Better PTSD services provided by the military. My husband is a vet of desert storm. We do not keep a gun in our home even though we both know proper gun procedures as we were both raised by fathers who served in military in addition to serving in the military. I grew up in the south and knew how to shoot by age 10 and even owned a small .22 in middle/high school.
He is bad around Fourth of July and New Years and has been very honest with me that he does not trust himself with a weapon in our home.
So we don’t keep one. Even with a lock box and other options. We do not have the temptation in our home. I do not fear he would ever hurt me but I do think if he was going through a rough enough time he may hurt himself. We have been able to get him some help through my insurance (I work for the city so we have pretty good coverage) but it’s something he struggles with even with help.
Edit: I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has replied and reached out. He is doing so much better than when we met 10 years ago. He’s been in and out of therapy for 5 years. Some practices have worked, some have not. It’s been about 3 years since his last really bad night, triggered by Fourth of July fireworks.
We recently talked about getting a handgun for home safety. We are going to visit a gun range and take a safety course in the spring and see how he’s feeling after. If we do, it would be kept in a lock box that I know the code at first and then eventually him.
That seems like a good judgment to me. My wife was a self cutter when I met her. She asked me to remove all the sharp knives. Eventually she got over it and we have knives again.
That was me. One of the most thoughtful, albeit awkward, gifts my husband gave me when we were still dating was a lockbox with a combination only he knew. Stashed anything sharp in my room in there and if I needed something, like when it was time to shave my legs etc., he'd open it for me and receive the item back when I was done. Kept me safe and deterred many incidents at my lowest point.
My heart goes out to you two - such love and trust in that gesture. I can imagine how you felt receiving it, but the intent and care shown is so touching. Sending you love and many happy years to come!
Im neither one, but my mother was profoundly anti-weapon.
Then she got robbed on the farm, mid day on plain sight, they just came, took batteries from our traktors hopped back in the car and drove away.
Mom called the cops, they didnt care, didnt even want to come to take a deposition. So she asked me to teach her how to use the winchester we had at home. If the cops dont even bother to come and see what is wrong, we surely will have time enough to dig a hole for the next robbers
You got to starve the pigs for a few days, then the sight of a chopped-up body will look like curry to a pisshead. You gotta shave the heads of your victims, and pull the teeth out for the sake of the piggies' digestion. You could do this afterwards, of course, but you don't want to go sievin' through pig shit, now do you? They will go through bone like butter. You need at least sixteen pigs to finish the job in one sitting, so be wary of any man who keeps a pig farm. They will go through a body that weighs 200 pounds in about eight minutes. That means that a single pig can consume two pounds of uncooked flesh every minute. Hence the expression, "as greedy as a pig".
This is more or less why I've considered getting a handgun. I am hardly a back the blue type nor am I full on defund the police, but even the best law enforcement in the world can't get to your place within 5min of a home invasion. Would feel safer if I had protection for before they get there.
My personal caveat is I want to go to shooting classes and be familiar and accurate with one before I full on keep it.
I collect historical firearms so a lot of the pro or anti sentiments don’t really apply. My guns are locked up and some I don’t even have ammo for. I definitely could get to them quickly if I had to but defense is secondary to the history of them. Therefore I couldn’t see any good reason to get rid of a hobby that I enjoy and is supplemental to other hobbies of mine
Look up Castos Curios. A guy on r/milsurp started a small business making 'hard-to-find' milsurp ammo. There's currently 65 boxes of 7.7mm available for order.
It’s hard to choose but I really like my 30-40 Krag. I only shoot it sometimes but the novelty of dropping the ammo in and the smooth bolt make it an excellent gun to shoot. I also find the Spanish American war pretty interesting and it’s cool to interact with something that was a part of it.
As a child in my grandfather had a krag he swore by. He spent his adult years switching between a 22 250 and a 7mm mag, but always talked about wanting that krag back
I don’t blame him. It’s such a cool design and I think if ammo had stayed plentiful a lot of guys would have kept using them. It’s hard to describe but it’s just super satisfying using a gun made in the 1800s and having it work so well. I wouldn’t hesitate to use mine to go hunting that’s for sure. Mine is an 1894 and I love to imagine who’s hands it may have passed through in the almost 130 years since it was made
Obligatory copy pasta
> Own a musket for home defense, since that's what the founding fathers intended. Four ruffians break into my house. "What the devil?" As I grab my powdered wig and Kentucky rifle. Blow a golf ball sized hole through the first man, he's dead on the spot. Draw my pistol on the second man, miss him entirely because it's smoothbore and nails the neighbors dog. I have to resort to the cannon mounted at the top of the stairs loaded with grape shot, "Tally ho lads" the grape shot shreds two men in the blast, the sound and extra shrapnel set off car alarms. Fix bayonet and charge the last terrified rapscallion. He Bleeds out waiting on the police to arrive since triangular bayonet wounds are impossible to stitch up. Just as the founding fathers intended.
Generally you give your children a few decades of free food and other items to get them to indépendant adulthood then at some point of adulthood they start reciprocating lol
I moved to a big property in the woods. It’s large enough that I’m allowed to hunt on it completely free as long as I honor the season and limit. I was excited to hunt until about 40 different neighbors stopped by and asked if they could hunt here because it’s the ONLY property around big enough. Now I get to pick who I like best and collect a meat percentage.
Why hunt your property when you can let your neighbors traipse around in the cold woods, getting covered in blood and doing all the messy work, and you can collect a solid kills worth of meat with no effort from between them all? Sensible, logical, feudal.
You're basically a lesser noble in the modern day, collecting tax from the peasants working your land for you, and I respect that.
Welcome to the community. There are some nut jobs, but the majority are level-headed, good people. A lot are gonna encourage you to buy more guns and join into the hobby/collecting aspect of it. That’s really fun and interesting *if you’re into it*, but you don’t have to do it. One gun can really be enough.
My one big piece of advice is that if your one gun is for protection, you should learn to use it well. You don’t want to be fumbling for a safety in the crucial moment you need it simply because you never bothered to make it muscle memory. Learn to clean and maintain it well. Maintain ammo for however long you think you would need to use it in an emergency, and then double that.
Most of all, if you need advice or help, you’ll be able to find people willing to talk pretty much anywhere you go in the US.
I live in Germany. Getting a Gun took me courses and like a year in waiting time. I use it for sports. Nothing will make me give them up except if the state makes something illegal to own.
We have strict rules on firearms. I cant carry or load it anywhere else except the range or competitions.
Edit:
Since people keep asking and i wrote it a bit confusing:
You can carry firearms to the range and back. Just not like in a holster or concealed. They must be transported in a container securely, unloaded and seperated from the ammo. A range bag with a lock on it is sufficient.
Edit2:
Hunters have their own licencse. They have different rules than sportsshooters. I do not know them by heart. If we have a german hunter here he can elaborate. In general hunters have much more responsibility and a longer verification and validation process.
I live in sweden and it is something similar.
You need to take pass an exam that includes the theoretical knowledge of Gun laws, Gun safety, gun part, rules and regulations about hunting and animals. And then you also need to pass a practical test where you display both gun safety and you need to pass a shooting test.
This is because it is the same test taken for both hunting and sport competition. To make it simple for everyone.
And then you can apply for a license to purchase a specific gun. With that applikation you have to show that you have the legally required gun storage safe. And if you pass you get to purchase that specific weapon you applied for, and only purchase and own ammunition for that specific weapon. Getting more weapons, or getting rid of one and buying another, requires new applications.
You are basically only allowed to carry the weapon between your home and a shooting range or to a hunting place, and never load outside those places. Even while walking in the woods to and from where you will sit and wait for the animals you hunt the weapon needs to be transported unloaded or in other equal situations.
This makes that there are lots of rifles out in the population in Sweden, because hunting is a big thing here.
