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somedudevt t1_j5wox72 wrote

Reply to comment by TheTowerBard in self-defense effectively being banned in Vermont. by Northwoods01

My man, I’d like to offer you the opportunity to try guns out. The thing about anti-gun people is they lack experience. I too was very anti-gun in my teens and early 20s. I was raised by a hunter, and tried it as a kid and it was not for me. I got to high-school right as Michael Moores movie was coming out, and I became opposed to guns as bad things bad people had. An interesting thing happened to me in my early 20s, I was given a shotgun that had belonged to my grandfather and father. I didn’t have a ton of interest in it, but since both had been dead since I was a little kid, I thought I would try to experience it as a way of connecting. So I went to a range and with a buddy we shot some clays.

There is something strange that you feel when you are at a shooting range, it’s that adrenaline, but in a controlled and safe environment. From that point I started collecting guns, at one point even getting a FFL. Over time I’ve stopped shooting due to cost and other priorities, but I still go 1-2 times a year, and every time I feel the joy. I have what I would assume is a fairly average collection of guns by gun owner standards with 8 assorted guns (plinked, duck gun, grandpas gun, hunting rifle I bought when I thought maybe adult me likes hunting NOPE, couple handguns, and then some international guns from Nam and ww2.)

I don’t actively carry out of fear or for any real tangible reason, but there is usually a pistol locked up in the truck, that depending on the day I may carry with me. It’s not really for any reason other than to be prepared. I’m not afraid in Vermont, though I have had a gun pulled on me by a drug dealer at a bar when I was younger. I carry, when I carry, because I have the right to carry.

I think that if you got some experience with firearms at a range trying out different ones you would change your tune on them. Not everyone is a nut job who carries. In fact I’d bet that of the Vermonters who carry the most common use of their carry firearm is to dispatch a wounded animal that’s been hit by a car after contacting a warden or state police barracks, which is the only time I know of any of my friends using theirs outside of range days.

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TheTowerBard t1_j5wv77a wrote

My dude, I grew up in VT. I have plenty of experience with guns, unfortunately.

Listen, I know my experience is anecdotal, but I lost two friends to accidental discharges before I was old enough to drive (no, I was not present for either). Both families were very responsible gun owners. Hunting families. Again, this was in VT. I promise nothing will sway my opinion of guns.

And yes, I grew up in a house with a gun. One. A shotgun supposedly for defense or to scare of a bear or something. The only time it ever got used was for skeet shooting. Then eventually my dad sold it. Never told me why and I didn’t ask. It only came up because I had kids of my own and didn’t want them snooping through grandpa’s closet and finding it.

Now, I do have a pretty gnarly sword collection though that was passed down to me from MY grandfather. He never touched a gun after WWII, but somehow collected about 20 swords in his travels during the war and kept collecting after.

Also my dude, the thing you like is adrenaline, not guns. Try some sword training if you want a good time in that department. Shooting a gun is too easy. You got to mix that adrenaline with some action and a pinch of pain for the best high.

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somedudevt t1_j5wvtln wrote

I can tell you for free that a sword isn’t gonna stop the fascists when they knock on the door. I’d rather defend my castle from them with my collection of Russian nazi killers, complete with baynets for your sword stuff haha.

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TheTowerBard t1_j5ww6u4 wrote

I got a couple bayonets if you need to borrow one.

Anyway, that’s not gonna happen and again, your comment returns us to the issue of paranoia…

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somedudevt t1_j5wx4dt wrote

Were you under a rock on January 6th? Have you not met any of the fine folks who serve in our armed forces and police forces (many are great, but there are a LOT of well trained whack jobs with heavy artillery.)

I hope to fuck that shit doesn’t hit the fan. But as a person who plays the markets a lot, call owning guns and learning to use them a hedge. My main line of betting is that it won’t happen, so I spend most of my time and resources on fun stuff. But if I see a deal on ammo for a gun I own I grab a case. If I see a good deal on a gun I think would complement the collection I grab it. I take each to the range 2 times a year to practice, and I have them strategically around my residence.

