I think even if I knew how to use a gun, I might still be scared of them. I know that proper handling and learning the techniques of gun use can help allay the fear of them, but the other people in the world who own or use guns are a total question mark. For every responsible gun owner, there is a total crazy or two... plus even in the hands of a responsible gun owner, the damage done by a stray bullet can be irreparable. Just my scaredy-cat $0.02 :)
Even though I grew up in a house full of them (I mean literally all over the place - leaning in random corners, in bags underneath the guest-bed, propped in closets, sitting on top of magazines, etc) and know how to use the family pistol, guns scare me on principle. I mean, if I just see my dad cleaning the gun or something, I'm not scared, but if I just saw some random person on the street with a gun? Shit yeah, I'd run! I trust myself with guns okay. Just not other people.
I was searching for a missing boot one night, reached under my bed and felt a zipper. Aha, I thought. I pulled and out came a rifle, neatly zipped in its case. Thanks, Dad!
(Not directed at you obviously) I am *so sick* of non-Americans assuming that all Americans own and use guns. I understand why people might think that, but I really do think that the non-US media plays up the gun angle as a way to enforce those "dangerous Americans" stereotypes.
Of course, the US does have more guns than, like, any other country in the universe, but that doesn't mean that we're all running around with them stuffed in the waistband of our pants. I've only ever seen one gun in my entire life and that was in the car of one of my crazy hacker friends who bought it for Y2K.
I'm definitely scared of guns. I don't think I've ever seen one outside of a display case. I used to hang out on a left-wing (and mostly pro-gun control) board a lot, and we'd periodically have these invasions from right-wing gun nuts - people who were understandably pissed off about the Canadian gun registry (which has been an expensive failure), and they would tell us they were responsible with their weapons and they needed their guns in case someone invaded their homes (which happens how often in North America, exactly?) and quote one line of Freud at us repeatedly about how a fear of weapons is a sign of sexual immaturity or something, but then they'd choose handles like "HippieKiller" and salivate about the prospect of shooting unarmed people at protests.
I don't really understand the NRA mentality because there is no "right to bear arms" in the Canadian constitution, so there isn't the same argument that it's a patriotic duty or that gun control takes away a fundamental right.
Oh, I've read that argument too, but the right to bear arms in some capacity is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. I'm not sure our Charter of Rights even mentions guns.
I'm not a member of the NRA but my father is. Or he was--I don't know if he still is. I grew up with guns in the house. Like razzberryberet said, they were everywhere in the house. So not surprisingly, I grew up knowing how to use a gun and I'm not very afraid of them. I don't have any strong feelings regarding control.
This survey was curiosity prompted by something Jack McCoy said on a rerun of Law and Order last night. It was an episode inspired by the massacre at École Polytechnique. Jack said that when the 2nd Amendment was written, most Americans didn't own or know how to use a gun and that that's still true. Hence my not-at-all-scientific research.
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Of course, the US does have more guns than, like, any other country in the universe, but that doesn't mean that we're all running around with them stuffed in the waistband of our pants. I've only ever seen one gun in my entire life and that was in the car of one of my crazy hacker friends who bought it for Y2K.
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I don't really understand the NRA mentality because there is no "right to bear arms" in the Canadian constitution, so there isn't the same argument that it's a patriotic duty or that gun control takes away a fundamental right.
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This survey was curiosity prompted by something Jack McCoy said on a rerun of Law and Order last night. It was an episode inspired by the massacre at École Polytechnique. Jack said that when the 2nd Amendment was written, most Americans didn't own or know how to use a gun and that that's still true. Hence my not-at-all-scientific research.