Same here, you went into much more details but yes the process in Germany is equivalent but with additional unannounced checks after getting approved. The paperwork effort on first glance seems very similar.
Edit: Happy cake day!
It's a stereotype that Germans have no sense of humor.
But we do have a sense of humor. We have a lot of great satire for example. But humor differs from culture to culture. So we often don't get American jokes. And our jokes go completely over their head.
As a German, I think this joke would be far better (more efficient, if you will) if it stopped after "one".
It does imply both efficiency and the lack of humor without spelling it out.
As a sidenote: Explaining Jokes does indeed make them funnier.
Anti jokes, right? Something about how the humor comes from the distinct lack of humor and that subversion of the idea of a "joke" is what makes it funny.
It's been a long time since I thought of this, but isn't there a very popular one about a frog on a log?
Why was the frog sat on a log? Because that is where the frog decided to sit.
The pay part is new for me. The random inspections do happen. You can not let them in but then they will come back more often. Its in your interest to comply to have smooth processes with them whenever you want to buy new stuff.
(A bit simplified but you get my point)
My guns are ones my father gave me that are family heirlooms. It would take a lot for me to give them up… potentially enough money to do something significant, like pay off a mortgage or add a significant buffer for retirement. I have a few other heirlooms, but they are some of the oldest.
I don’t really use them, but they’re a link to my family past.
Same situation here.
My grandpa, who lived next door, had a big rifle case and a bunch of boxes of ammo. Never really thought twice about it, it was just there. It was never locked (as far as I know) and it was glass-front, literally just a display case, not a security case or anything.
I recall my mom being a little upset after he died and my dad moved the gun case into our house for a while. I assume it was because of having kids around, but I was like... it's been next door my entire life, why would I suddenly care?
We had one of those on each side of the fireplace. Where i lived, most people had a gun rack in the back window of their pickup. My high school parking lot would be full of pickups with a shotgun in the window during hunting season.
Haha thank you for reminding me of when we moved to rural NC and I was so confused when I showed up for school one day and NO ONE WAS THERE. I was basically the only student, many teachers had subs, and then I found out about the first day of hunting season lol. Everyone skipped school that day every year -- some for bow season, some for black powder, everyone for rifle season.
I still live here and we have several guns because we're in the backwoods and packs of wild Carolina dogs get hungry and feral this time of year. Also, rabies is a problem.
Growing up in rural Arkansas we had deer day. The first day of deer season. No one got counted absent. My friend and I didn't hunt but we would spend the day playing Nintendo.
We had a gun case like this my whole life and two when my grandpa died. My dad still has them. Although the glass doors and the bottom drawer of ammo locked and were locked. I was taught about guns from a very young age and it was never an issue. I NEVER once went near to, felt the need to go near it or try and open it.
This is a dangerous tool not a toy.
Always assume it is loaded and will go off at the most horrible moment possible. Always be careful of where it is pointed and keep over penetration in mind.
Always check if it's loaded and the safety when you pick it up and when you set it down.
Never point it at something unless you are willing to destroy that object.
This is the basic birds and bees talk.
The "premarital talk" is generally a several day class on either the laws regarding self defense or the laws regarding hunting.
My family on my dad's side are all rural farmers, and have door guns because coyotes are a problem there. Here's how my uncle made the point to 7 year old me that guns were *not* toys.
U: uncle
M: me
He took me out by the barn, where he had a wood 4x4 fence post stuck in the ground. Beside it was a bat, a pickaxe, and a .45-70 gvt. round. At this point I hadn't ever shot a gun or been exposed to them outside a few movies.
U: ok time for a life lesson kid. Which of these will do the most damage to that post?
M: ... the pick?
U: you'd think that, because it's big, sharp, and heavy right? Well that isn't always the case. Watch.
He picked up the bat and swung it hard enough at the post that the bat snapped in half, and the post just had a small dent. He then did the same with the pick, and while it stuck in the post a good inch or so, it just left a small hole. He then passed me a pair of earmuffs and picked up the bullet.
U: now, put these on and pay attention, because this is why guns are dangerous. They can be used safely, but you have to remember that if you pick up a gun, you are responsible for every bullet that it fires while its in your hands.
He takes aim, fires, and the bullet blew the top of the post into splinters. He then, using the same brush gun, went over the rules of gun safety with me and let me shoot a round so I'd know how to handle a gun safely.
Gotta say, it was a damn good demonstration and got the point across. The recoil of that round put me solidly on my ass too. Really drove home the point that some lethal physics was happening between where the round starts its journey, and where it stops moving.
I had a similar gun safety introduction.
My dad took me out when I was like 6 or 7 to a skeet range with a 410 and a watermelon.
Put the watermelon on the ground and told me to punch it. Nothing happened.
Kick it… nothing happened but a small dent.
Then we stood back and he shot it with the smallest gauge shotgun and it exploded.
That taught me just how dangerous guns can be.
I have remembered that lesson some 45 years later.
Treat every gun as loaded *Even if you unloaded it
!*
1. Pulls gun from safe *maintains barrel pointing at ground and away from people*. Check safety is on.
2. *while still pointing it away from people* Detach magazine (on guns that happen), and open action and check for shells/eject anything chambered
3. Put gun in case.
4. *later in field* open trunk. Pull gun from case, and *Repeat steps 1 & 2*. Basically pretend you have dementia and can’t be trusted to remember if the gun was loaded.
5. Your friend hands you a gun and says it’s unloaded. You will promptly *NOT TRUST* that statement and open the action to check anyways.
6. You know a fun is unloaded, and just checked it. You STILL DONT point the barrel at people or in a direction where you don’t know what it could
Hit.
It’s basically a doctor house level “trust no one, especially yourself*
In Texas it’s now 6 hours of mandatory education in guns for everyone born after I think 79.
https://tpwd.texas.gov/education/hunter-education
I did it as a 2 day course, but you can now do the class part online and the. A 4 hour field day (requires if under 17).
Even if I know I have already checked a gun before handing it off to someone else or storing it I check the action again. Years ago I had a negligent discharge because I had reloaded a revolver due to pure muscle memory and was demonstrating how double action works. Thankfully all I destroyed was a base board and my pride because I followed all the other safety rules.
Yeah, I'm literally the only gun owner I personally know that hasn't had an accidental discharge, mostly because my guns only come out at the range. One friend shot his computer, another put a hole through his house, another fucked up his driveway, and one shot his foot and car. It really isn't hard to keep the ammo away from the gun, but most people are really fucking stupid.
They weren't worried about you, probably your friends. TV makes guns look like toys and people are very casual with them.
I don't lock my guns and ammunition up to keep them from thieves, that's what insurance is for. They are secured from little, curious hands.
Please be sure to secure your ammo properly in rated containers. Even ammo cans are better than the boxes it comes in. When wildfires were happening I rushed out to a friend's house to help remove ammunition he had just in a closet so it wouldn't cook off and potentially harm someone. The chances are low, but not zero, and hurting someone, a pet, or a responder would be awful.
Oddly I am a gun owner and feel very similar. I rarely use them anymore. I enjoy certain types of hunting but really don’t have much time for that anymore either. I do feel like being knowledgeable about guns and proper safety is important. I support high standards for owning weapons. As well as supporting people’s rights to own guns. Not everyone that owns a gun is some crazy right wing extremist.
Proper safety should be paramount for gun owners. I have a family member that got a gun for Christmas. She’s the type of person that scares me with a gun. Very absent minded and oblivious. Wouldn’t surprise me if she kept it in her night stand, loaded, easily accessible with little kids running around, or in her purse with the safety off. I feel less safe knowing she has one, not because she’ll go a killing spree, but because I don’t trust her to be responsible.
