Guns...Times have changed...

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I was raised on a ranch, learning to shoot safely and effectively was a must.
Always carried a shotgun and or a rifle in my pickup truck when I went to school.
It wasn't a big deal or an issue.
Would go out and hunt Pheasant and Dove all the time.
Also go shot while hunting by a city slicker, 12 gauge to the back.
Also always had a rifle with me when I rode horses, and I did that a lot!
Never was much of a pistol guy.
I've shot most everything, and also own quite a few.
I don't hunt anymore, things have happened in my life that makes hunting painful to deal with, but I don't have anything against those that do.
I like getting together with friends to plink, it's fun to try and outshoot friends.
Try balloons on a string in the wind.
I've also dealt first hand, on several occasions with wackos with a weapons.
Not something that is easy to do.
It's not the Weapons fault!

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Anyone here ever get a visit from ATF who were investigating a gun you owned in the past?

Not for a past guns owned, but for present ones owned.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Ar's are a great platforms.
It's not a matter of fast shooting or high capacity, it a matter of easy mod's and exchange possibility's for me.
An AR is just an automatic bolt rifle, it's the same as shooting a bolt or a lever action just easier on the arm.
And the shoulder with higher calibers!

 

[Lil Foot]

When I was in 6th or 7th grade, I took the NRA hunter safety course, held for several evenings at the local grade school, about 1/2 mile from my house. About 1967, I think, in Phoenix AZ .

As a final test on the last day of class, we were asked to bring a firearm from home, describe it, and show we could handle it safely.
My father let me take his Korean war vintage 30 Carbine, along with a loaded 5 rnd magazine, that was not to leave my pocket unless the unthinkable happened.

I walked alone to class, did my show & tell, and walked home alone afterward. No problems.

Can you imagine what would happen today?

 

[leveraddict]

I could remember being about 13 years old. Me and my cousin would have rifles slung over the shoulder walking down the sidewalk in the city on our way down to the river to shoot rats and no one gave you a second look! Times have changed!

 

[jkrubi12]

Great thread!

I enjoy seeing people engage in spirited discussion.

Never a hunter, don't think of killing small game as fun....But I accept that our society allows hunting, and that many find it to be a very enjoyable activity.

I'm a army veteran, a retired LEO, and law-abiding firearms owner. I choose to own an AR-15 b/c it's arguably the most modern, effective firearm available. Highly customizable, lightweight & reliable. MANY different variations available. It's ability to send rounds downrange quickly is likely one of the reasons it's been chosen as the preferred rifle for many thousands (if not millions) of Americans for decades.

IMO many of the problems attributed to 'guns' in this country should be properly assigned to irresponsible gun ownership (or illegal gun ownership). New 'gun' laws seem useless when the people who are possessing the guns are lawless. The new laws only seem to punish those citizens that are OBEYING the existing laws!

It may seem hopeless but by enforcing current 'gun laws' and revising ownership requirements the gun ownership responsibility factor would be a place to start. It seems that if 'something isn't done' our 'elected leaders' may try to use their positions to promote their own self-serving re-election needs by introducing / advocating 'new' gun restrictions or laws.....Which only further restrict those that obey laws!

 

[DustyRusty]

I could remember being about 13 years old. Me and my cousin would have rifles slung over the shoulder walking down the sidewalk in the city on our way down to the river to shoot rats and no one gave you a second look! Times have changed!

The rats no longer live in the rivers

 

[PoTreeBoy]

Henro's got a few years on me. My small town had an army surplus store stocked with M1's, mostly carbines as I recall.
I recently found a .22 blank pistol I bought there.

 

[skeets]

Great thread!

I enjoy seeing people engage in spirited discussion.

Never a hunter, don't think of killing small game as fun....But I accept that our society allows hunting, and that many find it to be a very enjoyable activity.

I'm a army veteran, a retired LEO, and law-abiding firearms owner. I choose to own an AR-15 b/c it's arguably the most modern, effective firearm available. Highly customizable, lightweight & reliable. MANY different variations available. It's ability to send rounds downrange quickly is likely one of the reasons it's been chosen as the preferred rifle for many thousands (if not millions) of Americans for decades.

