Poll: is he ignorant or does he have a point

[OmegaXzors]

There are 13 pages of opinions.

Even at sixteen, you're a bit young to know the dangers of owning a gun. I'm twenty and I still have that "I can do anything" feeling behind me. No one here can tell if you're a loony or a sweetheart but one thing is certain: "guns don't kill people, the government does." Alright, that was a quote but guns do in fact kill. A simple "accident" is all it takes to make your mother's boyfriend dead - even if it is a good thing, don't do it.

I personally don't find it harmful for a hunting rifle to be used on targets. I do it occasionally because it's fun. I live on the west coast of the United States and this is practically gun central. Just about every male in town owns a gun HOWEVER, there's hardly any crime (in my town). Most of them deal with knives if there's a murder.

If you can get one, buy a gun, shoot some targets. For those against hunting, while it is a sport and in some ways, "murder," should I redirect you to the skinning of live domestic animals in China, seal-clubbing in Canada, or kitty crushing pornography in Japan? This kid owning a gun is the least of your problems.

EDIT: Also, I instantly can tell that most of the posters are idiots who take precaution into everything. I own three rifles and they're fired maybe once every couple years (since it's illegal to fire them in town). So, really. BIG FUCKING DEAL? Kid, go buy a gun.

 

[micky]

like ive said before i dont think maturity should be measured by age, and i know i dont need one its a hobby. your 3) doesnt make sense and i cant live with him because of personal reasons

I know maturity isn't measured by age I have a few friends that show that greatly. You are complaining about the rules put forth by the ones you live with and want to go and throw those rules to shit. That to me is a great show of how immature you ACTUALLY are. You may think that you are mature but trust me when I tell you you probably haven't seen anything yet. Your main argument is that you should get a rifle because you LIKE shooting. That is the most retarded IDIOTIC reason to get a gun I have EVER heard. Seriously if you were going to use it to go hunting thats a completely different story entirely. If you are completely dead-set on getting a rifle just wait the 2 years until you turn 18 and can buy it yourself without your mom or her boyfriend's permission and see how long before you get kicked out of the house.

Like I said before if you like shooting GO GET A PAINTBALL OR BB GUN. Those are a lot safer to shoot around than actual guns.

Here is my new question for you. Where exactly do you live and where would you shoot this rifle you want to get?

I do not want to throw the rules out i respect the rules but that doesn't mean i have to like them. i didn't argue to them i tried to have a discussion. is shooting not a hobby? oh your one of the people who thing guns are only for hunting and war. To anyone who has shot a gun paintball guns are defiantly NOT the same.

 

[OmegaXzors]

I do not want to throw the rules out i respect the rules but that doesn't mean i have to like them. i didn't argue to them i tried to have a discussion. is shooting not a hobby? oh your one of the people who thing guns are only for hunting and war. To anyone who has shot a gun paintball guns are defiantly NOT the same.

Ignore every prick on here. If you have earned the money to put a couple hundred dollars into a rifle you're proud of, I see no reason why you should avoid it. It's dangerous, YES, but responsibility determines the person. I mean, for fucks sake people, I can quote you all as "BLASPHEMY, THIS KID IS GONNA MUUUUUURDER!"

Shooting targets is incredibly fun. When experiencing a new gun with a heavy kick, that sore shoulder gives you fond memories. I HATE red necks, but I can see why they do this. It's not so little kids can go play "army" in the woods. It's clean fun and it doesn't damage your internal organs like some of you weed-smoking morons out there.

 

[Vel Getica]

Do you often fly into fits of inconsolable rage? If you're level headed he's just afraid that since you shoot things in games you'll shoot things in life, basically it's fear of imitation which is an insult to your character and intelligence. Unless he's a hippie, then he's not really human anyway and you shouldn't listen to him. I had a step father once we didn't really get along, one night when i was about 13 he got shitfaced on wild turkey (he was increadibly white trash)came to my room and screamed "ARE YOU AFRAID OF ME" I muttered "..no" took the bokken from my door frame and broke his nose, not saying it's a good idea to assault your stepfather simply that guns pose only as much threat as the person holding them like any other object, and the inability to recognize that is in fact ignorance.

 

[OmegaXzors]

Sorry I don't agree with you on this. If you are talking about responsibility then surely that also comes to respecting the rules of the roof he lives under.

I don't know anything about owning a gun or clubs or whatever. But surely he would get that experience from firing a gun at a club? That way he can show his parents he is serious about it and earn the trust of the parents that he will be responsible with owning his own.

Responsible parents wouldn't have divorced causing problems among the child. In a great sense, his mother owes him more than just a gun as she stole his father figure away from him (or vice-versa but since he lives with her, I'm guessing it was her fault). I'm sorry OP if this is offensive, but your argument is valid right there.

Even Religion, the persona I hate most about individuals - most say that divorce is a ticket to Hell.

 

[Vapus]

As Far As Being 16 and using any kind of firearm I would have to say house rules are final and should be respected . For all the rest of the rhetoric about firearms in General consider this..

Criminals prefer unarmed Victims..

