Does your neighbor having an AR-15 in his house make you feel safer?

[gulliver]

I don't mind people having pistols and hunting rifles in my neighborhood. But if one of these assault weapon weirdos lived in my neighborhood, I would feel a lot less safe. And I would also be angry as hell.

Their kind is simply not needed. I don't want my property values dropping because I have some half-wack numbskull in my neighborhood who "wants" an AR-15. I would be petitioning my property owner's association to get the guy's gun banned in the bylaws.

I feel sorry for people who have to live near these types, and especially sorry for their friends and family. These types think they set themselves apart in some way by having a special weapon. I mean, it's so impressive that they know about muzzle velocities and ammo calibers. My goodness, they even know the names of the parts of the gun!

I think the good news is that most reasonable folks are starting to get the proper perspective on the assault weapons weirdos in their midst. It won't be long before AR-15-type owners will have to leave that phase of their life behind or find themselves shunned and unemployable.

[datasuspect]

1. depends on if he has stockpiles of water, MREs, and supplies too

but then, he'd probably just shoot us too once the zombie apocalypse happens.

that's what happens to the Unprepared.

[Mojorabbit]

2. Both my neighbors have them and I could care less

They have had them for more years than I can remember and only pull them out to go to the range. All of us are pushing 60. Geezing away.

[zbdent]

3. Why do I get the feeling that said neighbor might just end up being a more-than-usual

a**hole, just one who revels in the idea of being more of an a**hole because he will flash his gun whenever a dispute comes up? (and, of course, when a cop is nowhere to be found ...)

[PavePusher]

55. "Why do I get the feeling" that you are creating bigotry out of complete ignorance? n/t

[CTyankee]

4. I might consider moving away...

[rrneck]

5. I don't give a shit one way or the other. nt

[Hoyt]

6. Since majority of folks who accumulate those things are right wing and often callous and bigoted

Yes, I have a concern.

[Remmah2]

40. People in the cells next to yours aren't allowed to own those things.

[Hoyt]

42. And when I'm on outside, I make it a point to avoid their callous souls.

[Remmah2]

45. I wish they'd let me out from time to time.

I'm just so misunderstood by the warden.

[2Design]

7. reckless and irresponsible for needing them and not safe for me

[X_Digger]

8. It neither enhances nor detracts from my perception of safety.

But hey, if one of your neighbors has a .308 or .30-06 hunting rifle, that caliber is more likely to penetrate their walls and enter your home than an anemic .223.

[ManiacJoe]

9. My neighbor's choice of firearms has no influence on my feelings of safety.

Plus, feeling safe is not that useful. Being safe is what is important.

However, since an AR-15 will shoot through fewer walls than other guns, technically his choice to have an AR-15 would be safer for me.

[rightsideout]

10. I know my neighbors have guns but not sure about an AR-15

My one neighbor, three doors up, threatened the kid across the street with his gun if the kid kept driving too fast. That neighbor got a visit from the police to explain what he meant and was asked to show a permit. I felt less safe with him after that incident because I knew it wouldn't take much to set the guy off.

The neighbor behind me fired his gun into the air because he was mad the other neighbor's dog wouldn't shut up.

I did a survey from living on my street for 14 years now. Most of the uptight white guys had guns. Ironically, they also have fences around their houses. LOL. I don't talk to them too much and leave them alone to their own paranoia.

[guardian]

84. Well let's have a ban on fences then.

Or maybe just limit fences to 6 inches. After all, nobody NEEDS a fence. Fences are not guaranteed by the Constitution.

[cherokeeprogressive]

11. I'm not paranoid so it doesn't affect me one way or the other.

"...shunned and unemployable."

[TheKentuckian]

12. Neither safer or less safe.

I don't give a damn what they have in their house because it is none of their affair just as the contents of my home are not for their consideration so have no feelings about the inventory of their household.

"Shunned and unemployable"? How do you intend to swing that and why are you trying to disenfranchise folks from the economy?

