I had a little chat with my religious fanatic bigot retired Baptist minister uncle this morning. He turns 95 in a few weeks. Somehow we got onto the subject of how some of our immigrant ancestors came from countries where they weren't allowed to hunt or fish or trap animals, and so when they arrived in America they had to learn how to do these things. He immediately launched into a lecture on how Joe Biden absolutely positively intends to take every single gun away from every single American, and how Joe Biden is worse than Hitler, and how all these recent mass shootings are False Flag operations planed by the evil Democratic Party.
Well, he's 94, almost 95, and he's had 2 heart attacks and is in poor health, and he's going to die fairly soon, and he is as stubborn as a mule (a family trait), so I don't argue with him. I just told him he was wrong, and that we were never going to agree on this subject, so we should talk about something else. I then brought up the subject of whether catfish are more tasty than crappie, and he was diverted into discussing this subject. He says crappie are the truly superior fish. Personally, I prefer rainbow trout.
I know people who own guns and someday I'd like to actually take some classes on how to handle guns so I don't feel so nervous around them. And I mean this in the sense that you teach people to properly use sharp knives in the kitchen or to work a lawnmower - I don't want to feel tough because I CAN BLOW YOU AWAY AT ANY MOMENT, I want to know how something works so I can be calm so I can be careful because fear and a lack of knowledge can lead to mistakes. Plenty of people feel the same way so it infuriates me that the NRA or Fox News or elected officials (God help us) are working so hard to scare people into buying a gun or prevent any sort of restrictions without being thoughtful about it because they think Antifa's gonna murder them in their beds or Sleep Joe is gonna TAKE THEIR GUNS or they have hero fantasies of stopping a mass shooter.
These folk never stop to think about how the mechanics of seizing all the guns from everyone in America would play out. There's not really any way to do that. What do they think will happen? Will National Guardsmen show up in a large group and knock on your door, armed to the teeth, with a tank standing by to knock your house down if you don't hand over your guns? Are they going to do this street by street, or in alphabetical order? Do they realize how long this would take? Get real.
A good friend of mine - a pretty progressive bleeding heart like myself, who professes to abhor gun violence - recently told me she is considering buying a long gun for her house "for protection."
When she told me I was so gobsmacked that I stepped WAAAY out of character (I am a non-confrontational peacenik and general patsy) and actually started an angry fight with her over her COMPLETE STUPIDITY. I even mimicked her holding a long gun - being all terrified and shaky with a squeaky voice, and having the gun snatched away from her by the intruder - and then proceeded to hit her with statistics and facts, like, for instance: "A 2010 report from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics noted that "between 2003 and 2007, approximately 2.1 million household burglaries were reported to the FBI each year on average. Household burglaries ending in homicide made up 0.004% of all burglaries during that period."
So she is not really in any danger of being killed during a home invasion - but she could absolutely injure herself with her stupid gun, have it snatched from her while she was trying to aim, have it stolen by a neighborhood kid who later accidentally killed a friend with it, etc.
Not sure I got through to her.
The gun nut propaganda is so powerful - they really do have the key to terrorizing folks and making them certain that buying a gun means buying personal safety. It's insane.
I gotta tell you, I am *WAY* more afraid of these ammosexual lunatics and their boom sticks than any scenario they could dream up that I might need protection from.
It think this is a wonderful idea. We have guns in our house (locked away in the gun safe). I don't like them, but I made sure my husband taught me how to use them and how to be safe with them. Our children have also been taught basics in gun safety, and as they get older, will be taught more about the care and safe handling of guns. I would love for more people to learn about them, because knowledge is power, and this knowledge can *SAVE LIVES!!
*Not by bursting in on crimes with guns a'blazing, but by knowing not to mess around with the damn things in the first place and to keep them (if you have them) where they cannot be easily accessed by kids and intruders.
Hugs. Just know that you are not alone (I mean, you might be alone in that town, but there are lots of us blue people hiding in plain sight in red America!)
My bride and I are retired military, and qualified as expert marksman on multiple weapons.
My bride was asked by the local Democratic Party chairperson to teach a safe gun handling class last fall. None of the attendees had ever contemplated buying a weapon before, but the tone out in the sticks where we live convinced them that arming themselves in case the MAGAts decided to follow up on their talk about hunting Democrats came to pass....
I thought "tax cuts for the wealthy" were the answer to all our problems. Have I been misled?
