I find it very interesting who owns a gun...do you? If so what kind? Why do you own one?

-- Anonymous, November 09, 2000

Answers

When I got mugged years ago, I was astounded at how many female hairdressers carry guns in their purses (I never knew what a dangerous profession that was.)

I do have a shotgun, but only because I'm afraid of all the Republicans having all the guns. Oh, and one of my neighbors is insane and appears dangerous.

-- Anonymous, November 09, 2000

Paul used to have a shotgun, but now he doesn't. Now we only have water guns. They're very powerful ones, though.

-- Anonymous, November 09, 2000

I've got me a .22 rifle. I guess I could gut-shoot a burgler w/ it, if I had time to find the bullets (I don't store it loaded, or anywhere near the bullets.) Mostly it's for plinking cans out in a pasture. Plink-plink. Now that's fun.

-- Anonymous, November 09, 2000

My dad has my great-great-great grandfather's old colt .45 from when he was a sheriff, and he promised it to me, so someday I will. But it's an heirloom. I wouldn't buy bullets for it or anything.

-- Anonymous, November 09, 2000

Let me preface this by saying I use to work for the Federal Bureau of Prisons and was one of the top females in accuracy where I worked. So, I know quite a bit about gun care and safety. I figured my accuracy might waiver if I had to shoot someone though, (I worked there as a medical person). I have always liked guns not because I am a homicidal manic or hunt, but because I like acquiring skills that require accuracy, like target practice or skeet shooting. My brother is a serious gun collector. One Christmas he got me a semi- automatic 25mm Raven. It is a tiny pretty thing which happens to be one of the top 5 guns used by criminals. My mom gasped and said, "that's a toy isn't it"? giving my brother and I a great laugh. My brother gave me my Raven when I was in grad. school and living in a crappy part of town. It's only good if someone is close up 'cause the tragectory drops really fast, and believe me, if someone was coming at me in my room, I'd have no qualms about a good aim. However, now, I live in an apartment with a roommate and a child. The clip is away from the gun. The gun is hidden with a trigger lock on it and there isn't any ammo in the apartment. I adore revolvers and want to get a big, beautiful one, like a 357, someday to target practice with. Cap and balls pistols are a blast (pun intended). My biggest fear is that some nut will shoot a gun off in my apartments and it'll go through a wall and hit one of us. I'm always afraid of getting shot.

-- Anonymous, November 09, 2000

This does kinda sound like a scary topic, but I didn't mean it that way. I was interested in the actual fact of people owning guns, instead of the rhetoric. If I lived somewhere I could do some plinkin' that'd be fun. But I guess I can't plink with a shotgun.

When I went out to Utah on a camping trip with a couple of cowboys, one had a little 2 shot derringer in a special little tiny pocket on his chaps (it was really cute, if you forgot it had a gun in it.) Anyway, they used it for putting down cows who were really injured (so they said.) That makes sense to me but they probably used it for other stuff, but didn't want to scare the tourists!

-- Anonymous, November 09, 2000

My wife carries a .38 Lady Smith in her purse and I carry a .41 magnum Colt mini automatic. We get crank calls in our business and have received two death threats because of stories I've published. (Just 2 in 6 years ain't bad, and I always figure if they had any guts they'd be there. Serious killers don't call up and make a date. But you never know. My wife also makes the bank deposits.)

We live in the country where it is very, very dark at night. I have a .12 guage pump Winchester Defender shotgun with an 18" barrel and a mini-spotlight attached, next to the bed to investigate whatever the dogs find suspicious. I would recommend this gun to every American household for personal protection and as a hunting weapon for survival purposes. (No, I'm not apocalyptic...just grew up listening to grandparents and parents talk about the Depression and how the garden and guns put food on the table.)

I have .22 I've had since I was a kid. I have a .308 Ruger deer rifle but haven't hunted in a couple of years. in I have an old double- barrel shotgun I inherited from my grandfather and a .32 automatic I inherited from my father. I WILL admit to stocking a good ammo supply for all guns concerned.

It's not a macho thing with me to carry a gun. In Texas they have to be concealed, and since it's usually too hot to wear a coat, I carry mine in the top of my boot. It's not comfortable, it's heavy, and it chafes my ankle occasionally. I carry it because I've been at too many murder/abduction/rape scenes where an unarmed person was victimized by a walking piece of shit that needed some sense killed into them. My two sisters carry guns, too.

