I'm sorry to see that a debate sparked up in this thread. I can understand points made by both parties, but I think many of us can agree that responsible firearm ownership isn't really a problem.
I would like to share a personal positive experience (for anyone interested). I believe that my life was saved because of my firearm. Back when I started college at a traditional B&M institution, I was working as a money courier for an armored car company; one day I was walking out of a store with a few thousand dollars in cash and I ended up being chased down by a few unfriendly individuals. I ended up being chased into an alley where I drew my firearm (we carried firearms because of the nature of our work), and upon revealing the firearm they all took off running. Who knows what would have happened had I not been armed. I'm 6'3 & 225 lbs but I can't fight back against 4 guys.
I understand that a lot of bad comes from both the criminal/negligent use of firearms. Trust me, I've seen it first hand. I used to work at a large firearms company (won't say which but anyone who buys guns online would know them), and have had loaded guns pointed at me because of ignorant firearm owners. I've worked the range and seen people shoot holes in the ceiling, etc.
Having sold literally thousands of firearms in my time at the company, I'd like to say that we do our very best to prevent these firearms from going into the wrong hands (be it criminal/negligent hands). There have been instances where we've turned down the sale of a firearm because of a bad feeling that someone gave us despite them passing the NICS (background) check. I've also encouraged firearm owners to become part of the solution by getting themselves involved in firearms safety/handling classes. Without question, these firearms do occasionally end up in the hands of criminals. I can say that we've personally worked with the ATF to help arrest people attempting to illegally purchase firearms, locate stolen firearms, etc.
As I mentioned above, I can understand how both sides feel the way they do. Firearms are part of American culture, and I don't see them going anywhere. I think the best thing we can do is continue to educate ourselves as firearm owners and educate future generations of firearm owners. The problem we have with firearms isn't firearms; it's cultural. It goes back to the founding of our nation via rebellion, the wild west, the prohibition mafia era, etc; we glorify the gunfighter. I don't mean to write all of this stuff to cause further debate, I mean it with the utmost respect to those who approve and disapprove of firearm ownership. You have every right to believe what you choose to believe, I'm just sharing my opinion.
Lets all get along.
I would like to share a personal positive experience (for anyone interested). I believe that my life was saved because of my firearm. Back when I started college at a traditional B&M institution, I was working as a money courier for an armored car company; one day I was walking out of a store with a few thousand dollars in cash and I ended up being chased down by a few unfriendly individuals. I ended up being chased into an alley where I drew my firearm (we carried firearms because of the nature of our work), and upon revealing the firearm they all took off running. Who knows what would have happened had I not been armed. I'm 6'3 & 225 lbs but I can't fight back against 4 guys.
I understand that a lot of bad comes from both the criminal/negligent use of firearms. Trust me, I've seen it first hand. I used to work at a large firearms company (won't say which but anyone who buys guns online would know them), and have had loaded guns pointed at me because of ignorant firearm owners. I've worked the range and seen people shoot holes in the ceiling, etc.
Having sold literally thousands of firearms in my time at the company, I'd like to say that we do our very best to prevent these firearms from going into the wrong hands (be it criminal/negligent hands). There have been instances where we've turned down the sale of a firearm because of a bad feeling that someone gave us despite them passing the NICS (background) check. I've also encouraged firearm owners to become part of the solution by getting themselves involved in firearms safety/handling classes. Without question, these firearms do occasionally end up in the hands of criminals. I can say that we've personally worked with the ATF to help arrest people attempting to illegally purchase firearms, locate stolen firearms, etc.
As I mentioned above, I can understand how both sides feel the way they do. Firearms are part of American culture, and I don't see them going anywhere. I think the best thing we can do is continue to educate ourselves as firearm owners and educate future generations of firearm owners. The problem we have with firearms isn't firearms; it's cultural. It goes back to the founding of our nation via rebellion, the wild west, the prohibition mafia era, etc; we glorify the gunfighter. I don't mean to write all of this stuff to cause further debate, I mean it with the utmost respect to those who approve and disapprove of firearm ownership. You have every right to believe what you choose to believe, I'm just sharing my opinion.
Lets all get along.
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