Poll: is he ignorant or does he have a point

[Caligulove]

I dont see the point in getting a rifle if not for hunting...

I just see a gun as the missing piece that turns something into a tragedy in some situations.
But I feel that to keep both sides happy here, you could get the gun, unloaded at all times while at home. and since its only for target shooting, you would have to go to a range for targets and ammunition. Keeps both sides happy, (you get the gun and the shooting practice, mom and boyfriend dont have a loaded weapon in their house and have some supervision still)

and would teach more about the workings and discipline of a firearm instead of just 'shootin stuff with a gun'

 

[Brad Shepard]

it really sounds to me like he is a masive liberal, but thats just me

its your choice dude.

 

[Levitas1234]

He is exactly right, no good comes from owning a rifle.

Where is the good huh? No good!

Does everything you own need to bring good?

that's not the point, his step dad said that having a gun will bring no good and the OP asks if his step dad is right.

And this thread shows the misuse of the word ignorant

 

[Berethond]

Just get a BB or airsoft gun instead, everyone wins!!!

Or if you must have a gun maybe a .22 that's going to be kept under lock and key 24/7...

i was going to get a blot-action .22 and have a big-ass safe for it, but i guess i cant now

I have a bolt-action .22, sitting on my workbench in my garage. It's a Winchester .22LR made in 1920.

My brother and I recently restored it, and we have no ammunition for it, so I guess it's a bit of a different situation, but I don't see anything wrong with you havin ga gun.

 

[Krion_Vark]

im 16 and i decided to get a rifle because i really like shooting and i told my moms boyfriend and he said he wouldn't live in this house if i got it and that "no good would come from that thing". hes acting like its a horrible omen like when i get it the world will end. am i wrong or is he just ignorant
p.s. my moms with him on it

Have you ever fired a gun before? Been to the firing range? Know about gun safety?
I would be hard pressed to give a 16 year old boy a gun. I especially would feel weary if everyone else in my family knew nothing about gun safety. Even if you know how to operate it, that doesn't mean accidents can't happen.


You're 16. Just move out in two years and get in then. Why do you need one anyway? Back when I was your age kids just bought crack.

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.

Your dad being an Ex Marine has absolutely NOTHING with whether or not you should be trusted with a gun. Are you a hunter? Have you ever gone hunting?

Points for you not to get a gun:
1)YOU DON'T NEED IT.
2)Who you are living with does not want you to have one.
3)Your whining about it no matter how much you don't tyou are.
4)Go half way ask for a PAINTBALL or a BB Gun don't go the whole fucking mile to get an actual gun your SIX-FUCKING-TEEN.
5)If you don't like the rules in your MOM's house why not go live with you dad?

 

[Blind Sight]

I can see why he's a little worried, some people are just gun scared. I don't know you personally so I can't judge how responsible you are, but I don't see a problem with gun ownership for teenagers as long as you're absolutely well-trained and mature.

I grew up in a house with guns, used them, saw them all the time, and we never had an accident. If you're locking them in a cabinet unloaded and have trigger-locks, then I really don't see how an accident could happen.

 

[Irishhoodlum]

How is he ignorant for sticking to his beliefs? He's not telling the OP he can't get a gun, he's just saying that nothing good can come from one and that he won't live in the same house if the OP gets said gun. Really I agree with him what do you possibly gain from having a gun other than boosting your ego a bit and putting yourself and others at risk? Pretty sure you can rent guns from shooting ranges anyways.

And someone explain to me the sport in hunting. You're using guns to take on unarmed animals who have a whole 0% chance of fighting back. Where's the challenge here?

Just stick to video games, paintball or airsoft.

 

[Audioave10]

I don't think its the fear of a gun...but the fear of a 16 year old with a gun. Even if you are very mature, that worry will still be there.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Where do you live that a 16 year old can buy a gun? Even here in Texas, we have to be at least 18 to buy our guns, and we pretty much are the textbook stereotype for gun-owning individuals. I'm all for gun ownership, I think it's a good skill to have, and target shooting is fun enough, so I agree that he's being irrational.

if you have parents consent and a clean backround then you can

Not here you can't. And that sounds like one of those silly things people say that aren't really true, as they say the same about tattoos or buying booze. Mummy and Daddy saying you can doesn't subvert the law, sadly, and ownership laws are pretty damn strict. 18 for long weapons like rifles and shotguns, 21 for handguns, unless they're military or police.

but its on the law the law says that you can, if you dont believe me look at the mass gun laws

That makes it no less ridiculous. No wonder there's such idiocy about gun laws, when a signed chit is all you need to let someone whom the government considers too incompetent to handle tobacco responsibly can have a lethal firearm. Go Texas for understanding proper etiquette.

 

[joshthor]

hes not right. hes not your dad and appearently not your step dad yet. however, if your mom says no, then no gun for you! wait till you move out to get a gun.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

As someone whose brother blew his brains out with a shotgun 10 years ago

Wow, dude.

I'm sorry to hear that. Must have been tough. I can't even imagine.

.

Thanks for the kind words friend.

I guess everything in life that hurts us eventually teaches us to appreciate what we have left even more, and to find the value in the really important things. That's how I like to rationalise things anyway. I saw a lot of death and bad things as a young fellow, but thankfully the last ten years have been kinder and happier.

 

[blah_ducks]

Anyone who knows of Cannibal the Musical should get whatever they want.

 

[asinann]

People who openly carry a handgun are far less likely to use them than people who hide them or keep them home.

