Questions for gun owners

[xoedusk]

1. Is your gun usually within easy reach at home?

Often I carry my revolver in my pocket while at home (it's an S&W J-frame, so quite small).  When this isn't the case, the 12 gauge shotgun is in the (apartment) bedroom one small hallway away, but not sure if I'd qualify that as within 'easy' reach.

2. Is your gun usually kept loaded?

Yes, most definitely.  That way they're useful.

3. Do you usually take your gun with you when you leave the house?

If I'm pretty sure I won't be visiting government-declared gun-free zones (e.g., a government school), definitely.

And a more general question, why do you own a gun?

Personal/home defense.

[Diogenes The Cynic]

Some questions from someone alien to guns in general.

1. Is your gun usually within easy reach at home?
2. Is your gun usually kept loaded?
3. Do you usually take your gun with you when you leave the house?
4. Where do you live?
5.When do you sleep?

[fatcat]

Some questions from someone alien to guns in general.

1. Is your gun usually within easy reach at home?
2. Is your gun usually kept loaded?
3. Do you usually take your gun with you when you leave the house?
4. Where do you live?
5.When do you sleep?

If anyone is that paranoid, they shouldn't be leaving enough personal information on the net that I'd anyone would be able to find out who they are from a forum account.

[blackie]

And a more general question, why do you own a gun?

You never know when you will need to commit suicide.

[libertylover]

Some questions from someone alien to guns in general.

1. Is your gun usually within easy reach at home?
2. Is your gun usually kept loaded?
3. Do you usually take your gun with you when you leave the house?

If the answer to these questions is no, what purpose do you think owning a gun serves in self protection?

I find it arduous enough to keep my mobile phone and keys with me at all times, so given that you need to keep a gun close by in order for it to actually be useful as a self protection tool, I'm not sure I would even bother getting a gun if they were legal, except maybe just for sport shooting.

And a more general question, why do you own a gun?

1. yes 2. no 3. no   

We have guns more for hunting and killing tree rats and such.  Yesterday the first day of hunting my husband got an excellent fat old doe.  The 8 point buck was out of range and he wanted to ad to our meat supply. We are in the process of butchering it.  I will make chillies, stews and roasts with the meat.  Have you seen how much beef is per pound?  Deer meat is a much better source of protein.  I also like to shoot targets and clay pigons for sport. 

I suppose if the crime rate were to increase, we would start keeping the guns in a more ready to use state than locked away. 

[John Shaw]

1. Is your guns usually within easy reach at home?

Added an "S" for plurality. The answer is yes.

2. Is Are your guns usually kept loaded?

The five or so I have around the house for home defense are. The rest are in a safe, unloaded.

3. Do you usually take your a gun with you when you leave the house?

Yes.

4. And a more general question, why do you own a guns?

For the same reason I own screwdrivers, hammers, forks, spoons, knives, scissors, nail clippers, a computer etc. It's the tool that enables the most efficient way to perform a task.

Also, they fucking rock, (Enjoyable hobby) they look fucking sweet, (Aesthetics) and they are politically controversial, so I choose to own them as a political expression as well.

[mikehz]

Don't have one; don't want one.

For home protection, I'd want a really good gun. That would cost hundreds, and would only do me any good IF I happen to be home, and IF I happen to have time to access it. Plus, I'd have to know how to use the thing, which means the time and cost of classes and regular practice.

For that same amount of money, I can invest in a security system that works even if I'm not home. I can put in really good locks and alarms. Now, I know that someone dedicated enough can still get in, but the reality is that 99.9% of burglars are not going to go to that much trouble.

I have no interest in forever hauling a couple pounds of steel around with me for protection. I don't hang out in places where such protection is likely to be needed. Nor have I ever come close to needing a gun for protection, or know anyone who has. It just isn't worth it for so improbable a contingency.

It might be useful when I'm out camping, in case I encounter a bear. But, I do carry bear spray, which studies have shown to be more effective than a gun. Anyway, I don't really want to kill or injure a bear. Face it--the gun would probably be more of a threat to me than the bear anyway.

The only valid reason I can see for owning a weapon would be civil unrest or disaster, such as happened New Orleans. But, getting a gun for that possibility makes as much sense to me as digging a bomb shelter in case there is a nuclear war.

[atomiccat]

Mines is no no no, I carry knives with me everywhere and i have a crossbow near my bed LoL, my pistol is black powder, and I heard they can go off by themselves so i don't keep it loaded. anyone know if it is true?

[anarchir]

I have throwing knives and other small knives. Thats about it. I am looking into getting a gun soon enough, but my gal won't get me one for christmas she says

[BonerJoe]

my pistol is black powder, and I heard they can go off by themselves so i don't keep it loaded. anyone know if it is true?

No. You can even keep it capped if you have indents between the cylinder. Comon, people carried this shit loaded on horses, and you're worried about your nightstand?

[Diogenes The Cynic]

Some questions from someone alien to guns in general.

1. Is your gun usually within easy reach at home?
2. Is your gun usually kept loaded?
3. Do you usually take your gun with you when you leave the house?
4. Where do you live?
5.When do you sleep?

If anyone is that paranoid, they shouldn't be leaving enough personal information on the net that I'd anyone would be able to find out who they are from a forum account.

Dude, chill. There's this thing people do called humor.

[Riddler]

I don't have a gun on me for self-defense because I don't expect to ever need to defend myself.  I haven't really ever needed to and I don't expect that to change in the next 20 years.  If I did, I'd likely be more than capable of doing so, without a gun.  Keep in mind I live in NH and I don't travel without something that could be used as a weapon.

I'd be insanely shocked if someone broke into my house while someone was at the house (and there is almost always someone at my house).  I live in Keene where guns are very common, home break-ins in decent areas are rare, and the cops respond quickly to emergencies (unlocked doors is the default in the area).  

However, maybe some day I'll want to use a gun.  I have one just in case.

1: dumbest fucking answer ever.

do you have fire insurance on your house/car?
if so, why???
are you planning on having a fire??

2: where the FUCK have you been?
next town over from mine is still reeling (we all are) from this fucking nightmare:

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091006/NEWSBLOG/910069945

4 scumbags broke into a rural home at 4 a.m. & hacked a 42 yr old wife/mother to death in HER FUCKING BED....WITH A MACHETE.
& tried to kill their 11 yr. old daughter...
fatcat, does this answer your question?

also: i always had loaded guns around, till we had a kid.
 i just bought a big-ass cannon gun safe....its in the basement.
http://www.cannonsafe.com/images/traditionalsafes/Traditional43.jpg

which does me no fuckin good, so i gotta get a pistol safe for the bedroom.
i carry a .380 in the truck & have guns at my office

[Sam Gunn (since nobody got Admiral Naismith)]

my pistol is black powder, and I heard they can go off by themselves so i don't keep it loaded. anyone know if it is true?

No. You can even keep it capped if you have indents between the cylinder. Comon, people carried this shit loaded on horses, and you're worried about your nightstand?

BJ is correct.  People are still digging loaded black powder rifles out of their barns that have been loaded for 100+ years and finding that the BP is still burnable.

While true BP is more volatile and risky than smokeless, modern BP substitutes are safer, and either way they are not going to spontaneously combust.

[fatcat]

I have no interest in forever hauling a couple pounds of steel around with me for protection.

This is my main reserve about getting a gun for defensive purposes should they be made legal/i move somewhere they are legal.

[BonerJoe]

I have no interest in forever hauling a couple pounds of steel around with me for protection.

This is my main reserve about getting a gun for defensive purposes should they be made legal/i move somewhere they are legal.

They make lightweight guns for women that I'm sure you'd be happy with.