-- Anonymous, November 09, 2000

Guns scare me. I'd prefer not to own one. I might someday learn to use one, just because, but I wouldn't feel comfortable with one in my house.

My brother owns a gun, though. I don't know what kind.

-- Anonymous, November 09, 2000

My husband is a hunter and we have a number of rifles, shotguns, and handguns in the house. When I moved out of my parent's house my dad gave me a revolver for personal protection.

I guess it has to do with how you were raised, but I would feel unsafe if I didn't have a gun in the house. I like knowing I can defend myself if someone broke in.

-- Anonymous, November 09, 2000

To LisaD...being a hairdresser a dangerous profession? Let me assure you of one thing...being a woman in America is a dangerous profession. There are over a hundred UNSOLVED Jane Doe murders in Texas alone. I know, I cover them. Not only do they not know who killed this person, they don't know WHO SHE IS! Well over a hundred! And the number increase everyday. There are over 200 cases of young women who have vanished into thin air...no trace...no signs...no clues. They're just gone. Think about it. I do every day.

-- Anonymous, November 09, 2000

I don't own a gun. I think maybe I'd like to do some handgun, shooting-range, kinda of sport some day. My dad had a couple of small gauge rifles and one shotgun when I was growing up, but I never knew him to ever shoot them. They were beautiful, and I believe they were either his from his youth or maybe heirlooms from another family member.

I'm pretty sure that if I lived out in the country I'd have one, definitely.

-- Anonymous, November 09, 2000

I do not own a gun, but this past summer I fired a potato gun for the first time.

-- Anonymous, November 09, 2000

Bubba....I was kinda making a little joke...but you should have seen these women all pull guns out while I was getting my haircut. I can't imagine what people thought walking by...

-- Anonymous, November 09, 2000

Private gun ownership isn't really allowed in the UK (you're allowed to have a gun if you belong to a guun club, but you have to keep it at the club at all times), which is something that's a huge relief to me. The police don't even carry guns, and I can count on one finger the number of shootings I've heard about on the news, whereas when I lived in Ohio there were several shootings a day, even in the small town where I lived.

My family was never one for gun ownership, even when we lived in a rural area where 99% of the population hunted (we got out of school for the first three days of hunting seasons, because they knew no one would show up anyway!), so it would bother me to have a gun in my home, especially if I had kids.

-- Anonymous, November 09, 2000

Don't own one, but lived for seven years in a house that had three (at least those were the ones I knew about). Two were handguns, the make and model of which I can't remember. I believe one was a .38, not that it matters. The third was a semi-automatic, purchased legally before the ban on private ownership of that kind of gun.

The semi-automatic did deter a burglar. When my boyfriend-at-that- time was renovating the house, before he moved in, he had the gun and heard noises upstairs. He investigated and couldn't find anyone but had the creepy sense that someone was still up there. So he went to the main stairwell and slammed the clip into the gun, and the noise is very distinctive. The would-be intruder had apparently been hiding in the exposed (de-sheet-rocked) wall of a closet and when the semi was loaded so blatantly and my then-BF announced "I am coming up there with a gun, get OUT", the Bad Guy barrelled through the house and threw himself off the back balcony and then hopped a fence. In short, he ran. Didn't even have to fire the gun to get results. So that's a point in its favour I suppose.

Honestly, I wasn't thrilled to be around that much artillery but the guns were in the house before I was in the house. Also, there were never any small children in the house. And when I insisted that we take all the weaponry and go to the shooting range with it so I could learn how they worked and handle them safely, that was what we did. I'm apparently a good shot. But that only applies on a range, I'm sure.

I'm a pacifist to the point where I am pretty sure that me having a gun would be a bad idea. Why? I would hesitate to use deadly force to protect myself, even if I felt I were likely to be hurt. Sad but true. (If it were a friend or family member being threatened, that would be different.) I don't think I'd have the presence of mind to locate, load, aim and fire a weapon at an intruder quickly and accurately enough to benefit from having a weapon. I believe that I would be nervous and agitated enough that a Bad Guy would probably be able to get a gun away from me.

I don't really have any reason to believe this. Whenever I've been in a crisis situation, i've been calm and level-headed. And I've carried mace and/or pepper spray for years. I wouldn't object to carrying a Taser or a similar non-lethal weapon. But having the power to kill someone on the spur of the moment, when anxious, afraid and pumped up with adrenaline--I would not want to rely too much on a gun to make things come out in my favor. Maybe if I practiced more. But for me right now, I would be a bad gun owner.

