20 kids were killed today.... so was the NRA

[trish]

When young, I used to go hunting with my Dad. We harvested our share of deer, pheasant and rabbit. Though we ate venison steak and rabbit stew we didn't need to feed ourselves by hunting. Our "need" for hunting rifles was relative to our (mostly my Dad's) desire to participate and enjoy the sport of hunting. The née for sport weapons is only relative to a desire to practice a sport. If you aren't a professional soldier or officer of the law there is no absolute need to own a gun, certainly no need to carry one, and there is never a need to carry one secretly (concealed).

Anyone who live in farm country will be aware of the incredible damage deer can do to crops such as corn. One of the ideas behind sport hunting is to keep populations of "pests" in check. I think this is a legitimate argument and will count hunting as an economic "need". But using semiautomatic weapons on game is slaughter, not sport.

The second amendment assures you of the right to own a musket, provided you're willing to donate it and yourself to military service when required. The amendment leaves all else up for negotiation. We got rid of the draft, we can get rid of semiautomatic weapons (with exceptions for the military and law enforcement).

[fred41]

I have a 9mm that almost always stays locked up - only carry it when the need arises. It's useless and unnecessary for home protection because my small apartment is adequately secured and in the unlikely event of home evasion while occupied...a hammer at hand (for example) would be a more convenient weapon to use in the given space...(also safer...given use of alcohol and MJ when relaxing in my domicile).
I also used to own a pump action shotgun to protect a small cabin I had owned in the deep woods - the area had large bear population (God... I really, really miss that place).
I could never hunt...I wouldn't be able to pull the trigger for sport. It's just not something I could personally do (besides - I don't like venison at all)...but I can understand the necessity...some of which were listed by Trish.

Often, but not always...people that are against "all" firearms live in a city...or a fairly safe community - where police might be 5 min.away. But this is still a large country with remote tracts of land where the only protection is oneself...and there are also remote areas where the population will never be described as "quaint". I believe people have a reasonable right to protect themselves and their property. I guess we all probably differ on the definition of reasonable though.

But I do feel the military type assault rifles that we so often see in the news are totally unnecessary.They are what I would term - overkill. I'm sure they might be fun to fire...and I certainly understand the "cool" factor by weapon enthusiasts...(like owning an overpriced muscle car whose speed I could never use in N.Y.C....or a big Harley....I get it), but those aren't good reasons to keep them legal and in the hands of the general public. That's just my opinion.

I think the government will probably come up with some type of bill to make them illegal...but it probably won't be retroactive.

[buttslinger]

apologize for my anti-Texas remark.

Go skins!!

I saw an AR-15 assault rifle toy on sale at Wal-mart today. A b-b gun for kids with matching automatic pistol, $29.95

Every kid grows up watching army movies, before video games there was Sgt. York, and Fort Apache, the Alamo, American History, We do not have the luxury of knowing what an America with no legal guns looks like, and we never will.

There are mental institutions, and there are prisons, and there are schools. But drunkeness and stupidity are 100% legal and all-american.
There are no guns in Monastaries, no rock music, no fucking, no sports cars.

Twenty six year old kids IS NOT acceptable losses for the right to carry a gun. Something needs to be done, as a step.

Just like cigarettes, you can start taxing the semi-automatics, and sniper rifles, and ammo. A .22 is fine for target shooting, and you don't need a 30-round clip to kill a fox in the henhouse.

[Ben]