[gulliver]

28. The beauty of this is that it is social and private, not government.

I'm all for the government destroying the market for these AR-15-types of guns and their associated funny uncle accessories. Ban the manufacture, import, and sales of new ones. Whammo, the price of these things goes through the roof. And monsters who can barely keep their mental shit together enough to feed themselves won't be able to get these types of weapons with a web click or by dropping in at the local gun shop with a credit card.

But what the AR-15 apologists forget all the time (or maybe would like to forget) is that the government isn't their biggest problem. They may or may not have the 2nd Amendment freedom to have these objects, but I know for a fact that I have a right to discriminate against them for it. What the AR-15 apologists should be worrying about is the non-government consequences they face.

For example, they can't be protected from being fired (or not being hired) because someone found out about their little friends at home. Also, surely everyone has been burnt by Facebook by now. AR-15 owners need to worry about that too.

The idea that the "contents of my home" are not for the consideration of my neighbors is also wrong. My neighbors are free to think about and consider anything they want to think about and consider. Their freedoms and my freedoms are in balance. Some of the balance is maintained through criminal laws, some through private contracts, and some through business and social choices. I can't sell beer on my front sidewalk or have kiddie porn in my basement. I can't build a shed on my front lawn.

[kestrel91316]

13. No. It would scare me half to death. He's probably extremely paranoid and has anger issues

and feels that guns are the #1 solution to all of life's little problems.

[Bake]

22. That's an assumption on your part, for which you probably have no empricial evidence.

Bake

[benld74]

14. My neighbor is a Captain in the police force.

They have been broken into once, never caught. His unmarked was broken into, upon coming home from shift work, and leaving it open as he went into the house. At least he ran that guy down.

[slackmaster]

15. No, nor does it make me feel less safe. I really don't care what kind of weapons my neighbors have.

[Robb]

16. The "other guy" having a gun never makes anyone feel safer.

It's all about "my" gun.

[bossy22]

17. To answer your question simply, it has no effect on my feeling of safety

As long as my neighbor doesn't go into his backyard and start firing it (I live in a suburban neighborhood with closely packed houses).

Secondly, as an AR-15 owner myself I take offense to the rest of your post. You assume all of us are wingnuts/doomsday preppers/survivalists/militia members for owning such thing. That is simple not the case (since I am none of those and neither are my friends who own them). My reason for owning one is simply because I find it fun to shoot- they are highly accurate, easy to maintain, and when you have a crowded safe you don't have to worry about scratching the stock ). You don't realize how many of us are out there; from how many different walks of life we come from. I'll tell you many of the people I know (personally) own them are accountants, doctors, auditors, police officers, nurses...etc. Many of my friends and I got into AR-15 type rifles when we were in college together (back in the mid 2000's).

And yes, people by them because they are "cool" looking. I'm not ashamed to say that was a factor for me as well. Why should I be? We buy things all the time because they are "cool" or we like the way they look. Just look at car shopping- how many times have you overheard someone using those terms when looking at cars. You wouldn't by something that you find aestheticallly unpleasant. The problem is when it comes to the AR-15 and "military style" firearms is that everytime one of us mentions that we think they look cool you automatically assume we want to go out and play "seal team six" in the woods. That is not the case- maybe somewhere in my subconscious the reason I secretly want to do that, I don't know, but what I do know is that I'm not a member of seal team six, I'm not going to be, and I don't think by owning an AR-15 it brings me any closer.

Thirdly- I feel like a broken record for saying this all the time- one man's assault weapon is another man's target/hunting/home defense gun. It is impossible to draw a logical line between "assault weapons" and other guns (the only lines drawn are arbitrarily).

Fourth- I don't think your property values are going to be affected by what that person has in their gun safe. Would the property value of your house decrease if your neighbor had a gas guzzling SUV in the garage?

On edit:

Fifth- by what you say I should be shunned from my community- I find this extremely insulting and not only that- discriminatory. As long as I practice my hobby in a safe manner with respect to myself and others I shouldn't have to tarred and feathered. How would you like it if women who had abortions were shunned and unemployable? Because I can tell you, there are a decent amount of people in this country that feel that way. I have no problem with you thinking my choice of hobbies is disgusting/irresponsible/deadly but don't destroy my life.