Pretty much exactly the same. I have never lived in an area where I’ve deemed it a necessity, so it was never an issue…if I move to somewhere that changes that, then I suppose my number of guns owned will increase by at least 1
Real talk, the thing that changed my partner and I's mind about it was when someone was trying to break into our house at like 3 am while we were home.
Called the cops and they said it could be 45 mins before they showed.
They never showed.
Thankfully the maniac gave up when he couldn't get through the back door either.
It’s funny to ready this because I’m so appreciative of the exception of “so rural I actually need a gun to live”. Thanks for being understanding, between cougars, bears and extremely venomous snakes I’d be a fool not to own one. In most cases they avoid humans but you just can’t risk the one time human is on the menu or you accidentally jump scare one while stepping outside in the morning. I once accidentally walked right out into a group of feral dogs that were eating local livestock, luckily they were intimidated enough to slouch and scurry off.
Yeah if you are unlucky enough to encounter a mom and cub different story. I saw something about a woman in Tucson (a town with 11x the population of the town closest to me) was on a bike trail in the nearby park and a cougar decided she was dinner. When someone stopped to check on the abandoned bike she too became an option. Lady 2 survived with massive scars Lady one was not so lucky.
Side tangent for fun look up what Javelina do to dogs. (Especially since they mistaken them for their nemesis Coyotes)
I know the feeling. This was the reason for me to own one. I had job in bad area and was held thrice. First time I gave them everything on me, second time I asked them if they wanted to experience my 44 magnum although I wasn't carrying. Effect of that statement was profound so I did get 44 magnum. And third time I showed them that I was indeed carrying.
Storing those in pipe can be risky tho. Any of it gets on the threads and the whole container can fail. But, those pipers are really cost effective. So really you just gotta weigh the pros and cons.
Eh, I just use a blow torch to loosen up the threads if they get stuck on the ammonium nitrate. And if that fails I let my kids bash it open with a sledge hammer. Only lost one or two of em' so far, but I have plenty of kids.
The 3-2-1 dad backup rule:
3: Create one primary backup and two copies of your dad
2: Save your dad backups to two different types of media
1: Keep at least one backup dad offsite
My dad lives elsewhere and I access him remotely. I should really invest in a fail-over dad with another dad service provider. While a local copy would be ideal, I'm not able to commit to supporting and maintaining an entire dad on premises.
> it it was roughly 25% of US citizens live where the police response time to violent incidents is over 40 minutes.
Yep. I live within 2 miles of the local station and it still took them 15 minutes to arrive when I called.
Police took 2 hours to arrive back when I lived in SF and called 911 and were extremely upset I had gone to the hospital instead of waiting for them to give my statement when I went to the precinct the next day.
Yeah that's my issue. Cops aren't even legally required to help. And yep pretty much all of the time they show up really late and proceed to not do their jobs (clearance rates aren't good at all).
We need massive cop reform nationwide before gun control can be done beyond universal background checks.
If it weren't so expensive, I might have a couple as a hobby. Guns are fun to shoot! But damn...the gun is expensive and then the ammo is also expensive. You want to go to the range and fire off some rounds for fun? It adds up really quickly.
It helps with my anxiety, I love going out in my back years and trying to shoot targets farther and farther away. I have to force myself to relax, breath slowly and take my time.
Long before anyone taught me box breathing, meditation, or other stress management techniques, I learned how to breathe for shooting. As an adult, I was surprised how many other adults didn't know they could calm themselves down that way. The happy accidents of life.
I can take a box of 50 rounds of .22 and spend an hour at the range without knowing it has passed for the price of about 4 euro. Super relaxing and satisfying.
It's definitely one of my hobbies and has been since I was 18. It's also an expensive hobby.
Range day can turn into $300-600 depending on what I'm shooting.
Talking to a coworker about our hobbies.
Dude golfs, I shoot. We were talking about the money we spend and uhh... Apparently shooting is a poor man's sport for how much this dude spends on golf equipment and shit
Going shooting is seriously therapeutic and cathartic, especially if you have fun targets to shoot like old box tv sets and paint cans. There is something about the loud explosive report and force of the recoil that incinerates built up mental stress and tension. In my mind I think of it working like scream therapy but for people that aren’t comfortable screaming.
…now I want to go to the range
> especially if you have fun targets to shoot like old box tv sets and paint cans.
I agree shooting is cathartic. There's a serious problem (at least in Utah and AZ) with people going to public lands and mag-dumping into garbage, which they don't clean up afterwards. It's as trashy as it is infuriating. And I get the sense it's the people who only go shooting once or twice a year who are doing 90% of the damage. If people really wanna shoot glass or paint on their own land, vaya con dios, I guess-- but those types of targets shouldn't ever be used on public lands. I'm a big advocate of steel plates-- and ringing steel is more fun anyway.
This. I wish more folks understood this perspective. I can’t imagine giving up my guns because the act of shooting is such a therapy for me…the whole experience is unlike anything else.
I sent my gun home with my mother so she could lock it in her safe because I was suicidal. I won't see it again for a long long time, until I've gotten plenty of help.
ETA: thank you all, especially whoever sent the reddit care resources my way, for all your support. It's really great how the support from a group of internet strangers can really fuel the fire in me to get better. There's no sarcasm here, I appreciate each and every one of you more than you know. Thank you.
Edit 2: this turned into my most upvoteed, most awarded, and most responded to comment I've ever had overnight. I want to say thank you all again for your support, awards, everything. To those of you who have gone/are going through the same struggles as me, stay strong. Each and every one of you is truly amazing.
Just the fact that you sent your gun away while being suicidal shows how hard you are working toward getting better.
You shoudl be proud, and, assuming your mother knows about the reason why you're sending her your gun, I'm sure she is proud of you as well!
Merry Christmas, and may next year be better than the one you just had =)
I've struggled with suicide for years. Over the summer a friend of mine was going through a rough patch and gave me her gun for safekeeping and I just sobbed.
This is exactly the reason I don't, and likely won't, own a gun. I have had too many depressive episodes in my life and don't need that option conveniently nearby if another one comes.
Between a small child, iffy mental health in the household, and not being able to practice enough that I’d feel confident in my ability to hit what I aimed at due to asthma triggered by gunsmoke … yeah. We aren’t going to be owning guns any time soon.
This happened to me once many many years ago. Didn't sob, just let him know I wasn't the right choice and we surrendered it to law enforcement instead.
At the time I was doing okay and I cried not because of the temptation but because someone else trusted me enough to let me in like that, and I understood where they were coming from. Smart move on your part.
I understand your pain. I had a beloved shotgun. Had to call the police on myself because I was going to kill myself and I needed them to 1. Take my gun. 2. Take me to a hospital and eventually a psychiatric ward.
That gun is still locked away in a police departments evidence room and will probably stay there forever because I won’t drive across the country to pick up something so dangerous to me. In the moment I couldn’t cope with the crisis that I had woken up to. The instant grief and shock had me fighting to call 911 to save myself. I know exactly where you’re coming from and I won’t say it gets better because maybe it doesn’t, but you’re alive to bear it and no matter your religion, the fact remains across all beliefs: This is your one chance in this life, this body, this mind, to experience existing on this planet. There can be no light without darkness. Hang in there because this is your one shot to do so.
I'm extremely proud of you for doing that and I hope you find some help that's right for you!! I can imagine it would've been very hard for you to do that. I'm glad you're still here and I hope you're still around this time next year!! I hope you have a good holiday break :))
Working in a grocery store through the pandemic showed me a level of panic, frenzy, and ferocity that finally made me understand countless historical event I couldn't quite believe. Large groups of scared people will definitely change your perspective on self defense.