There's also this: I live in a REALLY bad area. A gun is just another expensive piece of property tha tmy neighbors could break into my house to steal. We're moving as fast as we can, but until we do, I'm not buying anything else expensive, nor am I upgrading my car, because the likelihood that anything nice or pricey will stay in my personal possession is slim.

A friend of a friend (memeber of the Fabulous Lounge Punks, a band) went out to his friend Chuck's car after a show in my neighborhood. A man was inside the car and when Scott ran up and stuck his head and torso into the open door to confront the burglar, he was shot, point blank, in the head. Three times. He is incredibly fortunate to still be here. He was shot with his own gun which he had placed, loaded and cocked, under a seat in Chuck's car. Whether Chuck knew it was there is debatable. And the thief and would-be murderer got away and he is still out there, with the gun in question, and everything else he stole. This all happened less than two blocks away from where I live. My car has been broekn into and vandalized at least four times. I don't even count the times I go out in the morning and I suspect someone's been in there because things look rifled through or rearranged. My car has been damaged severely twice and the price of the repairs is more than the car is worth. I surprised a crowbar-wielding thief in our kitchen a few months ago. He had let himself in through the French doors, ignoring the alarm and the barking dogs next door. Had I not been home, we would have been cleaned out. As it turns out, I was home and I was very lucky that he chose to turn tail and run and not brain me with the crowbar. Had I had a gun, I wouldn't have had it in my hands because I thought my cat was knocking glasses off the kitchen counter. It never occurred to me that someone was smashing their way in through a glass door. So I wouldn't have had a weapon to defend myself at hand even if I owned one.

I have no problem with responsible gun ownership. I don't think I'm cut out to be a responsibler gun owner, though. I don't have time to go practice, I don't have the type of personality that reacts swiftly and without hesitation to a threat, and I wouldn't automatically think to grab a gun if I heard a noise. I'd be scared that I'd kill someone who had an innocent excuse for being in my house (for instance, my roommate is not good about telling me certain things such as "a cable guy will be in our livingroom tomorrow at 7 AM"...if I had a gun a few months ago, seeing some guy in a poloshirt with a tiny logo sneakily--so as not to wake me up-- scrounching around our living room messing with our TV set, DVD player and VCR (etc.) might have inspired me to shoot first, ask questions later).

As far as deterrents to crime go, I do wish we could electrify the perimeter of our yard and our vehicles. No one has a good reason for being in our yard without our permission. I wouldn't feel any remorse if a Bad Guy got fried or shocked badly after he ignored posted signs and tried to break into our home or cars. Waving a gun at my neighbors, though, woudl just escalate things. And they'd be all the more interested in breaking into our house to steal it, whereas now we keep our blinds drawn and our nicer things downstairs or out of the line of sight from any of our windows. If I waved a weapon around, they might go home THAT MINUTE, but they'd be back. That'd be something valuable they could steal and then pawn off for crack rock money, after all...

I can't wait to get out of this neighborhood.

-- Anonymous, November 09, 2000

I personally don't own a gun but we have 8 guns in the house : 3 handguns and 5 long guns (2 shotguns and 3 rifles). My husband is somewhat of a gun enthusiast. He has his concealed carry license.

I, like some previous posters, don't normally react quickly and decisively. However, out where we live we usually have some warning if anything unusual is going on. One day I heard our dog barking so I peeked out the window to see a strange man walking across the pasture towards our house. A strange man would have been unsettling enough, but rather than coming from the direction of the road, he was coming from the north where there are several acres of thick pine trees.

The man was far enough away that I had plenty of time to select a gun (I chose the big shiny stainless .357 Colt King Cobra wheel gun -- it was impressive enough and I could handle it with one hand. I knew I'd be a better shot with a scatter gun but I had a baby in the other hand and Linda Hamilton I am not.) I even had enough time to make sure the gun was fully loaded (and not with the snap caps my husband likes to play with now and then).

I ended up not needing the gun; it turned out to be our neighbor to the north (whom I had never met) who was trying to find out who owned the cows that were in his front yard. But it sure felt good knowing it was there.

-- Anonymous, November 09, 2000

Never had a gun, never even held one in my hands, never want one. I live in Canada. Our gun laws are very different.

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2000

Milla, do you keep some of your lengthy essays on a website, or do you just post them here?

