Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrragh

[peternap]

I'm cleaning house today . Soon, our Grand Daughter will stay for a week while her brother is born. I have been a knife/sword/gun builder and an avid shooter not to mention...a paranoid defender of my world, for more years than I can count.

I have guns, knives and swords in every single room ( I have taken 4 swords. 9 knives...not counting pocket knives, 3 loaded handguns, 2 shotguns and a rifle, out of our den). And...that was the easy one. I knew where everything was. Not too long ago I found a 12ga pistol I had made, under the sofa in the living room. I have no idea how long it had been there. I've always believed that one should never be more than 4 steps from a loaded gun and now I have to move them,

After I find everything, I have to move it to the gun room which is already full...(Probably why I had the pistol under the sofa). My wife and son expect a lot! What if the Indians attack?

[John_C]

No worries Peter.  The Indians won't attack unless you request computer tech support.   

[glenn kangiser]

[peternap]

I had to read it twice (Senior Understanding)

[Sassy]

   How much coffee have you had already, John C?     

[John_C]

Just one cup 
Why do you ask?

[peternap]

Peter that is shocking to me...

I have never owned a gun... and you have like 50 weapons in the house...I could not imagine ever needing a gun

Well get ready to be shocked some more because I have a whole lot more than 50. I have built more than 50. Look back a month or so, I made a shotgun out of parts I had stashed away.

They are no different than the cars you have. They are tools as well as fun and by themselves, don't hurt anyone. A gun used by a criminal is no more dangerous than a car used by a drunk driver.

Just for the shock value, I'm an avid bow hunter also. I just moved a couple hundred arrows OUT of the gun room and into the shop to make room and yes, I make some of my own bows too.

[glenn kangiser]

Make any bows out of Osage Orange, Peter?  I heard it was good for bows.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

I grew up in a home where there was always a loaded .22 and a shotgun. There was also a revolver in the nightstand.  I don't remember the revolver ever being used, but the other two were quite handy.  We also had a pellet gun we used on every now and then just to scare a critter away. 
All of us kids knew that if we wanted to live to be a ripe old age, we were not to touch any of those guns without permission and supervision, and to the best of my knowledge, none of us ever did.

[ScottA]

Peter your only option is to build an armory. I wonder if John has plans?

[peternap]

I guess one of the things that ticks me off the most about guns is hearing idiots run their mouths...Whenever they get into an argument and they are losing face they make reference to their gun.... I have had a few people get mad and say they were going to whoop me and when they realized I was not scared of them and I would rip off their heads.. They would say they were getting a gun...

For protecting your home a gun is okay... for hunting a gun is okay... But too many people in my opinion use guns to feel like a man... or to make up for their lack of being a man...

Unfortunately, your right about some people. That's not the guns fault though.

There are other reasons for guns though. Target shooting is enjoyable and relaxing.
Building them, especially period correct muzzle loaders is one of the higher forms of art and until a few years ago, almost lost.

[gandalfthegrey]

Older pieces are nice to have.  I HAD a Johnson breakdown 12 gauge early 1900 model.  It was swiped by my brother a long time ago.  We are back on speaking terms.  I also HAVE a 1928 model 7MM Mauser.  This one I stripped the stock and refinished to my liking and removed all of the old straps.  It still shoots true and is well kept and out of sight.

[Sassy]

Here's an article on rates of violent crimes compared to % of population owning a gun...

Is Philadelphia's Violence Due to Firearm Availability?
The first exception is where the group of states with firearms ownership rates between 20% and 30% of all households had a higher violent crime rate than those states with less than 20%. However, as ownership levels rose above 30%, violent crime rates consistently decreased: States with over 50% ownership rates had a 46.9% lower violent crime rate than states with 20-30%, and 42.3% lower violent crime than states with less than 20% ownership rates.......

http://www.newswithviews.com/Nemerov/howard1.htm

[NM_Shooter]

Peter, I wish you were a neighbor! 

I own a bunch too... but do so primarily as a competitor and casual hunter.  They are all locked away though and would not be easy to get to in an emergency.  I have young kids so I don't keep any loose around the house.  Might be a good idea for me to get a closet handgun safe.  I went through a CCW class so that when we are hiking or travelling I could bring one along and not have to wear it in view.