IMO many of the problems attributed to 'guns' in this country should be properly assigned to irresponsible gun ownership (or illegal gun ownership). New 'gun' laws seem useless when the people who are possessing the guns are lawless. The new laws only seem to punish those citizens that are OBEYING the existing laws!

It may seem hopeless but by enforcing current 'gun laws' and revising ownership requirements the gun ownership responsibility factor would be a place to start. It seems that if 'something isn't done' our 'elected leaders' may try to use their positions to promote their own self-serving re-election needs by introducing / advocating 'new' gun restrictions or laws.....Which only further restrict those that obey laws!

Good points, to a point. Bad guys are going to do bad things plain and simple. There are enough firearms laws onthe books, that "should keep the guns out of the bad guys hands".
But that does not happen, WHY ? Stolen firearms, straw purchases, smuggled, yes I said smuggled. Well how can that be? If one looks to how much illegal drugs are smuggled into this country every day , does anyone with half a brain think firearms are not being done the same way. You say you were an LEO, then you should know of what I speak. No my friend, it is not the firearm. It is the failing of the judicial system. When you were a kid and got caught with your hand in the cookie jar you were punished. If a person know there is no real punishment's for their actions if they get caught, well then just rock n roll!
And leave us say, in an Orwellian move, all firearms are banned tomorrow and taken out of the hands of the general population. How long before the bad guys will get new firearms, not very long I would say. Like I said bad people are going to do bad things, and if they cant get a gun, then use a truck, a car, beer bottles filled with gas, a stick, the list goes on. Punish the bad guys, in case of murder 13 steps, a short drop and a sudden stop, chain gangs. Enforce the laws, as they were intended, and a lot of problems go away... Just MHO you understand

 

[GreensvilleJay]

re:
There are enough firearms laws onthe books, that "should keep the guns out of the bad guys hands".
But that does not happen, WHY ? Stolen firearms, straw purchases, smuggled, yes I said smuggled.

HUGE number of illegal sidearms (handguns) and 1,000s rounds of ammo are smuggled into Canada via Buffalo during the Toronto Caribbian(sp) party week. EVERYONE KNOWS this, but boarder guys are NOT allowed to search vehicles as THAT would be deemed 'racist'. Several boast on SM that they stay all week in $$$ hotels on the selling of their 'duffelbag delights'.

now of course the city fathers and others want MORE 'gun control' laws that of course bad guys will obey ???

 

[jkrubi12]

How could the US gov't ban firearms? There's probably at least as many guns in this country as there are people! There's NO WAY the gov't could round up all those guns....The truth is that guns are here to stay, period.

Responsible ownership is, IMO, the real path to gun acceptance in this country. More laws just seem to restrict those that abide by laws. THOSE PEOPLE ARE NOT THE PROBLEM.

Stolen firearms: one could make an argument that the owner bears some responsibility if the firearms weren't properly stored / protected.

Straw purchases: just outright illegal, no question about it. People knowingly breaking the law.

I'm all for responsible firearms ownership; I see no sensible reason for the creation of new firearms laws if the existing ones aren't being effectively enforced.

 

[McMXi]

Hard to have a mass murder shooting with a ten shot magazine. That’s why some states ban high capacity magazines. This is especially true given that most of those people are not a marksman. They operate by rapid spraying of rounds.

States ban high capacity magazines because they're clueless. If you think that a competent shooter is handicapped by 20 10-round magazines vs. 10 20-round magazines you're as ill-informed as the states that pass these touchy feely laws.

Most if not all firearms laws simply make the ignorant and clueless feel safer without actually doing that. They often put the law abiding citizen at a disadvantage compared to the criminal e.g. not allowing concealed carry. They're no different from traffic laws which are broken every day, thousands of times a day in this country.

Traffic laws are only effective for those that that obey them. We still have reckless drivers, drivers under the influence, drivers greatly exceeding the speed limit, drivers not stopping at stop signs and so on. No amount of laws prevent that. Firearms laws are ineffective for those intent on doing harm. It's not legal to manufacture a fully automatic rifle or modify a semi-automatic rifle to full auto unless you have an FFL/SOT, and then you have to register that firearm as a machine gun. That said, if my intent is to commit a capital crime why would I care about a law that makes it illegal to modify a firearm that I perceive will be more effective in the commission of that crime?

