Is it WRONG to own guns, rifles, swords, knives, etc.?

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I've received a complaint about some of the things being said in this thread. There's plenty of guilt to go around. If you can't discuss the issue without engaging in personal attacks then discuss it somewhere other than our forum.

Guns are just tool and not inherently evil or wrong. With a gun, I can hunt for food to feed people. I can kill you with a kitchen knife or fork.

But a gun is inherently singular in purpose, regardless of intent. You can use a knife to cut things other than flesh.

Hugs are inherently non-violent......but never let an anaconda hug you.

You can shoot things other than flesh,

My 11-year-old neighbor has a gun collection. He has absolutly no interest in shooting a bird or a squirell or a rabbit. (In games he insists that I use tranq darts on guard dogs. ) However, an old-fasioned lollipop explodes spectacularly when you shoot it with a bb.

On the other hand, nobody need automatic weapons for hunting, even sport hunting.

Sure, but shooting lollies is just practice.

I'm trying to think of a non-violent
legitimate use for guns.

Still, varmints need to be shot.

here is something relevant to Australia, and it should be to the US as well: This is an excert from a link about the Gun Buy Back in 1997. The bolding is mine.

Assault and Robbery

Those who claim that Australia suffered a "crime wave" as a result of new gun laws often cite as evidence unrelated figures for common assault or sexual assault (no weapon) and armed robbery (any weapon). In fact less than one in five Australian armed robberies involve a firearm.

"Although armed robberies increased by nearly 20%, the number of armed robberies involving a firearm decreased to a six-year low."

-- Recorded Crime, Australia, 1998. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Jun 1999

Firearm-Related Crime in Tasmania

"A declining firearm suicide rate, a declining firearm assault rate, a stable firearm robbery rate with a declining proportion of robberies committed with a firearm and a declining proportion of damage to property offences committed with a firearm suggest that firearm regulation has been successful in Tasmania."

-- Warner, Prof K. Firearm Deaths and Firearm Crime After Gun Licensing in Tasmania. Australian Institute of Criminology, 3rd National Outlook Symposium on Crime in Australia. Canberra, 22-23 Mar 1999.

Curbing Gun Proliferation in Australia

In the 1996-97 Australian gun buy-back, two-thirds of a million semi-automatic and pump-action rifles and shotguns were sold to the government at market value. Thousands more gun owners volunteered their firearms for free, and nearly 700,000 guns were destroyed.

By destroying one-seventh of its estimated stock of firearms (the equivalent figure in the USA would be 30 million), Australia has significantly altered the composition of its civilian arsenal.

In addition, all remaining guns must be individually registered to their licensed owners, private firearm sales are no longer permitted and each gun purchase through a licensed arms dealer is scrutinised by police to establish a "genuine reason" for ownership. Possession of guns for self-defence is specifically prohibited, and very few civilians are permitted to own a handgun. All the nation's governments, police forces and police unions support the current gun laws.

It'd shred the deer apart.

I remember a story about a sheik having
a gold plated uzi to hunt swans with.

I can think of a gun as just another kitchen utensil. "Honey I'm gone t'git dinner, I'll be right back."

Some steel mills use shotguns to remove plugs so they can begin pouring molten metal.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5824944.html

I've heard of rifles being used before by line-men to shoot a buss bar I guess its called on a utility pole to shut the power off in an emergency.

A gun's singular purpose is to wound or kill. PERIOD.

My uncle cleared the toilet with a .45

But the toilet never worked
quite right again.


Oh, they make good fashion accessories.

Do you play video shooter games? How is that different than shooting a bottle on a fence post?

Yes, it does.

Here in Florida, categories of licenses are permitted on different days. There are bows, muzzle-loaders, still hunters, and dog hunters. North Florida is populated by the first 3. Dog hunters are wealthy yahoos that come up here from Miami with their dogs and automatic weapons.

I have a lot of respect for the first 3. They often don’t get an animal. They appreciate the serene beauty of the forest. They don’t frighten their prey. They eat their kill.

Nobody has much respect for dog hunters. They only get one or two days.

Bottles are more replaceable when renewed from a data disc. I enjoy shooting up people in GTA:SA, but I also realise that they are replaceable. People in real life are not.