I'm so glad I never had kids
I had a little chat with my religious fanatic bigot retired Baptist minister uncle this morning. He turns 95 in a few weeks. Somehow we got onto the subject of how some of our immigrant ancestors came from countries where they weren't allowed to hunt or fish or trap animals, and so when they arrived in America they had to learn how to do these things. He immediately launched into a lecture on how Joe Biden absolutely positively intends to take every single gun away from every single American, and how Joe Biden is worse than Hitler, and how all these recent mass shootings are False Flag operations planed by the evil Democratic Party.
Well, he's 94, almost 95, and he's had 2 heart attacks and is in poor health, and he's going to die fairly soon, and he is as stubborn as a mule (a family trait), so I don't argue with him. I just told him he was wrong, and that we were never going to agree on this subject, so we should talk about something else. I then brought up the subject of whether catfish are more tasty than crappie, and he was diverted into discussing this subject. He says crappie are the truly superior fish. Personally, I prefer rainbow trout.
I know people who own guns and someday I'd like to actually take some classes on how to handle guns so I don't feel so nervous around them. And I mean this in the sense that you teach people to properly use sharp knives in the kitchen or to work a lawnmower - I don't want to feel tough because I CAN BLOW YOU AWAY AT ANY MOMENT, I want to know how something works so I can be calm so I can be careful because fear and a lack of knowledge can lead to mistakes. Plenty of people feel the same way so it infuriates me that the NRA or Fox News or elected officials (God help us) are working so hard to scare people into buying a gun or prevent any sort of restrictions without being thoughtful about it because they think Antifa's gonna murder them in their beds or Sleep Joe is gonna TAKE THEIR GUNS or they have hero fantasies of stopping a mass shooter.
These folk never stop to think about how the mechanics of seizing all the guns from everyone in America would play out. There's not really any way to do that. What do they think will happen? Will National Guardsmen show up in a large group and knock on your door, armed to the teeth, with a tank standing by to knock your house down if you don't hand over your guns? Are they going to do this street by street, or in alphabetical order? Do they realize how long this would take? Get real.
A good friend of mine - a pretty progressive bleeding heart like myself, who professes to abhor gun violence - recently told me she is considering buying a long gun for her house "for protection."
When she told me I was so gobsmacked that I stepped WAAAY out of character (I am a non-confrontational peacenik and general patsy) and actually started an angry fight with her over her COMPLETE STUPIDITY. I even mimicked her holding a long gun - being all terrified and shaky with a squeaky voice, and having the gun snatched away from her by the intruder - and then proceeded to hit her with statistics and facts, like, for instance: "A 2010 report from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics noted that "between 2003 and 2007, approximately 2.1 million household burglaries were reported to the FBI each year on average. Household burglaries ending in homicide made up 0.004% of all burglaries during that period."
So she is not really in any danger of being killed during a home invasion - but she could absolutely injure herself with her stupid gun, have it snatched from her while she was trying to aim, have it stolen by a neighborhood kid who later accidentally killed a friend with it, etc.
Not sure I got through to her.
The gun nut propaganda is so powerful - they really do have the key to terrorizing folks and making them certain that buying a gun means buying personal safety. It's insane.
Can't beat a crappie for sweet, delicate white meat, though! Freshwater sunfish, also too.
I gotta tell you, I am *WAY* more afraid of these ammosexual lunatics and their boom sticks than any scenario they could dream up that I might need protection from.
It think this is a wonderful idea. We have guns in our house (locked away in the gun safe). I don't like them, but I made sure my husband taught me how to use them and how to be safe with them. Our children have also been taught basics in gun safety, and as they get older, will be taught more about the care and safe handling of guns. I would love for more people to learn about them, because knowledge is power, and this knowledge can *SAVE LIVES!!
*Not by bursting in on crimes with guns a'blazing, but by knowing not to mess around with the damn things in the first place and to keep them (if you have them) where they cannot be easily accessed by kids and intruders.
Mmmm, fresh pan-fried crappie...
Clearly a good house with a gun.
Hugs. Just know that you are not alone (I mean, you might be alone in that town, but there are lots of us blue people hiding in plain sight in red America!)
Perhaps a gun would make you feel safer? I'm not sure how well gubs stand up against vicious bears and invading marauders... 😜
Obligatory.
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You are doing a GREAT job. Every kid and every situation is different, and you are acing this!
My bride and I are retired military, and qualified as expert marksman on multiple weapons.
My bride was asked by the local Democratic Party chairperson to teach a safe gun handling class last fall. None of the attendees had ever contemplated buying a weapon before, but the tone out in the sticks where we live convinced them that arming themselves in case the MAGAts decided to follow up on their talk about hunting Democrats came to pass....