How fitting for the party of the NRA.

[hiaasenrocks]

"Guns are safe," they say. "Individuals are dangerous."

I haven't heard an NRA reaction to the Cheney shooting story yet. Maybe they've had something to say and I just haven't heard it because my Wacko Blinders are starting to work. If so, that'll make me happy. But I would love to hear them apply their talking points to the Cheney shooting.

"Guns don't kill people, Vice Presidents almost do."

"If we outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns, and then how will Cheney 'pepper' his friends?"

Okay, so I'm not a professional comedy writer.

I know there must be at least a few hunters on DU, so I run the risk of offending some people, I am sure. I can pretend to be serious about the condition of Cheney's victim, but if I'm honest then I have to admit it's only because I want to see Cheney politically (and perhaps legally) taken to the cleaners. Honestly, I couldn't care less about his victim. If you take to the great outdoors to shoot animals and end up getting hurt yourself, especially by the weapon you brought along, I have no sympathy for you.

I look at this the same way I look at auto racing. If you drive around in circles for three hours at extremely high speeds and run into a wall at such force that your head comes off, tough crap. I don't care. You're just asking for it. I would have more respect for, say, bear hunters if they went into the woods unarmed, with plans to take down the bear with their own bare hands. That, I can respect. When you aim a gun at an animal, you are no more engaging in "sport" than if you aimed that gun at an unarmed human.

So I like seeing an NRA advocate caught in this mess.

Flame away, if you so desire.

[rpannier]

1. I read Cheney was hunting illegally

If this is so, then "If we outlaw guns, Cheney will still have one."

[Lefty48197]

4. Doesn't the NRA like to claim that we should "enforce existing gun laws?"

I wonder if they mean the gun laws that Cheney violated?

[Richard Steele]

9. Yes, he had not obtained the stamp required to hunt quail.

At this point, the cliché is no longer an "IF" proposition.

It should be: "WHEN guns are outlawed, only wealthy plutocrats will have guns".

[ThoughtCriminal]

2. Not an NRA fan or Gun owner

BUt one thing that strikes me is that it is really impossible to defend both Cheney and the idea that guns are safe in the hands of responsible people. Either the latter is untrue or Cheney was careless.

[benEzra]

5. Cheney was extremely careless...

shotgunning for quail is probably the most dangerous type of hunting, and there are VERY few accidents. If you're golfing, and you fracture your partner's skull with your club while trying to tee off, it's not the club's fault, it's yours...

Regarding Cheney's screw-up, I see violations of two of the four fundamental rules of guns safety:

1. Always treat a firearm as if it is loaded.
2. Never point any firearm at anything you would not want to shoot.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire.
4. Always be sure of your target and know what is behind it.

I see gross violations of Rules 2 and 4, along with bad situational awareness in general.

[mtnsnake]

3. Men with tiny balls join the NRA because holding a gun

makes them feel like a real man!

[T Town Jake]

6. Men with no balls dislike holding guns because...

...it reminds them of their shriveled manhood!

My statement makes about as much sense as yours.

[benEzra]

7. How many gun owners do you know personally?

Men with tiny balls join the NRA because holding a gun makes them feel like a real man!

My wife owns guns, and can shoot the center out of a playing card at 21 feet with her Glock 9mm. She's also originally from Cambridge, Massachusetts, has a B.A. in English, is a poet, and studies Russian history and culture for fun. You think she owns and shoots guns so she can feel like a "real man"?

I'm a bespectacled, goatee-wearing, college-educated Gen-X'er with a B.A. and some master's work in English and literary criticism. I drive a Toyota Camry, play the guitar, and am dad to a special-needs kid. I own guns because I CHOOSE to, not because of any sexual inadequacies, real or perceived.

And no, neither of us hunt. Most gun owners (4 out of 5) don't, by the way.

Do you feel that way about gun owners because all gun owners you have ever met are that way, or because the MSM and the anti-gun lobby have told you we are that way?

How many gun owners do you know personally?

Not all prejudices come dressed in white sheets and pointy hats...

[mtnsnake]

8. Good for you and your wife!

I'm not sure what driving a camry and playing a guitar has to do...or doesn't have to do...with the NRA, but thanks for the free psychology lesson on how some people can own guns, drive toyotas, and have a goatee at the same time. I would never have imagined such a thing could occur :eyes:

BTW, I believe you that most gun owners don't hunt, although I'm surprised at the percentage you pointed out. Of the people who own guns but don't hunt, I would think that most of them own guns because they either collect guns (as in antiques, etc), or they like to shoot things (like targets or like playing cards), or they're afraid of something.

Anyway, unless you're in the NRA yourself, try not to get too offended by my post. It was meant to be geared toward card carrying members of the NRA....just a flippant remark. From time to time I get chances to buy old rifles and shotguns myself, but only for purposes of re-selling them for a profit without ever shooting them, so even I touch some guns from time to time ;)