Thursday, June 5, 2008

JUST CURIOUS


An online friend of mine was looking at the family pictures I posted a few days ago
and saw a couple of pictures of my older daughter learning to shoot a gun from her
uncle and her dad. My friend sent me an email saying she didn't like guns and wished
there weren't any guns at all. That got me thinking...

I was raised around guns. My dad had guns, my grandpa had guns, my uncles had guns.
Now my husband has guns, my brothers have guns and our friends have guns. It is not
all that unusual to drive around town and see people with guns and when you hike
or go fishing you better have a gun or be with someone that has one. My 5 foot
50 year old neighbor lady wears a 44 on her belt when she walks her dog because of
bears. She is so little you can see the barrel hanging down below her coat.

So how many of you own guns? How do you feel about guns in general? Can you shoot
a gun and do you know how to handle it? Does it make you feel safer knowing you
could use a gun if you had to defend your life or the life of a loved one or do you
just hope that it never comes to that?

Just curious...


12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have a gun and my husband and son and brothers and brothers in law have many. In alaska guns are protection against bears and a source of food harvest. Remember guns don't kill people, people kill people. jana

Niki said...

Our whole family hunts and owns guns, both male and female. Our daughters both have possession licenses and have since they were old enough to pass the tests. We are avid hunters (mostly venison) and love to stock our freezer.

The Stricklands said...

We are not a gun family, but I really don't have a problem with them as long as they are in good, well-trained hands. If we lived in beautiful Alaska, we would probably all learn to shoot. Have a wonderful weekend!
Mary

Aelwyn said...

I grew up in a home where my brothers had a gun or two and occasionally went hunting, but it was not a large part of life. By the time, I was old enough to think about it, only one brother was left at home. He only had pellet guns. I lived in Baltimore where guns were more associated with drug dealers than hunting. Now, I live in AK with my dear husband who is a gun collector. I have shot a .22 handgun. Around here, I feel A LOT safer taking a walk when my husband has a gun because of the bears. I have also learned to love eating game meats.

Now that we have a child, I also have thought about protection of the family. I have always thought that I could never use a weapon on someone even if they were going to attack me. A child makes one feel very different about that type of scenario.

Karen Deborah said...

I would like to know how to shoot. Ya'll live in the last wild frontier, it's cool! So my question back is are all these mavericks a deterent to crime? How many murders and armed robberies happen up there? If we ever lose the right to bear arms we will no longer be free. It could happen.
As for your daughter and husband, I thought it was very touching and I bet your daughter loved it. My Dad taught me to bake a cake.

Anonymous said...

I know how to shoot well and I am so thankful we have the right to own guns. Everyone I know just about owns one, and I am teaching my son to use one properly just as my dad taught me. Where I come from they are used for hunting, but I also do feel safer having a gun for protection. Guns in the hands of honest people are not the issue. Take away the right to have guns and you simply have guns in the hands of criminals alone. Would a society without guns be great? I don't think so. God gave us the ability to use our minds to find better ways to gather food. From the food standpoint alone, guns are a blessing to many. I believe in a strong military as well because strength to me is protection, not disarming. If we could trust terrorists, and evil countries, all would be fine, but we can not. I think parents who show proper gun usage do their children a favor in the long run by teaching them responsibility. I know some disagree, but for me, I am a proud gun owner.

Laura ~Peach~ said...

YES we have many many guns yes we are all (male and female ) trained to use them and taught gun safety...Yes my son is a cop... But we have had guns forever... Like someone else said guns dont kill people do... absolutely true... had we not had our guns my husband might be dead thanks to the very big rattle snake that took up residence in a stump in our front yard several years back... we eat venison and i prefer game we have hunted to road kill... ok sick humor there but some road kill is worthy of processing such as ones hit but only badly injured and they have to be put down (son has had to do that several times and the police pay to have the meat processed) I thought the picture you posted was FANTASTIC and very good to see your daughter being taught proper use of a hand gun!
KUDOS.
Yes if my home, my life, my childrens lives were in danger i WOULD absolutely use my gun to protect them. I pray it never comes to that but, I could ....
HUGS LAura

Grandma Tillie's Bakery said...

Thanks for all of the responses! I thought they might be like that. I think people are more prepared than the government and media would have us believe.

Isn't Obama talking more gun control if he becomes president? He may want to make a few trips a little farther out into the perimeter than he has been and speak with a few of us that don't think we need the powers that be telling us what to do, when or how to do it and there is no way in H E double L we are giving up our right to keep and bear arms. Ever.

Kris

Katy said...

hello! i just stumbled upon your blog! :)

Yeppers..my hubby has guns. He loves to hunt and just shoot targets etc. My dad used to hunt..but not avidly..but he had a few guns in the house when I grew up. My hubby wants to teach me how to shoot a gun.

I heard this quote before..and just loved it:

Guns don't kill people....PEOPLE kill people.

So true. If someone has a hard heart...they will use any weapon...so should we get rid of steak knives? LOL

AND...i heard larry the cable guy once..(i know..he is crude..but this was a great point...)...that blaming a shooting on a gun is like blaming a pencil when he mispells a word...LOL!

I thought that was pretty good!

Anyway...just thought I would add to your discussion :) It's nice to "meet" you! Have a great rest of the week! :)

Anonymous said...

Interesting - I guess that is the difference between Americans and canadians. I have never thought about a gun or owning a gun, and no one I have ever known in my life has a gun.....I think guns are more prevalent in the US than here. We dont even think about them.
Cathy

Anonymous said...

I don't own a gun and I don't know a single person who does. In Australia very few people do own guns and they are difficult to buy; you need all sorts of permits. On the other hand, there are very, very few gun crimes in this country -- perhaps 10-20 people would die by being shot each year out of 21 million (I understand in the US thousands dies each year from guns).

Kate

Anonymous said...

Hi Ladies, love your blog - especially the recipes :~). If I lived where you live I would certainly want a gun while walking out in the woods. I learned to shoot a gun while visiting France a few years ago, since I'm originally from Detroit it has always given me a chuckle that I went half way around the world to do something that my home town is well known for. My dad had hunting rifles somewhere in the house, but I never saw them or knew where they were kept.
I married a Canadian and moved to Canada. It has a completely different culture on many things including guns. Feels safer than Michigan, but people still get shot here and bad people do have guns.
Cindy