What message did you get growing up about guns from your parents?

[K1052]

Originally posted by: kogase

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: kogase
the idea that owning a gun is a necessity because somehow people are going to "stand up" to the army of a tyranical government is laughable at best. This isn't 1776, the people don't stand a chance anymore.

Really? Tell that to the former USSR, who got their asses kicked by the Taliban who used little more than small privately owned arms.

The Vietnam War demonstrated that a modern nuclear military power can be resisted by guerrilla fighters bearing only small arms.

In 1992, the United States declined to intervene in the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina after an aide to General Colin Powell, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, advised the Senate Armed Services Committee that the widespread ownership of arms in the former Yugoslav republic made even limited intervention "perilous and deadly."

Switzerland managed to stay safe through two world wars. It was not their neutrality that kept Hitler out, but the fact that the citizen militia of Switzerland has just about every home armed. No one has dared invade Switzerland since this militia was formed.

Even now, the Russians are having their asses handed to them by the Chechnyans... fighters who live at home, wear jeans and use castoff weapons.

That you think an armed populace is not a deterrent to invasion or oppression is what is laughable here.

Something of a deterrent? Maybe. A big one, probably not. Our army grows larger and more powerful every day (not to mention technologically advanced), with the amount of spending and research that goes into it. Eventually it will be just be too powerful for a few citizens armed with AK47s to take on.

There are a couple hundred million firearms in private possession in the United States, the vast majority being unregistered.

 

[Sukhoi]

My mom is TERRIFIED of guns. My dad doesn't care one way or the other. He has a .22 right now to shoot groundhogs, and for a while my mom was scared to go near the closet the gun is stored in. Once I start living in a permanent location I'm going to get a variety of guns myself.

 

[kogase]

Originally posted by: Nebor
What could possibly change that would alter the outcome of an infrastructure destroying superpower military fighting an insurgent force of armed citizens?

The entire army being composed of remote controled fighters that can't be stopped by an assault rifle? Even if that sounds ridiculous, the US army is working on stuff just like that right now. With the technological advancements that have been made in the past hundred years, who knows where it's going? I'm not going to mention anything else, as even saying any of their names would discredit me, but I think the days of sending in a bunch of humans to fight a bunch of humans are numbered.

 

[kogase]

Originally posted by: K1052
There are a couple hundred million firearms in private possession in the United States, the vast majority being unregistered.

I wasn't implying there were a small number of firearms, rather that there are a small number of people living in the US today that would actually stand up to a tyranical government.

 

[FeuerFrei]

My dad owns a 22 rifle. He used to go out in the desert and shoot, but I don't really recall him ever shooting. Naturally they are for gun ownership as a Constitutional right. I had a couple BB guns growing up. Mostly casual attitude. No big lectures or rules.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: kogase

Originally posted by: K1052
There are a couple hundred million firearms in private possession in the United States, the vast majority being unregistered.

I wasn't implying there were a small number of firearms, rather that there are a small number of people living in the US today that would actually stand up to a tyranical government.

I don?t believe that to be the case.

 

[Udel]

My Uncle is a big hunter, and my Dad is a cop and ex-military. They taught me when I was young to handle guns responsibly. I got a .22 Weatherby for my 12th birthday. I also own a shotgun. We all enjoy shooting together over holidays. Anti-gun nuts don't see that guns are only deadly in the hands of a deadly person.... who could just as easily use another type of weapon.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: kogase

Originally posted by: Nebor
What could possibly change that would alter the outcome of an infrastructure destroying superpower military fighting an insurgent force of armed citizens?

The entire army being composed of remote controled fighters that can't be stopped by an assault rifle? Even if that sounds ridiculous, the US army is working on stuff just like that right now. With the technological advancements that have been made in the past hundred years, who knows where it's going? I'm not going to mention anything else, as even saying any of their names would discredit me, but I think the days of sending in a bunch of humans to fight a bunch of humans are numbered.

So you think we're going to send in robot warriors? You realize this is how we wind up the Terminator future world, right?

 

[SparkyJJO]

own guns, this is how it works, this is the safety, DON'T TOUCH unless I tell you

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: kogase

Originally posted by: Nebor
What could possibly change that would alter the outcome of an infrastructure destroying superpower military fighting an insurgent force of armed citizens?

The entire army being composed of remote controled fighters that can't be stopped by an assault rifle? Even if that sounds ridiculous, the US army is working on stuff just like that right now. With the technological advancements that have been made in the past hundred years, who knows where it's going? I'm not going to mention anything else, as even saying any of their names would discredit me, but I think the days of sending in a bunch of humans to fight a bunch of humans are numbered.

Sort of like those amazing Blackhawk helicopters that can't be shot down by a farmer with a decades-old rifle?

Don't be ridiculous...airpower is all well and good to keep an enemy from getting powerful enough to strike at YOU, but to invade a country and set things up the way you want them to be, you need ground troops...which are vulnerable to low-tech guerrilla tactics, just look at Iraq. Now imagine the revolution does come in this country...you'd lose a whole bunch of your force right away, and have loyalty problems with most of the rest...add to that a rich and armed populace that's determined, and I seriously doubt they'd be able to take over without resorting to scorched-earth. While airplanes may be nice and powerful on their own, the supply chain from the refineries to the pipelines to the trucks to the airbase itself is vulnerable.

My family was pretty noncommital on guns...however, when we were visiting a friend in Colorado, he took me out to teach me how to shoot, and gave me a 12-guage double-barrel shotgun. My mom said it was "cool" and offered to help me bring it back to Ecuador. I ended up selling it and buying a BB gun instead, more practical.

 

[Kilgor]

Originally posted by: kogase

Originally posted by: K1052
There are a couple hundred million firearms in private possession in the United States, the vast majority being unregistered.

I wasn't implying there were a small number of firearms, rather that there are a small number of people living in the US today that would actually stand up to a tyranical government.

Maybe in the cities and the surrounding suburbia where the Sheeple live.

My brother,sister and I all learned gun safety and how to shoot when we were little. My father didn't think it was safe to have a gun in the house unless we knew how to use them safely and understood what could happen if used improperly.

 

[kogase]

Originally posted by: Nebor
So you think we're going to send in robot warriors? You realize this is how we wind up the Terminator future world, right?

I know it sounds ridiculous, but all sorts of stuff sounds ridiculous until it happens.

 

[Heisenberg]

My dad owns rifles, shotguns and several handguns; mom's not really into guns but she doesn't have anything against them. I took my hunter's safety course when I was 8 (though I don't hunt), and started going shooting with my dad and other people I knew since I was about that old. I got a shotgun for a birthday present when I was about 14 I think, and bought myself a pistol a few years later. Since I grew up being taught about them being around guns isn't a big deal, and I fully support the right of private citizens to own them.

 

[maziwanka]

put an option up there for "none"

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: kogase

Originally posted by: Nebor
So you think we're going to send in robot warriors? You realize this is how we wind up the Terminator future world, right?

I know it sounds ridiculous, but all sorts of stuff sounds ridiculous until it happens.

So once your "laughable at best" was reduced to ashes, you're arguing about a future that does not even exist yet to make your point?

Guerrilla warfare is not about fighting the strong points of your oppressor. It's about hitting the weakest points. As long as the people making the decisions are human, they are vulnerable... especially if they live among those they are trying to oppress.

 

[kogase]

Originally posted by: Amused
So once your "laughable at best" was reduced to ashes, you're arguing about a future that does not even exist yet to make your point?

Yeah, I really am just trying to soften the blow. I was wrong, and I know it just sounds like an excuse but my initial question was an attempt to justify my own standpoint (pro-gun).