Guns Popular Christmas Gift

[Common Sense Party]

According to the FBI, which processes requests for background checks of prospective gun buyers, 129,166 such checks were performed on Black Friday, Nov. 25, breaking the previous single-day record -- set on Black Friday 2008 -- by nearly a third.

...

Analysts who focus on firearms say the increase is part of a years-long trend toward increasing gun ownership. In a recent Gallup poll, 47 percent of respondents said there was a gun in the household, up from 41 percent a year ago.

...

Concealed guns can range anywhere from $300 to $1,000 or more. McLauren says many owners have several guns to match what they are wearing or the time of year. For example, people often have larger guns in the winter when they have more clothing to conceal it and smaller guns in the summer when they wear shorts and less clothing. Bigger guns may be able to fire faster.

...

"It's just a nice way to show you care and give somebody something they mightbe able to use to protect their lives," he said.


http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2011/dec/07/guns-popular-christmas-gift-ar-856168/


O come all ye well-armed...

I got my gun as a Father's Day present, but I do have ammo on my Christmas list.

[burf]

1. I am hoping for a laser target system,

but I am not sure of which one to get. The decision is between the Laserlyte system or the Sure Strike model. I figure it would be a good tool to help stay proficient during the winter months. If anyone has experience with any such systems, any input is appreciated.

[jeepnstein]

2. I was going to ask for a Glock 30.

I think we'll do a family gift instead this year and save some money. Seeing as how I'm waiting for a certain Martin D18 to come back from the repair shop later this year I really don't want to spend much right now.

[ileus]

3. I gave my dealer a ck for 466 bucks for a SP101

Only problem was my best friend was buying it for his wife for her "conceal" carry pistol, I just happen to work with the FFL.

[_ed_]

4. What better way to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace

than to receive a killing machine?

[We_Have_A_Problem]

5. A few things....

1) Not everyone who gives gifts for the Christmas season is Christian.
2) While Christ may have been called the Prince of Peace by others, he never called himself that.
3) Firearms are not "killing machines" no matter how many times you repeat that falsehood
4) Even if they were, killing is not inherently wrong.
5) Christianity is NOT against self defense.

[Remmah2]

6. Christmas has become a pagan-capitalist holiday.

What's your point?

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

7. Please read...

...Luke 22:35-36.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

31. I forgot the quote:

And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.
Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.

:)

[_ed_]

41. Who cares?

I could, of course, quote you several things that directly contradict that, but everyone finds whatever they want in the Bible. If you can justify slavery and genocide, then it seems anything goes.

[Callisto32]

51. You suggested Christianity is a religion of pacifism.

I, too, love peace, but there are times when violence comes to us. Christianity doesn't ask that people go umprepared to meet the violence foisted upon them by the world, and neither should you. Is a firearm the only method of doing this? No, but it is an extremely effective tool in certain situations. Ask the police, and remember that the police generally show up AFTER the "civilians" (police officers are also civilians) have had to deal with the very worst part of the situation on their own.

[We_Have_A_Problem]

53. So you've got nothin then? n/t

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

59. re: "Who cares?"

I inferred from your "...Prince of Peace..." comment that either you held that Jesus was absolutely peaceful and eschewed violence and its means in all forms or were simply mocking Christians as disingenuous that have no problem being armed and prepared for self-defense. No matter which, my reference and quote highlight only that both positions are invalid from the standpoint of hermeneutics.

If you intended something different, please feel free to share. Your point is very well taken as many will frequently misinterpret a quote or passage merely to favor their position. I only inferred as I did because of your reference from Isaiah 9:6, (the source of the term "Prince of Peace".)

Many Christians take the position that while two combatants are needed to have a fight, only one is required for an assault or murder.

Many, many intelligent, eloquent and respected people have made it clear why self defense has a valid position in a civilized society. To list a few:
"Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion in private self defense." John Adams
"If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun." The Dalai Lama
"The Second Amendment was meant to accomplish two distinct goals...First, it was meant to guarantee the individual's right to have arms for self-defense and self-preservation. These privately owned arms were meant to serve a larger purpose as well...and it is the coupling of these two objectives that has caused the most confusion. The customary American militia necessitated an armed public...the militia (being)...the body of the people. The argument that today's National Guardsmen, members of a select militia, would constitute the only persons entitled to keep and bear arms has no historical foundation." Joyce Lee Malcolm
"Without doubt one is allowed to resist against the unjust aggressor to one's life, one's goods or one's physical integrity; sometimes, even 'til the aggressor's death." Thomas Aquinas
"Though defensive violence will always be 'a sad necessity' in the eyes of men of principle, it would be still more unfortunate if wrongdoers should dominate just men." Augustine of Hippo

Have a good evening.
:donut:

[Common Sense Party]

9. My "killing machine" must be broken, then.

Damn thing hasn't killed anyone.

