Posted by wallacedw on November 23, 2008 at 08:17:30 from (204.96.146.173):
I was looking at the thread on guns posted by farmerboy. It becomes clear that it is less of a question. He is not asking why people have guns as much as feeling we that have guns are some sort of whacky, out there Americans.
I will try to give a little of my experience as the real reason why. People that live in cities, suburbs, and urban areas don't really have what I would call a NEED for guns except in 2 basic categories which are self/home defense and sportsmanship. I define sportsmanship as recreational hunting (remember - urban dwellers, the meat is not NECESSARY) and recreational shooting (trap, skeet, target shooting, etc). Is this a 'need' per se? I think it is because for example some like to build furniture, grow vegetables ,or a myriad of activities that 100 or more years ago where NECESSARY to a families survival. Today, in most areas of the world you simply go to the store and buy what you need. So you don't HAVE to hunt, farm, cut wood etc.. you have a job that provides funds to buy the meat, vegetables, firewood, etc. 100 years ago your job was to provide the same thing but you did it directly. I hope that you are grasping my meaning here. Money has become the middle man to life's necessities. Now, if you had no job and no money then you would still be required to have food, shelter, and clothes so you have to hunt, farm, and provide heat.
Now on to my point. I grew up in rural Alaska. Not near a city such as Anchorage or Fairbanks or Juneau. The place is called Bethel and the population is around 4000. This is the biggest town in a 100,000 square mile area. There are many small villages of 400-600 people that rely on Bethel. The only way to get to this region is to fly 400 miles due west over two mountain ranges by jet or turboprop aircraft. There are no roads into this region. There are no roads between the villages except the rivers in summer and the frozen rivers in winter. So what is my point. My point is that in areas like this, and there are many in the world. In Canada there are many times more than in the US. Alaska is probably the only place left in the US. Guns are a tool of survival. Not a luxury, not a nicety, not a plaything but a tool. Just like a farmers tractor or a woodworkers chisel. You can not take these tools from people. There are all types of guns. Bolt action rifles are still the choice of the providers of meat. BUT at the same time automatic handguns and carbines are tools too and taken right along. Taking down a moose or caribou with a rifle and defending themselves (and more importantly the meat they have killed) with the automatics. It is just as it is....
Now, if you have gotten this far you will see that there will be 100 opinions... most anti-gun folks will disregard what I have said and try to discredit the facts due to their own beliefs and the fact they are uneducated about what I am saying. I know what I have written to be true because I have lived it for many years. They have never had these facts presented to them in a real world and in focus situation. Some will agree but not based on the situation I present but based on hunting as a tradition. Tradition is different than necessity and as stated I define it as recreational.
So the bottom line in MY opinion is that although gun laws are necessary that there will HAVE to be some ability to see that guns do a real job. To some they are tools, necessary for survival. Oh... no SUV's and shiny cars out where I am from.. just tundra.
edit- I am glad that farmerboy rephrased his question. Many times heated debates come because a nerve is touched due to question phrasing.
This post was edited by wallacedw at 08:41:41 11/23/08.
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