Shooting an intruder in your house is dangerous from a legal standpoint.  (I think Florida is more relaxed). The CCW class was good in explaining the legalities of shooting someone.  You have to feel in grave danger for your life or someone else, and while not required, it is best to retreat, tell the person you have a gun and will shoot them if they don't stop.  Even then, you are still going to get arrested.  My instructor said "you might beat the rap, but you won't beat the ride".  If there is a shooting, it is not up to the cops to determine your innocence.  In NM, you are going to be taken in and presented before a judge.  There is good luck you will be released, but you are still going, and you are probably losing your gun too.

One of the ladies in my home office in PHX lives in a gated community in PHX.  She was travelling but her husband Keith was home.  No kids.  At 2 am he heard someone banging on his house door.  He went down and saw no one.  Then he heard someone on the back patio making commotion.  A drunk (druggie?) had plastic patio furniture and was smashing it against his sliding door.  Keith grabbed the phone, called the cops, and started to yell at the guy.  The guy became enraged at Keith, and started yelling back, and kept hitting the door.  Keith went and got a baseball bat and waited for the cops.  I told him he should have gotten into the car in his garage and left.  Anyway, the cops finally arrived and held the guy down.  Keith went outside, and the guy shook the cops and ran at Keith, who promptly whacked him with the bat.  No charges filed against Keith    Case is pending against the intruder.

This is in a very, very nice neighborhood.  Anything can happen, anywhere. 

[peternap]

I'm not sure all my neighbors feel that way. I have a forge. I do carry a gun when I go to the city and some places here in the burbs. As people moved into the country, so did violent crime. I also carry a Taser and have gotten very fond of it. I was talking to a self defense instructor and several students last week (I used to teach) and was explaining that the Taser gave a person options to killing their attacker.

When they asked why they needed options (The Students), I gave them two simple reasons. Killing someone is an awesome burden, both emotionally  and legally. Just as you explained.

The second reason is that I've gotten too old to want to wrestle with an unarmed attacker. IMHO, far too many people are killed and too many victims are prosecuted because they didn't allow for that middle ground.

I always carry one when in the field......Both for protection against animals, which is very rare and humans. Human preditors seem everywhere these days.

I got a little lax about having guns out after my kids moved out. Guess I'll have to get back in the habit of keeping them out of reach for a while longer.

[peternap]

Cop told me that if you ever shoot someone  breaking into your home make sure you kill them... shoot twice center mass...

That way you can say you were in grave danger and there is nobody there to say otherwise... If you leave them alive they will swear they were not going to hurt you... and give you some bullshit crybaby story... in court they would wear a cross and talk about how they have found Jesus... and all that crap

If you are going to shoot em... Kill em....

Go outside get a stick and put it in their hands if need be to make em look more threatening ....Just do not leave them alive

Cops should stick to getting free coffee at 7/11 and molesting teenage girls.
It's one thing to shoot someone to defend yourself and your family. It's an entirely different thing to execute someone because the first shot didn't kill him. Think about what you said !

[glenn kangiser]

You forgot eating donuts, Peternap.

[peternap]

Your missing my point benovelance. Your right about many people ....but not all. I have little control over what other people do or don't do. I've spent many years learning to shoot, proper tactics and have been in gunfights.

Double and triple tapping was a technique that was developed to take down a person in a hostage situation, where he had to be stopped immediately . It's use should be extremely limited.
You shoot to stop, not kill. You shoot center mass because that's the easiest target to hit under stress. Stopping at short ranges and 99.99% of any defensive shootings are going to take place at less than ten feet, is probably going to kill the person,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

But, double tapping just to make sure you KILL him is both wrong and immoral.

I have never met anyone who was absolute evil or absolute good. We all fall around the center line and our moral beliefs and actions are the only thing that puts us on one side or the other. Guns don't kill anyone. The person using the gun is the control and if that control is not used wisely, he's no different than a rabid animal.

Killing someone is very easy. Not killing them and accomplishing the same end is the hard part. I have a lot of faults but I can look at myself in the mirror.

[NM_Shooter]

Allow me to continue this hijack!   

I think a person would want to be very careful of administering the coup-de-grace to an intruder.  Given forensics capabilities, they would be completely capable of recreating what happened.  For instance, a non-lethal wound to an abdomen, and a lethal wound to a forehead.  Angles would be looked at, as well as powder tatoos.  If there was tatooing on the forehead, you had better have your story ready.

I pray that I never have to shoot someone....that will be my last resort.  But if i do, it won't be to wound.   Legal and financial considerations aside, I don't know if I could bear the emotional burden.

I like the idea of the taser.  I should look into that.  When I travel, I routinely leave a weapon with my wife to access if need be, and I think she would be more confident with a taser.