[Lizzie Poppet]

18. On that basis alone? I couldn't care less.

Probably because I understand how probability works...

[ProgressiveProfessor]

19. It would not matter to any rational person

Your neighborhood association cannot ban them. Neither can a city or local government in many states. Bring it up at your next association meeting and see how far you get. Their existence in your neighborhood or tract will not bring down property values

In many states you would not even know who has one. The neighbor's gardener, the mailman, the minister down the street, the Iraqi war vet across the street from you, could all have ARs and worse yet AKs. You would never know.

AR rifles have been the most popular in the US for more than a decade. There are millions out there. Upsetting as it may be to your, its pretty well assured that there are some in your neighborhood that you do not know about and can do nothing about.

Your projection and irrational fears about others who may or may not own legal weapons should concern you and your family.

[ellisonz]

20. HELL NO!

[REP]

21. HIS house?

Assume much?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

23. No, I would feel that I couldn't go in my own yard

for fear of a stray bullet or even a bullet through the wall!

[Yo_Mama]

25. Oh, Lord

A .223 wouldn't shoot through walls.

I don't know what to say. If your neighbor is shooting so that stray bullets come your way, that's a problem. AR-15 alone is not.

[doc03]

33. Is that right an Amish girl in a buggy was killed here last summer by a

22 long rifle rimfire from nearly a mile away. A 22 rimfire is much less powerful than a .223 centerfire.

[Yo_Mama]

53. Stray gunshots = problem

That's what I mean. If people are shooting randomly, that's a problem.

When I lived in NJ next to a farm and wooded area, some dumbass hunters didn't realize that there was a house here. I went out to call out to them to warn them that they were shooting too close (really I was worried about the old lady who lived next door), and a stray shot hit the brick wall about two feet from the door I had just come out of.

I do worry about people who don't know how to use firearms - but around here, you are far more likely to be killed by a drunk driver.

I don't worry about people who know how to use them.

[PoliticAverse]

56. Are you referring to this incident (it was a apparently muzzleloading rifle) ?...

FREDERICKSBURG, Ohio -- A man cleaning his muzzle-loading rifle shot the gun into the air, accidentally killing a 15-year-old Amish girl driving a horse-drawn buggy more than a mile away, a sheriff said Tuesday.

Rachel Yoder was shot in the head Thursday night while traveling to her home in Wayne County, between Columbus and Akron. She had attended a Christmas party for employees, most of them under 18 years old, at an Amish produce farm and was riding home alone when she was shot, Wayne County sheriff's Capt. Douglas Hunter said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/21/amish-girl-shooting-gun-cleaning_n_1162704.html

[Yo_Mama]

67. Perhaps it was the feared muzzle-loading full-auto AR-15A series

A for "Antique".

Ignorance, in some cases, is not bliss. The Dunning-Kruger effect controls a lot of human behavior.

That case was tragic, but it says nothing about the penetrating power of an AR-15 .223. It does say a whole lot about gun safety and random shots, though.

[doc03]

75. That's it I remembered it as a .22 I think because the next day on

the radio they were talking about it. Someone called in a said that even a .22 can travel 1 1/2 miles.

[doc03]

82. There was another incident I think was this last spring or summer. A women was

shot in the leg while out in her yard, I don't remember the caliber but it was like 700 yards away. New Years eve a .30 caliber bullet some nitwit shot in the air came down through the roof of a house and penetrated the ceiling of a room below. Last I heard they don't know where it came from. You can't legislate against stupid.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

38. How do you know?

[Yo_Mama]

50. Here's a link

http://www.olyarms.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=26

[doc03]

78. You better read your test again buddy the .223 penetrated the wall and

then 5.5" into the gelatin. They also used hollow point bullets that are made to fragment, a FMJ would no doubt have penetrated even further into the gelatin.

[PavePusher]

57. Get educated.

And possibly some counciling for irrational fears.

[Yo_Mama]

24. It certainly wouldn't make me feel endangered

If my neighbor is a nutcase, he or she could kill me just fine with a revolver. Having an AR-15 isn't going to turn my neighbor into a maniac, and he's not gonna shoot me just because he has an AR-15.

