So you purchased a gun? Is the family safer now than before?

[Wannabefree]

Ya'll do be aware that some people aren't so effected by pepper spray. I wouldn't have believed it, if I hadn't seen it myself. Some folks can keep coming after getting Maced in the face though.

 

[hqueen13]

If you have guns, EVERYONE in the house should be taught how to handle them safely. It is too dangerous to have someone in the house that doesn't know how to do simple things safely with a gun, like check to see if it is loaded or not, and whether or not the safety is on, if there is one.
I'm slowly learning about guns, he's teaching me now that he has several. I enjoy it, but its his passion. But I will learn to handle them safely, and despite my inexperience I am a pretty freaking good shot!! (he's a little worried! )

 

[FarmerChick]

and despite my inexperience I am a pretty freaking good shot!! (he's a little worried! )

 

[Beekissed]

I am soooooo glad I live in a state that is AKA "The Patron State of Killing Stuff". Guns aren't such a big issue here~at least out in the countryside...everyone has 'em, everyone uses 'em, everyone knows it. Makes things a little more simple.

 

[Wannabefree]

To answer the question in the title. Yes. Now we can hunt. I feel safer!

I'm not worried about break ins or "zombies" as some like to call them out here where I am. I'm more concerned with having a variety of meat on the table. I think alot of folks are actually. Maybe the surge in purchase of firearms is for this reason, and not protection? I mean how many bought home defense type firearms, and how many bought deer rifles? Firearms have more than one purpose. I bet lotsa folks got new rod and reels too, but those aren't looked at quite the same eh? All I'm saying is for every media hype there is a flipside. I tend to think in this stressed economy folks are beginning to think ahead...I dunno...maybe some have the idea that they could do something stupid to go to jail to get free room and board, but I have to think most just wanna put some wild game on the table. It's cheap!

 

[Beekissed]

That's why we get guns out here in the country. The only pistol we own is a .22 derringer...something someone gave my dad once. Not good for much but pinging critters in a pinch.

As long as we have a .22 rifle and a shotgun of some kind, we are pretty happy...the ammo is easy to find, cheaper to purchase and both guns perform their purpose well.

 

[goatilocks]

We are a very pro gun family. Our 16 year old son just placed second in his very first IDPA match last month. My husband has always preached gun safety. I am the only one not comfortable with a gun, yet. Our daughter is the hunter of the group. Much better with a long gun than a pistol.

 

[Toulle]

Yes, as a matter of fact, we are

I have always had guns around, and can name several incidents where they did in fact add to my security. According to the police, once word got around that I had a gun and was willing and able to use it, nobody was willing to take a chance around my home and mess with us. Responsible home-gun ownership DOES deter crime.

Currently I live in a quasi rural area where there is a mix of country people and transplants from the city as well as from peculiar foriegn lands like New York or Michigan. Guns are everywhere here.
Most people's main concerns seem to be kids with guns. In the past couple of years, we have had ONE girl kill herself with her dad's gun. She did that completely deliberately, and would have done herself in with mom's prozac or whatnot if the gun wasn't handy. By contrast, we have had something like FIVE killed in car wrecks in the last couple of years.
Yet nobody is morelizing on how they don't like cars and how they make us all unsafe. Same for all the legal drugs in every house.

When I was growing up, we didn't have official gun safety courses. We had less gun accidents than people have now. Why is that? It is because the official gun safety courses DON'T HELP, at least not as much as being raised in a proper, realistic environment where guns were actually used and not hidden under the bed. Gun safety courses are simply a band aid.

Guns aren't for everybody, tho. I wholeheartedly believe that. There are some people who just shouldn't own guns. Those are the type of people known in the local vernacular as dumb@sses.
Where I have a problem is when people want to start generalizing and thinking that just because some people cannot be responsible gun owners nobody should have them.

Finally, I am not going to carry on about how I need guns to hunt or whatever, although that is part of the case.
I have guns, in the final analysis, because I WANT to. I LIKE them. They are FUN.

 

[i_am2bz]

Being a vegetarian, I don't hunt & never have. Mine are 100% for personal protection. The police will only come AFTER the crime. SS also means protecting yourself, IMHO.

 

[hqueen13]

We are a very pro gun family. Our 16 year old son just placed second in his very first IDPA match last month. My husband has always preached gun safety. I am the only one not comfortable with a gun, yet. Our daughter is the hunter of the group. Much better with a long gun than a pistol.

Congrats to your son!! My other half is a member of IDPA, too, but hasn't gotten to compete yet due to having hip surgery.
And I have to say out of all of his guns, I am the most effective with the M4. He's worried I like the gun, and shoot well with it. Someday he's gonna build me my own in *purple*