@roamer_1
I have no doubt you are right about this,but you might be surprised by the small number of people that call coyotes into range so they can shoot them.
@sneakypete Maybe not so many people, but over a vast amount of geography in Rural America, it is a common thing. And not only for livestock's sake... If yotes get out of hand you'll see native animals disappearing at a frightening rate. They suck eggs too, so even ducks and upland birds...
Controlling varmints is a big deal. And that's without feral pigs, dogs and cats...
And that's without my own more special case, where we still have griz, and black bear and wolves, and cougars, and wolverines along with the regular varmints.
You'd have to be an idiot to walk these woods without some serious heat.
I'll tell you what... you'd be damn happy to be walking around with a big bore semi rifle or semi shotgun in griz country.
And all that WITHOUT even approaching Hoomin varmints.
Not that it matters because NONE of us should EVER be compelled by ANY government agency to "justify" why we want to own/possess ANY firearm,with the exception of convicted felons. Even then,it's kind of a BS thing because IF the crime/crimes they committed were so serious they would need permission to buy/own/possess a firearm,WTH are they being let out of jail?
I have said much the same for a long time. I have several (bordering on many) friends who are good ol boys that kicked their heels a little too high in their yoot (there but for the grace of God go I) and wound up with a criminal felony. And for a dumb mistake in their past that may be nothing more than a bar fight that went too far, they can't have a firearm, can't protect themselves and their family, can't hunt but by bow, and can't live by subsistence, which is still a big thing out here (living off the woods)
It ain't right. Maybe it should require some hoops to jump through... Maybe a judge has to sign off. But a guy should not be paying his whole life for a crime where he long ago paid his dues, and has kept his nose clean.
I PERSONALLY know more than a few people who possess oddball/obsolete firearms they have never shot,or ever intend on shooting. WTH would these people,who have NO known criminal records be required to justify their owndership of said firearms?
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Agreed. I also have no problem with folks building their own. And I know several that do - masters of that craft. I could do that too... I may not have the knack, but I am a competent machinist. Though I ain't native to it with guns... They are a tool to me and nothing more.
I honestly don't know how many guns I have because I have never counted them,and the total number doesn't matter,anyhow. What matters is I have owned a firearm for almost 70 years now,and have never shot or even pointed any of them at anyone because a situation where this would be required never happened,and because I have ZERO interest in shooting anyone or ANY living creature that is not a threat to me or mine.
I dunno either right off.
I ain't got many kinds. I focused on repetition of type. For instance, my reach-out-and-touch-someone gear is all Rem model 700 and I carry 7mm mag and 300 win mag, for different purposes.... And I have 3 caches storing each. Those caches have a replication of all the stuff I use. And not that I am a weirdo - I have just been caught out in the sticks far enough that making for a cache would be easier than getting back to town. And that works well for if SHTF too, anyway.
The part in bold above is in bold BECAUSE it is,or should be,such an obvious basic truth about probably 99 percent of the people who own/possess firearms. If it wasn't,we would be reading about mass shootings all over the country every day.
Same, though I dare say I get crossed with varmints more than you have. But generally I am live and let live for that which ain't a trouble, unless for culling to ease the land.
Except gophers. And coyotes. And maybe coons and skunks.
EVERYBODY that ALL of us know has knives in their homes,and knives are just as capable of killing people as a gun,and given how much longer people have been making and carrying knives,going back to the cave men and their flint knives,how come there is no huge public outcry for knife control? Especially since more people in history have been killed with knives than has ever been killed by firearms.
The answer is that neither guns nor knives are dangerous unless they are in the possession of dangerous people who want to use them for criminal purposes.
Why shouldn't the same standard apply to firearms?
That's right. Either way, they are nothing but tools. And I would have the same thing to say about knives. I carry a big ol bowie and a camp knife pretty well wherever I go - count a multi-tool, a big folding blade, and a wicked little penknife (sliver gitter)... all in my EDC, not to mention what is in my gobag. Off the top of my head, in full woods mode, I probably have 10 knives on me of one kind or another and an axe and hatchet.. And NONE of it is a threat or designed to be a threat unless driven to it. Guns are the same thing.
