Black rifle thread

[DaveB]

I dunnknow. She hasn’t told me if she has. She’s 30. I’m on a need to know basis. She’s got me blocked on FB

My wife is only 4'11" and back when we first started going out about 37 years ago I let her shoot 4 of my guns to see her reaction.
A Marlin 30/30 lever action, followed by a Mossberg 500 AL shotgun, then a High Standard Supermatic Citation Bull Barrel 22 and finally an S&W Model 19 .357 magnum.
My Omark 7.62 rifle was too big and heavy for her to hold.
She loved them but hasn't shot any since.

 

[LC0013]

No sorry.
The fact you feel the need to have that many guns shows you have considerably less freedom than many of us enjoy.

Sorry but, I believe your country maximizes public safety (so they wish you to believe) while USA maximizes individual freedom. You may feel safe without a handgun, however, with a handgun I feel safe as well. Difference is I have much more freedom to purchase firearms than you do and, generally, feel safe every where. Except shit holes like Memphis and Chicago. Need an AR then.

 

[Big Harry]

I’m a keen firearms owner and have been for 45 years. Generally I prefer classic & historic as opposed to more modern FAs. Ultimately it shouldn’t matter how many you own or what type you wish to own on the basis of one’s respect of your country’s laws and your own fit & proper status. I also own a number of vehicles, as the majority of the membership of this forum probably do as well. Regardless of how many vehicles you own or the number of firearms you have, you can only use one at a time. The vast majority of responsible people will never intentionally harm anyone by driving a vehicle or owning & shooting a firearm. But statistically, we have a greater chance of being harmed with a motor vehicle than we ever will with a firearm. We’ve been for years instilled with irrational fears of what might happen as opposed to what, in reality does happen, with constant negative messaging & images of events that the vast majority will never experience. The one thing we should all fear is media misinformation & fear mongering of those with negative agendas.
Go forward and enjoy your interests & hobbies, especially those new Grenadier’s
Cheers
Harry

 

[Zimm]

No sorry.
The fact you feel the need to have that many guns shows you have considerably less freedom than many of us enjoy.

If I lived in the US I would also have several guns probably not more than one AR, if even one.
2 or 3 handguns definitely.

I don't even lock my house here and often leave the vehicles unlocked as well.
Obviously there are places in the larger cities where you wouldn't do that, but nowhere that you should feel the need to own a gun.
Most people in Australia would never have seen a gun let alone own one.

That’s a complete non sequitur. Some people choosing to own more than one gun because they can, does not logically translate as any reflection of freedom other than they are apparently permitted to own more than one gun. You do own some guns, as you’ve said, and there are people here on this forum in the US (most, likely) that don’t own a single gun and don’t lock their doors. Can we now conclude we have more freedom than you?

You’re just taking some random data point and applying it as proof for some pre conceived notion. As if there has to some underlying cause other than one one feels like it, and that cause was naturally youre better than me.

The town I live in is consistently rated as the very best town to live in, in a state with 13m people, and we repeatedly tell people to keep their doors locked. A certain % of any given population has sexual criminals no matter how wealthy or poor. Random people come thru town and good thieves tend be outsiders no one will recognize. They don’t shit where they eat. You not locking doors doesn’t mean you’re freer, or safer, all it means is if someone comes thru town looking to commit a crime of convenience, you just made yourself the convenient one. Have at it.

 

[Clark Kent]

Interesting thread.
Another Australian perspective.

As a farm kid I grew up around firearms. They were another working tool, the same as tractors and shovels. Gun safety was taught to kids alongside road safety. Nothing to be afraid of given proper respect and use.
Later as a soldier I spent many nights sleeping with my L1A1 SLR under my stretcher. Back then I could "shoot the i out of shit" according to one weapons instructor I trained with. I represented Australia in an international military shooting comp in 1993. Good but not good enough.

I also did a lot of rifle shooting outside the military. Mostly (4-legged) vermin hunting at night using handheld spotlights from a vehicle or a motorcycle on the move. A good way to maintain my shooting skills and proficiency.
Target shooting was ok for load development and zeroing but boring otherwise. Pistols didn't interest me.

The only time I was genuinely scared by the presence of a firearm was standing at the concierge desk getting Broadway tickets as a guest at the Waldorf Astoria in NYC when this went down in 2008. I had been standing in that same store only a few minutes earlier and was just a moment away from being involved because I was bored in the line and my wife had just sent me back to look at something for her. I've done a lot of shooting, but the sound of gunfire in an environment where it had no right to be was a shock. It took a few seconds to process what I had heard before dragging my wife out of the ticket queue into protective cover. I was quite shaken up for a few days. In NYC it was probably just another Saturday.

Guns, yes.
Guns that are too easy to obtain by the wrong people or are inadequately secured, no.