Do you ever stop and listen to how ridiculous you sound?

[_ed_]

42. Guns are a tool to kill living things

That's a fact. I don't know why you're so scared to face up to reality.

What do you do with your gun? Open beers like Homer Simpson? Mow the lawn with it? Cut up veggies for dinner?

[We_Have_A_Problem]

54. Wrong again.

They are a tool designed to throw a chunk of lead accurately over distance. What you choose to hit with that lead is up to you.

Personally? I use mine as overpriced hole punches. I find them extremely effective when I wish to poke a sub-half inch hole in a piece of paper from between 7 and 200 yards away.

[ileus]

10. Mine are life saving, entertainment, and hunting devices.

Guns aren't designed to kill.

When used properly: they save lives, provide hours of enjoyment for the family, and for some harvest game.

[_ed_]

43. "They save lives"

We had to destroy the village in order to save it.

[gejohnston]

46. not the same

more like destroying (or threaten to) an attacker to same me.

[We_Have_A_Problem]

55. Yes, they most certainly do.

Sometimes, one must take a bad life to save a good life.

[AtheistCrusader]

13. The alleged birth of the alleged prince of peace.

[_ed_]

44. I don't believe Christian myths

I was just making a joke about how the "Prince of Peace" seems to have a lot of gun-toting followers.

[Callisto32]

17. Luke 23:36....

:hi:

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

29. I think...

...you may have meant 22:36.

:donut:

[Callisto32]

48. Typographical error.

Thank you very much for correcting it.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

56. I figured.

Have a nice day.

:donut:

[montanto]

19. "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword . . ." --Jesus Christ

That prince of peace? lol. I suppose their were "sporting" swords and "assault" swords in Jesus' time.

[_ed_]

45. Also check out Luke 19:27

Really charming stuff. Like any other topic in the Bible, the accounts of Jesus contradict one another. One minute he's giving the Sermon on the Mount and the next one he's telling you to get a sword. They couldn't even keep their myths straight.

[gejohnston]

47. not really

non-violence and pacifism are not the same thing. If Jesus supported pacifism, I missed it. The turn the other cheek and give all cloths etc. was a form of protest aimed at getting the Roman citizen in trouble with their own authorities.

[Abin Sur]

8. Just picked up this Steyr model 1908/34 police rig with matching mag. Merry Christmas to me!

[ileus]

11. I wish my wife would have took the hint and got me a 6.8 upper or a G23

maybe a sig 229, or a ruger 1911, or a taurus 1911, or a taurus 9mm revolver, or a S&W 656, or a.... :)

[AtheistCrusader]

12. I've given firearms as presents in the past, but budgets are tighter these days.

So, not this year.

[oneshooter]

14. Building my youngest son his first AR-15.

He has been shooting both mine and Loving Wife's for the past year. A great present for a great kid!.

[ileus]

20. AR's are excellent, mine adjust to fit both kids better than their youth rifles.

[oneshooter]

49. He wants my Remington 66 bolt gun, is was my Dads present to me when I was eight. n/t

[Atypical Liberal]

15. Santa is bringing me an 1860 Army. n/t

[burf]

16. I guess that means there will be the

branding of Santa as a rude toter by some here?

[jeepnstein]

18. The term is "Merchant of Death".

Or maybe "Bold Enabler". He's also the "Enslaver of Elves" not to mention the unspeakable atrocities he commits towards reindeer.

[ileus]

21. That bastard....when he breaks in this year he's a goner.

I'd never thought of how poorly he treats those harmless animals.

[Common Sense Party]

22. I just run away when he enters my house.

That's what we're supposed to do during a home invasion or burglary, right? I just abandon my home and let that fat fart do what he wants.

[ileus]

24. he only wants your milk and cookies...

[jeepnstein]

27. Yeah, and he's getting ready to enroll at North Pole Community College.

He's finally getting his life turned around.

[oneshooter]

50. As long as he takes the treats, and leaves the presents!

[burf]

57. Soooooooo, you're just trying

to stay on his good list to keep from getting a lump of coal eehhhh?