Call it paranoid, I call it prepared and a hedge on my bet that the world is roses and sunshine. A cheap hedge at that. Costs me under $500 a year, and what I own is worth more than I’ve paid for it.

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somedudevt t1_j5wx1r0 wrote

Were you under a rock on January 6th? Have you not met any of the fine folks who serve in our armed forces and police forces (many are great, but there are a LOT of well trained whack jobs with heavy artillery.

I hope to fuck that shit doesn’t hit the fan. But as a person who plays the markets a lot, call owning guns and learning to use them a hedge. My main line of betting is that it won’t happen, so I spend most of my time and resources on fun stuff. But if I see a deal on ammo for a gun I own I grab a case. If I see a good deal on a gun I think would complement the collection I grab it. I take each to the range 2 times a year to practice, and I have them strategically around my residence.

Call it paranoid, I call it prepared and a hedge on my bet that the world is roses and sunshine. A cheap hedge at that. Costs me under $500 a year, and what I own is worth more than I’ve paid for it.

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TheTowerBard t1_j5wzghk wrote

Ah, I read you wrong. Apologies. You’re one of the rare ones whose concerns are actually somewhat grounded in reality. I salute you.

The issue is, we will never see a modern civil war or major conflict here between citizens. No one is coming to your door. What is happening, and what will continue to happen, are isolated domestic terrorist incidents.

And when it comes to defending ourselves from our local military forces… er, uh… police, it’s just not going to happen. That’s why we need to completely rework our approach to policing (which isn’t happening).

The issue I see, and a big part of the reason I feel the way I do about guns is because of the cycle of violence we are stuck in. My sword may not do much against your gun, but your gun isn’t going to do much against a police force, which isn’t going to much against… It’s just ever escalating violence.

We need nonviolent solutions to our problems. Solving them with violence only creates new issues.

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somedudevt t1_j5x0x9t wrote

To say that there won’t be some sort of event in our lifetimes is hopeful. But I’d guess that in 1910 most people in Europe didn’t expect the next 35 years to go the way they did. I’d bet in 1830 people weren’t thinking to themselves “gah lee it’d be nice to shoot eachother in 30 years”

The military industrial complex is a thing, it is an issue, no refuting that. On the hole the world needs less violence. It needs more peace. I don’t disagree.

But my location on the spectrum of peace is if the asshole down the road with a trump flag and a confederate flag has a gun, I’m not gonna hope he misses. I have no plan to ever use a gun on a person. Or really anything other than some clays. But if there is even an infinitesimal chance that the fascists will feel froggy. I want to be ready to hit them in their leap.

And in the mean time the guns are fun as fuck to shoot, they are better than real estate for value growth, and they have no upkeep cost. It just seems like a no brainer to be prepared as a just in case.

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TheTowerBard t1_j5x2yyp wrote

I didn’t say there wouldn’t be an event, but there will not be a war on American soil. War is only really profitable if we do it somewhere else. There will be MANY isolated events though, unfortunately. It’s very unlikely any of them will be in VT as well.

Please keep in mind that even though those chuds are dumb and violent, they are an extreme minority of our population. The extreme majority of us just want to maintain the status quo (unfortunately, imo). They like to pound their chest and act tough, but they’re not. They are VERY outnumbered and they know it. The only thing they have going for them is the fact that most people are distracted and nonviolent. The only reason that element has so much pull in politics is because our capitalist society keeps everyone too busy to pay attention to what’s going on. We can’t catch up on the news on the weekends either navies sportball is happening. The majority of Americans do not agree with the things the far right believes, but they just aren’t paying attention. It’s appalling how few people actually vote.

And yeah, I hear you. Dude not far from me has a “spay and neuter all liberals” banner on his house. Not sure how calling for genocide isn’t hate speech but here we are. That said, there’s about 20 BLM and Pride flags for every Trump flag in my neighborhood. Those chuds ain’t doing shit.

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