For some in U.S., guns are a way of life

Thursday 26th February, 02:34 PM JST

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adaydream at 01:54 AM JST - 27th February

skipthesong I'm sorry you lost your dad to a crime.

When I was growing up as soon as we could hold a gun Dad showed us how to shoot and treat guns. They were behind every door and they were always loaded. I have 6 brothers (real and step) we knew that guns were tools/weapons for our protection and hunting.

I had a lot of troubles with my Dad growing up, but when it came to guns, there were no doubts about how they were to be treated. < :-)
Good_Jorb at 01:58 AM JST - 27th February

Take away the guns and you'll see an increase in stabbings, take away the knives you'll see an increase in fatal beatings.

How many children would be killed by stray knives, when a drive-by stabbing occurs?
bushlover at 02:36 AM JST - 27th February

I don't think children should have access to guns. Too many maturity issues. But mentally competent legal adults should be allowed to have them if they prove that they are for something other than committing a crime and they have a valid reason. There just has to be more control and not a free for all.
OssanAmerica at 05:47 AM JST - 27th February

For those that sort of >want the best of everything; the Saiga (AK >style) 12 Guage auto shotgun >is a good choice (AKA "The Big 12").

Worst choice you could make. If you ever had to defend home and family and hd to use lethal force on an intruder, you want them showing the jury a nice hunting shotgun preferably with duck engravings, not some darth vader/terminator ASSAULT weapon that's going to make the little old ladys in the jury gasp.
OssanAmerica at 06:13 AM JST - 27th February

An 11-year-old boy in Pennsylvania is accused of killing his father’s >pregnant fiancee with the shotgun he got as a Christmas present.

What moron would give a shotgun to an 11 year old to start with?

In Arizona, an 8-year-old boy fatally shoots his father and his father’s >roommate.

The responsibilty of teaching children "Don't Touch" and keeping the gun stored in a location not accessible to children is the responsibility of the parent. Actually it was a program that the NRA came up with and wanted to introduce in US schools but the anti-gun lobby fought to keep it out, solely because it came from the "NRA". That it probably would have saved lives is completely ignored.

An 8-year-old boy accidentally shoots himself with an Uzi at a gun show >in Massachusetts.

OK, this one blows my mind. Never have I seen anyone load any weapon, much less an Uzi, at a gun show. Of course the Uzi would be a semi-auto version, the only kind legal, but the article gives the image of an 8 year old spraying the area. I really think that this article is very misleading. It addresses gun ownership in the US and gives some horrible examples to implant an image of gun owners as irresponsible idiots. I think that even thinking anti-gun folks are aware that gun laws pertain only to legal gun owners, and laws don't stop criminals with illegal guns. Of course the all emotion anti-gun folks simply don't see any difference as they would just like all guns out of civilian hands.
Badsey at 06:45 AM JST - 27th February

If you are really into the 7.62x39 AK look the VZ58 is what you really want. Canadians get the best deal at about $400, but CZ-USA also makes a new version ~$1000. A Yugo SKS can be had for
Badsey at 07:06 AM JST - 27th February

I don't agree with letting kids have their own access to guns. This also includes people like Hillary Clinton (Penn PR hunting shoot) or uneducated gun owners like Barrack Obama. Many things can go wrong with a gun or ammo. You really need to know what you are doing at all times.

E.G. -many gun parts are hardened, by heating said gun parts ( to mount a sight or welding) you destroy the hardening (annealing) and the part must be hardened correctly again. Usually a regular person can't do this since the metal lost carbon in the annealing process so by hardening it again the metal is now brittle. =a very dangerous gun that could break apart.

Then you have the goodball politicians (like Cheney) that tend to shoot others. Politicians and guns are a bad mix.
OssanAmerica at 08:22 AM JST - 27th February

If you are really into the 7.62x39 AK

No I'm not. Because the Russian and East European stuff is expensive and as a result alot of cheaper Chinese versions are sold. Chinese as in NORINCO...controlled by high level PLA folks. So why am I going to buy something that goes into the coffers of an army that trains with the United States as the designated enemy? Support the 5.56X45 and 7.62X51.
GJDailleult at 08:43 AM JST - 27th February

GJDailleult, would it have been different if it were a knife to his throat instead of a gun to his head.

