sharing
If the fasciats are going to try to kill me I will take at least one with me.
I’ve been called the f word a few times since the election so I’m not going to become some homophobe’s victim
Fuck yeah. I like to get pics of those assholes and photoshop a target on them for target practice. Can’t really bring them to the range but they make for fun targets for the basement BB gun gallery
Because you may as well be shooting at photos of the range owner.
Muslim terrorist targets are ok by their rules, though.
Yeah most ranges are going to be owned by complete pieces of shit. Luckily I have a state owned range near me so I use that and it’s outdoors so I almost always go to that range and they just provide targets they want everyone to use anyway so it’s a nice equalizer
State ranges are the best. I use them several times a year. Just don’t go on weekends. Haha.
I’m so happy to have one nearby. I love how hardcore safety is taken and there’s just no bullshit. Haha yeah weekends are wildly busy
This. I’m not into violence, but the Republicans are getting scary and they have a lot of weapons. It’d be easier to reconcile my issues with violence if I had to shoot someone than it’d be to reconcile the issues I’d have if I wasn’t able to fight them trying to hurt me or my family.
Plus target shooting is fun.
I’m a punk so I’ve never been totally adverse to violence but usually a knife was good but now I really feel uncomfortable with the vibe I was getting and I felt it was time to get strapped. Fuckers always want a victim but shit their pants when they realize they found a fight. Someone kept eyeing me a little while back and I just stared back at them while clicking my gun belt and they went white in the face and got back in their truck real fast cos they’re all chicken-shit bullies.
I can’t get enough target practice though, I even set up a little shooting gallery in my basement for bb and airsoft guns just to keep sharp when my ears are dying after the 50th trip in a row to the range where someone next to me had an AR going off the entire time. Nazis and klan bitches make for fun targets though in the basement gallery. I ended up with a .22 rifle as well to bring to the range and that is just so much fun to shoot with. That thing is nearly silent with some CCI quiets, you just hear the bolt hit the rim and the bullet impact
“I can’t believe those DEI types will resort to political violence.”
*I wonder how many racists even know what DEI stands for
Delicious edible icecream
Good for you. Laws are nice, but sometimes firepower is the best option for securing your rights - especially if you live in a country where DEI is sneered at.
I can’t upvote you enough!
Makes sense to me.
Based
Police don’t show up quickly enough to deal with a serious threat, so I have a firearm for home defense. Just one. Not into collecting, whether firearms or anything else.
Removed by mod
My dad is into guns, so he gave me one. And I sold it. And then he gave me another, and I guess I’ll hang onto this one for a bit.
Self defense against wildlife and shady humans when I’m solo camping
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A gun is useful tool for acquiring meat in a sustainable way. Shout out to venison!
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I am a trans woman. There are a lot of armed right wingers that would love to see me dead. They can try, but I’m not going to give them an easy time of it.
Hell yeah, we arm the dolls here
Good shit
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