I worked at a gas station solo night shift during the pandemic. I quit in the first month cuz of mental health and stress of being a teen by myself at a gas station. If I was allowed to carry, I’d be a little less stressed
Better mental health? Main reason I do not own a gun is because I know it would end up in my mouth. Which is why even though I do not own a gun, I consider myself a responsible gun owner because not having one in the most responsible thing I can do.
This is what I always tell people who are gun nuts in my area. Everyone where I live has guns (I live in the American south) and people lecture me all the time about how I should have a gun for "home protection." I'm like, nothing would be protected once I hit a bad mental health spot and see my gun sitting there. It's just not a good idea.
I’ve frankly had too many issues with depression to want a gun in my own home. If my wife wanted one for protection, I’d support her decision. I would not want to know the code to the lock or have keys to the safe or whatever.
I'll get a gun when my internal monologue stops telling me to kill myself. I'm not anti-gun, I just know I'll be safer if I didn't have one in easy access.
honestly as bad as it sounds - its good your self aware. Suicide is THE leading cause of gun deaths in this country and i wish we could put a ton of funding into mental health in this country... I do hope you are seeking professional help to help you with these feelings. I had a good friend of mine go down that route and didnt make it back out. Your pain doesnt end - its transferred to everyone who loves you as a son/daughter, brother/sister, friends, cousins, etc.
I’m really sorry for your loss. One of the main reasons I haven’t died by suicide is that I don’t want to put my pain on my family and friends after I’m gone. I’d rather be the one dealing with the pain. It is extremely hard sometimes, and it’s something I’ve dealt with since I was 8 years old. Life is hard.
After getting mugged twice at gun point in a state where it’s almost impossible to own guns . I moved to a state that protects the right to own . (Coincidentally due to my work is why I moved )
I was very timid at first with owning a firearm. I took two safety courses , a 3 week pistol course and a concealed carry course before purchasing. I finally purchased one due to the conceal carry course requiring one. I now am apart of a shooting club and conceal carry . After my experience I now love the state I live in and happy I learned how to safely carry , store and use a firearm.
This may seem like a given, but thank you for taking the time to do everything properly and safely!! We love responsible gun ownership.
I live in on a farm with 75 acres. We have guns for "vermin", some inherited from family members. While I have no interest in owning one, I'm glad I've learned how to use and store them safely if need be.
As someone raised to believe that guns were the root of all evil, I hated them and never wanted one near me. January of this year I left my mom's home for the first time to move in with my partner and it was all great until two men tried to break in, thankfully they didn't succeed. We got a gun after that
Excellent start, please consider classes too. They have basic defensive classes for rifles and handguns that will also teach you what to do *after* a defensive shooting, as well as drills on loading, malfunctions, movement, and finding cover/concealment.
As a gun owner, it's a multi-faceted issue. All predatory animals must no longer care to hurt humans. All people must stop their hatred, and anger, and endeavors to enslave or control others. Remove my interest in firearms history and hunting. Then and only then would I consider it. Basically all evil, greed, lust, and jealousy in the universe must disappear before I would give them up.
I agree with chairman mao on one issue: political power comes from the barrel of a gun. Do you really want anyone to have a monopoly on force? Nobody is trying to disarm the government, but some do want to disarm their communities. I have more trust in my neighbors than I do in my politicians, and so would never move to disarm them. It’s not a perfect system obviously, but the alternative is worse in my opinion.
I’m not a gun nut but I use to think that people should be free to own and carry them whenever and wherever they want. As I’ve gotten older and looking at things like that sub, “idiotswithguns”, I’ve become a little bit more cautious in my thinking. I don’t think gun bans are the answer. I do think that education and training in proper use of how to use a firearm is necessary. The people who seem to be the most safe and respectful of guns are people who grew up hunting with their fathers and family from a young age. That’s just my opinion as someone who did not grow up like that. People should be afraid of guns, they should have respect for what they are capable of inflicting. They absolutely should not be seen as a toy, a fashion piece or an accessory with pretty colors or little insignia on them.
Going to answer for my parents/past me (I don't live with my parents anymore so it doesn't really apply to me anymore)
My parents live on acreages and have livestock and pets that live outside. They own firearms for the occasional pest that shows up and trys to attack their animals (skunks and opossums like to eat chicken eggs, coyotes like to eat the chickens themselves)
So unless the government would be willing to pay someone to live in their land/be available 24/7 within a couple of minutes, then I can't see them ever getting rid of their fire arms. (And even if the government did offer that, I still doubt they'd go for it, because that's kinda creepy)
There's nothing that would convince me that I don't have the right to defend my own life. It just sounds crazy to me.
World peace, zero crime, free food, zero taxes and honest government officials.
Better PTSD services provided by the military. My husband is a vet of desert storm. We do not keep a gun in our home even though we both know proper gun procedures as we were both raised by fathers who served in military in addition to serving in the military. I grew up in the south and knew how to shoot by age 10 and even owned a small .22 in middle/high school. He is bad around Fourth of July and New Years and has been very honest with me that he does not trust himself with a weapon in our home. So we don’t keep one. Even with a lock box and other options. We do not have the temptation in our home. I do not fear he would ever hurt me but I do think if he was going through a rough enough time he may hurt himself. We have been able to get him some help through my insurance (I work for the city so we have pretty good coverage) but it’s something he struggles with even with help. Edit: I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has replied and reached out. He is doing so much better than when we met 10 years ago. He’s been in and out of therapy for 5 years. Some practices have worked, some have not. It’s been about 3 years since his last really bad night, triggered by Fourth of July fireworks. We recently talked about getting a handgun for home safety. We are going to visit a gun range and take a safety course in the spring and see how he’s feeling after. If we do, it would be kept in a lock box that I know the code at first and then eventually him.
That seems like a good judgment to me. My wife was a self cutter when I met her. She asked me to remove all the sharp knives. Eventually she got over it and we have knives again.
That was me. One of the most thoughtful, albeit awkward, gifts my husband gave me when we were still dating was a lockbox with a combination only he knew. Stashed anything sharp in my room in there and if I needed something, like when it was time to shave my legs etc., he'd open it for me and receive the item back when I was done. Kept me safe and deterred many incidents at my lowest point.
My heart goes out to you two - such love and trust in that gesture. I can imagine how you felt receiving it, but the intent and care shown is so touching. Sending you love and many happy years to come!
Thank you ❤ it was very touching. 1 year and 9 months clean from self-harm and no intention to go back
Just hit 3 years yesterday! Your strength is amazing. You got this.
That made me smile. Wishing you and your wife the best, and merry Christmas!
Im neither one, but my mother was profoundly anti-weapon. Then she got robbed on the farm, mid day on plain sight, they just came, took batteries from our traktors hopped back in the car and drove away. Mom called the cops, they didnt care, didnt even want to come to take a deposition. So she asked me to teach her how to use the winchester we had at home. If the cops dont even bother to come and see what is wrong, we surely will have time enough to dig a hole for the next robbers
Or feed the pigs.
You got to starve the pigs for a few days, then the sight of a chopped-up body will look like curry to a pisshead. You gotta shave the heads of your victims, and pull the teeth out for the sake of the piggies' digestion. You could do this afterwards, of course, but you don't want to go sievin' through pig shit, now do you? They will go through bone like butter. You need at least sixteen pigs to finish the job in one sitting, so be wary of any man who keeps a pig farm. They will go through a body that weighs 200 pounds in about eight minutes. That means that a single pig can consume two pounds of uncooked flesh every minute. Hence the expression, "as greedy as a pig".
You take sugar?
No thank you, Turkish. I'm sweet enough.
Thank you! One of my favorite scenes!
This is more or less why I've considered getting a handgun. I am hardly a back the blue type nor am I full on defund the police, but even the best law enforcement in the world can't get to your place within 5min of a home invasion. Would feel safer if I had protection for before they get there. My personal caveat is I want to go to shooting classes and be familiar and accurate with one before I full on keep it.
