You have every right to exercise your 2nd Amendment Rights. Tell anyone who says otherwise to go fuck themselves. It's your money and your rights. My advice: get training. Lots of it; as much as you can afford, and from reputable firearms trainers with years of experience and expertise. A good place to start is looking up firearm trainers through the NRA, or doing a google search for trainers close to you. Read up on their ratings and experience, and then choose which one you think is best for you. Watching a few videos on YouTube isn't going to cut it....you have to go get physical training. Consider joining a firearm forum such as GlockTalk. I've been a member there since 2004 with over 12,000 posts. Be prepared for a lot of opinionated assholes and conspiracy theorists though....unfortunately, online forums bring out the worst of them. If you are Left-wing, then it's probably best to avoid them altogether. Read up. I personally recommend work by Massad Ayoob; one of the top two or three most reputable firearms experts of all time. He's still alive; I've had the pleasure of corresponding with him through GlockTalk on several occasions, and he's always been kind and respectful. He's a retired LEO of 40 years, and an expert witness for the courts with both civilian and law enforcement shooting cases. He's written thousands of pages for everything from gun magazines to medical journals and law enforcement training books. He's trained thousands of people, and has defended hundreds in court. His book "In The Gravest Extreme", written in the early 1980s, is still THE gold standard when it comes to explaining the principles of Self Defense. I have many of his books, except that one. If you have time, check out this video he did in 1990. It still applies today, and in fact I asked him about it just 3 weeks ago. He wouldn't change anything he said then. Learn the rules of gun safety and follow them ALWAYS. ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED. If you are going to use a gun for self defense, read up on the laws and learn them. IGNORANCE OF THE LAW IS NEVER AN EXCUSE. And furthermore, learn the Use Of Force Continuum. And remember: you are responsible for every bullet that comes out of the barrel of your gun, so be sure of your target and what's behind it. A shotgun is excellent for home defense, but read up on loadings. Buckshot has different ballistics than bird shot and slugs, for instance. That is very important for in-home defense. And you DO need to aim a shotgun....firing from the hip or without aiming doesn't cut it. Check out pistols as well....there are tons of options out there for every hand size and every caliber. Limit them to 9mm, .38 Special, .357 Magnum (any revolver chambered for .357 can also fire .38 Special, but not the other way around), .40 S&W, and .45 ACP. With an honorable mention to .44 Special. Avoid any exotic calibers; especially anything heavier than .44 Magnum, which I personally would not recommend for personal defense UNLESS you are in the backwoods or hunting. Don't neglect anything in rifle caliber, however, choose your loadings very carefully. Rifle calibers have MUCH higher velocities than handgun calibers. Good luck! Send me a PM if you need any help or advice. I'll be happy to give it.
Thank you. I wish that I could say that I have always been one, but I wasn't. When I was in my late-teens and early-20s, I wasn't responsible at all. Then I was in a shooting in 2004 when I was 21, after I befriended a coworker who was crazy and incredibly irresponsible with guns. He got 10 years in prison for shooting at two kids one night (thankfully not hit or injured), and I got a court fine for unlawful discharge with no arrest and a deferred sentence. After that, I cleaned up my act real quick. Now I'm a staunch advocate of legal, safe gun ownership, and associating with safe and responsible people who AREN'T crazy with red flags in their pasts. Some people have to learn the hard way, and I'm very thankful that it wasn't worse. But I vowed to learn from it, and learn from it I did. I don't want people to make the same mistakes I made. If you approach firearms, you MUST approach it with a responsible, mature mindset, and you MUST respect them ALWAYS. They are not toys, and what you see with guns in the movies is NOT real life.
It is important. Respect is very important. I've been mad at my own father a few times, whom is an Army Ranger and has plenty of weapons training. Yes, you have the training to operate a firearm. Firearm safety #1 before training, in my opinion.