In my neck of the woods (rural GA) a lot of people have ARs, and a lot of people do use them for certain types of hunting.

They don't scare me. Unstable people having guns scare me, but unstable people driving cars scare me worse.

I think a lot of this is pure hysteria, to be honest, but maybe that's cultural. If you live somewhere where people genuinely have to have firearms for legitimate use, you probably have a different outlook.

Down the road there's a guy with felony DUI, so he doesn't have guns. Several times a year we get a call and have to go out there and shoot something for him. It's a different world, I guess.

I don't know what all my closest neighbor does have, but he has a lot. They shoot every Sunday after church. That's normal around here. It certainly doesn't run down property values.

[truegrit44]

46. +1 my feelings exactly

I live in rural MO and have no idea what my neighbors have for guns.......know they do because they target shoot on their property around hunting season. It is none of my business what they have and I've never even given it a thought until this thread came up. I will probably file this with the many other things I don't worry about.

[Yo_Mama]

61. One of the things that's beginning to worry me

is that this seems to be a "drawfire" action to redirect the public's attention away from the urgent fiscal policy questions. Not some of the more basic questions - like should we limit magazine capacity and some of the mental health issues - but the whole register them all bit.

It's obviously not material. It's not going to happen, because the country as a whole doesn't approve. So what's the purpose of floating all this except to get us all to look in the other direction as our futures get quietly bargained away?

[truegrit44]

65. Yes, it does seem that way and we need to stay focused

on the things we can do to help solve the problem that are within reason. It just seems that folks are going so extreme in both directions.

[hobbit709]

26. Not any more than him NOT having one.

[petronius]

27. Neither more nor less safe. And your comment about the owner's association is

exactly why I'll do my damnedest to never live in a place where I'm subject to the interference of a HOA or a condo board...

[aikoaiko]

29. An AR15 next door does not scare me nor make me feel safer.

But I find you desire to shun and not employ people based on owning an AR kind of weird to me.

[PavePusher]

58. Not weird....

flat-out bigoted.

[zbdent]

106. someone call the waaaaaaaaambulance ...

[jmg257]

30. Sort of neutral on the whole thing. He's a very nice older gentleman.

A teacher. Works hard around the house, keeps his property extra nice, always willing to help out with anything, plows our driveway, etc.

Throws a great Christmas party every year for family & friends, dresses up like Santa and hands out gifts to the kids.

He talks about how well his wife, a retired teacher, shoots also, so no reason to feel sorry for her, or us.

Guess he's just not an 'assault weapon weirdo'. Just a guy who owns an AR and enjoys shooting on occasion.

[gulliver]

31. I would actually give his teaching job to someone else.

Unless he dumps the AR. A lot of school boards now would probably agree. Hopefully it is not too late for him to do that if he is as good a guy as you say he is. Times have changed. Nancy Lanza may have thrown good Christmas parties too. That stuff is all beside the point. Or maybe it is the AR that is beside the point.

[jmg257]

32. He's probably lucky you are not in a position to do so, then.

I don't think he would dump his guns, as long as they remain legal. Likely he wouldn't see the need (though I don't know for sure - I'll ask next time I see him).

That stuff is certainly the point - you asked about how I feel safety-wise if my neighbor owned an AR, and from 7 years of living here and knowing him/them, and while I don't feel any safer (nor need or expect to), I have NO reason to feel unsafe.

[gulliver]

34. As long as they are legal...

...it would obviously be legal for him not to dump them. You might ask him how he would feel about you telling his Principal or school board about his AR-15. I think it could be awkward, but you might actually be surprised about his response. You might save him his job. He might not read the news much.

[jmg257]

43. Why might I ask that?? To do so (tell) doesn't seem worth-while in the least.

Really do not think it would have an influence on his job in a negative way, and MOST very likely not valid grounds for dismissal.
Nor would I have an interest in doing so. Around here, hunting and (legally owned - especially by old white guys) guns, aren't a big deal.

Likely go like this:

"Hey...do you know Mr Doe owns an AR?"
"Yes, and...?"
"Just thought I would let you know"
"OKkkk......thanks."

