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Carol Liming's avatar

I loved your response to "Jean". That person is obviously miserable and totally misses the point, especially by saying yours is not a good life. Jean obviously hasn't paid much attention to you or your writings or else he/she would know better.

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Jeannine Lawall's avatar

I grew up and live in rural communities, where gun ownership is not only common, but sometimes necessary. The folks I know use guns mostly for hunting and varmint extermination, and occasional euthanizing of mortally wounded animals, and usually stick to the trusty old .22 rifle Nothing more is really necessary around here. The elderly gentleman up the street from me once used his .rifle to chase off some guys who were nosing around his property at 2:00 AM, but all he needed to do was walk out his door with it and they ran off. My brothers once ended up with bottoms peppered with salt rock when they went poking around someone's dump during closed hours - this happened during the '60's, so Dad made them march over and apologize.

My father was a good shot, and his weapon of choice was a .22. He did not like killing things, but he liked to keep in practice. We kids were taught to respect the potential danger of weapons, and left the gun alone unless Dad was giving us lessons. He would sometimes go "hunting," but never came home with anything. After his death, Mom explained that Dad did not like killing animals, but he did enjoy a few hours of peace and quiet without his four rambunctious children running about, so he would go off into the woods, climb up a tree, and just sit and watch the deer wandering by. He was even too soft-hearted to slaughter the chickens in the fall, so the job fell to Mom - she didn't like it, either, but she had a lot of mouths to feed.

My husband owns a .22 rifle and an airgun. He, like my father, is a good shot, but does not enjoy shooting. He's used the rifle to kill problem animals (e.g., possums in the chicken coop) and loads the airgun with rubber bullets to discourage deer who want to eat up the corn or loose dogs who think donkey chasing is great fun (maybe it is for the dog, but the donkeys hate it!). In the 40+ years we've been married, he's probably used either gun five or six times. He keeps the guns locked away safely when they're not in use (99% of the time).

There is a place for RESPONSIBLE gun ownership - since not everyone is capable of responsibility, background checks and tests are necessary.

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