Im someone who likes to shoot a gun at targets at the range. I find it SO creepy and unnerving when it becomes clear that someone would like to shoot at a person. They don’t usually outright say it, but some make it clear in other ways.
Right? Like in my ideal world, guns would be a hobby for weird nerds in the same way fencing is today. The one or two times I have felt like there’s even a small chance I may need to use a gun in self defense were terrifying and stressful.
There’s quite a few hobbies where the other people who meet up to participate as a group as a group are a huge turnoff.
Guns are one of those hobbies for me.
I would love to talk about the amazing mechanics and different approaches guns have to firing an exploding charge to move a mass of metal at supersonic speeds just like I love talking about the mechanical parts of trains and cars. But the gun crowd tends to have too high of a proportion of very vocal terrible people.
See if you can find yourself a group with operation blazing sword. Whatever you do, LGS usually have just FUDDs who want to talk how turnip daddy is going to make everything like it was back in the 50s again…most of the sane ass people who are into owning and shooting are online now (there are still a shit ton of magats but just avoid those places). It also helps if you can find a group that has a private range, it’ll make it a lot easier to setup times to go enjoy shooting.
A couple years ago I joined a private shooting club. They have a range with targets from 10-300 yards. It was so cool to shoot there, and all the other members were total marksmanship nerds. Seeing all the great equipment, and ridiculous scopes was always fun, and the other members were nice to talk to. There were no soldier LARPers there. We operated as our own range masters, and everyone took safety very seriously. It was a refreshing change from the public range. Unfortunately I moved a couple hours away from that range, so it didn’t make sense to continue paying the membership anymore. Now I just go to the mountains to shoot.
Can’t find it now, but there was an image of a police target floating around that had the outline of a person holding up a cell phone camera.
Dystopian AF.
They don’t usually outright say it, but some make it clear in other ways.
Like showing up at the range in full combat gear. Dude, simma downa!
I don’t think this is an actual case of that. I have a few friends that get kitted out with plate carriers and night vision for the range and it’s just LARPing. No different than ren faire people showing up to the faire in steel plate when obviously there isn’t some sword fight that’s about to break out at the fairgrounds.
It’s dorky but generally not malicious.
As a former soldier, soldier LARPers make me very uncomfortable.
Totally fair. Most of these people haven’t experienced combat in any way. I’m just saying the motivation is mostly fun instead of some demented desire to kill.
Every time I see someone say that even the most lenient of gun regulations shouldn’t be passed in the U.S., all I can do is picture them at home calling their guns “precious” like Gollum.
Sounds like my former coworker showing off his new gun on Facebook a few years back, with the post “I can’t wait to use this to defend my family.”
People like to think that because they own a gun, if they ever got to use it they would be John Wick.
That’s the sort of person who shouldn’t own a firearm. That should actually be added as a question for the background check form.
As someone seriously considering their first firearm purchase, my main thought is “I hope this is a gigantic waste of time and money”.
Well, good news, a firearm would achieve the exact opposite of protecting you and your loved one from harm.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25910555/
In fact it’s the opposite. A firearm is far more likely to be involved in an accidental injury or death of someone in the household than it is going to be used in any form of self defense.
If you want to effectively protect yourself, invest in actual home security measures.
So rest assured that any firearm you purchase for self defense is always going to be a huge waste of money.
If you want to effectively protect yourself, invest in actual home security measures.
I already have cameras up around my home, and locks on doors and windows (plus CO and Smoke detectors, because that shit probably kills too). I’m more worried about idealogical/theological fanatics in the near future than I am about a potential robber or serial killer.
When seconds count, the police are minutes away.
Is a funny sentence but doesn’t really apply here.
I mean, that’s what the battleaxe by my bed is for.
No …no it doesn’t. These studies are stupid levels of flawed. Not all crimes are reported to the police where nothing happened. Most DGUs no shot is fired, but they don’t get counted because they’re not reported.
The studies that try and show that a gun in the home is more dangerous use suicide statistics as well, which is like saying you’re more likely to drown in a pool if you own one…which the answer is “no shit”.
Yes it does, there’s many studies across all the USA. It’s one of the most studied thing ever.