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2000

No, I don't own a gun and have never even shot one, unless you count arcade and water guns.

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2000

I don't own a gun, and neither does my husband. He would like to, but I would be very unhappy if he chose to do so. My father-in-law had a close business relationship with Glock until recently, and always wanted to get my husband a gun (as he had for several family members). It's a miracle that we managed to not get into a heated argument about it. I also find the way my in-laws handle their guns incredibly careless (leaving them loaded and lying around the house in easy reach of my toddler nephew). Which is why my daughter doesn't spend much time alone at my in-laws.

I have a pretty mean temper and do rash, stupid things when I'm angry -- that's good enough reason for me not to have a gun.

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2000

I don't own any, but my fiance is a police officer, so we have 3 in the house. A Glock .40 caliber, a Sig220 (his duty weapon), and an M16 Full automatic. That one scares me a little. I'm not much for machine guns.

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2000

We don't own guns and don't know many people who do. Hell, most of our close friends don't even smoke or drink much. We lead quiet, Canadian lives.

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2000

Wow, all good answers and opinions. Milla, as usual you have made good points. I got the shotgun for the sound thing too. You can really hear it everywhere being cocked, which is handy in a two story house. I know how to load it and fire it, but you really, really have to be awake before you think about doing anything with it. A middle of the night thing would be super scary. I've totally gone through the same questions "will I get shot with the thing? will he already have one? will cocking it make enough noise to scare him away? will I ever get over the emotional damage of shooting someone? will I be able to shoot someone?" I just don't know the answer to these things.

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2000

While shootings in the UK are less than in the US, other crimes of violence (especially assault, muggings, strong-arm robbery) are HIGHER in the UK than in the US. This was reported by the BBC not long ago. Also, since Australia banned the private ownership of handguns, crimes of violence in that country have risen 200%.

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2000

Do we have to turn this into a nowhere-productive-to-go gun control debate? I'm sorry, but I don't think that incidences of muggings or robbery would plummet if suddenly the UK was flooded with guns. In fact, I've never heard a single Brit say that they wished they had the right to own a gun; all I've ever heard is incredulousness that the US hasn't realised there just might be a link between the Second Amendment and the little tykes being killed by their parents' guns on a daily basis.

I really don't want to get into this, so please don't bait me. Let's all just be happy that there's a country for people who are repelled by the consequences of private gun ownership and leave it at that.

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2000

Okay, I can't resist:

You have to consider the fact that America is a huge country where most of the people DON'T live in large, densely populated urban centres. Incidences of muggings and robberies are always higher in such areas. In the UK, it is expensive and inconvenient for people to live in the countryside, so most of the population is concentrated in those large, densely populated urban centres where muggings and robberies are more prone to happen. Hence, the figures may be higher than for the US, but it's not down to the lack of guns on the streets.

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2000

I didn't post this question to start a fight. I was really just curious about who had what. Can we stay on post? I'm not trying to be bossy.

Am I sounding wimpy enough yet?

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2000

wow!!! Millie are you a riter??? you all wyas write such long nice posts that i thot that may be you wrote a book. id love to read it!!!!!! :)

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2000

OOOOOOPPPs!!!!! ifogot to post about guns. we had lots of gun in thehouse when i was a kid. my daddy use to get drunk and go out shoooting and one time he shot the niebors cow cuz he rilly thot it was trying to atack him. ma left him afterd that.

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2000

No problem, LisaD. Who can refute Jackie's logic?

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2000

I do not own a gun, have never owned a gun and have no need of one. I live in Canada where the restrictions on gun ownership are strict and getting stricter. The chances of encountering someone in Canada who is packing a gun and wants to shoot you are virtually nonexistent. The last time I saw a gun fired (other than in some moronic Hollywood movie) is lost in the mists of time.

In the United States, there are approximately 40,000 gun deaths per year and there are hundreds of thousands of people injured by guns annually. Studies indicate that there is a 40 to 1 chance that a gun owned by a supposedly law abiding citizen will be used to shoot a family member or friend rather than someone committing a crime.

In Canada we average approximately 200 gun deaths per year. Our population is approximately 10% (1/10) of the population of the United States. If our gun deaths were proportionate to yours, we would have approximately 4,000 deaths or 20 times what we do.

Keep your guns and your fatal fascination with guns.

