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Gun Appreciation Day: 5 people shot at 3 different gun shows


wild little fox

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http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/19/us/north- ... index.html

As previously stated here at FJ, I am a gun owner. But I am also someone who tries my best to see why others feel the way they do about things. I like to stretch my mind and heart. When I was reading here at FJ that people are afraid to be in the same room with a gun, I was puzzled. See, I was raised to have a very strict protocol in regard to gun safety. Never assume a gun is unloaded, each time you pick it up, check. Never assume it is loaded/always treat it as if it were loaded. Never EVER point it at ANYTHING except the ground or the air or the intended target.

Now I get it. There are SO MANY IDIOTS out there! I'm astounded at these people this weekend. There is no way these accidents should have happened.

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DH (who I've said before is a cop) refuses to go to gun shows because of the idiots that accidentally shoot each other there. It is amazing the lack of common sense that some people have.

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You should watch those fail compilations on Youtube. They've all got at least one accident caused by the improper use of a gun, usually by intoxicated people. Nothing gruesome, just near misses that are supposedly just as funny as people falling off boats and walking into panes of glass.

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You can add me to the fail. Last weekend (11-13) we were out in the desert northwest of Barstow CA at our friends retirement home. We brought our guns and I decided after 40 years of being wise to shoot the damn shotgun. I still have a bruise that goes from just above my elbow to near my shoulder joint. It rivaled the bruise I had after I had to have my biceps cut off my shoulder. It hurt. I did fine with the .22 rifles, but I can't use a scope properly, I shoot left eyed and right handed. The .38 pistol I could shoot ok.

I will wait another 40 years before I try a shot gun again.

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You can add me to the fail. Last weekend (11-13) we were out in the desert northwest of Barstow CA at our friends retirement home. We brought our guns and I decided after 40 years of being wise to shoot the damn shotgun. I still have a bruise that goes from just above my elbow to near my shoulder joint. It rivaled the bruise I had after I had to have my biceps cut off my shoulder. It hurt. I did fine with the .22 rifles, but I can't use a scope properly, I shoot left eyed and right handed. The .38 pistol I could shoot ok.

I will wait another 40 years before I try a shot gun again.

I love shotguns, but you have to get them really nestled into your shoulder. Otherwise, you end up bruised. Also, using a target or bird load will reduce the recoil. I am an avid target and trap shooter, well schooled in the handling and safety of firearms. Once I figured out how to shoot a shotgun without ice packss the next day, I was golden.

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Also, there is no way I would attend a gun show. Too many rabid idiots there for my taste. This article confirms that for me.

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Sheriff Donnie Harrison said he was unsure whether it was legal to bring a loaded gun on state fairgrounds. However, when the state fair is held in October, it is illegal to bring a loaded gun to the fairground because of the large crowds, authorities said.

WTF? A loaded shotgun?

These people are idiots who know nothing about gun safety. Nothing.

BTW, I am all for gun control.

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I love shotguns, but you have to get them really nestled into your shoulder. Otherwise, you end up bruised. Also, using a target or bird load will reduce the recoil. I am an avid target and trap shooter, well schooled in the handling and safety of firearms. Once I figured out how to shoot a shotgun without ice packss the next day, I was golden.

My shotgun has a pistol grip. I think. It might be a rifle. It was a present from my ex, I've shot it exactly once and I did not get a bruise. It now lives in my bathroom next to the toilet because I'm classy like that. If we have kids we will buy a gun safe. In the meantime, we are both responsible enough to lock our house and cars.

I will never go to a gun show. We have enough guns that were gifted or inherited to safely protect us from the wildlife. Besides, we've been taking bear spray into the woods with us recently. A friend of mine was attacked (along with his girlfriend and dog) and the bear ran off after being sprayed in the face. Less chance of missing with the spray.

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I don't like guns myself but I understand it's useful for hunting and (sometimes) for self-defense, particularly if you live in a dangerous neighborhood. However, there are some serious gun nuts out there. All this talk about gun safety by the NRA hides the fact that gun control *is* about ensuring safer uses of guns while the NRA is all about allowing for anyone to have as many guns, for whatever reason, as they want.

The problem is that while there are plenty of gun owners who are responsible and sane, there are a minority who are not, and we need to make sure crazy and irresponsible people don't have easy access to guns. It's that minority of people that shoot up innocents, that discharge their weapons and cause havoc.

