Gun Control & RKBA
In reply to the discussion: What are gun owners afraid of? [View all]louis-t
(23,292 posts)out of fear (unreasonable or not), and shoot every time there's a knock at the door? Plenty of people have shot their own family members because they "thought is was a burglar". My own father almost shot his brother in our house because my mother told him it was ok to come by after working 2nd shift and crash on our couch. She forgot about it and when my uncle came in, she woke my father and said "someone's in the house." My father picked up and loaded his hunting rifle and nearly shot his own brother.
I just saw a documentary on the '90s and Y2k. People emptied the gun store shelves out of fear. One jackass bought a fenced-in retreat and stocked up on guns and ammo, dehydrated food, etc. The gun dealers loved Y2k.
By the way, gun control is based on statistics, not fear. NRA rhetoric tells you "an armed society is a polite society, more guns means 'safer'." Nonsense. The chances of you ever 'protecting' yourself with a gun are miniscule compared to the chances of that gun being stolen from you, used against a family member, having a child find it and shoot themselves or a friend, going off accidentally while 'cleaning' or simply when showing off or fooling around. And please don't reply with "but I'm a responsible gun owner and I take precautions, blah, blah." There are plenty of jackasses around that aren't careful, leave guns where children can get at them, leave them loaded and under beds, or carry them around with the safety off and simply drop them (yes, guns can and do go off sometimes when dropped).
My favorite is when some idiot tucks a loaded gun in his belt and it goes off into his own leg or foot or worse. Or the idiots who shoot themselves while teaching a gun safety course. Yes, accidents happen, mistakes happen. I just don't want to be on the other end of someone's 'mistake'. "I'm sorry" just doesn't cut it when some idiot blows a hole in you.