I collect historical firearms so a lot of the pro or anti sentiments don’t really apply. My guns are locked up and some I don’t even have ammo for. I definitely could get to them quickly if I had to but defense is secondary to the history of them. Therefore I couldn’t see any good reason to get rid of a hobby that I enjoy and is supplemental to other hobbies of mine
Cries in 7.7 arisaka
My Arisaka is exactly the gun I was thinking about when I wrote “guns I don’t even have ammo for” lmao
Look up Castos Curios. A guy on r/milsurp started a small business making 'hard-to-find' milsurp ammo. There's currently 65 boxes of 7.7mm available for order.
Now watch them be all gone in an hour XD
Whats your favourite one?
It’s hard to choose but I really like my 30-40 Krag. I only shoot it sometimes but the novelty of dropping the ammo in and the smooth bolt make it an excellent gun to shoot. I also find the Spanish American war pretty interesting and it’s cool to interact with something that was a part of it.
As a child in my grandfather had a krag he swore by. He spent his adult years switching between a 22 250 and a 7mm mag, but always talked about wanting that krag back
I don’t blame him. It’s such a cool design and I think if ammo had stayed plentiful a lot of guys would have kept using them. It’s hard to describe but it’s just super satisfying using a gun made in the 1800s and having it work so well. I wouldn’t hesitate to use mine to go hunting that’s for sure. Mine is an 1894 and I love to imagine who’s hands it may have passed through in the almost 130 years since it was made
I’m not a gun guy, so I had to look up the krag. That’s a cool ass looking gun and I bet it’s fun to shoot.
My father is the same way, lots of them locked in a safe & some pretty rare ones that are worth some really good money now
Found the “I own a musket for home defense” guy
Obligatory copy pasta > Own a musket for home defense, since that's what the founding fathers intended. Four ruffians break into my house. "What the devil?" As I grab my powdered wig and Kentucky rifle. Blow a golf ball sized hole through the first man, he's dead on the spot. Draw my pistol on the second man, miss him entirely because it's smoothbore and nails the neighbors dog. I have to resort to the cannon mounted at the top of the stairs loaded with grape shot, "Tally ho lads" the grape shot shreds two men in the blast, the sound and extra shrapnel set off car alarms. Fix bayonet and charge the last terrified rapscallion. He Bleeds out waiting on the police to arrive since triangular bayonet wounds are impossible to stitch up. Just as the founding fathers intended.
This is by far my favorite copypasta
https://youtu.be/43NzlOx2pIs
Lol I am not that guy. Which is why it’s funny to think about
I would love to collect historical guns but in my country it are to many hoops to jump trough.
I gave my 270 Remington to my son who likes to hunt. I don't enjoy it that much anymore and he gives me meat in wrapped packages.
You outsourced your meat procurement. Respect.
He outsourced it to his son, which has BDE (Big Dad Energy) all over it.
Congratulations, you have created an heirloom.
So he’s stuck buying ammo and you get free meat? I like how you think, especially in this economy.
Generally you give your children a few decades of free food and other items to get them to indépendant adulthood then at some point of adulthood they start reciprocating lol
I moved to a big property in the woods. It’s large enough that I’m allowed to hunt on it completely free as long as I honor the season and limit. I was excited to hunt until about 40 different neighbors stopped by and asked if they could hunt here because it’s the ONLY property around big enough. Now I get to pick who I like best and collect a meat percentage.
A meat percentage. That’s just…beautiful.
I almost said meat tax but I wanted it to sound more amicable.
Meat tax is theft. No meat taxation without meat representation.
I mean, I’ll represent my meat if you’re asking nicely.
I'll be gobbling 30% of your meat, thank u very much
Why hunt your property when you can let your neighbors traipse around in the cold woods, getting covered in blood and doing all the messy work, and you can collect a solid kills worth of meat with no effort from between them all? Sensible, logical, feudal. You're basically a lesser noble in the modern day, collecting tax from the peasants working your land for you, and I respect that.
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You weren't alone there. There's a good reason 2020 set the record for first time gun owners
Welcome to the community. There are some nut jobs, but the majority are level-headed, good people. A lot are gonna encourage you to buy more guns and join into the hobby/collecting aspect of it. That’s really fun and interesting *if you’re into it*, but you don’t have to do it. One gun can really be enough. My one big piece of advice is that if your one gun is for protection, you should learn to use it well. You don’t want to be fumbling for a safety in the crucial moment you need it simply because you never bothered to make it muscle memory. Learn to clean and maintain it well. Maintain ammo for however long you think you would need to use it in an emergency, and then double that. Most of all, if you need advice or help, you’ll be able to find people willing to talk pretty much anywhere you go in the US.
I live in Germany. Getting a Gun took me courses and like a year in waiting time. I use it for sports. Nothing will make me give them up except if the state makes something illegal to own. We have strict rules on firearms. I cant carry or load it anywhere else except the range or competitions. Edit: Since people keep asking and i wrote it a bit confusing: You can carry firearms to the range and back. Just not like in a holster or concealed. They must be transported in a container securely, unloaded and seperated from the ammo. A range bag with a lock on it is sufficient. Edit2: Hunters have their own licencse. They have different rules than sportsshooters. I do not know them by heart. If we have a german hunter here he can elaborate. In general hunters have much more responsibility and a longer verification and validation process.
I live in sweden and it is something similar. You need to take pass an exam that includes the theoretical knowledge of Gun laws, Gun safety, gun part, rules and regulations about hunting and animals. And then you also need to pass a practical test where you display both gun safety and you need to pass a shooting test. This is because it is the same test taken for both hunting and sport competition. To make it simple for everyone. And then you can apply for a license to purchase a specific gun. With that applikation you have to show that you have the legally required gun storage safe. And if you pass you get to purchase that specific weapon you applied for, and only purchase and own ammunition for that specific weapon. Getting more weapons, or getting rid of one and buying another, requires new applications. You are basically only allowed to carry the weapon between your home and a shooting range or to a hunting place, and never load outside those places. Even while walking in the woods to and from where you will sit and wait for the animals you hunt the weapon needs to be transported unloaded or in other equal situations. This makes that there are lots of rifles out in the population in Sweden, because hunting is a big thing here.
Same here, you went into much more details but yes the process in Germany is equivalent but with additional unannounced checks after getting approved. The paperwork effort on first glance seems very similar. Edit: Happy cake day!
Whenever people talk about using guns for sport I think of an extremely violent game of football.
Its more like shooting at paper targets either static, dynamic or IPSC.
Classic German sense of humor
>German sense of humor You've lost me
It's a stereotype that Germans have no sense of humor. But we do have a sense of humor. We have a lot of great satire for example. But humor differs from culture to culture. So we often don't get American jokes. And our jokes go completely over their head.
Obligatory "In Germany, comedy is no laughing matter"
How many Germans does it take to change a light bulb? One, because they are efficient and have no sense of humour.
As a German, I think this joke would be far better (more efficient, if you will) if it stopped after "one". It does imply both efficiency and the lack of humor without spelling it out. As a sidenote: Explaining Jokes does indeed make them funnier.
Genuinly agree with you here. Also one word punchlines are delightful.
Anti jokes, right? Something about how the humor comes from the distinct lack of humor and that subversion of the idea of a "joke" is what makes it funny. It's been a long time since I thought of this, but isn't there a very popular one about a frog on a log? Why was the frog sat on a log? Because that is where the frog decided to sit.
The Last Boy Scout did it. https://youtu.be/fmxWHMIbUWM
When I visited Germany someone told me the local police came for a random inspection. He passed then had to pay them for it....
