What Makes Guns so Awesome or Not Awesome to You?

[Eggsnham]

Being on the Escapist, I've noticed that there are a lot of gun nuts, and I suppose I can call myself an amateur gun nut as well. So I'm going to ask what makes guns so appealing (or not appealing) to you?

Please note that I'm not trying to start a flame war or offend anyone. I don't condone violence and I am a pacifist myself.

Anyhoo, what makes me so fond of our explosive friends is the fact that modern firearms are kind of a mark of how far we've come, to be able to create a tool that can efficiently blast metal and explosive cartridges at super speeds and with ridiculous power, I just find it very interesting I suppose. It also doesn't hurt that guns often times look bad-ass.

 

[DuplicateValue]

Guns are not awesome to me for unromanticising (word?) combat.
There's nothing beautiful or skilful about killing someone with a gun in one-on-one combat.

Edit: Okay, okay. You've made your point. There is skill involved in using guns.
Just not as much as there is in learning to use swords properly.

 

[aruseusx]

They are like small cannons, what isn't awesome about that?

Though I'm in Australia and can't own a gun if I could I would be a collector. Besides other hobbies like gaming, metal, drawing I'd never have money to eat.

 

[Joe Matsuda]

they kill

as such "not awesome"

(I'm a pacifist)

 

[Latinidiot]

I don't like guns, or warfare with guns one bit. It's almost cowardly to kill your enemies from a distance.(I know that the enemy does that too, so I'm not calling modern soldiers cowards). with swords there's more skill to it.

 

[Aunel]

what makes guns awesome?
when they have strings on them of course!

 

[DrunkWithPower]

My "love" of guns can be expressed by a quote about Hunter S. Thompson. "Hunter saw guns as one of the great things in life. He liked the noise, the violence, and the distruction."- Jann Wenner. Yeah.... that sums it up nicely.

 

[Eggsnham]

what makes guns awesome?
when they have strings on them of course!

Do want. Where'd you find that?

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

They look cool, they can be used to break stuff in a fun manner. On the downside, most are designed to kill people, so I don't like them.

 

[Aunel]

what makes guns awesome?
when they have strings on them of course!

Do want. Where'd you find that?

a special place where only people that play bass may enter.
(the sanitarium)

 

[DoctorNick]

I appreciate them from a mechanical design standpoint and that they are one of those interesting things that are pretty easy to learn to use but are actually fairly tricky to master.

While we can harp all day each other about comparative murder rates in different countries and the like I find that secondary to why I don't mind an armed civilian populace:

Fundamentally I believe that 'power' should be split up into as many hands as possible, not concentrated into the hands of a few, so as to prevent the possible abuses that are caused by despotic leaders and governments on a regular historical basis. As such, limiting the ownership of arms to government agencies strips the people of power and puts it into the hands of fewer. That is an unacceptable outcome to me. Even if the very presence of guns causes many more murders than their absence[footnote]For the record, last I checked it's mostly inner city violence that drives up the murder rate in the US as compared to most other countries. What's the force behind most of this inner city violence? Gangs related to the drug trade! Every time you prohibit something there is a demand for you CREATE a criminal class who will exist to supply this demand and they will resort to violence to resolve their grievances by the very illicit nature of their dealings! At this point many people would say that if we still banned guns then the problem would still be solved.

I know that this isn't going to be a popular view to take but I'd rather MAKE DRUGS LEGAL!

I believe that would solve the fundamental issue driving most gun violence and I also think that you should have the choice to put whatever you damn well please in your body. More freedom almost always trumps less freedom to me.[/footnote] I would still argue to for the civilian ownership of weapons so as to preserve the rights of self defense and the right to violently overthrow the government should it go out of control!

 

[LaughingAtlas]

I'd say they're more funny than awesome. There's usually something amusing about a gizmo that can be pointed, make a noise, and have someone across the room suddenly fall over, but it's not really as satisfying as caving in your enemy's skull, chopping them up, or shoving them off a building. (run-on?) I'd prefer to punching to shooting, but then, my aim is just a little bit better than someone who's juggling the guns, excluding Revolver Ocelot.

 

[GundamSentinel]

I have the usual male fascination for weapons, but don't see the need to personally own a gun. That would be just stupid. What am I going to shoot at, eh? Saying it's for self defense is bullshit. Especially where I live. Luckily owning a gun is still frowned upon here.

That and I prefer swords, much more stylish.

 

[AshuraSpeaks]

Being on the Escapist, I've noticed that there are a lot of gun nuts, and I suppose I can call myself an amateur gun nut as well. So I'm going to ask what makes guns so appealing (or not appealing) to you?

Please note that I'm not trying to start a flame war or offend anyone. I don't condone violence and I am a pacifist myself.

Anyhoo, what makes me so fond of our explosive friends is the fact that modern firearms are kind of a mark of how far we've come, to be able to create a tool that can efficiently blast metal and explosive cartridges at super speeds and with ridiculous power, I just find it very interesting I suppose. It also doesn't hurt that guns often times look bad-ass.

Peace Activist Has To Admit Barrett .50 Caliber Sniper Rifle Is Pretty Cool [http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28181]

/just sayin'

 

[Wadders]

Guns are not awesome to me for unromanticising (word?) combat.
There's nothing beautiful or skilful about killing someone with a gun in one-on-one combat.

What's beautiful about killing anyone with anything? Especially in one on one combat Be it gun, sword or chainsaw. I somehow doubt that Roman Gladiator fights, or duels in the middle ages were particularly beautiful affairs.

Secondly, using guns is not skillful? Tell that to mortar crews, snipers, designated marksmen, tank gunners, olympic shooters etc.

Anyways, I like guns because I enjoy the feeling of firing a gun, the smell of firing a gun, and the satisfaction of hitting a target or dusting a clay. I enjoy learning about them and how to use them, aas well as improving my skills and having a ood time shooting.

And as long as you are safe, then you can have loads of fun messing around with them.

 

[Valksy]

I have always loved weapons - guns, swords, sharpened sticks. All good. But sadly, thanks to legislation in the UK, largely illegal. I did some pistol shooting years ago and really enjoyed it.

Should I ever make it to the US again (doubtful, hate flying) I would love to go to a firing range and have a proper go on some serious hardware.

 

[reg42]

Not awesome, they kill people. I don't feel I need to explain this any more.

 

[Eggsnham]

Being on the Escapist, I've noticed that there are a lot of gun nuts, and I suppose I can call myself an amateur gun nut as well. So I'm going to ask what makes guns so appealing (or not appealing) to you?

Please note that I'm not trying to start a flame war or offend anyone. I don't condone violence and I am a pacifist myself.

Anyhoo, what makes me so fond of our explosive friends is the fact that modern firearms are kind of a mark of how far we've come, to be able to create a tool that can efficiently blast metal and explosive cartridges at super speeds and with ridiculous power, I just find it very interesting I suppose. It also doesn't hurt that guns often times look bad-ass.

Peace Activist Has To Admit Barrett .50 Caliber Sniper Rifle Is Pretty Cool [http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28181]

/just sayin'

Lol Onion, I am a pacifist, I'm against the hurting and killing of others, but I also realize that people won't give up violence or guns and if they do give up guns, they will still use knives etc. I do my best to try and stop violence from erupting around me; but realize that it's pretty much impossible to snuff out violence and achieve world peace without intervention from God etc. That being said, I like guns. Not as a killing tool, but as a bad-ass awesomeness tool.