Smart move!

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

35. If Santa actually is...

...the "Merchant of Death" that explains a few things:

- for example what Santa does during the other 11 months
- how Mr. Bout (aka Santa) has always seemed to be in several places at once like....
- how he is in my local mall today and a Manhattan Jail
- and it's no wonder with that army of elves he was able transport boat loads of AKs from former Soviet states (I understand elves are magic)

;)

[Dr_Scholl]

23. People buying more guns is part of the increase in gun ownership.

But I think a lot of it also has to do with gun ownership becoming more socially acceptable over the past few years.

[Abin Sur]

25. Having grown up with guns, it strikes me as odd that gun ownership *wouldn't* be socially acceptable

While there are certainly those look down their noses at anyone crass enough to own guns, I don't know them personally.

[jeepnstein]

28. Who doesn't own one?

[Abin Sur]

30. Among my circle of close friends, about half are gun enthusiasts to greater or lesser degrees,

and about half just own 1 or 2 guns. I have exactly *one* friend who doesn't own any guns at all. He's said that in case of civil unrest he'll rely on us to arm and protect him.

Our reply (channeling the pastor from Blazing Saddles): "Son...you're on your own."

[burf]

32. And if the unrest occurs, is he

gonna count on Divine Intervention to show him hos the darned thing operates?

[Abin Sur]

33. Ha! He's of the "Well, I fired a .22 in Boy Scouts, how hard could it be to use that AR-Thingy"

school of thought. A fun guy to game with, but doesn't have a lot of real-world practical knowledge.

Credit where it's due, he's deadly in World of Warcraft. :rofl:

[PavePusher]

38. Grasshoppers and ants.

I just tell those people that they better have some indispensable skill if the want protection... and they'll be a serf along with the rest of the grasshoppers.

[aikoaiko]

34. That question came up at a recent meeting with college administrators and faculty.

There was a vice president for academic affairs, an asst. vice president, a dean of liberal arts, two English faculty member, the head librarian, and the institutional researcher.

Three of them shot guns regularly for recreation/training, three owned guns because they were family owned but rarely shot, and only one of them didn't own or shoot guns.

[jeepnstein]

40. One of the finest shooters I know...

is a PhD in Sociology, a real pointy headed intellectual type. The man simply does not miss, can see the wind, and has an instinctive feel for how a bullet will spin drift at long ranges. He's also quite skilled in field craft. I can't call him a liberal or conservative because he rejects the silly notion of labels like that. It's been far too long since I've had time to visit with him.

My favorite shot from him was with a Smith and Wesson Model 10 .38 revolver shooting some of my 158g LSWC handloads. We had a standard 50 foot rimfire rifle target pasted up on a tree in a large pasture. From a prone position at what we paced off to be about 125 yards he put one shot into the 8 ring. He fired, we waited, heard the bullet hit the tree holding the target, and then walked down to check his shot. We were with several officers from the Ohio Dept. Of Natural Resources at the time. When he saw the hit on the eight ring and everyone else standing there slack-jawed he said "Ain't got nothing else to prove." and didn't touch a gun the rest of the day. Some times you have to quit while you're ahead.

We used to play "poor man's skeet" which basically involved tossing a saltine cracker into the air so the other person could shoot it in flight with a .45. I doubt either of us could do that right now.

Good times.

[Dr_Scholl]

39. I grew up with guns too.

Between me and my father, we've got more guns than first degree relatives. I live in an area that's gun friendly and have been shooting over half of my life, but there used to be some resentment toward black rifles and the like. Gun ownership was accepted, but it was something you weren't supposed to talk about outside of the home.

Things are different now, though. People have no problem talking about guns and attitudes have changed.

[rrneck]

26. Especially among Democrats. nt

[rl6214]

36. I'm giving my son, who turned 21 this year a pistol for Christmas

Did not purchase it on black friday, it's part of my collection and each of my three sons gets one in the year they turn 21.

[ileus]

37. Who wouldn't want a firearm for Christmas???

[AtheistCrusader]

52. Me.

But i'll take a second safe, first one's full.

[ileus]

58. I'd like a tumbler that doesn't stick.

Sometimes it takes me 4 or 5 tried and a little pounding on the door to get the "whatevers" to fall into place properly.

I've taken the back off and tried to graphite lube it but it didn't help....It's a 2000 model browning (rebadged I'm sure)


Oh....

And my wife doesn't want another firearm either...she want's gold....not the investment kind either. :(