 

[Bmyers]

Well, I'm not as old as some on here, but I'm old enough to been able to take a shotgun to high school with me in my truck so we could go squirrel hunting right after school. There was several of us boys that as soon as the last class of the day was over and it was squirrel hunting season we would head out. We even had permission to hunt on a couple of the teachers properties and they would ask us how the hunt had went.

My grandfather taught me how to use a firearm and to respect it. He was in WWII and fought in the European theater including the Battle of the Bulge. He taught me the value of life, both human and animal. We never killed for just enjoyment, anything we killed was eaten.

Today, the problem isn't the firearm. The problem is society. Our society has come to believe that everything one does wrong can be blamed on someone else. The drunk driver can sue the bar for serving the driver to much. The reckless driver can sue because there wasn't enough guardrails to prevent the driver going off the road. Anything you do is someone else fault.

Until we bring personal accountability back into society it is easy for people to do terrible things when the person believes it is someone else that should receive the blame for his/her action.

When Cain killed Abel, God didn't ban rocks, He banished Cain and dealt with the person, not the tool.

 

[Yooper]

I’ve enjoyed reading this thread. It has stayed level headed. I own shotguns, pistols, rifles (including an AR-15). And I had the gun rack in the back window of my truck i the 70’s. And I remember the bumper stickers on cars back then said ‘guns don’t kill people people kill people’. Yes, times have sure changed. Fifty years from now our grandchildren might be writing about how Grandpa owned a tractor and nobody blinked an eye…

 

[DaveFromMi]

If I remember correctly, New York banned any magazine capacity more than 7. This happened after the Sandy Hook murders. This includes .22 rifles and pistols.

Large Capacity Magazines in New York

Research New York state laws on large capacity magazines, including what is regulated and what's not. Find related gun law details from Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence today.

giffords.org

The Buffalo shooting is one more example of criminals not following the law. Criminals, by definition, do not follow the law.

 

[jrsavoie]

If you scroll through the OTT forum, you will find who the owners and administrators are.

Just a couple folks that do a great job in my opinion.

I meant, what would cause the thread shut down?

I have a great respect for most moderators owners and administrators.

Most aren't exactly getting rich for all their time and efforts

 

[jrsavoie]

Man Im glad I lost all my guns in that boating accident on lake Erie

Did you get any Walleye whilst trying to retrieve your guns?

Just heard this morning fatty signed something to ban ghost guns in Illinois.
From what I gather, any gun without a serial number has to be registered in the next 4 months or something like that.
Glad I don't have any of those. I wouldn't register and would be a felon, along with a whole bunch of others

 

[Freeheeler]

pissing match between emotionally charged, crybaby, report button hitting "insert wackjob here" nuts and normal people.

I haven't made it thru the whole thread yet, but this line seems to sum up much of today's culture.

 

[ruger1980]

If I remember correctly, New York banned any magazine capacity more than 7. This happened after the Sandy Hook murders. This includes .22 rifles and pistols.

Large Capacity Magazines in New York

Research New York state laws on large capacity magazines, including what is regulated and what's not. Find related gun law details from Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence today.

giffords.org

The Buffalo shooting is one more example of criminals not following the law. Criminals, by definition, do not follow the law.

Not quite accurate. The ban on magazines is a limit of 10 rds. Originally they stated that you could only load those to 7 rds. but a MOU has been issued that is supposed to walk that back

 

[jyoutz]

How could the US gov't ban firearms? There's probably at least as many guns in this country as there are people! There's NO WAY the gov't could round up all those guns....The truth is that guns are here to stay, period.

Responsible ownership is, IMO, the real path to gun acceptance in this country. More laws just seem to restrict those that abide by laws. THOSE PEOPLE ARE NOT THE PROBLEM.

Stolen firearms: one could make an argument that the owner bears some responsibility if the firearms weren't properly stored / protected.

Straw purchases: just outright illegal, no question about it. People knowingly breaking the law.

I'm all for responsible firearms ownership; I see no sensible reason for the creation of new firearms laws if the existing ones aren't being effectively enforced.

There will never be a banning of guns. A constitutional amendment requires the ratification of 3/4 of congress and 2/3 of state legislatures. Not happening. This is just a straw issue that politicians use to get their base voters to the polls.