Do you own a gun?

[Kathandira]

Your choice of course. And certainly is better than just your hands. But there are some good reasons for the old saying, " do not bring a knife to a gun fight".

Totally understood. I'm just not a big fan of the idea of having a gun in the house. Fortunately, I have a small 1 bedroom apartment. Unless they came in like a swat team, weapon drawn and at the ready clearing corners with a partner, i'd actually have the advantage with a blade. Within close range, if you don't have your weapon drawn, a knife will win most of the time.

[Ghostpanther]

Totally understood. I'm just not a big fan of the idea of having a gun in the house. Fortunately, I have a small 1 bedroom apartment. Unless they came in like a swat team, weapon drawn and at the ready clearing corners with a partner, i'd actually have the advantage with a blade. Within close range, if you don't have your weapon drawn, a knife will win most of the time.

Yeah. Knives up close are just as deadly I think as a firearm. And I am not knocking your choice of a home defense weapon. We each have our own situation and limitations. In mine, someone can break into my house and I do not want to them to get close enough period. I will try to stop them before they do.

[Freesya]

Owning a gun in my country is generally prohibited, you have to get special permits and undergo several mental tests to even be able to apply for one which I think is a very good thing. Enabling everyone to be able to take a hold of a gun is extremely dangerous. Only stable people who have justified reasons should be able to obtain one. And even so you never know what comes to someone's mind at some point and if he won't just go flailing that thing around killing innocent people.
You can use several other options in short-distance selfdefense. So unless you run into someone with a gun (which due to the prohibition is generally a low possibility here) I see no point in having one. As badass it would seem.

[Kathandira]

Yeah. Knives up close are just as deadly I think as a firearm. And I am not knocking your choice of a home defense weapon. We each have our own situation and limitations. In mine, someone can break into my house and I do not want to them to get close enough period. I will try to stop them before they do.

I'm with ya. My apartment would be a hilarious gun fight tbh. You walk into from the door to the kitchen, one step out of the kitchen is my bedroom door, one step past that is the living room. It is all open space with just an island between the kitchen and living room, so you would have two people within 10 to 15 feet of each other with weapons drawn.

Essentially, it would look like this.



lol

[RampageBW1]

Technically? We have a single load shotgun that we haven't need to use in decades (family basically bought it on a whim when they heard about a possible serial killer in the area we used to live at the time). And a mid 19th century pistol (an antique). Nothing viable against home invaders.

Got some knives though. A family member, who's no longer with us, used to be a knife collector.

[Ghostpanther]

I'm with ya. My apartment would be a hilarious gun fight tbh. You walk into from the door to the kitchen, one step out of the kitchen is my bedroom door, one step past that is the living room. It is all open space with just an island between the kitchen and living room, so you would have two people within 10 to 15 feet of each other with weapons drawn.

Essentially, it would look like this.



lol

ROFL. I loved those Naked Gun movies. Thanks for sharing that short clip.

[Draenox]

No, they are illegal to own for private citizens here

[Ghostpanther]

Technically? We have a single load shotgun that we haven't need to use in decades (family basically bought it on a whim when they heard about a possible serial killer in the area we used to live at the time). And a mid 19th century pistol (an antique). Nothing viable against home invaders.

Got some knives though. A family member, who's no longer with us, used to be a knife collector.

Both of those could be viable weapons against a home invader. Not ideal, but better than your bare hands. If they are operational. Never try to use a firearm you are not confident it will work safely. And occasionally practice with it, so you know how effective it will be, improve your accuracy and the max range. Keep them clean too!!

[Moonstream]

Yes, I have one. I live in the country and sometimes have to deal with predators or having to put down sick livestock. If it wasn't for that though, I probably wouldn't honestly.

[Rustedsaint]

Hunting rifle also a hunting crossbow thou I never get a chance to go hunting anymore

[Hugnomo]

Nope. And unless you're a hunter, you wouldn't really need one here. Thankfully.

[Ghostpanther]

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Never fire an antique firearm. Period.

