homerhop

My name is Homer and I am a shooter.

Its a sport I enjoy and my only pass time.
Now I really am starting to hate the way I am being shown as a shooter in public.
We are being painted as blood thirsty killers with no regard for wildlife or humans.Walking time bombs waiting to go on a killing spree in our local kids school.
Everything in the media regardless of what the cause,be it from terrorists to greenpeace gets both sides of their story told but I have yet to see a report , or documentry for us shooters.WHY???
Why is it that animal rights groups are displayed as "such deacent people" saving us from those evil men with guns.Yet they do nothing to help wildlife in the way the shooting community do.
I am in a small club (15 members) we rear 1200 phesants and 500 ducks every year for the past 10 years. I have been involved with this since the very start, we have built up a strong relationship with the local land owners by making certain areas sancturys and releasing birds in such a way the land owners can see that we are putting more back in to the habitat than what we are taking out. Do we get recognition for it ...not one bit.

We are all members of the NARGC, a umbrella body for clubs in Ireland.We have been working for the past few years in providing wetland sancturys for geese and ducks at an international level,is this broadcast? not one bit.Why? Yet if we did not do this these lands would be drained and developed.
Each year it is getting harder and harder as the shooting community come under more pressure from activists trying to change the laws on hunting. A local row lately between the department of the enviroment and a local club over shooting rights led to a complete shooting ban along a river.
Submissions were made to this body on removing or keeping this ban. 25 were handed in ,3 for the removal the rest against. Out of the 22 against there were only 5 from the country, the rest were from foreign anti shooting bodies.They network better than any terrorist organisation......How can we survive as a community with such forces against us?.
Its time the shooting organisations made their voices heard, let the politicians and those who try to prevent us from doing what we enjoy be made quiet aware that we will use our vote and put someone in there who can look after our interests.

My name is Homer and I am a Shooter, and I am proud of it

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its evolution baby

Moonduck

"My name is Homer and I am a Shooter, and I am proud of it "

This is the best thing that you can say, Homer. Other than that, I fear that the only thing we shooters, regardless of country of origin, can do, is to teach the next generation the positive side of shooting, hunting, and effective conservation of wildlife and wilderness resources via intelligent use and support by outdoorsmen.

shakran

My name is shakran and I am a video gamer.

We're getting the same shaft that you shooters are. Doom is blamed just as much as guns for various shootings. Several groups are calling for the restriction or outright ban of games such as Grand Theft Auto. We don't have a VGA (Video Gamers Association) analogue to the NRA, but if we did, I think we'd do some things differently.

The NRA has been screwing up lately. From Charlton Heston yelling that we'll get his guns "from my cold dead hands" (if you have a bunch of weenies who are terrified of firearms, talking like Rambo isn't gonna win them over, ok?) to holding their convention in Columbine (I don't care how far out you booked it, the anti-gun crowd is gonna see it as being in extremely poor taste and will hate you even more for it)

The NRA lately seems to be preaching to the choir. Only the people that already like guns are going to agree with the NRA's stances. If they want to become more powerful, they need to reach out to those who hate guns and show them that not all gun owners are psychopathic killers. I have yet to see them do that.

Lebell

shakran,

Just let go of the "Columbine" bs. I was in Denver when those shootings occured and the NRA did NOTHING to inflame the community unless the community only consists of those people who want to get rid of guns.

Instead, the NRA CANCELLED almost ALL of the events and then only held the annual meeting that the bylaws required.

As to shooters and their image, now you guys know how I feel because I own one of those evil "assault" rifles. Even though I don't hunt and am a responsible gun owner, some people think I'm going to go suddenly crazy and shoot up a school because I own an AR15.

So what is the solution?

Change and challenge views one person at a time while we STAND TOGETHER!

So far, I have changed several views on guns as well as corrected many WRONG views and facts that the media and anti-gunners pump out ("cop-killer bullets", assault rifles, machine guns, etc.).

So don't EVER be ashamed and appologize for owning guns.

Instead, stand proud and stand up for what you believe is right!

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

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1337haxor

Agreed
I've been doing my part by trying to educate people I know about how shooting sports aren't evil and how hunters do more to conserve wildlife then other organizations. Unfortunately, they have been programmed by society and just won't listen to logic or reasoning.