But it might be interesting to ask if he thought the Principal would care or not.

[PavePusher]

59. Maybe you should "dump" the bigotry. n/t

[Yo_Mama]

62. Around here it would just make them like him more

A lot of these things are local. I think you totally underestimate the protection that teacher's unions convey to tenured teachers, btw. I don't think teachers should be able to be fired purely because of someone's disapproval after they have tenure, and your comment here I have bookmarked for future use next time someone local rails against teacher tenure.

[overthehillvet]

63. Just wow......

What other totally legal activities would you also fire people for???

How would you feel if someone fired you for protesting their second amendment rights???

I guess some might just do that and their attitude and actions would be as Un-American as yours.

Until the SCOTUS finds otherwise, or laws are passed that meat constitutional muster, or the constitution is changed, having an AR is their right. What you want or do not want makes no difference until one of the above takes place.

There are many Dem's who own guns and yes even AR-15s. They will not vote for the elimination or confiscation of these firearms either. It is not just the RW's who will oppose these laws.

Gun control laws that eliminate people with felonies or mental health problems from being able to buy a firearm is where we should go right now. Every person who buys a gun anywhere, and from anyone, in this nation should have a background check run on them. Mental health records must also be checked which means there must be a central registry for those who have mental health problems and may be a threat to themselves or other.

The House will not pass any law that involves the confiscation of firearms. It is very doubtful if they will pass a bill that stops the sale of these AR-15's.

[the coming storm]

35. Re: not much of a liberal are you gulliver? ;)

A pistol or hunting rifle can kill you just as much as an assault weapon, yet you say you would feel less safe if your neighbor had an AR-15...yeah makes sense.

[pinto]

44. Is 2nd Amendment discussion a Liberal v Conservative thing?

[overthehillvet]

68. not really

I know many liberals who own firearms and who hunt and fish. I also know liberals who have concealed carry permits and who keep firearms in their homes for protection. I also know many conservatives who share all of these things.

I hear the conservatives rant about how the liberals want to take away their firearms and I hear people in here ranting against the conservatives and who really do want to take away their firearms. Those liberals do not represent all liberals or even most liberals, and those conservatives do not speak for all conservatives.

The second amendment is a spark that lights up many strong passions but it is not a right or left issue. Most people are somewhere in the middle on this.

Those of us who are politically in the middle on this issue must pick it up and own it. If we allow the far left gun confiscation bunch or the far right morons who want no gun laws to push this into a partisan fight then nothing will get done and more children will die.

We have to find answers and pass laws that do three things.

Protect our children from people with guns who want to kill them. This protection must begin tomorrow. We can not depend on laws that may protect them in a decade or two.

We must find a way to stop the illegal trade in guns. Even our own government has been involved in this. All who cross that line need to be prosecuted and imprisoned with no exceptions.

We need to keep these laws within the bounds of our constitution until it is changed.

This cause is a huge task and one that we can only accomplish together.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

36. I don't know. I'd have to ask my neighbors how they feel. lol (n/t)

[former-republican]

37. I would have to report him as a terrorist

What if it went off and the bullet went through all the houses in the neighborhood.

[Remmah2]

39. Shhhhhh................

Just don't ask about the meth lab.

Don't ask, don't tell. Nobodies business.

[Marrah_G]

41. I wouldn't know what my neighbor had in his house

Nothing any of my neighbors have make me feel either safer or less safe.........

Weird question.

[Mugu]

47. I would be surprised if any of my neighbors had an AR.

The ones that I know well enough to talk to about firearms seem to prefer larger calibers.

[Dr_Scholl]

48. I'm an AR-15 owner.

And I would have no problem telling my neighbors so, if they should ask.(They've seen me carrying gun cases and range bags to and from my car)

I'm well liked in my neighborhood and haven't broken any laws. If someone doesn't like what I have in my safe, then that's their problem.

[Turbineguy]

51. Oh yes,

I think it's great! I'd like to get my house all shot up by the neighbors!

[Recursion]

52. I don't really care what my neighbors own

*shrug*

I guess I trust my neighbors not to shoot me, just like I trust them not to set fire to our block of rowhouses.