Actually he wouldn't have been able to get close enough to him to put the knife to his throat, so there would have been no situation. And I wouldn't have had to try to figure out how to get out of there before getting hit by a stray bullet.

Anyways, I get the logic of "everybody has a gun so I need one too", and I am not criticizing that. Just saying that there is a big difference between a person who says "I have been in a situation where somebody had a gun to defend himself and so was able to prevent something bad from happening" and someone who says "I can imagine that situation".
likeitis at 09:20 AM JST - 27th February

OssanAmerica, Badsey is quite deaf. But you are killing me with laughter! Great posts in response to Badsey's wanton and reckless "used car" salesmanship.
Badsey at 09:33 AM JST - 27th February

Norinco is banned in the U.S. But very popular in Canada. = you cannot get the M14S in USA, and the older PolyCom Chinese stuff has issues. The CMP has those American classics you so richly deserve (Garand, Carbine, 1903), but they sell-out fast when the repatriated stuff gets in. You may just want to settle for an undervalued .303 Savage Enfield. I'm a big fan of the Swiss K31 7.5x55 (.308 bullets) also -couldn't afford the Sig57 I guess.
likeitis at 10:43 AM JST - 27th February

Actually it was a program that the NRA came up with and wanted to introduce in US schools but the anti-gun lobby fought to keep it out, solely because it came from the "NRA". That it probably would have saved lives is completely ignored.

Hmmm....I think it might have had more to do with dragging guns into schools, thereby giving them a new level of legitimacy, not to mention panicking parents, and also introducing kids to guns who don't even have them in their homes.

When I was in junior high, we were offered a hunter safety course. It was purely voluntary. I do not come from a hunting family. My family is fairly anti-gun with the exception of my father. My grandfather kept an old rifle in the closet, but let me emphasize that it was hidden and never talked about. But I took the course anyway and I am glad I did. But looking around the room, I saw a lot of young men who did not belong anywhere near a gun. You could see the mania in their eye, and I am sure many of them could rattle off models and prices at a machine gun pace. Scary people. But, granted that it was better they took the course than didn't, because they do have guns at home.

Anyway, the NRA does not need to teach anything at schools. They should be happy to advertise there and just get interested students to come down to the community center or something. Teachers who know those kids have guns at home should also encourage them to go get educated on things like: shooting pregnant women is wrong, and you will go to jail for it even if you are 11.
likeitis at 10:49 AM JST - 27th February

laws don't stop criminals with illegal guns.

To a large degree, yes, they do. Criminals do not want to go to jail either, so they stay within the law for the most part. To say otherwise would be to suggest they openly carry their guns 24/7 and shoot them off all the time. They do not.

Also, the laws prevent guns passing into their hands in the first place. Better laws, such as real licensing requirements and owners certificates and the requirement of a notary at every sale would also help a great deal.

Perfection will never be attained. But there is certainly room for improvement.
marklie at 04:31 PM JST - 27th February

Gun possession is a compensation for some other shortcoming. The police have guns. Those of us who are not police and are amply endowed can get along fine without owning guns.
OssanAmerica at 02:27 AM JST - 28th February

Hmmm....I think it might have had more to do with dragging guns into >schools, thereby giving them a new level of legitimacy, not to mention >panicking parents, and also introducing kids to guns who don't even have >them in their homes.

Precisely. The anti-gun crowd has villified the NRA to the point that no sane parent would want their child anywhere near the NRA or "guns". Nearly all states have law prohibiting the posession of firearms on and within a certain distance of any school structures. The program could easily use plastic replicas. Additionally, the program wasn't design specifically for kids who had homes with guns in them, they were also designed for kids who might accidentally find a gun somewhere. There have been cases of gun accidents resulting from such "finds" by kids.

To a large degree, yes, they do. Criminals do not want to go to jail >either, so they stay within the law for the most part. To say otherwise >would be to suggest they openly carry their guns 24/7 and shoot them off >all the time. They do not.

I disagree. Anyone who is going to commit a crime, which if caught is going to result in jail time, isn't going to care about whether having a gun during the crime is going to put him in jail. If anything, the use of a gun by a criminal is to avoid being caught for the planned crime in the first place.