Guns, the NRA, the constitution and senseless shootings

Honest questions: How many people actually still feed their families by shooting animals? Aren't there countless other ways to get food?

 

People involved in Olympic shooting sports would disagree. So would the millions of skeet, sporting clays and trap shooters.

I own multiple pistols, rifles and shotguns. Their purpose is not to kill other people. I know that because the person holding the weapon is the one who determines the purpose of it.

 

A gun does two things. A.) Protection. B.) Hunting. Is there much use for it other than that? No. I don't own a gun and I don't live in an area where I feel I need a gun for protection. But if I did live in a dangerous place, I'd want to have that option for my safety. Despite being raised in the South, I was raised by Yankees. We never went hunting. I've never even shot a gun. But my dad is a law enforcement officer, and there's been a gun in my house since the day I was born. I've seen it once or twice. I've held it in my hands once, with my dad there to show me how heavy it was. That's about it.

I don't like guns. I don't own a gun, nor do I ever want to own one. But that doesn't mean that others who own guns (for hunting or protection) should be vilified for owning a gun. There are lots of people who own guns who have never killed a person or shot a person.

 

And home and family protection from those summitches who pay no attention to the law and break into your home.

 

In rural areas, a lot. Here in Podunkville, Mont., I'd bet between 30-40 percent of people hunt for food. Hell, the meat at the food bank is roadkill deer. I think it depends on which part of the country you live here. Here they do, when I was in Indiana, not so much.

 

Yes. But depending on where you are, wild game is a cheap alternative to buying meat from stores. There are a lot of working poor who still rely on hunting and fishing to stock their fridges.

My father-in-law runs a duck guide service in the Mississippi Flyway. This past season, he and hunters who stayed with him donated more than 500 pounds of duck and goose meat to a local food bank.

 

I'm sure the animals that gave that meat are still alive somewhere.

 

I think it should be tough as hell for somebody to own a gun. Put in as many hoops for them to jump through. That's fine. I think if you've gotten arrested for a crime, you should be disqualified from owning a gun. But that's not going to keep people from getting guns off the black market.

 

Course you're far more likely to be killed in a dispute with a family member with that gun you bought for protection than you ever are to use it on a criminal.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself.