I appreciate the historical ties to this, collection guns from history always have a fascinating, if somber history
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As someone whoās been obsessed with the USSR/WWII since 3rd grade, Pavlichenko is really important to me (talk about a strong woman- and history major!)
Honestly, Iād buy a t-34 if I had the money and space to store it 
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Preach!
I have a colleague who works at one of our divisions (I work at corporate) who I work tangentially with on a few process development projects. Every time weāre on a call where weāre trying to hash out a solution to a problem, me and my team always bring 2 alternative solutions to the table. We discuss, but without fail this colleague will throw out āā¦but is there a better way?ā
Well, my team brought 2 solutions and you brought fuck all ā¦
This last time I said, āWell, we have A or B, if you have another suggestions weāre all ears, but it seems weāve already decided on Aā¦ā
Thatās the sound of someone flinging ball bearings under the feet of any potential solutions. Sometimes you just have to pick a direction and start moving in that direction or next year youāll all be gazing at the same navel.
Try working on the executive of a volunteer organization. Youād want to blow your brains out.
Been there ā¦ served as treasurer for a 501(c)3 (not for profit charitable organization) for about 2 years ā¦ biggest feather in my cap from that experience was we sent out donation requests one year on time ā¦ good people but man ā¦ no direction at all and I was learning the leadership ropes ā¦ it was a great experience not the less that I feel like I canāt even put on my resume due to no real progress was made
As a former Marine and a gun owner, I strongly disagree with this rationale and see it everywhere. Bats were made for hitting balls. Kitchen knives were made for cutting food. Cars were made for driving. Guns were made for killing. That makes a difference, especially since itās 100x easier to use a tool for killing to kill multiple people than anything else. A car is close, but you risk damage to yourself and youāre fairly limited in the number of people you can kill. And while weāre on the subject of cars, does anybody dispute that a written and road test are necessary for drivers? Why not a written and practical test for gun owners in addition to a background check and mental health screening? If youāre of sound mental health, have studied safety protocols, and have practiced shooting in a controlled environment, you could still own a gun within a day of trying to purchase it. Of course, you may not be against that idea (or some variation of it), and only against a total prohibition for firearms, in which case I have no issue with your views.
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Each state is different ā¦ in MA you have to attend at least one class before you can apply for even an fid never mind ccw
I have reservations about the mental health screening which by an large wouldnāt apply to the vast majority of cases (my reservations) ā¦ to expand on my views on guns, individuals have a right to bear arms (2A) not to the guns themselves as they require labor to produce ā¦ and I do recognize certain individuals may not be fit to shoulder the responsibility that comes with gun ownership ā¦ I do think the vast majority of people who would seek out said responsibility would be fine.
The original post at Anna had to do with her comment on not thinking anyone should be able to have a gun in the home. Perfect analogy? No. Sufficient for the initial conversation ā¦ I think so.
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ā100% Normalā people arenāt murderers. I have enough arms in undisclosed locations to capture a small island nation. I will never murder anyone.
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Thatās just cool. I assume youāre more than qualified to own them
Upon further consideration, I shouldnāt have written this. no one is ā100% normalā IMO. I know I am not
I agree with this but the mental health screening will never work. For starters, HIPPA protects our medical information so it canāt be shared with anyone, especially the government. In my state, itās illegal to possess a gun if youāve been involuntarily committed to a mental hospital or if youāre a drug addict. Unfortunately, I have no way of proving either of those on the streets. What defines an addict? The state statute doesnāt define it so Iām left hoping the person holding the gun will confess that heās addicted to meth? Fat chance.
My brother-in-law is bi-polar and schizophrenic. He can still legally own guns because heās always agreed to go to treatment when things get bad. I can take someone to the hospital and place an involuntary hold on them so they canāt leave. The staff will then ask them if they want to go to the actual mental health hospital for treatment. If they say yes then itās a voluntary trip. This also trumps my involuntary hold so they can walk out the front door after āagreeingā to go to the other place. Itās a joke.