No it is not. Even the one you linked is from a poll. The CDC pulled the original numbers for DGUs because they’re basically impossible to obtain properly and the CDC didn’t like that it didn’t paint guns in a bad light
Here is the study that was requested by the cdc and by Obama…
https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/18319/chapter/3#15
Defensive use of guns by crime victims is a common occurrence, although the exact number remains disputed (Cook and Ludwig, 1996; Kleck, 2001a). Almost all national survey estimates indicate that defensive gun uses by victims are at least as common as offensive uses by criminals, with estimates of annual uses ranging from about 500,000 to more than 3 million (Kleck, 2001a), in the context of about 300,000 violent crimes involving firearms in 2008 (BJS, 2010). National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2013. Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/18319.
This part talks about the study you directly linked, which states that respondents were not ansed specifically about defensive gun use.
On the other hand, some scholars point to a radically lower estimate of only 108,000 annual defensive uses based on the National Crime Victimization Survey (Cook et al., 1997). The variation in these numbers remains a controversy in the field. The estimate of 3 million defensive uses per year is based on an extrapolation from a small number of responses taken from more than 19 national surveys. The former estimate of 108,000 is difficult to interpret because respondents were not asked specifically about defensive gun use. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2013. Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/18319.
So no, it’s not, it’s also lacking heavily in studies…and as I said why one of reasons the CDC pulled the numbers.
TL;DR
Ammosexuals will write down novels trying to justify their urge to gun down people.
Way to ignore the data kid.
When the average right winger treats guns like toys it’s a good sign for every leftist to also own guns.
I can’t fathom how people saw police beating protesters to death in 2020, are decrying the new Trump presidency as the rise of fascism in America, and still believe that the government should be the only ones with firepower in their hands.
Now is exactly the time when the left should be rallying behind the second amendment.
I dont see a problem with owning guns. Its just taken too lightly in the states. To get a gun where im at, you need to get certified - theoretical, physical and psychological tests are done. And no one starts pissing about personal freedoms if they fail these tests. I think you also need to be member of a shooting club. Point is, you need to demonstrate your ability to handle a weapon responsibly. Im not one to confuse correlation with causation but… you dont see many stories of shootings here.
Cool, if the dumb as shit fascist down the street owns a gun and wants you to die for being different then you need to protect yourself.
Ah yes. The true red blooded American solution; the only way to solve a serious problem is to escalate it out of proportion.
Why is arming yourself in self defense escalating it out of proption when leftists do it?
*When anyone does it.
The solution to there being too many guns is to remove the guns. Not add more.
Cool, well that’s definitely not an option now that we voted in a right wing fascist.
Maybe once leftists get in charge again we can try passing reasonable gun laws again
You would have thought that after January 6th/George Floydd protests, and the lack of justice that followed both, would have finally shown liberals they cannot rely on cops and the “justice” system for personal protection.
Warren vs district of Columbia
Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales
Yet here we are.
My body, my choice to protect it the way i wish. Fuck off gun grabbers. Prisoners are forced to give up all their rights and yet they are still not safe in prison. I refuse to be your prisoner.
How would guns have helped in the George Floyd case?
More protesters would have been shot. The movement would have been demonized even more than it was.
The protests were already overwhelming peaceful. To re-envision history saying “moars guns” would have helped is pretty bizarre gun nutters nonsense.
The BLM protestors who marched with guns in Georgia didn’t get fucked with by the cops at all, because the cops were scared. Look it up.
Other BLM protestors got beat down by cops in riot gear, in countless examples across the country (when the protestors were unarmed).
Is this a serious question?
Do you believe armed protesters are easier or more difficult to suppress?
I don’t think that question is as simple as you think. Peaceful protest is much more likely to garner public support, at least until things are critical. And taking weapons to a protest in the US seems like an almost guaranteed way to die, one way or another. Not saying the cops are well trained with weapons, but neither are the general public.
there is a point where peaceful protest is not enough, you realize that, right?
Some people think that situations where they can rely on others’ strength are normal.
Thus they may agree with need for weapons and self-defense, because “it’s a dangerous time”, but not when everything is in order again. Not even thinking that said “dangerous time” somehow happened and will happen again.
