When I was a kid, I remember spending as much time as I could at my grandfather's side. He was a larger than life character; a 40-year veteran of southwestern law enforcement, and he was very much committed to trying to teach his grandson everything he could about surviving in a modern world. Most of those lessons were the simple moral ones: to have integrity, to be willing to stand up for what you believe in, to provide for and protect your family, and to always keep an eye out for those in need who might need a helping hand. One thing he felt was very important was teaching me the value of firearms and the importance of developing skill-at-arms for the express purpose of protecting yourself, your family, and your community. He believed in self-determination and self-responsibility, and knowing how to use a gun was one of the most important statements of self-reliance a man could make. He told me that responsible gun ownership was the mark of a strong, independent people. He would talk about the problems he saw in society at the time (this was the late '70's), and he lamented that most of them would be solved if people stopped being irresponsible, self-absorbed sheep and embraced self-responsibility and self-determination as core philosophies. As I've gotten older, I have seen nothing to make me think my grandfather was wrong. I shake my head as I look at the issues this country faces, and at the way the people of this country have turned away from the simple values my grandfather held dear; the very values our Founders hoped to codify in the Constitution. In the end, the issues we suffer from today across this country with crime and violence are due to our failures as a society. We don't expect people to take responsibility for themselves; we let them literally get away with murder, accepting pathetic excuses for the most horrific behavior. Murderers and rapists get off with slaps on the wrist but someone involved in nonviolent drug offenses gets life in prison. They celebrate thug behavior and demonize those who are tasked with protecting society and we wonder why our kids embrace thuggish behavior. We need to drag ourselves back from the brink; get back to teaching our kids about the self-determination and self responsibility intrinsic to Freedom and political Liberty... and get back to teaching our society just how important the right to be armed truly is.
Firearms represent equality between the weak and the strong. This is why the left seeks to make it has hard as possible for the law abiding to exercise its right to same.
Well said. Elmer Keith ? To ride, ( Horses) shoot straight, ( not just guns, to be honest ) and speak the Truth....... I grew up in the City, but always rode horses, was by age 10, taught to hunt birds with shotguns ( Shutguns ) giggle.... I saw the need early, for firearms in personal defense. I loved watching Lost in Space as a child, and noticed how they had Laser rifles and pistols, to defend the family, at age 10 I had great respect for firearms and their use in hunting and defense, thinking to lock them up most of the time in an Armory or room until needed, ala Lost in Space gun Armory or Safe...... I learned Gun Safety first, shooting techniques.
Because only the Police and Military should have Guns, and the Military have highly restricted access to firearms, M.P.s or details, or range, combat, most of the time, Soldiers are not Armed. So, The Police will protect you and arrest all criminals, the regular Joe does not NEED firearms.
It's not a coincidence that the rise of guns correlates with the rise of democratic republics and representative democracy.
I don't see it that way. It is People finally realizing that personal defense is a D.Y.I. proposition, Police cannot always protect anyone really, they mostly respond after a Crime has been committed and you are Dead, and the Criminal(s) have made an escape. With holdouts, most States have shall issue concealed carry for Citizens. California is a big main hold out for concealed carry and many unapproved guns. New York City is another hold out as far as highly restricted handguns and carry unless you are wealthy or an Armed Guard or Security Agent etc... New Jersey, and Massachusetts, Maryland and perhaps a few other may issue holdouts.
My point is that until we had the gun, there was no way that modern democratic republics (like our own) could occur. With older weapons, it took years to train a fighter. With the gun, the people had the power, as it doesn't take as much to train a fighter.
I agree until the mention is made of fracking Political parties or Goverment, ie Democracies, Republics, Socialist etc... History, Highwaymen would regularly Rob Horse drawn Coaches, the common travel in those early daze in Europe, and later, North America, and when those early flintlock pistols proved to be the most effective Arm for defense against Brigands, Outlaws, Highwaymen Kidnappers etc.... Defensive Gun use was well established by then and not only in the Home either !!! With Guns, now Men and Women and Children or the elderly the weak and infirm, could defende themselves from robbery, kidnapping and Rape and other Crimes Politics was behind Gun Control limiting People from using Arms to defend themselves from Outlaws.
Well, firearms won the land of the Pilgrims away from the Native American Indians. And as the new Americans ventured westward they had to have firearms by their sides. The lever action repeaters were a new benchmark in firearms force multiplication and firepower. The next step came with the repeating bolt action's in WW1. The semi autos made their mark during WW2 with the M-1 Garand and Carbine. They have been the standard of excellence ever since, in various shapes and forms.
A most fatuous statement with little mirth or merit. As a professional firearms Instructor, I am in a very good position to know what is needed, and in the daze of the flintlocks, they were complicated enough to require instructions on purchasing, or instructions on how to use one in any case, I took a class from a Master Instructor, when I started to use flintlocks both pistols and rifles, building them and selling them for muzzle loading season. However in comparison to crossbows or swords or other hand weapons, guns require less physical strength and condition.
Firearms are a tool like anything else. Treat them with respect and all is well. Don't and you'll kill or maim someone or yourself, then suffer the consequences.
They put you on an automated system, If you are getting murdered, press one now, If you are being raped, press 2 now, If you were shot and can still breath, press 3 now, all others remain on the line and someone will take your call in the order it was received.
As an instructor you know how to teach people how to shoot. But that alone will not train them on how to kill with a gun when they need to.
Yeah, seen it up close, a young Police Officer almost got killed because he hesitated, it ended well, he wanted to quit and I talked him into a desk job I was offered and considering, a public relations gig, and he was perfect for it. He confided to me he couldn't shoot anyone.
Why does the US have spectacularly high per capita prison population compared to any other developed nation? Could you perhaps be engineering a tosh "take responsibility" argument that ignores the reality of crime in the US? If so, is the 'philosophy of firearms' really more about warped ideology?
No, it is more your ideology that firearms = crime, and that is fine in your sandbox, as far as U.K. goes, I don't live there, so it is not my concern.
A random effort. Try responding to the comment. The OP has attempted to suggest some sort of distinction between the grunt of the gun owner and the wishy-washiness of policy. How does the extraordinary prison population fit into that?
I interview at least 2-3 people a day sometimes, and they confess why they went to Prisión, you commit a crime, you go to Prison, how hard is that to understand ? And a Country population of well over 300 Million inhabitants, of course we have more People in Prison than any other Nation.
Because prison is an extremely profitable business. We can do a lot more to prevent kids from becoming criminals, but taking guns from the hands of non-violent people will not help. If our founders wanted an unarmed society, we would be speaking the queens English. (And would have bad teeth!) Don't worry; if the sh** hits the fan there, we will send some care packages.
Uhhh, no. There is no evidence to suggest that people are sent to jail because it is a profitable business, then you would need to prove that those responsible for prosecution have something to gain. That is purely fatuous to believe unless the innocent are being convicted and imprisoned for profits sake. It costs the Government over $100,000 a year to imprison 1 inmate, so the only ones gaining anything are definitely not the tax payers or the Government.
Certainly take on board your initial point, but more guns=more crime still holds in time series analysis that controls for any economic factor. This made me laugh, given what we know about linguistics. American English is "more akin to at least the 18th-Century British kind than modern British pronunciation".
