You should be happy he/she is still posting entertainment posts, end of last year it was looking like someone was having a breakdown - I was genuinely getting worried...
What I dislike about you is similar to what I dislike about Jackshit. Your tiny minds are incapable of understanding the vast spectrum of greys that exist in the universe, so you classify everything in black and white terms that you falsely believe you understand. Everything is either fear or boredom. Everything is self hate. To you, everything is simple, easily put in a box. That imagined simplicity is why you believe you understand my motivations. In your mind anybody who thinks differently than you must do it purely because of self hate; if people didn't hate themselves, then they'd agree with you.
I hate to break it to you but you're not real Moonie. You're one of the biggest phonies around, because you have convinced yourself that you understand.
To clarify one thing though, it is not a binary notion. I reduce things to the two I mention because most people are not purchasing for economic motives (sales, trading). Most are purchasing for a sense of safety/security and some purchase for entertainment. I'd happily add more reasons to that brief list should I be exposed to them. To this point, I have not been.
People buy firearms that can no longer fire, ammo can't be purchased for, or otherwise can't be used. Is that boredom or fear? Probably should add every motivation a collector of any items would have to your list.
I bought my first gun when I was 12, because my dad had already taught me how to hunt and I wanted to harvest a deer for food. Growing up in a family of 7 this greatly helped reduce the families grocery bill. Is that fear or boredom? Are all gardeners bored?
I know someone who got a job as an armored truck driver and they required he purchase a carry weapon off their approved list. Was his acquisition out of fear or boredom?
I know a woman who bought a rifle to cull varmints that were causing damage to her land, was she afraid or bored?
For someone lamenting people boiling things down to their basic concepts you seem to have no issue at all just lumping us "tiny minds" together (obviously as opposed to your big throbbing mind) and making sweeping judgments based on, at least in my case, this one topic. But it's hard to blame you. You have a lot invested in protecting your worldview and making sure there is plenty of gray in which to keep yourself covered.
But the key is deeming us unworthy of you actually addressing our queries. I've asked you to illuminate us about what your reasons for owning firearms are that have nothing to do with fears (rational or irrational) nor amusement/entertainment. You have to demean me as lesser than to maintain your haughty position above me without demonstrating anything that puts you in that position. It is a sad tautology. You're better because you say you are. And demonstrating any evidence of that would somehow lower you.
So again, I entreat you, please explain the "gray" motivations behind your firearm ownership. Certainly explaining it will only enrich the conversation for everyone, so you don't have to see it as a direct benefit to me if you're prefer to not. But providing more to talk about the actual topic of this thread could certainly only benefit the discussion, regardless of my participation in it.
To clarify one thing though, it is not a binary notion. I reduce things to the two I mention because most people are not purchasing for economic motives (sales, trading). Most are purchasing for a sense of safety/security and some purchase for entertainment. I'd happily add more reasons to that brief list should I be exposed to them. To this point, I have not been. And you choose to withhold, which as I explained previously seems either petty or pathetic, possibly both.
Ah, now you've changed the rules. You initially set the rules for the conversation by saying that the only possible motivations one could have were fear and boredom, and to choose which of those two motivations my firearms ownership fell under. Your use of the words fear and boredom was intentional. The words fear and boredom have a negative connotation, which would then apply to any activity that fell under them. That makes sense, as you're trying to cast firearms in a negative light. I chose not to play your games under your rules, so I dismissed you as a fool. You just now used the words amusement and entertainment, which are very different than boredom. Those words have a positive connotation.
An activity in which a person partakes in merely as a cure to boredom can be easily substituted with any other activity, presumably one deemed acceptable by you, the busybody. On the other hand as a source of amusement or entertainment, firearms used responsibly can be a positive, enjoyable experience. Far from the fear and boredom you initially tried to associate them with.
I find shooting an enjoyable activity. I like the report of a powerful cartridge, a tiny version of like those loud fireworks that rattle your chest. The feel of the kick in your hands or against your shoulder. The smell of the burning powder. The skill involved in tight shot groupings.
And you're just as awesome and special as I figured you for. Yep, your hobby stands as noble and pure and frankly unassailable. Don't let me with my jackass attitude come anywhere close to provoking you to consider why you do the things you do, and possibly see how your hobbies are likely about as unimportant as anyone's.
I'm not threatening your hobby. How could I with these soft and sensitive balls of mine? I sit on mine and wind up uncomfortable for hours. You've demonstrated repeatedly that you have the balls of a marble statue knocking around in your scrotum, and thus have so much less to fear than me. You are literally a better man. I just want to know if your ownership of firearms is because you're bored or afraid, since it's one of those two at its core.
So what's your motivation then?
You still refuse to just state it plainly.
Your first example is boredom. It entertains you to own these relics, antiques, and the like. No harm in it at all. Amuse yourself however you like. All hobbies fall under boredom, no?
Second example is fear. Worried that there wouldn't be enough food, you sought to hunt and help provide. Would you say that's still an issue for a plurality of families in the U.S. at this point? That seems like a situation that society has mostly outgrown through food production and distribution.
The third example is certainly an oddball, but the guy either wanted the job very much, or didn't want to bother trying to find one that didn't require such a purchase. What would you call that, at its core? What would you say was compelling him in that scenario?
And your last example I've already addressed. Those who are protecting livestock/land don't fall into either. Sorry you seemed to come in only at this point and think I'm just another pinhead, but I'm not. I'm also not actively against people owning guns. I'm not a gun-grabber of any kind. I just like people to have the deepest possible understanding of what motivates them to do the things they do. It's philosophical.
I wasn't assuming anything of your intellect, just wanted to give examples of motivators I knew of; seeing as no one else had given any specifics.
You start out with an insult then wonder when he doesn't react well? There's a reason I don't talk much in these gun threads anymore...the people who are capable of seeing reason already have to some degree. The people like you however are chanting that all gun owners sit behind a door with 10 locks on it, cradling the gun.
It doesn't help when you have people like Spidey on here that actually DO that...but most gun owners do it because it's fun. Or they like collecting things. Restoring them, building them and so forth.
Alright;Here's my take on this bullshit:
When I was in High School,this shit didn't happen because everyone had guns.
80% of the vehicles in the parking lot had a school-shop made gunrack in the back of their truck with at least 1 gun in it..2 if you weren't poor/weak.]
This stuff never happened before liberal education..true story.
That event changed my core being.
Have you considered talking to a psychologist ?
You may be suffering from serious issues
When you go through that violation of your home you let me know.
Till then I will protect my family. Like I said. You'll understand once you have something to protect.
Fears are not unfounded or people living in high crime areas or former victims. If i have to live in South Side of Chicago I damn sure carry a gun everywhere including school law or no law. Jail time is nothing compared to death.
As is I live behind walls with armed guards who do the protection work for me so I dont even lock my house. Not like a lock really stops someone anyway. Simple kick door open and you got a $500 jam and door to fix.
That's a cultural problem that will never be fixed. Violence has continued to go down as people began arming themselves to combat it.
In my state such behavior is known as "a good way to get yourself shot".
Oh yea, more guns means less violence, just look at the middle east where everybody has guns.... no violence there.... none at all!
Oh yea, more guns means less violence, just look at the middle east where everybody has guns.... no violence there.... none at all!