Do you trust OTHER people W/ guns?

[DaveH]

Well stated 9mmare!


GBK

+ 1

The voice of a common person offsetting the elitist.

I wonder where this thread would have got had the "W/ guns" had been left off and it was simply "Do you trust OTHER people?". And if so asked, what inferences would have been drawn?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[OD*]

I had my permit before I had a gun or training (it only took a week to come). None is required here in WA. However, I chose to go take a class. One 3 hr class. And I was walkin' around with a gun.

I'm an ordinary 49 yr old woman who had hardly ever shot guns before. No huge disaster spurred me to get a gun. Just curiosity and a 'feeling' that it was a good idea now that I live out in a rural area. (I walked around Manhattan, Harlem, & Central Park for yrs...unarmed. Both as a park ranger and as a regular person on the streets...felt quite safe).

That's me...just a regular ol' person. Nobody special. I have continued to shoot once a week since I got my gun, I have intently studied the laws and ethics surrounding gun ownership, and continue to get training (beyond target shooting) with my gun.

What makes me ANY different from millions of other Americans? Not a darn thing. To assume that *most* other people do alot less than that? I dont.

And for the number that dont...and I'm also sure that many dont, just like there are bad drivers and bad parents and bad everythings....I go back to this:

Freedom doesnt mean safe, it means free.

This is the price of freedom....I'll take that risk over more laws.

/lecture

With respect to the car analogy...the car is being actively driven all the time. The gun remains holstered most of the time, even for idiots. Therefore, lower risk.

Well said, Ma'am, very well said.

[JD]

I trust most people with guns, I'd be lying if I said that I trust EVERYONE with guns, there's been more than a few times were I've packed up and left a public range due to some of the idiocy I've seen.

[Frogbones]

Trust? Automatically? Yes...but it can be broken in a split second on various irresponsible action/s or history of actions. Even though I have a basic trust in people who choose to carry a firearm to be responsible...that doesn't mean I let my SA down.

[Majorlk]

Yes, I know the difference between a right and a privilege. Having rights is a privilege.

Wow! What a crock of elitist BS. From your statement I am of the opinion that you don't know the difference.

[hayzor]

Other than a select few, I don't trust anyone. Why should being in possession of a firearm make any difference? I presume anyone up to no good has a firearm.

I drive like I don't trust other people with cars.

Life is simply not convenient most of the time. Deal with it.

Hate to break it to you, but you completely trust others with their cars unless you only drive on your own lane (maybe thats all you do). If you drive on a 2 lane road you completely trust that the oncoming car is going to stay in his lane unless you pull over everytime a car passes.
We trust the members in our society much more than we think we do, as proven by our actions. If you are a hermit that never leaves their house, then I'll believe that you trust no one. The rest of you have ALOT of trust in your fellow citizens.

[youngda9]

Wow, certainly seems like an un-tusting crowd. I guess we are realists and have little faith in humanity...hence we carry.

[Cold Warrior]

All of us can use and abuse anecdotal evidence and some-people-say sources to prove what we want them to prove and say what we want them to say. I have a buddy who is like a teenaged boy in his mind, a former volunteer cop and a former security guard, loves those cop shows and knows that he could do what they do...without being jailed or sued.

[HockeyTrix]

Wow! What a crock of elitist BS. From your statement I am of the opinion that you don't know the difference.

I will do my best to remain polite and refrain from returning the name calling - far from my nature so, it probably won't last.

"Elitist"? Very interesting and telling of your ability to carry on an argument. If you do not think it is a privilege to have rights then you have never had them taken away or threatened nor had to fight for someone else's. As for being elitist, I have served 18 years 5 months and 21 (give or take) days in uniform - 15 years and 9 months enlisted.

Funny, that it is OK for you to judge me but I cannot judge others. Seems like you just took away my 1st amendment rights. Do you live and work in Hollywood??? You may question my thought process all you like. Do not question who or what I am.

So what was so elitist about my comment? Do you have a problem with people knowing how to safely operate, own and carry firearms? Do you really think that MOST people will be like 9MMARE and study and learn and practice? Read through the site. Plenty of times I have read "I bought my wife a small gun because she does not like to shoot" or "it's my EDC but I rarely get to practice with it" and the like. People with years of training have accidents but training mitigates them.

Most accidents are due to carelessness. Do you think that most people who have never been around guns understand that if you remove the clip/magazine that the gun may still be loaded?

If you are so trusting and non-elitist, if it is legal for all persons to purchase and own firearms will you begin tossing your gun on your desk at work or on the kitchen table with your keys? Oh, and if you are SO trusting, why do you carry a gun????????????

[9MMare]

Hey HockeyTrix, another consideration is numbers. Of the people who can carry...how many do? Whatever that number, those that do tend to have at least some commitment to it....it's not simple to do so otherwise really.

Many have just grown up with guns and have safety instilled in them.

Of those that chose...later...to carry..."some" will make a committment to it. And then "some" will buy it...carry it for a few months, then put it in a drawer and forget about it. Carrying a gun in a holster, completely concealed, everyday? That takes forethought. Or the women that buy it and put it in their purses? If there's no committment, they put it in there and are unprepared to use it (dont get it out in time) or forget they even have it (dont get it out).

So altho of course there are risks with 'anyone' being able to carry.....I'm not so sure that there are great numbers of 'negligently dangerous' people out there.

I'll tell ya one thing...that gun in my purse is heavy. And if I wasnt committed to carrying it, I'd be leavin' it home a whole lot more.

No, I dont have any data on this. It's just my thoughts. Again...in VT or AK or states like mine where no training or test is needed.....there is no higher incidence of negligence & accidental shootings.

[jualdeaux]

I don't trust this guy.
Videos Posted by I'd rather be shooting...: Mar 10, 2010 8:44pm | Facebook

[jackg]

I don't trust this guy.
Videos Posted by I'd rather be shooting...: Mar 10, 2010 8:44pm | Facebook

My favorite part is after the 2 AD's he pointed the muzzle at himself] and looked at it as though it was the gun's fault!

[Cold Warrior]

Unlike most modern 21st Century citizens, my pals, peers and I were all taught how to shoot by our WWII veteran parents and kin and their friends, taking it for granted that everyone else with brains was likewise or similarly trained; and we had more safe sensible unpopulated places at which to shoot and have fun with our guns, even as teenagers and around strangers. However, after I started my Civil War reenacting, letting guests, visitors and audience members start handling and shooting my guns...I trust almost NO ONE! They just haven't learned or been taught because there is no place for them to shoot, save for at a local target range or two or a few. As soon as you hand a gun to a kid, and too many adults, the first thing that they will usually do is to pull the trigger with their finger! You have to start giving basic gun instructions to each and every one of them, concerning keeping the finger of the trigger and pointing it either up or down, at God or the ground, and not pointing it directly at people, and looking at the sides before you shoot...gee. Yes, we reenactors shoot at each other, but only at high elevation, and while moving and keeping ranks in strait lines, dressing right and left, with no individuals moving to the sides while firing, elevating higher the closer we get to each other and our opposite sisters and brothers, or while firing salutes in front of audiences.