That was one of the first things I did after I got my head on strait: I got training and I read up on laws and self-defense. Mindset is key. There is nothing more sobering than carrying a gun concealed and knowing that you have the capacity to kill another person. Carrying a gun means that you have to be aware of your surroundings at all times, and avoid trouble whenever necessary. I was pulling out onto a street one day about 10 years ago, and I was passed at a high rate of speed by a motorcycle with two riders on it. They missed my car by inches, scared the living crap out of me, and were probably going about 70 in a 25. Out of reaction, I honked my horn. The shirtless passenger on the back of the bike turned around and gave me the finger and glared at me as the driver slowed down. A block later I was behind them by two car lengths at a stop light, and I was PISSSSSED OFF. The passenger turned around to glare at me, but nothing more. The light turned green, they went straight, and I turned right and went about my business. I had to calm myself down and check my emotions, for one very important reason: I had a Glock 22 .40S&W concealed on my right hip. I didn't have the luxury of engaging in road rage with these clowns. I had to avoid trouble. So I sat there and steamed. No yelling, no gestures, no taunts. Take a breath and keep your distance. And that's what I'm talking about, and what you drove at: you have to check your emotions when you carry a gun. You just don't have the luxury of getting offended or pissed off with others. You have to respect the gun first and foremost. Middle fingers and mean words can't kill you. But the bullets in your gun most certainly can.
So many things to un-"pack" on this. I have thought multiple time about buying a motercycle, but I haven't thought about buying one and being ridiculously careless on it. A handgun, pass. Haven't thought about it for a second. Which one is more dangerous, that's a solid debate.
Hmm. I suppose it depends on how you treat each object. They both definitely have the capacity to kill, sometimes multiple people, if they are abused and not respected. So the key is definitely to respect them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Nice_truck_attack "On the evening of 14 July 2016, a 19-tonne cargo truck was deliberately driven into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, resulting in the deaths of 86 people[2] and the injury of 458 others.[4]" Compared to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Las_Vegas_shooting On the night of October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock opened fire upon the crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada. Between 10:05 and 10:15p.m. PDT, he fired more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition from his 32nd floor suites in the Mandalay Bay Hotel, killing 58 people and wounding 413 The truck seems like a better killing machine. You don't have to reload.
Good line, but which has been used for mass murder more? The mass murderers seem to disagree with you. Also, there's compelling need for cars and trucks aside from their potential value in killing--there's a lot less non-killing need for handguns and assault rifles and shotguns. Society really couldn't function without wide and easy access to vehicles for private citizens. Society could function fine without wide and easy access to guns for private citizens. That's how most nations work.
I have a very simple process on this. I have a shotgun (12 gauge) for home protection. It is absolutely the best option for any kind of home intruder or close range issue. You will not miss and everyone involved knows this. I have both a 38 special and a .380 for carry. I usually go with the .380 because of just size. It's plenty powerful enough to deter anyone and it is very easy to master. the .38 special will stop anyone immediately. It's made for that purpose. All my other guns are sport and target. But honestly other than the three i mentioned i pretty much never expect to use them other than sport or target.
You're not wrong. Shotgun is very good for home protection. Anything close range even just birdshot. If someone is kicking your door in and trying to assault you or your family a shotgun will usually deter that. Huge difference when you are talking about full scale anything or warfare.
If one tool becomes unavailable, people will get creative. Guns are difficult to come by in France, so this particular murderer improvised and ended up having vastly more success than any shooter in America ever has.
I took hunters saftey when I was eleven at the Elks Club in Mlwaukie, as I went hunting every year with dad and uncles. As an adult I went with a few friends every year and still fish with the same group at our annual get together. I stopped hunting about 18 years ago as we just didnt eat as much red meat anymore, and know Id rather talke a great photo. Ive taught my kids to respect and store guns safely. I now own a 30-30 Winchester, Shotgun, & 9mm handgun. Every once in a while I go target shooting with my son's. For protection while traveling in travel trailer I do carry, and for home protection also a shotgun.
And yet, France (and nearly every other country) has vastly less mass murder. The idea that "mass murder will always happen at exactly the same rate, they'll just use trucks instead of guns" seems pretty off-base. Just because you found one example of a non-gun-based mass murder doesn't really make your point that guns are irrelevant to mass murder. Sure, once in a while, someone will find a way to kill a bunch of people without the help of a gun--just far less often. The reasons why are obvious: guns are easier to get and cheaper than a truck. Guns are also a lot more convenient and portable. You can't drive a truck through one classroom after another, running over each student in each room. You can walk down a hallway and spray each classroom with bullets. Murderous people will always exist. Guns simply act as a force multiplier for those people, especially when you open it up to assault rifles. If you made rocket launchers and nuclear weapons accessible to anyone, you'd see even more people die, obviously.