In Kansas, the Attorney General wanted to get ahead of the crazy Dems who want to take our guns. In his brilliance, he made it legal for everyone to carry a gun on their hip. First, it was just open carry but a couple years later he extended it to concealed carry. No one has to attend a class to carry a concealed weapon! I love guns and think we should all have them if we want, but damn, people need training.
It is similar to driving even if the retests are weak.
I would support a law that required all handgun purchasers to go through the concealed carry class. It teaches firearms fundamentals and you have to prove you can hit your target. I had to take a hunterās safety course in order to get a hunting license, so it seems like a logical step to do the same for a handgun.
Hunterās safety course for long guns. Concealed carry course for pistols. I bet the NRA would even back that.
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Please take this in the spirit of genuine interest it was intended: but why?
You donāt live in a country that has a lot of guns do you?
Not at all, no. Guns arenāt really a thing here in the UK. I know of maybe 3 people Iāve ever met in the UK who owned a gun, and that would be a highball estimate.
Then youāll probably never understand lol. Guns are fun. Itās hard to have just one. Itās an item you can collect and use. There are thousands of different types of firearms, all serving some type of niche.
This was genuinely the kind of answer I was looking for. Iām not trying to start a political argument or lecture anyone on guns, Iām genuinely curious about the culture around them. We donāt have that here.
In America, people think guns and diamonds donāt lose their value. Itās almost an investment to some people. I have a buddy with a SWAT edition .308 rifle. Itās expensive to shoot, but he loves it. He also spent loads of money getting a couple pistols machined so theyād hold a silencer. He had to file paperwork with the government and give them a bunch of money for that to be legal, too. Heās a small time prepper. If the world ends here in the US, then heās going to be heavily armed and have survival supplies stored away.
Years ago, we just hung out in his basement looking at his guns, talking about shooting drills, and drinking. We started and finished a 750ml bottle of Crown Royal.
The best way I could describe it is to think of it like a collectorās item.
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Oh I know. I didnāt mean anything negative by it. I genuinely think unless youāve been around it and experienced it for yourself there is no way to understand it.
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I canāt say Iām much involved in the āgun cultureā, but I like to go to the range once or twice a year and just shoot. Itās very satisfying to unload a fully auto rifle at cans.
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At my work, we had a āsuggestions boxā. It was overflowing. Lots of complaints and suggestions. We would spend hours a few times a week digging through them and trying to find ones we could work on, but none of them were actionable.
We started to wonder if maybe WE were the issue, and maybe al these people with these suggestions knew something we didnāt, so we changed the suggestions box to a āsolutionsā box. You could still submit your suggestion or problem: you just had to include what steps management could take to fix the problem.
I would still check the box about once every 6 months, just out of curiosity, but it was always empty after that changeā¦
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I collect antique firearms for the most part. I used to work for a guy whoād go to estate auctions and buy 200 rifles at one time and sort/sell them to collectors. One time we bought literal barrels full of Turkish Mausers and British Enfields from the middle east. They were packed in comsmoline that smelled even worse than the grease the commies used.
Part of my interest has always been in marksmanship. I used to love to read all the old stories about marksmen (David killing Goliath, the arrow shot that killed Ahab, Achillies getting hit in the ankle, William Tell, Robin of Loxley, Mongols and Hun horse archers, Samurai, ed McGivern, annie Oakley, Sergeant York, Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko, Chris Kyle etcā¦
I shot my boy scout bow till all the feathers came off the arrows and the knocks all broke. Then dad would buy me more arrows. Eventually the laminated bow snapped in half. I shot the rifling out of my daisy BB guns Haha.
For me the rifles are a piece of history and a portal to places and times Iāll never get to experience. Just thinking about the guy that forged the action on my arisaka, or the guy that had to lathe the wood on my Argentine mauser. They lived lives so different than mine.
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