What kind of guns do you own?

[az]

I absolutely agree with Brian, and I really don't think anyone in Germany needs a gun for self-defense. It might be more needed in certain parts of the USA, but we have to ask the question "why?". Laws are no harsher here than in the U.S. (the opposite is true), and I lived in a part of berlin with LOTS of foreigners. I have never felt the need for a gun.

AZ

[KvHagedorn]

Size matters! Mine's bigger than yours!

[ZokesPro]

I've got 2 paintball guns and a BB gun. I've also got a soldering gun and a hot glue gun but those don't count.

[K6-III]

No guns here as well. Feel no need whatever.

[JaG]

Gave all fire arms back, when I finished my duties in german army. There are no free living, too dangerous wild animals here in germany. And between the only one who's living everywhere the 'home sapiens sapiens', I agree with az and many of you. So I would prefer it to interact peacefully.

ps. Ok, ZokesPro, I still own one of these 'hot glue guns'. And it's often used, but only for building no destruction.

[Technoid]

Got a air rifle with a scope, the original sights were "gone" so it was a way to be able to aim with it
haven't used it in ages....

I should get a hot glue gun

Dr Mordrid;
You got a freaking arsenal

[Dr Mordrid]

I also have a safe & lots of trigger locks to go with it. Just the defensive shotgun is outside the safe and it has an electronic trigger lock (Speed Release) and is kept with an empty chamber. The Speed Release is an illuminated 5 button combination lock.

Brian:

Maybe your local conditons are such that you can defend yourself and your family without firearms, but don't assume it's that way everywhere or that it will stay that way.

I doubt very much you have animals large enough to do harm to people on your island. We have several, which can make camping, hiking or even going to a large park an adventure beyond anything you're used to. In this I'm including buck deer, moose and elk (yes; people get killed by these, esp. during the mating season), black & brown bear, wild boar (yikes!!) and various large cats (mountain lions/panthers/bobcats etc.).

In terms of 2 legged threats: even without a firearm an intruder can exhibit very deadly intent, and we have lots of those kinds of morons walking the streets all hyped up on crank, PCP or some other chemical inducment.

I remember an intruder of this type we got in the emergency room who broke into a house by going through the door and was on his way upstairs to the sleeping quarters when he was confronted. It took all 6 shots from the homeowners .357 magnum revolver to put him down, and even after he was in our ER he was still fighting so hard he had to be strapped down.

This incident is why I use a shotgun for defence: it can do a one shot putdown/kill by sheer impact alone. A revolver often cannot.

Pardon me if I prefer to win those arms races.

Dr. Mordrid

[GuchiGuh]

wee!!
phear my p228....CS anyone
heheheh

[cjolley]

Remington Speedmaster (needs cleaning badly!)
I used it to supplement my grocery shopping when I was a school teacher.
chuck

[GuchiGuh]

actually i am suppose to go to the Bundeswehr (German Army), but am overseas so am save he he he!
but i suppose it would be interesting!

Jemand z.Z. im Bund? Erzaehl mal bitte~

Thx...
ErkWerk

[Technoid]

Originally posted by Dr Mordrid

I remember an intruder of this type we got in the emergency room who broke into a house by going through the door and was on his way upstairs to the sleeping quarters when he was confronted. It took all 6 shots from the homeowners .357 magnum revolver to put him down, and even after he was in our ER he was still fighting so hard he had to be strapped down.

Dr. Mordrid

hehe, he must have been higher than the empire state building

Did he survive?

[Brian Ellis]

Doc

I still maintain that the reason you think you need firearms for defence is because the society is maladjusted. I lived for 35 years in Switzerland where every able-bodied male has a military firearm in his cellar, but they were practically never used, not even to commit suicide. Why? Because there was no need to use them. And Switzerland was one of the first countries in the world to abolish capital punishment in time of peace, nearly 150 years ago. But they do have a fairly harsh penal system. Again, violence begets violence.

As for protection against wild animals, is it not arrogant of man to presume on their territory, when they were there long before man? If man wishes to penetrate there, he should go unarmed and then see what Darwinism is all about. If man pretends to live by his supposedly superior wits, then he should use them to escape the wrath of their physical superiors, rather than annihilate the species. Or simply keep away from them and not to build where dangerous species roam and not leave trash around that will attract them into the habitat chosen by homo sapiens. Shooting wild animals for protection is an admission of either weakness or crass stupidity, simply to place themselves in danger, usually for no real reason.

[agallag]

I hate to quote Michael Moore, because I think he's a freak, but how do you explain the gun murder stats (from 1999 if I remember correctly)? Canada 165, US 11,127. 67 times more killings, with only 10 times the population. Canada has at least as many guns per capita as the US.

This seems to show that guns are not the problem, but I don't know what is.

[Dr Mordrid]

If you check the stats most gun related crime in the US are gang (and therefore: drug) related. These numbers from the RAND group indicate how closely related they are to urban homocides, which make up the bulk of the problem;

* 50 percent of all homicides were gang motivated

* another 25 percent of all homicides involved at least one gang member

* only 25 percent of homicides were not related to gangs at all

* of all the homicides committed by gang members, more than 95 percent involved the use of a gun.

Unfortunately innocents get caught in the crossfire of these gangs, and all the gun control laws on Earth won't disarm them.

The reasons: our borders are as open to gunrunners as they are to drug dealers and the vast majority of crimes are committed using illegally obtained weapons.

If you check the UK media you'll find the same trendline.

Dr. Mordrid

[ZokesPro]

What is a "gang" exactly?