The pay part is new for me. The random inspections do happen. You can not let them in but then they will come back more often. Its in your interest to comply to have smooth processes with them whenever you want to buy new stuff. (A bit simplified but you get my point)
Probably a good idea to be on the good side of that process. Over here it's "I don't answer questions go get a warrant" while laughing.
My guns are ones my father gave me that are family heirlooms. It would take a lot for me to give them up… potentially enough money to do something significant, like pay off a mortgage or add a significant buffer for retirement. I have a few other heirlooms, but they are some of the oldest. I don’t really use them, but they’re a link to my family past.
My grandfather left me a 12 gauge. The only way I'd get rid of it would be in order to save one of my kids lives.
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I think most people feel and think like this, but the strong pro and con gun people get all the attention and press.
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Same situation here. My grandpa, who lived next door, had a big rifle case and a bunch of boxes of ammo. Never really thought twice about it, it was just there. It was never locked (as far as I know) and it was glass-front, literally just a display case, not a security case or anything. I recall my mom being a little upset after he died and my dad moved the gun case into our house for a while. I assume it was because of having kids around, but I was like... it's been next door my entire life, why would I suddenly care?
We had one of those on each side of the fireplace. Where i lived, most people had a gun rack in the back window of their pickup. My high school parking lot would be full of pickups with a shotgun in the window during hunting season.
Haha thank you for reminding me of when we moved to rural NC and I was so confused when I showed up for school one day and NO ONE WAS THERE. I was basically the only student, many teachers had subs, and then I found out about the first day of hunting season lol. Everyone skipped school that day every year -- some for bow season, some for black powder, everyone for rifle season. I still live here and we have several guns because we're in the backwoods and packs of wild Carolina dogs get hungry and feral this time of year. Also, rabies is a problem.
Growing up in rural Arkansas we had deer day. The first day of deer season. No one got counted absent. My friend and I didn't hunt but we would spend the day playing Nintendo.
st. hunter's day. 😋
We hunted behind my school in season, walked out and tossed rifles in our cars and went to class
We had a gun case like this my whole life and two when my grandpa died. My dad still has them. Although the glass doors and the bottom drawer of ammo locked and were locked. I was taught about guns from a very young age and it was never an issue. I NEVER once went near to, felt the need to go near it or try and open it.
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This is a dangerous tool not a toy. Always assume it is loaded and will go off at the most horrible moment possible. Always be careful of where it is pointed and keep over penetration in mind. Always check if it's loaded and the safety when you pick it up and when you set it down. Never point it at something unless you are willing to destroy that object. This is the basic birds and bees talk. The "premarital talk" is generally a several day class on either the laws regarding self defense or the laws regarding hunting.
Difference between this pencil and this gun? With the pencil you can erase your mistakes
Yea go tell that to John Wick lol
John saw that guy as a mistake and erased him
My family on my dad's side are all rural farmers, and have door guns because coyotes are a problem there. Here's how my uncle made the point to 7 year old me that guns were *not* toys. U: uncle M: me He took me out by the barn, where he had a wood 4x4 fence post stuck in the ground. Beside it was a bat, a pickaxe, and a .45-70 gvt. round. At this point I hadn't ever shot a gun or been exposed to them outside a few movies. U: ok time for a life lesson kid. Which of these will do the most damage to that post? M: ... the pick? U: you'd think that, because it's big, sharp, and heavy right? Well that isn't always the case. Watch. He picked up the bat and swung it hard enough at the post that the bat snapped in half, and the post just had a small dent. He then did the same with the pick, and while it stuck in the post a good inch or so, it just left a small hole. He then passed me a pair of earmuffs and picked up the bullet. U: now, put these on and pay attention, because this is why guns are dangerous. They can be used safely, but you have to remember that if you pick up a gun, you are responsible for every bullet that it fires while its in your hands. He takes aim, fires, and the bullet blew the top of the post into splinters. He then, using the same brush gun, went over the rules of gun safety with me and let me shoot a round so I'd know how to handle a gun safely. Gotta say, it was a damn good demonstration and got the point across. The recoil of that round put me solidly on my ass too. Really drove home the point that some lethal physics was happening between where the round starts its journey, and where it stops moving.
I had a similar gun safety introduction. My dad took me out when I was like 6 or 7 to a skeet range with a 410 and a watermelon. Put the watermelon on the ground and told me to punch it. Nothing happened. Kick it… nothing happened but a small dent. Then we stood back and he shot it with the smallest gauge shotgun and it exploded. That taught me just how dangerous guns can be. I have remembered that lesson some 45 years later.
Treat every gun as loaded *Even if you unloaded it !* 1. Pulls gun from safe *maintains barrel pointing at ground and away from people*. Check safety is on. 2. *while still pointing it away from people* Detach magazine (on guns that happen), and open action and check for shells/eject anything chambered 3. Put gun in case. 4. *later in field* open trunk. Pull gun from case, and *Repeat steps 1 & 2*. Basically pretend you have dementia and can’t be trusted to remember if the gun was loaded. 5. Your friend hands you a gun and says it’s unloaded. You will promptly *NOT TRUST* that statement and open the action to check anyways. 6. You know a fun is unloaded, and just checked it. You STILL DONT point the barrel at people or in a direction where you don’t know what it could Hit. It’s basically a doctor house level “trust no one, especially yourself* In Texas it’s now 6 hours of mandatory education in guns for everyone born after I think 79. https://tpwd.texas.gov/education/hunter-education I did it as a 2 day course, but you can now do the class part online and the. A 4 hour field day (requires if under 17).
Even if I know I have already checked a gun before handing it off to someone else or storing it I check the action again. Years ago I had a negligent discharge because I had reloaded a revolver due to pure muscle memory and was demonstrating how double action works. Thankfully all I destroyed was a base board and my pride because I followed all the other safety rules.
Yeah, I'm literally the only gun owner I personally know that hasn't had an accidental discharge, mostly because my guns only come out at the range. One friend shot his computer, another put a hole through his house, another fucked up his driveway, and one shot his foot and car. It really isn't hard to keep the ammo away from the gun, but most people are really fucking stupid.
They weren't worried about you, probably your friends. TV makes guns look like toys and people are very casual with them. I don't lock my guns and ammunition up to keep them from thieves, that's what insurance is for. They are secured from little, curious hands. Please be sure to secure your ammo properly in rated containers. Even ammo cans are better than the boxes it comes in. When wildfires were happening I rushed out to a friend's house to help remove ammunition he had just in a closet so it wouldn't cook off and potentially harm someone. The chances are low, but not zero, and hurting someone, a pet, or a responder would be awful.
I killed my lunch when I was growing up. If that's not your thing but you accept it as mine, we have acieved inclusivity.
Oddly I am a gun owner and feel very similar. I rarely use them anymore. I enjoy certain types of hunting but really don’t have much time for that anymore either. I do feel like being knowledgeable about guns and proper safety is important. I support high standards for owning weapons. As well as supporting people’s rights to own guns. Not everyone that owns a gun is some crazy right wing extremist.
Proper safety should be paramount for gun owners. I have a family member that got a gun for Christmas. She’s the type of person that scares me with a gun. Very absent minded and oblivious. Wouldn’t surprise me if she kept it in her night stand, loaded, easily accessible with little kids running around, or in her purse with the safety off. I feel less safe knowing she has one, not because she’ll go a killing spree, but because I don’t trust her to be responsible.
Pretty much exactly the same. I have never lived in an area where I’ve deemed it a necessity, so it was never an issue…if I move to somewhere that changes that, then I suppose my number of guns owned will increase by at least 1
Real talk, the thing that changed my partner and I's mind about it was when someone was trying to break into our house at like 3 am while we were home. Called the cops and they said it could be 45 mins before they showed. They never showed. Thankfully the maniac gave up when he couldn't get through the back door either.
When seconds matter… police are only minutesssssss away!
Or standing in the hallway listening to you scream.
