More Gun Control

[Barry Loos]

I have no problem with guns. I have problem with folks that own them and do not respect them. I hate to talk about the past but I spent a year, compliments of Our Uncle, in the swamps of Southeast Asia. I know your thinking who cares. But I just wanted to say that almost on a daily basis my squad got to see what firearms could do to a person. Probably none of you know what a firearm does to the person that pulled the trigger unless you have done it. Once that trigger is pulled, nothing can ever be reversed. You cannot stop the bullet. You may wish you hadn

 

[Barry Loos]

I don't want people keep from purchasing guns. I'm a gun owner myself. I think in Kentucky it is a way of life to own and shoot guns. But I don't think that a gun-carrying public will make our country safer. I guess I have been looking at the 2nd amendment all wrong. See I thought it said we have "a right to bear arms...in order to form a militia." Since every state already has a militia (National Guard) and each member has a gun, what does that mean for the rest of us not in the militia. I am not an overly paranoid individual. I don

 

[Ken Neeley]

FYI....in the days of our Founding Fathers, the miltia was defined as "ANY able-bodied man between the ages of 18-50."



It was not a function of the gov't...hence the term "..right of the PEOPLE..."

 

[Ken Neeley]

Well said Jody...I gave the Reader's Digest condensed version!!!

 

[Craig Roberts]

Well said Jody. Now imagine if someone interpreted the first ammendment in the same twisted way the "anti's" read the 2nd. The cries from the media would be deafening. Bottom line is you can't trade freedom for "security". There will always be sick people out there, and they will always find some means of perpatrating their evil deeds. Taking the right to protect one's self away does nothing to promote either freedom OR security. My .02



Craig

 

[Barry Loos]

Ok guys I

 

[Staci Matheis]

Bear -



To make it as simple as possible without getting into the middle of this ruckus - I agree with you 100%.



And, I will also add that, although I was 19 at the time of the first draft for Viet Nam, I wasn't unlucky enough to have to go there because I'm a diabetic...... But I did see what an involved and far reaching war in general did to my friends and those of our generation...... Anyone who is just a little younger than you and I has no idea of the consequences - there has not been anything like Viet Nam since. When I see kids running around in fatiques because it's "cool" - it scares me that they are not aware of the horror conflict can bring.......



me

 

[Barry Loos]

Thanks Scott. I think what the fellows misunderstand, but obviously you don

 

[Staci Matheis]

Barry -



As everyone here knows from a post a month or so ago.... I spend a lot of time alone in the woods and on the streams. In spite of all my banter on this board, I am really quite an introvert and desperately need that time alone to replenish my soul. I go as far away from the crowds as possible - out where only other crazies like me go...... I carry a handgun with me. I can count on one hand the number of times in the past 25 or 30 years that I have felt threatened enough to be glad I had one with me - but only in the one instance mentioned was it ever pulled out. And I wasn't the person who pulled it - it was the lady who was with me.



I often have my moments when I think "That sob in that old Dodge cut me off! Oughta blow him away....." I thank God that I am just sane enough to realize that thoughts like those are moments when I slip into insanity....... But what about some moment when I, or someone else with a gun, might not quite recover from that moment immediately? It's a very sobering thought.



With Freedom, there are Responsibilities and risks..... It's a VERY delicate balance..........



me

 

[Barry Loos]

With Freedom, there are Responsibilities and risks..... It's a VERY delicate balance.......... Very well put Scott. I can't add anymore to that so I'll get off the soap box and let this post end.



Bear

 

[Rich Stern]

I don't worry about folks like the people on this web site carrying guns.



I worry about the folks who shoot holes in stop signs. They share the same consitutional right as the rest of us. Having a constitutional right and having the wisdom to honor and respect that right are often far apart within individuals.



I don't worry about keeping my son safe from a gun in my own home. I worry about keeping him safe from a gun that makes it's way out of someone else's home, to a school, for instance.



I don't worry about the pilot who is flying my family being armed, or an air marshal put there to protect us. I worry about an average, under-trained citizen thinking a gun fight on an airplane at 35,000 feet is a righteous act when trouble occurs.



I don't worry that the NRA wants to protect the second ammendment. I worry that the NRA becomes just as rabid as the gun-control zealots, aborting common sense in favor of winning politic fights.



So, as a moderate, I say this: Guns should be very hard to get. And to those responsible citizens who lawfully get them, they should be very, very hard to take away.

 

[Ken Neeley]

Well said Rich.

 

[Bob G.]

Da Bear,



I am not sure why you started this discussion on this board. Most fishermen and some fisherwomen are also all around sports people where I come from (this also includes hunting). You asked the question "what am I supposed to do with my guns to reduce these violent crimes?". If your guns are not in your direct control, keep them in your gun safe. If you don't have a gun safe, get one if you really want to be a responsible gun owner. Vermont is mostly rural and our guns laws, or lack of them reflect that. Vermont does not require a permit to carry a handgun, concealed or not. Drive-by shootings are something we see on TV, not in our neighborhoods. I do not worry about my children "playing" with my guns as they have been taught about gun safety and are allowed to shoot firearms and bow/arrows under adult supervision (myself or my wife). I worry more about their friends who spend more time at daycare or grandmas house than their own because their parents are divorced and they don't have time to raise them. I received an e-mail awhile back with quotes from George Carlin that I fully agree with - It doesn't take a village to raise a child, it takes two parents. If you have any comments directly to me concerning this post, send me an e-mail because I don't visit this website so I can read someone's opinion about guns and violence.



Bob G.

 

[Rob LaMoy]

Wow, looks like I opened a can of worms. GOOD! I WANT people to think on their own rather than believe every little piece of propaganda the media and politicians feed them. Do your homework america, the truth will find it's way to you!

 

[Staci Matheis]

Whenever and where ever people gather - PTA meeting, Boy Scouts, church, Kennel Club - they will always gather into groups to discuss things other than the intented topic of the gathering....... That is how we learn more about each other....... How we grow friendships........ And how we develope an understanding and tolerance of views other than our own.



God bless all of you, my Friends on this board!



me!