That said, I think I represent a great deal of nonAmerican attitudes that guns don't make me feel safe anymore than living near a nuclear bomb makes me feel safe. It's just a reminder of the dangerous world I live in.

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Now matter how strict a protocol you were raised with, if you et pissed off at someone, there's the risk you'll use your gun. That makes you infinitely more dangerous to me than a normal person who might get angry and punch someone. And what's worse is that you are self selected for mental instability. Completely sane people don't go out and buy guns unless they're planning to feed their family with wild meat or hike in bear country. And if they are planning that, then the guns are not even near people for the few ays a year when they're being used. So yes, if you have a gun you're dangerous to me.

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Why do these shooting not surprise me?

I'm from a family of outdoormen, hunters, fishermen the lot of them with some of my ancestors being trappers for good measure. Now they are fishermen exclusively; the moose and pheasant hunting they used to do every fall together stopped abruptly in 1979. Why? That was the year that my father found my uncle (his brother in law) dead from a self-inflicted gun shot wound. Suicide. Once, a few yrs ago, after many drinks, my Dad opened up and told me about how he found him. Long story short, my uncle was still breathing apparently; 30 seconds later, thankfully, he died. I can't fathom the suffering he endured for the long minutes between him pulling the trigger and breathing his last breath. :cry: He and my Dad were more than brothers-in-law; they were the best of friends, they volunteered their time in the same political party and my Dad had just joined my uncle's law firm. I can't be 100% certain that the suicide caused everybody to quit hunting and made them get rid of their guns, because, after all, he could have killed himself with hanging or with a razordblade...But I think that most of them couldn't bear to look at their rifles the same way. His death took its toll on all of us: his kids grew up without a Dad, my aunt ended up on a series of fly-by-night companions who were, for the most part, major assholes, their little group of friends stopped partying together on saturday nights and, close to me, it changed my Dad forever. While he does have friends none of them is the kind of friend and mentor that my uncle was to him, he's now less "open" with people, less happy go lucky, he drinks a lot more than he used to and he ended up burying himself into work so much so that he's now a workaholic and had his first medical burnout 3 years later at the ripe age of...31.

I dunno why I wrote all of this to be honest, but to me guns=my uncle's suicide and its repercussions. I'm not anti-gun per se, they have their uses. I just don't understand why some people in the US are so gung-ho on buying machine-guns like the one used at Sandy Hook when it is not one used for hunting, nor do I understand the whole "I must wear my pistol on me at all times, fuck you if you hate to see it, I do have a permit for ccw". I understand the 2nd Amendment and respect it but that doesn't mean that everyone in the US should possess in their homes an arsenal that could take over the army of a small country.

Edited for typos and syntax as usual...More editing to come. I'm tired! 8-)

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DH (who I've said before is a cop) refuses to go to gun shows because of the idiots that accidentally shoot each other there. It is amazing the lack of common sense that some people have.

I heard that many American police officers are against "civilians" having concealed-carry weapons. I'd be very curious to know why that is; can you ask your hubby, please? Thanks in advance!

Totally in agreement with you about the lack of common sense in some people.

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I went to high school with somebody who had a reputation for loving to fight. He prided himself on being able to physically beat people up. Once he got into a fight in our school and dropped out before he could be expelled. He ended up moving in with relatives in another city and graduating from another high school. Years later he was involved in a drive by that made quite a bit of local news because a little girl was shot and paralyzed. Nobody that knew him was shocked about him being involved in a random act of violence however everybody I've spoken with about the situation who knew him was shocked he used a gun. Easy access to guns helps volatile people such as him make rash decisions that have more severe consequences than if they didn't have a gun.

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Now matter how strict a protocol you were raised with, if you et pissed off at someone, there's the risk you'll use your gun. That makes you infinitely more dangerous to me than a normal person who might get angry and punch someone. And what's worse is that you are self selected for mental instability. Completely sane people don't go out and buy guns unless they're planning to feed their family with wild meat or hike in bear country. And if they are planning that, then the guns are not even near people for the few ays a year when they're being used. So yes, if you have a gun you're dangerous to me.

:roll:

Yes, completely sane people DO buy guns. I am one of them. My father is one of them. My husband is one of them.

We like to shoot for sport. I grew up shooting and learning gun safety. Before I had my son, I actually competed in target and trap shooting competitions. My guns are locked up (most are in our bolted down, fireproof gunsafe. One handgun is in a biometric (fingerprint) safe in the nightstand drawer).