Guns are similar to fire extinguishers and defibrillators in that most of time they are not needed.
I agree. I would much rather rely on myself for protection. Forget trusting the cops, I don’t trust the prosecutors. There are so many liberal prosecutors who are just drop cases, and judges who set low bail, or refuse to impose certain sentence types on repeat offenders, etc. People who want to take away guns are retards.
I choose to protect my body by you not having guns.
Edit: I don’t, but I think you can see the error in your argument now.
You are seriously arguing that the corruption in our police system means there is no protection? This is objectively false.
I would trust an officer over Ultragagginggunnut any day of the week.
The only prisoners are our school children who have to drill for gun violence in their school. Kids who live in fear that their classmates will kill them because they brought another gun nutters unsecured gun to school.
The prisoners are the wives and partners of every abusive gun owner. Scared to leave because they know that it could cost their lives. You ever been raped at gun point? Yeah, didn’t think so.
The prisoners are our society that has to deal with the commercialization of gun ownership and the radicalization of the NRA. Everyday they make our society more unsafe in the name of profits.
The problem isn’t guns, it is people like you that think they solve problems. Guns create problems not solve them.
They need to be tightly controlled to keep them away from people who are mentally unwell. People that think they are the “prisoners” fantasizing about defending their rights and overthrowing the government.
You must be white passing and at least middle class to trust bringing the police into any situation.
Like anyone who grew up poor you know not to trust anyone including officers. I have called 911 on guys beating their girlfriends. I have had an officer pull their gun on me for no reason. I have lived in big cities, small, and rural so I know a thing or two.
I know you got downvoted, but in other countries and anywhere other than lemmy, the US and truth social, this is actually normal
It’s crazy that extremist groups like the NRA have managed to brainwash so many Americans
Oh I know what I was getting into by commenting on their post. I will gladly take downvotes from gun nutters.
I appreciate what you say though because in the US it seems easy to question your sanity at times.
Yep… Whats crazy, is that literally a few months ago, everyone was pointing out how weird the nutters on the right wing are. And how rediculous the gun nuts are
Now, somehow, there seems to have been some kind of concerted campaign that have made a lot of these people start to act exactly like the extreme right, where shooting seemingly anyone you don’t like is apparently “ok”. But at least a lot of those guys tied them to random conspiracy theories, whereas, what I’m seeing suddenly by some people on the left, is basically just blatant wanting to kill certain people
Well gun supporters have been at war with the truth for a long time. People I call gun nutters have an unhealthy obsession with guns. They keep them unsecured and loaded and like to fantasize about killing people in “self defense”.
America’s obsession with guns definitely cuts both ways but when you compare the left and right wing 95% of attacks come from the right. It is an unfortunate reality but the people who we can least trust are the ones who are the most for guns.
Really though this is a problem of regulation. Commercial interests have manipulated people into buying tools they don’t need which are misused and cause untold suffering.
All of your responses are being downvoted and for good reason. Maybe you need to rethink some things
In other countries this is normal. Including here in Australia
Maybe you need to rethink some things and get some perspective from countries where we don’t have regular mass shootings. Our kids don’t need to do training for school shootings
What you’re doing clearly isn’t working
That’s also why we didn’t get people trying to overthrow our Capitol
It’s absolutely ridiculous at this point for an American to be giving any advice about guns
Rethink that you are another gun apologist? Hard pass on that goober.
Lol I have several guns. Some I don’t know if I even have ammo for them at all.
I can’t imagine the mindset these types of owners have. They are afraid and they want to murder someone. I can’t imagine
Hell, the few rifles I have are stored with the firing bolts removed and locked up separately.
You sound like a responsible gun owner and not a gun nut.
That’s really what it comes down to.
These people want an “excuse” to murder someone.
Yes. Thankfully not everyone who owns a gun is like these weirdos though.
Anyways, that’s how i killed my daughter.
Ammosexual
Way too true, I know too many people who are genuinely like this my brother included. If people have this kind of mindset they shouldn’t be allowed to own guns, it is a tragedy waiting to happen.
Every Republican ever be like
Untill then there’s lots of schools.
Murica.
Sounds like you have an obsession with guns
That is the joke