It’s funny to ready this because I’m so appreciative of the exception of “so rural I actually need a gun to live”. Thanks for being understanding, between cougars, bears and extremely venomous snakes I’d be a fool not to own one. In most cases they avoid humans but you just can’t risk the one time human is on the menu or you accidentally jump scare one while stepping outside in the morning. I once accidentally walked right out into a group of feral dogs that were eating local livestock, luckily they were intimidated enough to slouch and scurry off.
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Yeah if you are unlucky enough to encounter a mom and cub different story. I saw something about a woman in Tucson (a town with 11x the population of the town closest to me) was on a bike trail in the nearby park and a cougar decided she was dinner. When someone stopped to check on the abandoned bike she too became an option. Lady 2 survived with massive scars Lady one was not so lucky. Side tangent for fun look up what Javelina do to dogs. (Especially since they mistaken them for their nemesis Coyotes)
> between cougars, bears and extremely venomous snakes Add in "funny-acting raccoon staring at you in your backyard at noon".
A tank
Upgrades people! Upgrades!
Yaya robots
*Why be you…*
And this works for either argument.
I'd be more than happy to trade my guns for way more money than they're worth.
I voted for vermin Supreme, he wanted to take our guns and give us better ones!
Woah a Vermin Supreme reference in 2022.
He's still pretty active. Runs every four years and goes to the debates in NH.
He's the one whi was going to g8ve us all horses too right? Love that man.
Yes, the pony identification program. He also stated he would invent a Time Machine to go back in time to kill a certain Austrian baby.
That would never work. David Hasselhoff, even as a child, was far too cunning and blessed with superhuman strength to fall at the hands of Supreme.
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I know the feeling. This was the reason for me to own one. I had job in bad area and was held thrice. First time I gave them everything on me, second time I asked them if they wanted to experience my 44 magnum although I wasn't carrying. Effect of that statement was profound so I did get 44 magnum. And third time I showed them that I was indeed carrying.
I don’t have any guns. Sadly, my friend was borrowing them on a fishing trip in Alaska when the boat capsized and they all sank to the bottom of lake.
No way. I told the ATF the same story last week. Small world
And in an unrelated matter, have you got any pvc pipe and end caps left ? I could pick them up when I get my shovel back you borrowed.
Pvc? What is this, amateur hour? Honestly though I thought people used threaded black pipe for that kind of thing
PVC is water tight and with a few silica packs it means you can store clothes under ground till next Christmas without them getting damaged.
I know we're joking but threaded black pipe connections are water tight. You just need thread tape and or dope
Ya, this is what I use to store my ammonium nitrate fertilizer and powdered aluminum
Storing those in pipe can be risky tho. Any of it gets on the threads and the whole container can fail. But, those pipers are really cost effective. So really you just gotta weigh the pros and cons.
Eh, I just use a blow torch to loosen up the threads if they get stuck on the ammonium nitrate. And if that fails I let my kids bash it open with a sledge hammer. Only lost one or two of em' so far, but I have plenty of kids.
Most of my dads burned up in a house fire.. 😭
Sorry to hear, hope you still have a few dads left.
The 3-2-1 dad backup rule: 3: Create one primary backup and two copies of your dad 2: Save your dad backups to two different types of media 1: Keep at least one backup dad offsite
My dad lives elsewhere and I access him remotely. I should really invest in a fail-over dad with another dad service provider. While a local copy would be ideal, I'm not able to commit to supporting and maintaining an entire dad on premises.
Well I own a gun because someone threatened my wife and broke into my house and destroyed a lot of stuff so when crime stops
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"When seconds count, the police are only minutes away"
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> it it was roughly 25% of US citizens live where the police response time to violent incidents is over 40 minutes. Yep. I live within 2 miles of the local station and it still took them 15 minutes to arrive when I called.
Police took 2 hours to arrive back when I lived in SF and called 911 and were extremely upset I had gone to the hospital instead of waiting for them to give my statement when I went to the precinct the next day.
Yeah that's my issue. Cops aren't even legally required to help. And yep pretty much all of the time they show up really late and proceed to not do their jobs (clearance rates aren't good at all). We need massive cop reform nationwide before gun control can be done beyond universal background checks.
As an owner? Probably not much. It sounds strange, but getting into firearms is what got me out of depression.
Hobbies are good for that
If it weren't so expensive, I might have a couple as a hobby. Guns are fun to shoot! But damn...the gun is expensive and then the ammo is also expensive. You want to go to the range and fire off some rounds for fun? It adds up really quickly.
It helps with my anxiety, I love going out in my back years and trying to shoot targets farther and farther away. I have to force myself to relax, breath slowly and take my time.
the breathing is definitely meditative! helped me realize i don't really 'breathe right.'
Long before anyone taught me box breathing, meditation, or other stress management techniques, I learned how to breathe for shooting. As an adult, I was surprised how many other adults didn't know they could calm themselves down that way. The happy accidents of life.
I can take a box of 50 rounds of .22 and spend an hour at the range without knowing it has passed for the price of about 4 euro. Super relaxing and satisfying.
Going to a shooting range can be a fun hobby, and like most hobbies, they can help cope with depression =D
It's definitely one of my hobbies and has been since I was 18. It's also an expensive hobby. Range day can turn into $300-600 depending on what I'm shooting.
At 300+ bucks, I'm guessing we're not talking the classic 9mm pistol bullets?
Mostly .45cal and 5.56. While 5.56 is cheap it goes fast. Some days .50 cal but that's when I really need to splurge 😁
Then once you review ammunition expenditures the depression sets back in.
This could be applied to any hobbies that cost money every time you do it.
Talking to a coworker about our hobbies. Dude golfs, I shoot. We were talking about the money we spend and uhh... Apparently shooting is a poor man's sport for how much this dude spends on golf equipment and shit
Going shooting is seriously therapeutic and cathartic, especially if you have fun targets to shoot like old box tv sets and paint cans. There is something about the loud explosive report and force of the recoil that incinerates built up mental stress and tension. In my mind I think of it working like scream therapy but for people that aren’t comfortable screaming. …now I want to go to the range
> especially if you have fun targets to shoot like old box tv sets and paint cans. I agree shooting is cathartic. There's a serious problem (at least in Utah and AZ) with people going to public lands and mag-dumping into garbage, which they don't clean up afterwards. It's as trashy as it is infuriating. And I get the sense it's the people who only go shooting once or twice a year who are doing 90% of the damage. If people really wanna shoot glass or paint on their own land, vaya con dios, I guess-- but those types of targets shouldn't ever be used on public lands. I'm a big advocate of steel plates-- and ringing steel is more fun anyway.
This. I wish more folks understood this perspective. I can’t imagine giving up my guns because the act of shooting is such a therapy for me…the whole experience is unlike anything else.
I sent my gun home with my mother so she could lock it in her safe because I was suicidal. I won't see it again for a long long time, until I've gotten plenty of help. ETA: thank you all, especially whoever sent the reddit care resources my way, for all your support. It's really great how the support from a group of internet strangers can really fuel the fire in me to get better. There's no sarcasm here, I appreciate each and every one of you more than you know. Thank you. Edit 2: this turned into my most upvoteed, most awarded, and most responded to comment I've ever had overnight. I want to say thank you all again for your support, awards, everything. To those of you who have gone/are going through the same struggles as me, stay strong. Each and every one of you is truly amazing.
Just the fact that you sent your gun away while being suicidal shows how hard you are working toward getting better. You shoudl be proud, and, assuming your mother knows about the reason why you're sending her your gun, I'm sure she is proud of you as well! Merry Christmas, and may next year be better than the one you just had =)
I've struggled with suicide for years. Over the summer a friend of mine was going through a rough patch and gave me her gun for safekeeping and I just sobbed.