Na. Depends on the shape it is in. There are several which have been fired. You have to know the condition and make sure the ammo you are using is not too powerful for it. If it has been taken care of and you are using the same type of powder and such as originally was used, they are safe to fire. There are many which are all the time. Some have been reconditioned. So really depends on the firearm.

[melodramocracy]

I don't own one, don't fault anyone that does. I keep meaning to get one, but there's always some car part I'd rather have, so...

[Ornerybear]

Yes, I could say for self defense against people but where I live I doubt I would ever need one considering I live in a very rural area.

I mainly have firearms to protect my animals. That's why my father taught me to shoot at the age of 7. My property is fairly well protected from predators but I still get raccoons and coyotes on my property. I could care less if the occasional chicken gets picked off, it will happen, but if something gets in the coop at night, I'm losing all my birds. We have fox but I've not seen em, mostly coyotes are the issue since they hunt the abundant population of deer here. Luckily bear still haven't moved back in yet, but there have been sightings. I have dogs to help protect the property, but I love them and would hate to see one get injured, so i'd like to be able to help them if need be.

I do also have a couple of heirloom early 1900s rifles from my great grandfather that he used to bounty hunt game in the west to support the family with food and money.

EDIT: To those who sit there and say "you should have a better fenced property", you might want to consider a few points. A) predators will find a way in if they want to. B) putting up fencing on a large piece of property is time consuming and/or expensive. Unlike in other parts of the world, it's not always expensive to buy a lot of land in certain rural areas of America. this can afford you self sufficiency and the ability to raise animals and your own food. To fence this securely may be a huge challenge or impossible.

[Ghostpanther]

Knowing the condition of a weapon like that that’s well over 100 years old requires ultrasounds and the like to ensure barrel integrity. Never fire a gun that old. And most assuredly don’t do so on a regular basis.

Well yes, you need to know for sure and if there is any question on shooting a old firearm, you should take it to a gunsmith to make sure. And some old antique firearms were taken good care of and still shoot just fine and safely today. Not sure you need ultra sounds, I mean you could if you want to, but the barrel does needs to in good shape. Which a gunsmith can tell you that.

Here is a unusual one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoNUgQZ-wf8

- - - Updated - - -

And since these guns, as admitted, haven't been fired in years the condition they're in is unknowable without spending a stupid amount of money to be sure. As is the case with 99.9% of all antique guns. It's just stupid to fire an antique firearm that's been sitting on a shelf for decades. Which is why the general advice is to never fire them. If you really absolutely must fire them, you take them to an expert on such things to verify that it's safe and then fire it under their supervision. I doubt many people are going to want to pay such a person to be on hand 24/7 so they can use a crappy antique from 150+ years ago for protection.

Makes much more sense to get rid of the antique and get a modern pistol for home defense.

Which is why it is important to have confidence in any firearm when it comes to safety and operation. I do agree about it makes more sense to get a modern firearm. But the blanket statement, never fire a antique firearm. Period. While good advice for novices, is not true in every case.

[Drusin]

Do I own a gun? No.
Why not? Really, just can't be arsed to go through the steps to get one, whatever they might be. Even if there were no steps it'd be tough to get me to go out just to buy a gun, shit I don't want to go out to get food most of the time lol.

But, if I think for a moment that stricter gun laws would be coming I'd buy a few. I would certainly grab a 627 V-Comp, SR22, AR15, 92FS, P99, P22, and a shotgun but not sure which. Also where I'm thinking of moving apparently has some occasional black bear so maybe a .375 rifle or something.

[Gimlix]

Let's be honest here, the "No you should be able to" and the "yes" option are all americans. The no option is the rest of the world.

[Vargulf the Happy Husky]

Only rednecks and gangbangers own guns in Canada. I’m neither.

what is a canadian gangbanger?

ot: i do not own a gun.

[Xandrigity]

We used to have a shot gun and my exhusband had a handgun. Presently we have no guns in our home. I do support gun rights, however I’m all for banning the sale of assault weapons to the public and associated ammunition’s.

In this day and age I see no reason for assault weapons in the home.

[Deleted]

Live in the UK so no, if I lived in the US I'd certainly have one.

You can own guns in the UK, shotguns are a must issue unless you are mental.