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2000

My husband has a military issue big mother of a gun that he disassembles and keeps in several different hard to reach hiding places. He only uses it in military exercises and will most surely use it in case the Turks decide they want the rest of the country and he gets called up. Ah, life is beautiful, no?

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2000

ybnorml, was there a reason why you posted your diatribe against gun ownership AFTER LisaD asked everyone not to make this a debate? She just asked people if they owned a gun, not why or why not. Last time I checked, a soapbox did not accompany this topic. Why don't you show some respect to LisaD and keep this conversation civil.

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2000

Mexico has the strictest gun-control laws in the Western Hemisphere and it is also the most violent and crime-plagued nation in the Western Hemisphere. There is absolutely NO correlation between gun control laws and gun violence. Gun control laws only disarm law- abiding citizens, because only they will obey them.

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2000

If you don't like my information about guns and death in the US, that's cool with me. But my pointing out the current situation doesn't qualify as a diatribe or rant. I just gave you some useful information, nothing more.

Guns are not some kind of fashion accessory to brag about. They are designed to kill people or animals. If you own one and pull it in the heat of the moment, someone is likely going to end up dead. It is likely to be the worst shot, is that you ?

The very toughest enforced gun laws in the Western Hemisphere are probably in one of the countries of Europe or in Canada. Britain's laws are very tough and virtually no one is killed there each year with a gun.

Having spent a considerable amount of time in Mexico, suggesting that they have strict gun laws or strict laws of any kind is laughable. There is a near complete lack of law in Mexico and certainly no enforcement. Having very tough laws and not enforcing them is meaningless. You need to quit reading your NRA newsletters and look at other sources. There is a considerable amount of information about guns in your country and the disastrous effect they have on it.

There were 5,000 kids killed by guns in the last year for which there are statistics, mostly by accident. You need to stop looking at guns as sexy.

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2000

Your information is finished up with your personal opinions that sound like soapbox diatribes.

Like I said before, give LisaD some respect and keep the topic ON topic. If anyone wants to give us your opinions on why or why not people should or should not have guns, make your own topic, and I can choose to ignore it. Trying to convince someone that having guns is good/bad is like trying to convince someone that abortion should be legal/illegal - You can't convince people to change their minds.

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2000

You know, Dave, I'm not going to debate you, but I do resent you implying that everyone who supports gun rights is a member of the NRA. If you want the government to be your mommy and daddy and ensure your personal safety, I have no quarrel with that. My experience shows me that governments are simply grave-diggers after the fact. Guns are inanimate objects which cannot be good or evil. To demonize them is sloppy logic. People cause traffic deaths, not cars. You shouldn't leave guns where children can get them anymore than you would knives or household poisons. I respect your right not to own a firearm. You should respect others' rights also.

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2000

5,000 child gun deaths? Bullshit. I suspected as much, but I wanted to check. The latest "Child Deaths under age 15" published by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta are as follows:

2,681 motor vehicle fatalities

980 Drownings

684 accidental fires

707 pnuemonia

354 murdered

142 accidential shootings

Get your facts straight before you offer them publicly. I have no quarrel with the free dissemination of information. I'm a journalist. Someone who offers an argument with bogus facts is either misinformed or has an agenda to influence people with untruths. Let the wise take note. I'm not going to answer anymore of your posts because you show a disregard for the truth I find contemptible and I don't have time to check every word you say.

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2000

.30-06 w/scope, 30-30, 9mm Ruger, S&W 38 Special, Rem. 22/1926 bolt, Win. 22/ 1912 hex barrel, Ithica .22 drop block single, Jennings .22 protector. And some special weapons that will remain nameless. Yeah, I've got guns. I used to hunt for meat. Now I hunt for beer cans and coke bottles. I reload and clean up after every shoot. I taught my kids about guns and they can shoot anytime they want. But they don't want to. I let them each kill something and after the tears dried, that put an end to that fantasy. I like guns. And bows and slingshots and atlatls. I build my own. And I will "never" be a Reginald Denny. I have protection in the house because the police only show up after the fact and are only there to notify the next of kin. And Bubba I am glad you put out the real stats on firearm related deaths. Gang members don't count as children as far as I'm concerned. People who don't know, think the NRA is such a powerful voice but they have no idea how much the anti gun lobby spends in this country alone to try and take away your only defense against a criminal element who could care less about your life or property rights. The only gun I fear is the one the criminal carries. Guns don't kill any more than cars kill. It's the idiot behind the trgger and the drunk behind the wheel. Use a gun in a criminal act and it should be life. Period. Whether you kill someone or don't even shoot. Makes no difference. The intent was there. Ok I'll get down now unless you want to keep going. James

