Guns (in general)

[ving (David)]

I know gun laws are there for a good reason and I am not going to set up a debate on whether they are too tough or shouldnt exist at all. I'd just like to know what you think of guns in general. do you like the idea of shooting as a sport? targets? game? would you be attracted to it yourself? do you htink all guns should be destroyed? would you include archery equipment?

Discuss here

i personally wouldnt mind trying a bit of indoor target shooting with say a air pistol or air rifle (of course i probably never will). I think guns belong in clubs not homes.... Yeah i know theres a place for them in farms too but I dont live on a farm so I cant really comment on that. I dont really see the point in high powered guns its a matter of doing the best and pushing the limits of what you have (eg if you find a target too easy to hit move it back instead of getting a high powered gun and shooting a longer distance)...
all just my opinion BTW.

I am sure this will fire someone up

guns dont kill ppl, ppl kill ppl...

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Could be a provocative poll ving. I think I know what has brought it on.

While I feel very similar to you about guns ving, I certainly wouldn't miss them if they were never more. I might even jump a jig or too.

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

First let me say that I voted "for" guns and also for gravy...one of my favorite food groups...but that is another thread in itself...

As for guns, my wife SWMBO is an avid shooter and owns a few guns here and a few more in the USA. She is very active in a local club (St. Ives Pistol Club) and enjoys it very much. She is a regular at local competitions and wins her share of medals/trophies at her skill level.

When done properly, I think it is a fine hobby/sport and I actively encourage her to participate. Not just because it allows me to spend money on my hobby of choice either

Her Grandfather taught her to shoot as a young girl and she has been through many training sessions NRA (in the US...she is a member) but also here at her local club. While I have been trained as well I am content to let this be "her thing"...

Growing up in a rural setting and in a "hunting" culture I sometimes struggle with all of the "fear mongering" that goes on in discussions about firearms...
I think archery is an okay thing too...training, supervision and a little common sense go a long way!

[ving (David)]

nothing to it paul, just curiousity
I wouldnt miss them if they ceased to exist either. but I think it'd be fun shooting at targets.

nine votes so far and "i like em" and "gravy" are equal. says alot about gravy if you ask me

[danielsun]

Yes!! This could be a very touchy subject for some, but me personally, i dont like them. Ive had a gun and shot guns but i think they should be more for special needs like police and armed forces.
I know they say guns dont kill, people kill but it seems too easy for a nutter to get his hands on one if he/she wanted to.
I think its just too hard to control now anyway.

[matt]

As long as they're not pointing at me or anyone else, to each their own I s'pose.

I actually don't have strong feelings on this one way or t'other.

I have fired a few handguns at gun clubs and quite enjoyed the experience. It didn't make me feel like a big man, or repulse me either. It was just fun.

Ah well. Someone will get all worked up about this topic, I'm sure.

[Mikezoom]

"It didn't make me feel like a big man, or repulse me either. It was just fun." - matt

Exactly the same here. Target shooting is great fun as long as saftey guidelines are adhered to.

Just a few weeks ago I spent all day taking photos at the "World Down the Line" Clay target World Championships and it was great fun. Just like any other social group you would meet, no macho people at all and it was great to talk to all the lady shooters.

P.S: I remember having a ball when I was young and my Dad & I used to target shoot in the backyard with the ol' Air Gun.
Mike.B.

[ving (David)]

...and gravy lags behind

thanks for the honest input pplz

[Robby]

No to guns, knives, and plastic plates...

[Volans]

I follow the sentiments of others who have posted. I too have fired off a few rounds using different types of guns and I will admit that I was scared after firing only one round using a decent sized calibre rifle. It was too powerful for my liking. The one I felt most comfortable with was a semi automatic 9mm Glock. Not much of a kick to it and as said by others, there was no macho or 007 feeling about it...I was just interested in finding out my ability to aim the gun at the target (plastic bottles filled with water). I now know that I'm not too bad but in all truth, I don't really care if I fire another gun in my life or not. If I want to do taget practice, I use my green laser on milk cartons set up against the retaining wall in the garden.

Peter.

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Originally Posted by volans

I use my green laser on milk cartons set up against the retaining wall in the garden.

You're on Peter. I'll set one up on my roof here, your set one up on your roof at the planetarium and well see who is the first to knock the others off. Let's see a bullet go that far

[h0ughy (David)]

I don't mind guns, they have a place. But I do mind the idiots who mishandle them or use them for murder/mame and senseless destruction. Guns don't kill, people do!

[avandonk]

When I was a young lad I used to go to Williamstown Rifle Range on the train from Eltham. I wore my school cadet army uniform and carried my Royal Enfield 303 on my shoulder with the bolt safely in the inside left pocket of my jacket. No one batted an eyelid!
I used to walk through the township with a mate when I was about fourteen on our way to shoot rabbits. I had a 22, he had a shotgun. No one again batted an eyelid.

People do use guns to kill other people.
The difference in those days was everyone knew who you were and where you were going. It is about trust.
They knew us well enough that they knew we knew what we were doing.

These days with disturbed people who go berserk with high powered weapons because they can, I am all for gun control.