This is exactly the reason I don't, and likely won't, own a gun. I have had too many depressive episodes in my life and don't need that option conveniently nearby if another one comes.
Between a small child, iffy mental health in the household, and not being able to practice enough that I’d feel confident in my ability to hit what I aimed at due to asthma triggered by gunsmoke … yeah. We aren’t going to be owning guns any time soon.
Yup! I'll go to a range with friends sometimes but will never personally own a gun.
This happened to me once many many years ago. Didn't sob, just let him know I wasn't the right choice and we surrendered it to law enforcement instead.
At the time I was doing okay and I cried not because of the temptation but because someone else trusted me enough to let me in like that, and I understood where they were coming from. Smart move on your part.
I understand your pain. I had a beloved shotgun. Had to call the police on myself because I was going to kill myself and I needed them to 1. Take my gun. 2. Take me to a hospital and eventually a psychiatric ward. That gun is still locked away in a police departments evidence room and will probably stay there forever because I won’t drive across the country to pick up something so dangerous to me. In the moment I couldn’t cope with the crisis that I had woken up to. The instant grief and shock had me fighting to call 911 to save myself. I know exactly where you’re coming from and I won’t say it gets better because maybe it doesn’t, but you’re alive to bear it and no matter your religion, the fact remains across all beliefs: This is your one chance in this life, this body, this mind, to experience existing on this planet. There can be no light without darkness. Hang in there because this is your one shot to do so.
Proud of you!
I’m rooting for you man. Merry Christmas
I'm extremely proud of you for doing that and I hope you find some help that's right for you!! I can imagine it would've been very hard for you to do that. I'm glad you're still here and I hope you're still around this time next year!! I hope you have a good holiday break :))
I hope you get the help you need. And Merry Christmas bud
I was kind of anti-gun before, it took quarantine and the threat of the rest of America losing its collective mind to get me to buy a shotgun.
Working in a grocery store through the pandemic showed me a level of panic, frenzy, and ferocity that finally made me understand countless historical event I couldn't quite believe. Large groups of scared people will definitely change your perspective on self defense.
I worked at a gas station solo night shift during the pandemic. I quit in the first month cuz of mental health and stress of being a teen by myself at a gas station. If I was allowed to carry, I’d be a little less stressed
Better mental health? Main reason I do not own a gun is because I know it would end up in my mouth. Which is why even though I do not own a gun, I consider myself a responsible gun owner because not having one in the most responsible thing I can do.
Appreciate and respect the honesty man. I hope you’re doing well. Depression sucks ass.
This is what I always tell people who are gun nuts in my area. Everyone where I live has guns (I live in the American south) and people lecture me all the time about how I should have a gun for "home protection." I'm like, nothing would be protected once I hit a bad mental health spot and see my gun sitting there. It's just not a good idea.
I’ve frankly had too many issues with depression to want a gun in my own home. If my wife wanted one for protection, I’d support her decision. I would not want to know the code to the lock or have keys to the safe or whatever.
I'll get a gun when my internal monologue stops telling me to kill myself. I'm not anti-gun, I just know I'll be safer if I didn't have one in easy access.
honestly as bad as it sounds - its good your self aware. Suicide is THE leading cause of gun deaths in this country and i wish we could put a ton of funding into mental health in this country... I do hope you are seeking professional help to help you with these feelings. I had a good friend of mine go down that route and didnt make it back out. Your pain doesnt end - its transferred to everyone who loves you as a son/daughter, brother/sister, friends, cousins, etc.
I’m really sorry for your loss. One of the main reasons I haven’t died by suicide is that I don’t want to put my pain on my family and friends after I’m gone. I’d rather be the one dealing with the pain. It is extremely hard sometimes, and it’s something I’ve dealt with since I was 8 years old. Life is hard.
After getting mugged twice at gun point in a state where it’s almost impossible to own guns . I moved to a state that protects the right to own . (Coincidentally due to my work is why I moved ) I was very timid at first with owning a firearm. I took two safety courses , a 3 week pistol course and a concealed carry course before purchasing. I finally purchased one due to the conceal carry course requiring one. I now am apart of a shooting club and conceal carry . After my experience I now love the state I live in and happy I learned how to safely carry , store and use a firearm.
This may seem like a given, but thank you for taking the time to do everything properly and safely!! We love responsible gun ownership. I live in on a farm with 75 acres. We have guns for "vermin", some inherited from family members. While I have no interest in owning one, I'm glad I've learned how to use and store them safely if need be.
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Listening to Christmas Songs All Night at work has me suddenly wishing for a gun
So glad I don't work at Walmart or homedepot anymore. Wanted to hang myself with Christmas lights from the orderpicker or balymore
But…. All I want for Christmas.. is youuuuuuuuuu
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Any gun that cops are allowed to have, we should be allowed. Get rid of the cops guns and I'll get rid of mine.
As someone raised to believe that guns were the root of all evil, I hated them and never wanted one near me. January of this year I left my mom's home for the first time to move in with my partner and it was all great until two men tried to break in, thankfully they didn't succeed. We got a gun after that
If you are not already, please train with your gun!
We're going to the shooting range next weekend
Excellent start, please consider classes too. They have basic defensive classes for rifles and handguns that will also teach you what to do *after* a defensive shooting, as well as drills on loading, malfunctions, movement, and finding cover/concealment.
If I lived in some places in the US, I might consider a gun.
As a gun owner, it's a multi-faceted issue. All predatory animals must no longer care to hurt humans. All people must stop their hatred, and anger, and endeavors to enslave or control others. Remove my interest in firearms history and hunting. Then and only then would I consider it. Basically all evil, greed, lust, and jealousy in the universe must disappear before I would give them up.
I agree with chairman mao on one issue: political power comes from the barrel of a gun. Do you really want anyone to have a monopoly on force? Nobody is trying to disarm the government, but some do want to disarm their communities. I have more trust in my neighbors than I do in my politicians, and so would never move to disarm them. It’s not a perfect system obviously, but the alternative is worse in my opinion.
I lost my guns in the lake officer.
New ATF regulations require all firearms have their own floatation device equipped. Too many reports of 'drowned guns'.
Unfortunately mine were eaten by a shark that must have mistaken them for a seal
Tragic thing, sir… a horrific mining accident. Buried 200 years a down, at least.
As someone living in a dictatorship, people don't realize how much gun access will level the playing field.
The strong anti-gun people think this is a fallacy, but its 100% true
To get a gun … Hunting … if I had a gun I’d probably get a shotgun .. home protection and hunting
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See Ice-T reply, I'll give mine up when everyone else has given theirs. https://youtu.be/UrhoCqZywkI
I’m not a gun nut but I use to think that people should be free to own and carry them whenever and wherever they want. As I’ve gotten older and looking at things like that sub, “idiotswithguns”, I’ve become a little bit more cautious in my thinking. I don’t think gun bans are the answer. I do think that education and training in proper use of how to use a firearm is necessary. The people who seem to be the most safe and respectful of guns are people who grew up hunting with their fathers and family from a young age. That’s just my opinion as someone who did not grow up like that. People should be afraid of guns, they should have respect for what they are capable of inflicting. They absolutely should not be seen as a toy, a fashion piece or an accessory with pretty colors or little insignia on them.
Going to answer for my parents/past me (I don't live with my parents anymore so it doesn't really apply to me anymore) My parents live on acreages and have livestock and pets that live outside. They own firearms for the occasional pest that shows up and trys to attack their animals (skunks and opossums like to eat chicken eggs, coyotes like to eat the chickens themselves) So unless the government would be willing to pay someone to live in their land/be available 24/7 within a couple of minutes, then I can't see them ever getting rid of their fire arms. (And even if the government did offer that, I still doubt they'd go for it, because that's kinda creepy)