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2000

James, there are not "40,000 gun deaths" in the US every year and there are not "hundreds of thousands of people injured" by guns in the US every year, either. Nor are there "little tykes killed every day" by guns in the US. People who spout outright lies to influence the opinions of others or in an attempt to deprive others of their legal rights are in a special class. I spent my youth fighting communists that used the same tactics and my father spent his youth fighting facists that did the same. A word to the wise should be sufficient. The right of free speech was purchased the hard way. Even the right to spout nonsense. Happy veterans day, by the way.

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2000

1. Total Gun Deaths Annually

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (As reported by Yahoo / Reuters)

- 1993 - 39,595 deaths from firearms (appears to be a peak year) - 1997 - 32,436 deaths from firearms (last year mentioned in article)

2. Total Gun Injuries Annually

Time Magazine Fall 1999 - 100,000 (unable to find exact issue)

3. Total Youth Gun Deaths

Time Magazine May 15, 2000

- 4,223 between 1994 - 1997 - I misread this item and thought this was an annual number - more than 1,000 annually is still beyond belief

-- Anonymous, November 12, 2000

Yeah. Time magazine. Now there is a really reliable source. The authors of the articles were refuted on national television about a week after these stories were run. And given the US has 281,000,000 people that is a very small number of firearm related fatalities even if it was true. They didn't mention in the article the number of suicides and none violent accidents with guns that the authors lumped into the total. And there are quite a few homicides that are drug related. Hardly innocent bystanders. And if our elected officials and the court systems keep letting criminals off after using a firearm in a crime, then "that" is the tragedy. Use a gun, go to jail for a long time. But not much is said about the 57,000 people killed annually by drunk drivers who can pull up to the gas pump, go in and buy some alcohol, get back into the car and start drinking. Selling gas and beer at the same outlet. Now that takes some real brain power. And in this country, the media and citizenship, took the cigarette manufacturers to court and castrated them. Alcohol causes more deaths each year than tobacco ever did. And more health problems. And more poverty. And more abuse. And more violence. It just astounds me the thinking process of most folks. James

-- Anonymous, November 12, 2000

James, don't bother answering this idiot. He's a propagandist and a proven liar with absolutely no respect for the truth. He doesn't CARE what the truth is...he has an agenda and you're not going to change that. The only reason he's trying to justify what he said with figures that have been proven as skewed and bogus is because he got caught trying to sway the innocent with hysteria and contemptible lies. Think about it...even HIS figures proves he's a crank. He's laughable. Don't dignify his bullshit.

-- Anonymous, November 12, 2000

I know this is completely off topic since it has nothing to do with guns but I just couldn't let this one slide... Europe (which of course includes Great Britain!!) is NOT in the Western Hemisphere...

-- Anonymous, November 12, 2000

ybnormal smells like Dave Van -- who (coincidentally?) is also Canadian. Ignore him and his trolling.

-- Anonymous, November 12, 2000

What an honor, though. Or maybe he's just been banned everywhere else.

-- Anonymous, November 12, 2000

OK, well I guess I should have known better than to have asked that question. Oh, and I don't consider a gun a fasion accessory, in case someone was wondering. I was really trying to get my tone just right for the question, so I could skip the political debate, but there hasn't been any shortage of that this week, so I guess I'll skip outta here.

No one else has to post for my benefit on this question. Thanks.

-- Anonymous, November 12, 2000

Well, part of Great Britain is in the Western Hemisphere, isn't it? The Prime Meridian is the demarcation, right? (This has nothing to do with guns, FYI.)

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000

(Still not about guns) -- I checked it out and my sources say the Western Hemisphere is N. and S. America and the surrounding waters, and the Eastern Hemisphere is Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the surrounding waters. However if you check it out and your sources say the part of England West of the Prime Meridian is in the Western Hemisphere please enlighten me. I like to be enlightened. Anyhow we can still safely say that continental Europe is certainly not in the Western Hemisphere.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000

(Continuing our off-topic discussion) I always figured which continents went with which hemisphere, but I also figured that in order for there to be two equal halves of a sphere there had to be a line drawn somewhere and that line was the Prime Meridian. Anyway, I have no sources, and I'm sure experts everywhere would agree with not dividing England over the hemispheres. Your post just got me thinking about where the line actually is, that's all. (Hey, at least we weren't talking about guns! :-)

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000

You can actually stand with one foot in the eastern hemisphere and one foot in the western hempisphere at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich (I have a picture of me doing this in February, because I am lame).

