Gun ownership...

Hi everyone,

As a resident of the fine nation of Australia, I'm not allowed, by law, to own a personal firearm. Even if I were, I'm 100% sure I wouldn't.

I see a lot of traffic on this site about "which light should I use for what gun" and "what gun should I have to defend my household" and other variations of those themes.

My immediate reaction is 'why in hell would you even want to own a gun', and I recoil (pun entirely intended) from the suggestions of keeping a tactical shotgun near my bedside, just in case of an intruder. Is crime where you live really that bad?

I would like to understand the mentality of those who keep firearms, and carry them on their person, every day. Is it fear? Is it "my stick is bigger than your stick"? I know a lot of you have the right, by law, to carry weapons, but there's no requirement to, is there? Just because you can, does it necessarily mean you should?

Please enlighten me...

options are nice.

Probably best to take this down under. Pun intended.

Geoff

mvyrmnd said:

My immediate reaction is 'why in hell would you even want to own a gun',

I would like to understand the mentality of those who keep firearms, and carry them on their person, every day. Is it fear? Is it "my stick is bigger than your stick"? I know a lot of you have the right, by law, to carry weapons, but there's no requirement to, is there? Just because you can, does it necessarily mean you should?

Please enlighten me...

Click to expand...

why would you ever want to own a flashlight??!!

you have the right to carry a flashlight, but it's not a requirement to do so. so why do you?

same answer, because it can be a useful tool to own. and it's nothing more than that, a tool. nothing to "fear" from a tool.

Some people enjoy collecting stamps, some enjoy collecting guns.

I.e it is personal preference.

Obviously local laws come into play, however there are many Australian's who own guns. Do you remember how many guns were destroyed when Howard brought in the current gun laws?

mvyrmnd said:

Hi everyone,

As a resident of the fine nation of Australia, I'm not allowed, by law, to own a personal firearm. Even if I were, I'm 100% sure I wouldn't.

I see a lot of traffic on this site about "which light should I use for what gun" and "what gun should I have to defend my household" and other variations of those themes.

My immediate reaction is 'why in hell would you even want to own a gun', and I recoil (pun entirely intended) from the suggestions of keeping a tactical shotgun near my bedside, just in case of an intruder. Is crime where you live really that bad?

I would like to understand the mentality of those who keep firearms, and carry them on their person, every day. Is it fear? Is it "my stick is bigger than your stick"? I know a lot of you have the right, by law, to carry weapons, but there's no requirement to, is there? Just because you can, does it necessarily mean you should?

Please enlighten me...

Click to expand...

What do you mean by "personal firearm"? I live in Australia too, I am a licenced gun owner and have a dozen firearms of various descriptions.

Why do I want them? To shoot things.

If you are referring to a "personal firearm" as being a handgun one carries on one's person whilst out in public then yes, in general it is not legal for the ordinary person in Australia to do that. We can have handguns but only use them in certain places under certain circumstances.

Unlike many gun owners in Australia I believe in gun control. I do not, however, believe in gun prohibition. I believe that those who are competent should be able to use firearms for personal defence.

As for the question on whether "my stick is bigger", no man, my stick is equal. It's an equaliser.

This is definitely going to become a heated topic.
I personally own firearms for fun with the added benefit of protection. I love to spend the day blasting away at paper targets or tin cans with my various rifles/pistols or firring a few hundred rounds from my 12 Ga shotgun at clay pigeons. I also enjoy hunting (not necessarily killing) various game animals for food because it is very satisfying to know that YOU are solely responsible for the dinner on your table .
I do keep a pistol beside my bed because in the off chance someone does break-in and want to do me or my loved ones harm we will not become a victim/statistic. I carry concealed for the exact same reason.
To all gun control advocates if you don't want to own a gun and don't want CRIMINALS to own a gun fine I support that right and I DO NOT want CRIMINALS to own a gun but DO NOT come after my guns because I am a responsible gun owner.

mvyrmnd said:

Hi everyone,

As a resident of the fine nation of Australia, I'm not allowed, by law, to own a personal firearm. Even if I were, I'm 100% sure I wouldn't.

I see a lot of traffic on this site about "which light should I use for what gun" and "what gun should I have to defend my household" and other variations of those themes.

My immediate reaction is 'why in hell would you even want to own a gun', and I recoil (pun entirely intended) from the suggestions of keeping a tactical shotgun near my bedside, just in case of an intruder. Is crime where you live really that bad?

I would like to understand the mentality of those who keep firearms, and carry them on their person, every day. Is it fear? Is it "my stick is bigger than your stick"? I know a lot of you have the right, by law, to carry weapons, but there's no requirement to, is there? Just because you can, does it necessarily mean you should?

Please enlighten me...

Click to expand...

I doubt that anyone here would be able to enlighten you as it seems you already have a strong opinion against gun ownership.

mvyrmnd said:

Hi everyone,

As a resident of the fine nation of Australia, I'm not allowed, by law, to own a personal firearm. Even if I were, I'm 100% sure I wouldn't.

I see a lot of traffic on this site about "which light should I use for what gun" and "what gun should I have to defend my household" and other variations of those themes.

My immediate reaction is 'why in hell would you even want to own a gun', and I recoil (pun entirely intended) from the suggestions of keeping a tactical shotgun near my bedside, just in case of an intruder. Is crime where you live really that bad?

I would like to understand the mentality of those who keep firearms, and carry them on their person, every day. Is it fear? Is it "my stick is bigger than your stick"? I know a lot of you have the right, by law, to carry weapons, but there's no requirement to, is there? Just because you can, does it necessarily mean you should?

Please enlighten me...

Click to expand...

I live in a very small and affluent town in Connecticut called Cheshire. There is practically no crime - people leave their houses and cars unlocked all the time. In the nicer areas of town, houses go for several million US dollars. I don't think there had been a murder in decades.

Until a few years ago.

Dr. Petit, a hugely respected doctor had a beautiful wife and two beautiful daughters. They did volunteer work like crazy, and served our community well. I went to the private school where his wife worked as a school nurse (she didn't work for money, but for joy - they were very wealthy).

One day, two mentally disturbed people noticed the wife's S class mercedes and that there was another attractive teenager with her.

That night, they came to Dr. Petit's house. He tried to defend himself, but since he did not own a gun they overpowered him. They tied him up, and then took his wife to the bank where they forced her (with a fake gun) to withdraw money. The wife managed to alert the teller, who called the police and sent them to the residence. After receiving the money, they returned to the Petit house and made Dr. Petit watch while they raped his wife, his 17 year old daughter, and his daughter who was only 7 or 8 (if I remember correctly). Then then strangled the wife to death, tied him up, and lit his house on fire.

Dr. Petit managed to free himself but he was too late and he watched as his two daughters burned to death. The police arrived to the scene almost 30 minutes after being notified, just in time to apprehend the suspects as they attempted a getaway.

They did not arrive in time to save anyone.


This made national news and was on the cover of Time/People/various newspapers. It serves two lessons - proves that terrible crimes can be committed without firearms, and illustrates that Dr. Petit's family would still be alive today if he had a pistol to defend himself with.

It has nothing to do with crime rates - my town is routinely on the top 50 places to live in the United States lists. It has everything to do with realizing that the world is not perfect, and realizing that there is no such thing as "it can never happen to you".

That, my friend, is why every single person who opposes the right to own guns to defend yourself is hopelessly naive.

This topic is better suited for the UG. It may continue there.


Thread closed.