[Skittles]

54. I live in Texas - I am used to cowards with guns

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Egalitarian Thug]

60. They do (and a whole lot more than that) and I couldn't care less. n/t

[The revenge]

64. Neighbors

It's really nobodies business what your neighbor has in their home.

[krispos42]

66. You draw up a caricature, then proceed to be terrified by it?

Man, how about you just relax instead.

90% of gun-related homicides are done with handguns. 5% are with rifles (all kinds) and 5% with shotguns(all kinds).

61% of all homicides overall are done with handguns.


You may not like what you assume the owner of an AR-15's mentality is, but you're worrying about the wrong thing.

[overthehillvet]

69. True!!!!

Every word of this is true. The AR-15 type of weapons are involved in a very small part of our nations gun violence.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

70. I live so far away from my neighbors I could give a damn what they have or do -

I quit playing "Keep Up With Jones" years ago.

I have my hands full keeping up with myself.

[riderinthestorm]

71. I have at least 3 close neighbors who own them, based on hearing them target shoot

And no, it doesn't make me feel safer - in fact I fear them. All three have flagpoles with the Gadsden flag and tons of RW political signage on their lawns.

(My evaluation that they own assault rifles with high magnitude clips comes from knowledgeable clients who can tell, including one whose a former chief of police in Berwyn IL, a high crime rate Chicago suburb.)

We're rural, a far west Chicago suburb where NOBODY needs to fear a crime wave descending on our street. In fact, I'm not even sure where the keys are to my house doors and frequently leave my purse and car keys on the front seat of my car.

[Hoyt]

76. Such weapons are quite popular among bigots.

[rl6214]

93. Such bigots are quite common among anti gun zealots

[harcosparky]

109. Yes they are very popular among Law Enforcement Officers.

Yes they are very popular among Law Enforcement Officers.

[obama08lover]

72. I want to be safe like people in Russia.

I want to be safe like people in Russia.

[sarisataka]

73. I thought it was the people who owned guns

that are supposed to be paranoid.

If someone owns an AR-15:
-they are wacko
-you are not safe [from them]
-you should be angry
-"their kind" shouldn't live around normal people
-property values will drop
-they need to be banned from living in certain areas

par·a·noid [par-uh-noid]
adjective
1.
of, like, or suffering from paranoia.

par·a·noi·a [par-uh-noi-uh]
noun
1.
Psychiatry. a mental disorder characterized by systematized delusions and the projection of personal conflicts, which are ascribed to the supposed hostility of others, sometimes progressing to disturbances of consciousness and aggressive acts believed to be performed in self-defense or as a mission.
2.
baseless or excessive suspicion of the motives of others.

Of course many of these things have been said about groups of people in this country, though not based on what they possess.

big·ot·ry [big-uh-tree]
noun, plural big·ot·ries.
1.
stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one's own.
2.
the actions, beliefs, prejudices, etc., of a bigot.

[derby378]

74. Well done! (n/t)

[bubbayugga]

77. No. Those fucking coawards with their AR15s scare the hell out of me.

[guardian]

85. I am much more scared by a neighbor that might have

child porn in their house. The chances of them raping and killing a child are very high. Chances of the random gun owner causing somebody harm is quite low.

[Puzzledtraveller]

99. LOL

[Thinkingabout]

79. My neighbor has three such weapons but i dont feel safer.

[JDPriestly]

80. No. Most definitely not.

I should explain that there are gangs in my neighborhood.

I live in a city, not in a rural area. I like my neighborhood, but the fact is that we have gangs and shootings.

[flvegan]

81. "Their kind is simply not needed."

You use the word "I" in there an awful lot.

Pistols and hunting rifles are okay. An AR-15 is not. That tells me you don't know much about firearms. Big shock.

[guardian]

83. Does your neighbor having an AR-15 in his house make you feel safer?

No. My having and AR-15 in my house makes me feel safer.

[otohara]

86. I Wouldn't Want My Kids

in their house, especially if there were no adults. This happened to me when my son was little...renters down the block, the boyfriend had guns and one day, I went to get my son and they were oogling the guns.