A gun or rifle has only one function, that is to kill. There is no need to have them widely available in our society.

By all means join a gun club etc. if that is what you want to do. But leave all weapons where they are safe. Locked up in a safe. Or on a well run shooting range.

Bert

[anthony2302749]

Interesting discussion, I have great respected for firearms. Being ex Defence Force I am aware of the lethality of military and civilian weapons. It does not matter what caliber the rifle (I do not like the terminology “Gun”) is a .22 caliber rifle can kill equally as well as the 7.62mm SLR (the rifle used prior to the 5.56mm Steyr) in the right hands.

In away we are luck, and please think about this, that when we do have shooting the number of death are low probably due to the persons mental instability and the inability to use the weapon well. The most dangerous killer are the one who perorated the “Hoddle Street and Port Arthur Killings” these people knew how to handle their weapon of chose and handle them well.

I am for “Gun Laws” and rifle, shotguns etc should be kept in “Gun Clubs” and on “Farms” but not in the suburbs.

[Rodstar (Rod)]

Martin Bryant's little effort in Tassie a few years ago put me right off guns. The potential to kill large numbers with guns is too easy and real for my comfort, as also seen in several infamous high schools massacres, caused by crazed teenagers.

However, I am not sure how you can prevent guns from getting into the hands of those who can least be trusted with them, even with the strictest laws in the world. It is a bit like abolition. Strict laws just push it underground. Education on safe use, and access to guns through strictly controlled shooting clubs may be the way to go.

We have a rule in our house that there is no play involving "guns". Our children have been taught that guns are serious and dangerous, and should not be viewed as objects of fantasy or fun. IMO children need to be taught that their sense of control over their circumstances needs to be found in areas other than by using physical force, which is what guns often represent in a child's mind. I'd rather my kids learn to use the mighty pen, than a sword.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

I have owned 'Guns' in the past, in a wierd & violent previous life, but never used one on another human being.

From a person who purely loved to have Handguns and rifles, I believe there is no need for anyone to own such an object unless they are a fully trained and registered member of a Gun Club.

As for farmers, yes there is a definite need for firearms, but there are cases of farmers cracking their nutshell and blowing away their families or neighbour, or a fued with a rival landowner.

It's not an easy decision to come to in the country as to who can and who cannot own firearms. The city is different! City people have no need of them.

All I can say is that I am glad I got rid of all my firearms over 10 years ago.

[acropolite (Phil)]

I don't like guns, as a Kid I fired an air rifle at bottles, cans, etc and it was fun, but IMO the world would be a better place without guns.

[Vermin (Tom)]

I used to enjoy doing a bit of shooting on a friends farm many years ago (.22 and shotguns mostly), but have not been since the gun laws were tightened, which was/is a good thing.

[JohnG (John)]

Guns

I wasn't going to get into this discussion because I have seen the effects that guns and the users of them can inflict on people. At the age of 18, I joined the RAN and was trained in the operation and use of most types of Military weapons of the day, I subsequently was rated and Quarter Master Gunner and posted to A class patrol boats operating in the Barrier Reef area and part of that involved boarding what were considered hostile vessels in that period, as a junior sailor, I was always given the L1A2 to handle and also carried a 9mm Browning sidearm, the day did occure when someone was shot and killed and it is something I will not forget. A bit further into the future and I was drafted to a Helicopter Squadron and became a Helicopter Gunner, the effect of firing twin M-60 machine guns and the thought of using them against people is hard to describe as a 20 year old, I was trained for a reason and that reason was to go to Vietnam, luckily we only got halfway up the coast of AU before we turned back and the war ended.

Fast track to now and I am retired after spending 30 years in the NSW Police Force, during that time I carried a sidearm every working day, during that time I drew that weapon once only. Unfortunately I had to attend more deaths than I would like to remember, caused by people with mental illnesses, deliberate murders, suicides, accidents using guns. I have also been shot at and have had the unpleasant role of having to notify people of these incidents. My primary role was in Police Rescue and as such we were the people who had to deal with firearm related incidents, I will not attempt to describe what I have seen or what happens to someone using a shotgun on themselves or another person. It is not very pleasant. I still to this day cannot get out of my mind an incident involving children playing with a firearm.

Guns/firearms, unfortunately, they are a fact of life, you won't get rid of them, in the hands of idiots, they will always be lethal.

I don't want to have anything more to do with them, I have seen enough of what they can do in the hands of idiots.

Long arms for farmers, sporting shooters etc, with appropriate security, not a problem, hand guns, thats a whole different story

My say

Lets get back to Astronomy.

JohnG

[norm]

I don't condone gun ownership unless for an absolute, justifiable reason with tight controls.

I've had a 'muck' around with several types of rifles in the past, but in all honesty, it didn't do much for me.

I had my reservations about the gun buyback scheme and I think it was a bit farcical, I mean how many criminals/pyschos are going to hand back their weapons ?

If anything gun laws should be tighter with stiffer penalties if caught possessing one unless for a valid reason.

As for gravy, you just can't beat it on any roast dinner, lamb, beef, chicken, baked potatoes, pumpkin. Soak it up with buttered bread......yummo. Anyone salivating ???