 

[Aphroditty]

Your main argument is that you should get a rifle because you LIKE shooting. That is the most retarded IDIOTIC reason to get a gun I have EVER heard. Seriously if you were going to use it to go hunting thats a completely different story entirely.

Yeah, buying a gun for target practice and recreational shooting is much, much worse than buying a gun to go and murder a fellow living being, despite the fact that there is not any need for that barbarism in the real world. You tell the guy, way to be a rational individual and follow your opinions through to their logical endpoints.

Alright OP, here's what it is:

You're not a retard for wanting to own a rifle, you're not immature for wanting to own a rifle, and you're not a stupid little dipshit for disagreeing with your legal guardians. Like everyone has so far implied. Owning a gun is fine so long as you're trained, so long as you're aware of the immense danger you can and will pose to yourself and others, and so long as you're properly supervised/instructed and the weapon is safely stored. With all that said, you are sixteen and your legal guardians have the right to refuse you. You're going to have to live with that until you're old enough to buy your own weapon.

I'm not trying to bag on civil disobedience -- one of the grand old traditions since before even Rosa Parks -- but there are laws that are partially irrational but still should be respected, and laws that are unjust. You are living under a law that is undoubtedly partly irrational if your guardians are anything like competent and you yourself are a well-adjusted sixteen-year-old, but you aren't afflicted with anything like great injustice. Suck it up, I'm afraid. You may very well be on the moral high ground (assuming that you would submit to parental oversight and take safety precautions), but functionally this is the way things shall go.

In honor of your plight, I'm going to go and shoot targets with my legally-acquired, parent-approved (although I don't require their legal approval anymore) black-powder pistol. Seethe with jealousy.

 

[OmegaXzors]

That's ridiculous. My mum divorced my dad and never met anyone. I don't blame her or feel like she owes me anything.

That's just making excuses to get your own way.

Not everyone is the same, but I personally would refuse to listen to my mother's boyfriend of all things. No one would replace my birth father or mother. Listening to some ignorant jackass would only strengthen that.

Divorce is a ticket to Hell according to the Bible. I'll just repeat that. I'm Atheist.

 

[chenry]

You need consent. They won't consent.

So its time for you to move on and stop being a whiner.

 

[Mrsoupcup]

ive shot about 15 types of guns and my dads an ex marine, i think i should be trusted, it wont be out anywhere it would be locked up were no-one but me can get to it.

Dick Chaney knows how to shoot a gun, so? Dude your 16, just wait till you move out. What do you even need a gun for? Get an alarm system if your that paranoid.

Its not like you live in a variety store in the gheto.

Edit: Also dude, try to use better grammer, people here will eat you alive for bad spelling.

(even the mods don't like it)

I am going to use it for targets and competition, not hunting. Guns aren't only for protection.

Then buy a BB gun. I used to be in the Cadets here and thats what I used at a range.

(The Cadets is bassically a Canadian version of the JORTC)

 

[Marowit]

I support people getting hunter rifles, especially if they're going to eat what they kill. I know several people that kill a deer in the fall, and have meat for the rest of the winter.

That being said, I can't think of a single 16 year old who I would trust with a rifle. Heck, I wouldn't even trust a 16 year old carbon copy of myself with a gun.

I know your dad may be an ex-marine but that doesn't mean you're an ex-marine. Just like how my grandfather having been a heart surgeon, with ~50 years of practice both in and out of the Navy who has taught me a ton, doesn't qualify me to be a heart surgeon.

If you want to maybe bridge the gap between your mother's boyfriend and your point of view you need to get to know him better. Then maybe he'll land on your side, but from an outsiders point of view there has to be reasons why he doesn't feel comfortable with you possessing a gun.

 

[DSK-]

Chances are you'd probably go after animals after some time firing at practice targets. Personally, unless you are doing it for a good reason (food, for example) I frown upon such a thing.

As my dad said when I wanted an air rifle "If you want to fire a gun, go join the army".

I also had the experience of having a friend who shot himself in the chin with an air rifle. Oh the hilarity that insued when he came to my house and asked to use the phone for an ambulance

 

[Shycte]

I'm against firearms circulating around in society and thus, that rifle is a part of the problem.

Mostly princaple really.

 

[Teddy Roosevelt]

If you plan on hunting, otherwise you're just wasting ammunition.

Right, because when the communists invade you'll need those bullets.

A rifle doesn't serve any other practical purpose than shooting at a ranged target. Humans being predisposed towards violence will inevitably grow bored of shooting a nonliving target. Best they spend time hunting creatures than turning on their neighbors. Knowing you've killed something is quite exhilarating.

Though better a rifle than a handgun. Many seem to believe merely owning a handgun entitles them to carry it. Carrying it means you're far more likely to use it in favor of rational behavior.

Are you suggesting coconuts migrate humans are predisposed to violence naturally, or that some people are?

 

[hannan4mitch]

Ish...
People should be allowed to have guns, but only one rifle/shotgun and/or one pistol/revolver. Also, they should be locked in a designated shed/safe, and the key (the safe only has one key, and if you lose it, you buy a replacement from the company, but you can only buy 2 replacements) should be owned by an adult either over 18 or 21 depending on what the State you live in chooses.