tyler

Free pizza and broadband for everyone!

That's not what I meant to say. I know people who are against gun control, but don't own guns. I also know people who don't like guns but own them anyway. It just seems that most people who want to ban all guns fall to the far left ( the pacifistic, tree-hugging vegan hippies) and the people who think we should be allowed to own grenade launchers (the beer guzzling, government hating, kill a commy for Jesus before breakfast redneck crackers) usually fall to the far right. A few points I will concede: We don't need automatic weapons. (Except during tourist season, those buggers are quicker than you'd think.) I don't agree that you can defend yourself against an armed intruder with a butcher knife or baseball bat. I don't think an old lady with a bat is going to be very intimidating to a criminal with a gun. However, tasers, and to a lesser extent, pepper spray, can be effective. These also are not of risk to your neighbors if you live in an apartment building. Another exception is if you have special training, like that guy with his sword (sorry I can't remeber you're name). Suicide is another problem. As you probably know many suicide attempts fail because the person doesn't really want to die. It is pretty hard to botch a suicide with a shotgun. I do not agree with banning guns, but I am in favor of tightening down regulations. I wouldn't have a problem with background checks, mandatory safety courses, long waiting periods (I can wait a year for my gun), proof of license to purchase ammunition, even a psych test every couple years.

Here's a reason why I wouldn't want to use pepper spray: an average grizzly weighs about 600-700 lbs (with the larger ones weighing over 1200 lbs) and can run over 30 mph. I don't think pepper spray has enough stopping power to handle a charging bear. Maybe you're using a different type than what is marketed here in Alaska, but the effectiveness of our stuff is highly questionable. The smell of it has actually been shown to attract bears. I guess you could just spray your buddy with it and hope the bear prefers spicy food. Generally when I go hiking or fishing I almost never carry a gun with me, as 19 times out of 20 (I just pulled that figure out of my ass, I don't know the actual statistics) the bear doesn't want any trouble either. However, there are some times when it is a good precaution to carry a gun, and a .44 mag is barely adequate protection against a angry/wounded/starving bear. Also, what you might call bumbling around in a wooded area I call walking to the outhouse or sleeping in my bed. Many surprise encounters with bears happen around people's houses. We have had a bear come through our house on two occasions. Thankfully, we weren't home either time. Once my mom kicked what she thought was our neighbors big black dog off our back porch in the middle of the night, the black bear took exception to being kicked and nearly made it into the house. Most people I know have had similar things happen to them, and many have had much worse. We have many extremely liberal, pacifistic, tree-hugging vegan hippies up here (I don't mean to sound insulting, I'm just trying to make a point) and even most of them own guns. My cousin used to go to anti-gun rallies all of the time. Last summer when he came up here from Florida to work at my uncle's gold mine, my uncle's 12 guage became his best friend very quickly. sorry about the long post, when it gets late I start to ramble.

Fallout 1 & 2. Fallout Tactics: B.O.S. was pretty good too. They shut down Black Isle. No Fallout 3. I just might cry.

We have guns in my house for protection. Not protection from people, but from bears. I think that is a pretty good reason why I should be allowed to own a gun.