WinterBorn
Diamond Member
Are all gun deaths at the hands of criminals? If they are, why would anyone oppose a back ground check in order to keep the criminal from owning a gun? When a kid picks up a gun and snuffs out his life because the gun cultured idiot parent of hers did not properly secure it, is it a problem of inadequate safes, or is it indeed a gun? Is there a connection between guns and gun violence?Long guns and pistols with semi-automatic firing systems are widely used in drive by shootings and are the weapon of choice in mass shootings. What puts the "mass" in mass shooting? The ability to spray as many rounds as quickly as possible.
Bolt action rifles are sporting guns. Pump action shotguns are sporting guns. Even some revolvers are sporting guns. But semi-automatics are designed to kill human beings. As many human beings as possible in the shortest possible time. They are NOT sporting guns, but weapons designed for a battlefield.
And without a criminal to operate them, they are simply mechanical objects.
Oh, and I have hunted rabbits with a semi-auto handgun on numerous occasions. The Ruger Mk II is an excellent small game hunting gun and an even better target piece.
People also hunt with semi-auto rifles, and have for years. Remington make a couple of nice rifles for deer hunting that are semi-auto.
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Actually, many of the accidental deaths involving firearms can be laid at the feet of the anti-gun crowd. In times past, we as a culture did not fear or go nuts about guns like we do now. The fact that children have been suspended from school for drawing guns on paper, pointing their fingers, or (god forbid) eating a poptart in such a way as to leave a gun shaped pastry. Children were routinely taught gun safety.
The parents who leave loaded guns where children without safety training can get them are guilty of negligent homicide. But the gun itself is not to blame. And certainly the gun owner who stores his firearms properly should not be punished.
The gun culture is overwhelmingly safety oriented. Go to a gun range and violate a safety rule if you do not believe me. Leaving a loaded firearm out where a child is NOT part of any gun culture to which I belong or have been exposed to in my life.