A man carrying a handgun is far less likely to use it that a man who leaves it home?

Most shootings involving handguns happen within the gun owners home. Most people who openly carry handguns know that if even one of them opens fire in a Starbucks there will be another attempt to ban handguns. For every story you hear about someone with a handgun shooting someone, there are thousands of people carrying them in public that you don't know or hear about because they aren't doing anything to bring attention to it.

Pistols or handheld weapons, that's reasonable. But a rifle is pretty damn big and powerful, and is unecessary unless you occupy the universe of Fallout. Plus, if defending yourself and your family is the issue, other weapons besides guns exist in the world.

You ever tried to hunt a moose with a handgun? I've seen a moose take 9 30-06 rounds and still charge. Do you have any idea how many handgun round that would take? And at much closer range, what you'd get is a lot of dead hunters and animal population problems.

 

[YuzL]

I find gun fascinating, and i really cannot understand why there is hate for them. I guess people just think guns can only create bad things, but I beg to differ. I find guns as stated before are great stress relievers.
Like when my girlfriend broke up with me rather than talk to her and get frustrated I just went the range and shot some clay pidgins. I did this for about a hour or two every day. It took my mind off of what was happening and was put in a state of lucidness.(Granted my shoulder hated me)
I was relaxed for a good while got over and now I am on my way to making a new relationship. Keep in mind I am the same age as OP, But I have learned how to respect and use firearms.

 

[The-Jake]

He is wrong, but she is right by definition, because she is the head of the household and her word is law. Table the issue until you're 18 and you have your own place.

An American's right to bare arms went right out of date about 100 years ago.

Inalienable rights do not go "out of date", access to whatever force needed to keep your rights inviolate foremost among them.

Yes, he is. I'm an advocate of strict gun control, the only people who should be allowed guns are the police, the military, and licensed shooting ranges for recreational purposes.

If guns are legal it means it is far more easy for dangerous people to acquire them.

All the arguments I've heard from people who describe themselves as "strict gun control advocates" contain this spoken or unspoken assumption: "Restricting legal access to guns will result in fewer criminals having guns." If this assumption were true, "Yay gun control!" would be a no-brainer. Unfortunately, this assumption is only true on Nega-Earth in the Bizarro Universe.

So you need a gun, Why exactly?

I just think that it's unnecessary for people to own a gun outside a firing range or for hunting.

Okay, let me ask you this, what good came come from it?

People who are spoiled sometimes want more than they deserve.

Points for you not to get a gun:
1)YOU DON'T NEED IT.

"Why do you need your own car?"
"Why do you need your own house?"
"Why do you need your own vote?"
This is America, comrade. The only reason you're entitled to as to why I pursue something is, "I want one."

It'd be like buying an electric guitar, and then just hanging it up on your wall to look at 'cause it's cool, not that you'd actually use it.

That's my right.

Okay, now think of all that can go wrong.
1. If you got in a rage, you have a weapon.

According to this logic, I should have stabbed everyone I know because I own kitchen knives.

If the state has full control of the firearms then we have less to worry about.

A couple of countries have tried out the "All power to the state" theory. It's never worked out remotely well.

there shouldn't be a weapon around that can kill a man in a heartbeat, without having to actually do something besides pushing a little metal switch. It's too easy, compared to doing something physical.

"Ideally, defending your life should be more difficult."...? Buh?

I just pictured you sat in a chair holding a rifle, staring at the door, waiting for trouble.

See, this is the root of the problem. When picking a side in a debate, your opinion needs to be based in typical reality. Picturing the above when you think "typical gun owner" is like picturing someone living in obscene wealth when you think "typical lottery-ticket buyer". I'm like, that's what happens the least often!
It's impossible for me to take you seriously as a reasoning being as soon as you start arguing that wanting a gun is a sure indicator of anything about one's character.

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.

Like this. "Having a gun causes psychopathy, and psychopathy is the only reason someone would want a gun for a non-utilitarian purpose." *Facepalm* Please base your arguments in typical reality.

Are you in fear for your life at the home you live in? Is that why you want a gun for yourself? Or is this about bragging rites?

And this.

what do you possibly gain from having a gun other than boosting your ego a bit

And this.

Yeah, but look at Canada, gun crime is extremely low because guns are tightly regulated and such.

Correlation is not causation.

Having no gun, while it might mean you personally cannot defend yourself, removes the temptation to take the law into your own hands and enact a legal killing.

"It's better to die for the sake of principle than to kill for the sake of your life." *Facepalm* *Facedesk* *Facedesk* *Facewall*

 

[JWW]

I find your lack of capitalization disturbing

If you're just using it for target practice on a firing range, then at the age 16, I'd say it's appropriate, but I understand your mom's boyfriend's reasoning.

 

[Miumaru]

While if I was a member of your family I would maybe be worried, but your mom's boyfriend kinda annoys me with his reaction. He's your mom's boyfriend, so forget that. If you visit your dad ever, could always ask him to hold onto it.

 

[The-Jake]

Also, ammunition is a lot more volatile than some people think it is. I mean, hitting a round with a hammer can set it off. If you have your ammunition in a box that stays hot (metal) and it gets bumped around it could set off a round.

True, but a round "going off" and a round "being shot" are completely different things. Without the gun barrel to turn the expanding gases into effective thrust and the back of the chamber to keep thrust from being wasted on the casing, a bullet going off is basically a weakling flashbang. I think.