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000

Jackie, I've got a lame photo also. Several years ago I went to Four Corners, the only place in America where you can stand in four states at once. Yep, got the picture of me standing in four states, woo-hoo. Except for the little square, it's a pretty dull place. But I did it. If I'm ever near Greenwich when I'm in England, you can bet I'll be straddling that line, too.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000

That's funny, because except for the world clock and the Prime Meridien, the Royal Observatory is pretty boring. Unless you're into clocks and stuff, which I'm not. It's at the top of this high-ass, steep fucking hill behind the National Maritime Museum, which is also kind of dull.

The view from the top of the hill is cool, though -- you can see so far across London, it's unreal.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000

Well, I thought I knew everything, but I guess I was wrong. BUT now that I know that part of England is in the Western Hemisphere, I DO know everything! (So why do I feel like such a dummy?)

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000

Don't feel dumb, Kathy. Just blame your sources.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2000

Gun laws in HK are similar to the gun laws in the UK. No private ownership unless member of a gun club and the gun must be kept locked up at the club.

No one hunts here.

The police do carry guns.

Most violent crime here occurs with knives (meat cleavers) or bludgeons - pipes, poles, folding stools.

My father used to have 2 hand-guns and once he took me to a shooting range and I practiced shooting at targets. I liked archery better. I once shot an AK-47 in Northern California when visiting a woman who had some neighbors who liked guns. It had a huge kick.

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2000

I do own a gun (a rifle), but it's not in my house. My dad is a gun collector and we always had tons of firearms in our home. Most of them were in safes, but there were some that were just sitting in drawers. He taught my siblings and me about guns at a very early age. His theory was that if we knew about them, shot them, knew what they could do, etc, we wouldn't have the curiosity to mess with them. So, I've been around guns my whole life. My dad keeps it for me now because I don't use it for protection, just skeet shooting.

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2000

I own a handgun, as does my husband. We also own a shotgun and a rifle.

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2000

I'm a part-time collector of military firearms. I have a Chinese SKS, Russian AK-47, Romanian AK-74,Russian RPK light machine gun, and currently buying a Bulgarian Makarov pistol.  I know what you're thinking. "what are you doing with all those guns"

And A lot of people DO say to me "What do you need an AK-47 for?"

Its a legitimate question, but an easy one to answer also.

* They're fun. I enjoy target shooting, Shooting up old hard drives, old computer components can be fun as a stress release mechanism, 2-liter water bottles are a LOT of fun to blow up.

* They're realitively cheap. Not so much anymore in the US because of Clinton's restrictions. (clinton wants them banned because they're "EVIL LOOKING") But they are cheaper than many commercial rifles out there. High capacity magazines are cheap. The Ammunition is Extremely Cheap. Military Surplus is marked well-below regular ammunition prices, and VERY economical to turn that old VCR that kept flashing 12:00, into swiss cheese.

* They're Rugged. I can throw Dirt Mud and sand into my AK-47 (not that I would ever do such a thing) and it'd STILL Shoot. They're Extremely Reliable. That means less Jams at the range, and more fun shooting. I've even seen footage (presumably Russian) that had a car run over an Ak-47, and then a man picked it up, and shot it. it worked Flawlessly.

Another question I commonly get with ALL my guns is "Who are you going to shoot with it?" That question disturbs me, but doesn't suprise me. ALL The people that have asked me that question (and I'd assume a lot of people in general) see the vast majority guns on Television and in the movies.

As an Example:

Can you name a movie that has no guns in it? Pretty hard, huh?

What about a movie that had guns in it, but weren't used toward a human? (including being pointed at somebody)

With the Exception of the rare few that have had a family member or friend killed or seriously injured, I'd say the vast majority of anti-gun people have relied on hollywood rather than fact. But thats just my little theory.

but as an answer to their question No, I don't shoot people, I only target shoot, and shoot non-living inanimate objects. I dont' even use them as protection, but I assume they COULD be, just as a baseball bat is useful for baseball and as protection, but I would never chamber a round in anger.