As I've already said...I'm completely for gun control. I don't think anyone needs high capacity magazines, assault rifles, ak-47s, 50 cals, etc. I am also for closing the gun show loophole. You should not be able to walk into a gun show and walk out with a gun with no background check. That is absurd.

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:roll:

Yes, completely sane people DO buy guns. I am one of them. My father is one of them. My husband is one of them.

We like to shoot for sport. I grew up shooting and learning gun safety. Before I had my son, I actually competed in target and trap shooting competitions. My guns are locked up (most are in our bolted down, fireproof gunsafe. One handgun is in a biometric (fingerprint) safe in the nightstand drawer).

As I've already said...I'm completely for gun control. I don't think anyone needs high capacity magazines, assault rifles, ak-47s, 50 cals, etc. I am also for closing the gun show loophole. You should not be able to walk into a gun show and walk out with a gun with no background check. That is absurd.

Agreed, argypargy. I am also a completely sane gunowner. I grew up around guns as my father is a collector. I was taught gun safety as soon as I was old enough to understand its importance. My husband also grew up around guns b/c his father hunts, and collects some as well. We go to the gun range occasionally and shoot at targets. We are not paranoid and are all for gun control. As for the idiots at these gun shows, they are damn lucky they didn't acidentally kill anyone. If you appreciate your guns so much, you should have a better understanding of gun safety. Number one: Always assume the gun is loaded. :doh:

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I can't be 100% certain that the suicide caused everybody to quit hunting and made them get rid of their guns, because, after all, he could have killed himself with hanging or with a razor blade...

I'm so very sorry about your uncle.

I think the increased danger with guns and suicide is that there's usually not a lot of time between taking the action and death. If someone takes an overdose of pills or cuts themselves, they usually have enough time to call 911 for help. It's not the same with guns.

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The grouching over gun control makes me angry. Why does everyone suddenly feel they need an assault rifle?

Someone I know used to carry a gun in her car, and her car was broken into and the gun was stolen. Another person I know was robbed while she was in the home--the robbers took the gun away from her and held her at gunpoint with her own gun. (I don't think they were armed beforehand.) So I don't really feel all that great about carrying guns, myself, because I'm afraid it would actually make me a target. But even so, pretty much all the gun control measures being suggested wouldn't prevent anyone from carrying a gun for safety, or for hunting, so I don't know why people who disagree and want to carry guns are complaining.

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I heard that many American police officers are against "civilians" having concealed-carry weapons. I'd be very curious to know why that is; can you ask your hubby, please? Thanks in advance!

Totally in agreement with you about the lack of common sense in some people.

DH says it is because it makes their jobs inherently more dangerous dealing woth a populace that may be armed- especially in the area that he works in. However, that is not a common view where we live (In the southeast). Most here believe that citizens should be allowed to be armed, and working with an armed populace may be more dangerous, but is one of the cost of having individual liberties and freedom.

While we do hunt, we also own weapons for personal protection. While we do not live in a particularly dangerous are (we live out of the county that dh works in for that reason), with the nature of his job, a home invasion is not an impossibility at all and I will protect my family at all costs. I also have my concealed carry.

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That was the year that my father found my uncle (his brother in law) dead from a self-inflicted gun shot wound. Suicide. Once, a few yrs ago, after many drinks, my Dad opened up and told me about how he found him. Long story short, my uncle was still breathing apparently; 30 seconds later, thankfully, he died. I can't fathom the suffering he endured for the long minutes between him pulling the trigger and breathing his last breath. :cry:

I am so very sorry to hear about your uncle, fakepigtails.

I have two similar stories, both from the small town where I used to live: one involved a young mother with severe PPD who shot herself in the head while her three children were in the room. Another man tried to commit suicide by putting a shotgun in his mouth - and he lived.

I think the average person never stops to think about the absolute damage that a gun can inflict. In the mother's case, she did die, although, like your uncle, it wasn't immediate and she left behind a group of traumatized children, husband and first responders. The man who lived now "lives" with half a face - he's blind, and the bottom half of his face is just - gone. He had been drinking, at the time suicide seemed like his only option. A lot of people make unwise decisions when they aren't thinking clearly, whether due to depression or chemicals. If you use a gun during one of those moments, well.

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