Everyone likes lists. Just so it's all in the open:1. Singular murders, mass murders, and suicides committed with firearms are all problematic.
2. Firearms quantity, ease of firearms acquisition and general lack of public responsibility with them are all problematic.
3. Citizen militarization is problematic and unhealthy.
4. Police militarization is problematic and unhealthy.
5. The prospect of public disarmament is politically problematic. Got a solution? I'm all ears.
I have a CCW and more often than not choose not to carry out of:1. Risk of theft either when on my person or when expected to leave in vehicle.
2. Not wanting to deal brushing aside friends and family who want to fondle the thing.
3. Discomfort of the thing on my belt even with a counterweight. Revolvers are impractical for prolonged defense and semi-autos are bulky and obnoxious.
4. Rebellion—general revulsion at being pressured to do so just to "feel safe" by assorted political, media and friend/family rhetoric.
5. Lack of hard statistical proof at the efficacy of the whole "good guy with a gun" thing.
Open Carry is legal without a license, but to carry a handgun loaded in a vehicle one needs a concealed pistol license (CPL).[31] Carry of loaded rifles and shotguns in vehicles is also restricted, per RCW 77.15.460[32]
(wikipedia). I wouldn't take advantage of this because:
1. I don't even CCW anymore. Why would I open carry?
2. Most people and even a good number of police don't seem to know about it. Would rather avoid confusion/confrontation over something so stupid.
3. I consider it intimidating and rude to display a gun on your person in public unless you have a good reason, e.g. you're a police officer.
When I go to the range, I more often than not leave my guns behind and take my bows because:1. Guns are loud, smell terrible, and leave a bad taste in your mouth even when fired outdoors.
2. I don't trust the people in neighboring lanes. I've had too many guns inadvertently pointed in my general direction by the clueless.
3. Guns are oily, gross, and irritating to maintain. I've never found my zen point in the activity.
4. I like the challenge and relative silence of bows (though shoot lighter draws due to an old pulled shoulder), and prefer refurbishing arrows to picking brass out of the dirt and gravel.
I don't have an NRA membership because:1. They're a cynical, manipulative organization that push guns every time there's a mass shooting, and whose high ranking members get their jollies from killing (or simply maiming and leaving to die) animals for pure sport.
2. Wayne LaPierre.
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I don't hunt, I rarely take guns to the range (and haven't in years), I hardly ever make use of my CCW permit (and haven't in years), and they never see the outside of my safe unless for routine maintenance. I don't pine for housebreakers or civil war to justify bloodshed, and feel uncomfortable around people who do. The only time I've ever felt
directly threatened by guns was at the range when zero-etiquette newbies were around, and when one was accidentally discharged once into a futon by a relative whose nerves were so rattled that he did so
again after a second or two. He still maintains the "self-defense" doctrine when it comes to them.
Comparing injury/death statistics to automobiles and cancer in defense of guns as I've seen done is stupid and cringe-worthy.
I'd hardly notice the difference if I got rid of them. I've often toyed with the notion of pulling up stakes and moving out of country. Of all the things that'd pain me to leave behind, the guns wouldn't even register.
tl;dr: moved left over the years, but didn't consider myself a gun nut then and am not one now. current state of affairs is a sickness, and i don't need convinced of it.