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2001

The only reason I do not have more guns than I already own is MONEY. I enjoy both hunting and target shooting. I'ts not the thrill from the kill, it's the meat on the table. 20 cents for one round of ammo put down the tube of my SKS puts several weeks worth of food in the freezer.

Anyway I own:

SKS 7.62X39 reworked the trigger myself... NOT a hair trigger but very smooth for an imported militery rifle. Took off the bayonet mount and milled a muzzle brake to stop what little rise in the barrle there is. 2" double taps at a hundred yards. Drops deer and wild boar with one shot easily.

12 Ga Marlin Goose gun,Bolt action 3 shot magazine. Kicks like a mule but if you can see your target it's dead. Gotta be kinda careful hunting squirrel and rabbit with it or there won't be much left to clean.

Marlin bolt action .22 rifle. Tack driver, hell on squrrils, nuff said.

Rem .22 semi auto rifle. Plink,plink, plink, jam, plink, jam, jam, plink, jam, plink. Oh well after about 25,000 to 30,000 rounds I guess it's kinda tired. Still takes the fight outta an alligator Gar.

No handguns, yet. Can't hardly hit the ground with one anyway:o) But the 50 cal Eagles look SWEET. If you like hand cannons that is!

-- Anonymous, January 20, 2001

I would like to respond to one posting from November by "Milla". I am not sure who this girl is, but she claims that I am a friend of a friend. I am the person who got shot and I’d like to respond to this posting.

Your posting reads as such…

“A friend of a friend (member of the Fabulous Lounge Punks, a band) went out to his friend Chuck's car after a show in my neighborhood. A man was inside the car and when Scott ran up and stuck his head and torso into the open door to confront the burglar, he was shot, point blank, in the head. Three times. He is incredibly fortunate to still be here. He was shot with his own gun which he had placed, loaded and cocked, under a seat in Chuck's car. Whether Chuck knew it was there is debatable. And the thief and would-be murderer got away and he is still out there, with the gun in question, and everything else he stole. “

First off, the thief broke into MY car, not Chuck’s, and both Chuck and I approached the car…I didn’t just go running madly up to my car alone.

The door to my car was not open either. The driver’s side window had been shattered completely and the thief was sitting in the driver’s seat as if it were his own car.

I was only shot once, and there were only two shots fired. The first shot shattered the passenger window, and the second is the shot that hit me. I tried to reach for my gun after I heard the first shot, but when it was not under the seat, I knew the thief had it, and I then tried to pull out of the car, but could not before he shot me.

And finally, the gun was loaded (an unloaded gun is not a very productive weapon), but it was not cocked. I’m not an idiot. You don’t carry around a gun that is cocked unless you are about to use it. However, the gun was a double-action revolver, which does not require cocking before firing.

Your misinformation would lead one to believe that I jeopardized my friend’s situation by supposedly hiding a gun in his car unbeknownst to him. I had the gun in MY car because the band had played in Alabama the previous weekend, and I had not removed the gun from MY OWN CAR from carrying it on that trip. I normally do not carry a gun in the car, but I will on road trips. It’s my prerogative. In addition, I would NEVER carry a gun in someone else’s vehicle without either asking permission or giving some sort of notice.

You did get one fact correct in your posting…I am fortunate to be here…statistically, people do not survive a point-blank shot in the face with a .357 Magnum.

The next time you wish to place information about a situation or event on the World Wide Web, please check your facts.

Thank you.

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2001

I didn't mean to imply that you had done anything foolish or wrong. I am horrified and saddened that you took my comments that way.

Lastly, I'm just very, very glad you're still with us. I've always heard nothing but good things about you. It would have been very tragic to have lost you because some expletive deleted decided he wanted to take what was not his to take.

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2001

P.S. I will also be sure to correct the person who told me exactly what I quoted above. For what it is worth, they were not being the least bit judgemental of you either--at least not deliberately so. Just very sad, and angry at the perpetrator.

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2001

yes i own guns my mother never alowed guns in the house so when i left in march of 72 & got my own place i got my first with many to follow reasons for haveing them hunting protection & thay are fun to shoot when handeld correctly like every thing irresponsible people do irresponsible things which alowes ignorant people to make irresponible jugements out of fear of the unknown one thing that has not been mentioned is that EVERY DICTATOR that ever took over one of the first rules was to disarm the people there easer to control if you ignor history it is bound to repeat the first step to defeat is to belive that it can not happen

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2001