-Robert

Fire

i recently bought an AK-47- for three simple reasons

1- It is easy to maintain and the ammo is reasonably cheap if bought in bulk- thus is is cheap and easy to practice with

2-I can legaly hunt with it in my state (it even came with a 5 round clip just for that purpose)

3- yes, it also works for home defence, and my 5' 2" wife can easily shoulder and fire it- from the home defense stance, yes , it is an "assault weapon" but if we should need a gun to defend our home, my thought is, why fuck around.

suprisingly enough, even some of my "pro gun" friends were shocked at my purchase- why do you need that thing, or " planning a shooting spree?" - my thought was that a gun is a tool- and this was the cheapest and best rated one that filled my needs- I mean fuck, you can carry around a deer rifle with a scope in your truck, and it will kill a person from far longer range and with a deadlier bullet than my " assault weapon" -
i guess that it just comes down to the fact that to me, and the well reasoned out there, a gun is an object, a tool, and I am responsible for its behavior- not affraid of it, nor expecting it to commit some attrocity on its own, nor turn me into some blood crazed killer.....the media sees it as a meal ticket- fear sells, and it is easier to blame an object on a 30 second segment than go into detail on the whys and werefores of the person that pullled the trigger.....

__________________
Thought the harder, Heart the bolder,
Mood the more as our might lessens

redravin40

Homer, the problem is that for every one of us there are two morons who think it's great fun to shoot holes in stop signs.
I was at a shooting range where the guy next to us was using his rifle as a pointer and even rested it over his shoulder so it was pointing at us.
I finally had to go over and tell him if he did it again I was going to take the damn thing away from him.
There have been moose and other animals killed on the side of the road just a few hundred yards from homes.
Every 4th of July there are idiots in my trailer park who shoot their guns into the air with no regard for where the bullets might come down.
It's no surprise that people think of those events when they picture a gun owner.
I know the rules are tighter in Eire for gun ownership and usage.
Everytime I see in the paper about some guy shooting a kid in the back for breaking his windows (it has happened here twice in the past five years) I almost wish it was like that here.

homerhop

Yes Red, the shooting laws here are very tight, once you are from this country. The funny thing about it is that it is far easier for a tourist to get a licence here than it is for a local. They can go out and shoot what ever moves with no fear of prosicution, and bring home their spoils.
The worst offenders being Italians.They shoot everything from robins to swans and we have had to deal with a quiet a few shooting on club grounds.
We are fighting strong to get the laws changed for these offenders and have those who are bringing them into the country held more responsible.

Another thing that is fucking it up for us is the English governments stance, once they pass a law there regarding hunting , the muppets here look to do the same thing. The hunting community are really being screwed there. With Mr Blair having a total anti countryside policy.Unfortunately he listens to his wife too much on that one.

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its evolution baby

shakran

I think you missed my point. Holding the convention, even if it's just the anual meeting, in that town at that time is <b>guaranteed</b> to create a negative perception of the NRA by the anti-gun crowd. If the NRA's mission is to increase membership in shooting sports, and to make the public more willing to allow greater freedoms to people who are interested in guns, then that is NOT the way to go about it.

As it stands, the NRA appears, to an outsider, to be an unreasonable club of gun totin' crazies who are obsessed with shooting things. You say that's wrong and I frankly agree with you. But what you and I think matters not at all if your mission is to <i>increase</i> tolerance of gun ownership. You need to reach out to the people with that viewpoint and show them why it's wrong. Rambo quotes and giving the appearance of swooping down on a town that's just gone through a terrible gun-related tragedy to hold a pro-gun love fest (they did this once before, by the way, in Flint, Michigan) is NOT the way to convince people that the NRA is reasonable.

Moonduck

I've owned a Ruger Mini-14 with a folding stock and 30rd magazines for a number of years now. Never once have I felt the urge to go on a shooting spree with it. As "evil" as assault rifles are, I wondered if it was going to whisper to me in the night. =)

Oddly enough, when I received a Cobray M-10 (9mm semi-auto SMG) in trade, my Mother was shocked and mortified. This is the woman that had gone shooting with me and my Dad for most of my youth, and was a better shot than both of us, and likes assault rifles (owns an M-1 Carbine in fact). Yet she saw that "evil" SMG and immediately started in on me like I was planning on hijacking airplanes. I guess it goes to show that even gun owners can go south on their stance sometimes.

opey99

lots of good points, of course as said before, the many pay for the mistakes of the few.

plenty of idiots out there, I agree about changing minds one at a time, I'm just glad they haven't revoked my right to have a CCL.

unknown quote, an armed society is a polite society

I think if you thought everybody else was packin, people would think twice before doing something really stupid. most of the gun owners I know make me think this is a true statement.

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name's Bramage, Dain Bramage

Lebell

And respectfully, you've missed my point, namely, that the Columbine tragedy should in no way be associated with guns or gun conventions, but with disturbed young men and the parents who don't pay any attention to what they are doing.

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

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Lebell

Not unknown by any stretch:

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

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opey99

ok, it was unknown to me who quoted it. I had just heard it and it made sense, makes even more in context!!

thank you!!

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name's Bramage, Dain Bramage