Firearms

We have several shotguns - I love to skeet shoot with them on my property in KY.  We are openly armed when riding our 4-wheelers on the property - we've had things stolen when we aren't there and there are too many trespassers.  LOL - it is amazing how polite trespassers are when a woman rides up to them with a pistol on her hip!  I've only had to draw it once and that was when we woke up to hear voices outside our remote cabin.  Turned out to be some older teens who claimed not to know anyone was there.  Never pointed the gun at them, but had it in my hand when we shined the floodlight on them and yelled to freeze.

Mostly we collect them, but I do sleep at home with a gun in my nightstand... I have heard noises before when I was home alone and certainly carried it while walking to double check all the doors.

However - when we know the grandkids are coming to visit - the guns get taken out of the nightstands, unloaded, and put away somewhere high!

In Britain, we just simply don't understand the American gun laws! Totally beyone our comprehension!

Same in Canada....gun laws and gun love.....don't understand it

Because a billy club doesn't work in all situations :)  What I don't understand about our gun laws.. well our laws in general, seems that there are often no consequences for making **** poor decisions.  I  don't believe that tons of weight should be give to the ones committing crimes because they came from poor backgrounds, or had druggie parents, or were even born into disadvantages.  

If a parents makes a gun accessible for a minor to access then he/she should be held equally responsible for the actions of that child.  If someone attacks me and were to be killed then I really shouldn't have to take into consideration that he had been sexually assaulted as a child and was now acting out.  When American laws are treated with respect then I believe the gun issues will fall more into line....  Simplistic I know.. if that doesn't work we'll break out the scones and tea :)

We've lived in TX, CO, AK and numerous countries.  TX concealed guns laws are crazy.  Why do Texans feel the need to carry guns in their purses, really?  To kill each over the hideous traffic on I45, I35, Beltway 8 or Central Expressway?  I honestly feel safer in Navi Mumbai than I did driving down I45 from The Woodlands to Spring because you never knew when some crazy ass soccer Mom in an oversized Suburban was upset because the yard guy over-trimmed her crepe myrtles, her pedicure didn't dry right and the kids were screaming in the back seat over not getting a new smartphone! 

Too many kids in America gain access to their irresponsible parents guns and thus the mass shootings.  Columbine, Aurora, Newton, etc.  You NEVER hear about shootings in London, Munich or Mumbai.  It just doesn't happen.  Teachers carrying concealed handguns in crowded classrooms?  WTF??  Have Texans lost their minds?  Fraid so.

You realize that in the 50's they had shooting ranges in schools and gun shooting clubs? I don't think they eliminated them until the 80's. Yet you did not see school shootings. Why is that? I think it is because kids were taught to respect them and what they could do. One child recently used kitchen knives. The Boston marathon was bombs. The problem is a mental health problem in this country. You can make them illegal all you want but if somebody wishes to do harm to others they will. Also in countries with guns being illegal they have more cases of home invasions while the people are home. I am all for background checks but more laws will not stop any problems instead let's educate children and work on helping the mental health of them.

I have lived in several countries where firearms are only available to people who pass certain regulations and one where they are illegal to citizens and none of these places have the record of home invasions or gun deaths - even per capita - than the US has.   Hard to believe but not everyone who has guns has them loaded on the nightstand "just in case"   I would hate to have to live my life with that fear but then I suppose I am fortunate to live in a good neighbourhood!

I don't want to take anyone's guns (and I don't believe President Obama does either) but I would like there to be more regulation (as I believe something like 96 per cent of the population do) as to who can own them (reference your mental health wish)   There will always be stupid people who circumvent this requirement though, (such as the Sandy Hill mother) but I don't believe we should not legislate because of stupid people. 

All of this discussion is moot anyway, because as we well know the NRA has bought Congress, so any change is probably never going to happen - we, as a nation, are more about the rights of perpetrators or potential perpetrators than the rights of victims or potential victims ...   Oh, and that kid who stabbed 20 odd others?  None of them died - maybe if he had bought his AR15, the result would have been different?

I can see your side on this. I don't even have a gun in my house because my wife is very against it. I just don't think what we are doing now is what is going to work. We have lots of laws just need to enforce them. I am all for a universal background check as every state is different. You know give your fingerprint and they run you on all data bases. I just believe if someone means to do harm they will find a way. The founding fathers wanted us to have guns so that the government could not be more powerful then us. You dang Brits drove us away.lol I will not lie I am not 100% sure what the answer is. I do think we need to educate much more on mental illness and signs to look for and how to best respond to people with a mental illness. I admit I could be wrong on the home invasion thing. I had read that a few times but maybe it was slanted information.

I agree about mental health awareness and education of children.....add responsible parents who raise their children properly.    Your statement about shooting ranges in schools during the 50s doesn't work for me.  Different time and completely different society.