I'd feel less safe, more guns = more deaths.

[tradecenter]

87. I could care less.

My next door neighbor has one, so what?
I have one, my neighbors don't really give a rat's ass one way or the other.
Several of my co-workers have AR patterned rifles, so what?
As long as they are sane legal owners, why should anyone care?

[BlueCaliDem]

88. NO! I'd much rather not know that he does. *Then* I feel safer. eom

[Iggo]

89. Of course not.

Guns don't make you safe. Guns make you deadly.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

90. You have a "property owner's association" and you want to control what your neighbors think and do

in their homes?

You have way too much time on your hands.

[kudzu22]

91. Depends on what he does with it.

If he keeps it in a safe and takes it to the range occasionally, I feel perfectly safe. If he gets drunk and shoots squirrels in the backyard with it, not so much.

[Liberal_in_LA]

92. not really

[rl6214]

94. Maybe we should have them all sew a scarlet AR15 patch on their chest

[Tuesday Afternoon]

97. no. yellow stars are much nicer, doncha think.

[rl6214]

100. They are so over done though

[Tuesday Afternoon]

101. well, we can use 5 point stars because Yeah the 6 point was done to death.

[TreasonousBastard]

95. "Assault weapon weirdos"? I know a few of them...

and most are harmless as mice. But not all. One is a pretty good friend of mine who has a large gun collection and even many conservative views, but I can't imagine him shooting anyone.

Rather than what gun someone might own, I would look more to other hints-- a house ringed with barbed wire keeping the raging dogs in, and who knows what out? Never talking to the neighbors at all except when having that wild, vacant stare when ranting about fantasies from deep within?

OK, that's extreme, but why care what someone might own-- care about what they DO with what they own.

[Puzzledtraveller]

98. LOL

[lynne]

103. I have no clue what weapons my neighbor has and -

- neither does anyone else. What a neighbor chooses to tell you may or may not be true. Frankly, I'd never tell anyone what type weapons I own. It's not their business.

[Glaug-Eldare]

104. Wouldn't bother me any.

They're very popular for a lot of people. Just because it's made of black plastic doesn't mean the owner's some kind of Rambo-wannabe extremist -- they're remarkably versatile, reliable firearms with a fantastic selection of customization options. Same as the 10/22, really. If they started mumbling about RaHoWa and FEMA death camps, I might start getting a bit leery.

On that tip, it's not my neighbor's job to make me feel safe, or my job to make him feel safe. People find their warm fuzzies in different ways, and if his happens to be owning a modern rifle, I'm happy for 'im. Would be nice if he also had a good first aid kit and clean water tablets. Speakin' of which, I really ought take that Red Cross class again.

[barbtries]

105. most people will probably never know.

i take the position that they're probably all around me, but then i live in NC.

no it does not make me feel safer.

[Old Troop]

107. It actually does

because he can cover me while I set up the rocket launcher.

[harcosparky]

108. What Are You So Afraid Of ?????

Wow, what the hell are you afraid of?

It boggles my mind the fear people have for a single projectile semi-automatic weapon.

Personally I would fear the more deadly and most destructive weapon amongst our midsts, if I was not educated.

However I am educated enough to know that the weapon is not the problem.

[arcane1]

110. You're referring to the neighbor, right? Wondering why they are so afraid.

Most people would prefer not to live next door to a frightened armed person.

[Mindfreak7]

111. I was near one once

A "friend" had one and he showed me, I had to fight to hold back my tears as I left quickly, not wanting to be in the same room as a killing machine and it's whack job owner (he's a veteran and I started to ask myself "what if he snaps&quot . I reported him to the police later and they said they would "keep an eye on it"

[GP6971]

112. What state do live in that

the Police would check on a weapons owner??? Your post seems contrived.

[Mindfreak7]

113. It's doubtable

I don't think they'll actually do anything, I was just so flustered at the time, sorry for the confusion.

[marble falls]

114. I'm not so sure, why would the state allow such a terrible weaponin the hands of these people.....

do you know anything about the types of groups they they subscribe to? Have you made any sort of plans, "just in case?"