I grew up with guns, too. But, all my guns have been given away or sold. Well, not quite true, I still have a BB Gun in the garage somewhere.
When I lived in California, my boyfriend loved to go out to the desert early in the morning and shoot rattlesnakes and as a result I got pretty good at killing them as well. Later on, another boyfriend in Texas had a ton of weapons to choose from and we would go almost every weekend and target shoot and trap shooting.
I have never met anyone that was really a serious shooter that was not a good person, same for fishing. I mean seriously into it not the every now and then types, I am in my 70's and still try to shoot at least 300+ rounds a week in practice, used to shoot 500 every week. Between shooting, fishing, my dogs and neighbor that describes my life here. Just today I have had 2 calls both from shooting friends just calling we check on each other daily, usually shoot 2 times a week and also fish every week all year long.
Last Sat was our big monthly pistol match one of our main club officials got to feeling ill and went to hospital and was CV positive so our match cancelled as some had been with him on a practice session Wednesday we have all involved in quarantine for 2 weeks then retest 2 weeks more and retest again. To come back we take no chances there. Has to have proof of test also. Our club has a max of 750 members with a 3 year plus waiting list to join and been this way many years. I had not been around any of them in over a month! Next month if all is ok is our pistol and carbine match every other month rotated. About 150 rounds avg. With the current ammo shortages it will effect some for sure but most of the regulars saw all this coming in Feb and planned well for it, I sure did so thankfully, we shoot lots of ammo, I also cast bullets and reload and have all my adult life. Also December will be our toys for tots drive match as in years past.
@Tex Dennis Looked in vain on line and in stores for some .22 Short ammunition. My friend in Missouri just sent me a box, shipped from Natchez. Amazing. Frank
I generally only load my guns when I am up north on our land, either target-shooting or pretending that there's anything for me to be afraid of in the woods since I think I really only carry it once in a while so that I don't feel like I wasted my money on the things. Maine has constitutional carry, but I haven't seen any reason to actually carry a gun with me. However, I have kept a handgun nearby for the past couple of days, and to further demonstrate how much I have felt that I needed one to be safe in my home, it took me a half-hour to remember where I had put the ammunition. Anyhow, I'm still not overly afraid but my wife was away at a conference relating to the addiction recovery center she runs for a couple of days, while I was at home. Thursday night someone rang my doorbell at about 10:00 pm. I was upstairs, but awake and dressed, yet when I answered the door, moments later, no one was there. I didn't see anyone on the sidewalk, and there were no cars in front of the house. If someone were simply walking away or getting in their car, I think I'd have seen them, so it seemed to be someone who didn't want to be seen. That was odd because we rarely get unexpected visitors that late, and the idea that someone rang our doorbell and ran seems odd. There had been someone there because our security light outside and the one on our porch were both on, and they are motion-activated. I can't imagine a good reason why someone would ring our doorbell and run at 10:00 pm, so it seemed like it was probably someone who didn't want to talk to me. Someone at our door would be able to see me coming down the stairs before I would be able to see them since the light inside the porch is dimmer than the one on the stairwell. So, I have been thinking that since the clients at my wife's recovery center are people who are actively addicted or recovering from addiction, it wouldn't be improbable that someone might have been aware that my wife was going to be gone for a couple of days, and may have assumed that I would be going with her, or not even know that we were married, for that matter. I don't have anyone in particular in mind, but it could have been someone who expected to find an empty house, and one of the best ways to figure that out would be to ring the doorbell or knock. There was also a staff member who left on some bad terms, but I tend not to believe that it would be that person. Possibly related, a few weeks ago, I found our front door standing open and both of the cats outside. That could have been a mistake on our part, by not fully closing it, which is what I had kind of assumed at the time, although it seemed doubtful since we're both pretty conscious about that, having two cats who welcome the opportunities that an open door would provide. So, at least for a while, I'll have the handgun nearby, and we'll lock the doors even when we're home and awake, which is not something that we ordinarily do. The 12-gauge would be scarier and more effective, I suppose, but I am not going to walk around the house with a shotgun, and I'm certainly not going to sleep with one. I wouldn't want to deafen my cats, anyhow. Again, I am not overly concerned about anything. It could have been something having nothing to do with anything nefarious. I'm just not sure what that might be.
Maybe I should answer the door with my big ugly knives. Really, and more on-topic, people make far too much of an issue over guns. They are tools and, as tools, I would argue that they're far less dangerous than chainsaws, and I don't know of any movement to ban chainsaws. Certainly, it's a lot easier to learn to use a gun safely than to use a chainsaw safely. If the number of gun deaths that were self-inflicted, along with those that were inflicted by police, were subtracted from the total number of gun deaths, the numbers wouldn't be worrisome. The fact that at the same time that the police are becoming less able or willing to keep us safe, there are people within our government who would prevent us from taking steps towards making ourselves safe, should be more worrisome. These same people are usually in favor of using US tax dollars to arm people from any other country while arguing for disarming Americans. That is worrisome.
If you should have need to use one of those then you're too close. ;0) I thought about buying a military riot gun from the 60s until I saw the price of one. Heck they are all antiques and they go for about 5000 dollars. I'll stay with my aluminum ball bat and hope I hear them first. Thank goodness it is quiet and peaceful here.
I carried a gun around for a while after my wife received death threats a number of years ago. They were anonymous phone calls, but we suspected it was the husband of a friend of hers who was going through a nasty divorce. I carry when we are having predator or pest problems, but haven't shot anything other than a few rabbits/hares in the bean patch. Handguns are useful when the bears wake up hungry. Although they are not the best defense, they can be always with you should you need them. I have read a lot of stuff about Britain recently, and it seems them folks there, especially the women, are always at the mercy of the stronger people around. Tom Gresham on Gun Talk Radio said the British have a higher violent crime rate than we do. I tried to get a definitive answer to confirm that, and, while we have many more homicides per capita than they do, I was unable to find real numbers on overall violent crime. Don't know what is true, but a carried gun can be a great "equalizer" if properly deployed. I am thankful we have the right to carry whatever we feel we need to carry.
Young people still get stunned when I show them a picture, on my iPhone, of my wife shooting her Smith-Wesson 9mm handgun. They even get more stunned when I tell them she is 74. Guess not many, if any, young people (Millennials/Gen X) know a woman that is my wife's age, that has a handgun and can use it.