Have you thought about getting a gun, but ended up deciding against it? Why?

I have never contemplated getting a gun. I know how to shoot rifles and pistols. I think guns do more harm than good in almost every situation.

i have one. Only for the reason that i competitively shoot. Someone would have to strike me three times for me to use my weapon on another human being.

Im all for it. My father also has a gun with his concealment license.

If you two are unsure about safety/using a gun/owning one i suggest going to a local gun range, the guys at mine are very knowledgeable and will take the time out to show you the correct stance and how to safely shoot/load/check a weapon. Its better to get a feel for the power you can hold in your hand.

Yes. Reasons not include:
I don’t want anyone to get hurt.
I don’t like real violence.
I’m a pacifist about real life (as opposed to games and other fiction), more or less Buddhist.
They’re expensive.
The laws about their use etc. are annoying.

I don’t like guns, so I would never own one. Plus, I hear too many stories about intruders turning the home owner’s gun against them. Too risky, all around.

We never had a gun in our house until the day some thugs came and robbed us. We borrowed a gun and we all learned how to use it properly. But, I was so worried about accidents happening that it just wasn’t worth keeping it. Husband was the one home when we were robbed and he was pistol whipped and stunned with a stun gun. His trauma over the incident kept him hyper vigilant. I was terrified that I would get up some night to go to the bathroom and he would shoot me by accident thinking I was an intruder. We ended upbgetting rid of the gun and putting other security measures into place.

I have little use for a gun. But if someone ever tried to rob me, I’d like to be able to pull out a gun.

I’ve thought about getting a Barrett light 50 on the basis that aparantly you can get a license for large bore, high power rifles in the UK. No idea what I’d do with it though.

Yup, actually yesterday I looked at a .45 colt revolver, but it was a bit to expensive…

Guns are more likely to hurt their owners than anyone else. I wouldn’t have one at all, but especially so if there were children. If you are depressive, that’s an easy way to end your life. I know I wouldn’t want the temptation in my house. As someone else said, intruders can turn the gun on you, and it actually acts to attract an intruder, since guns are valuable things to steal. I don’t know if you have adults and/or children visiting you, but you don’t want someone to find it accidentally, especially a child. Again, guns are more likely to hurt in friendly fire, rather than in anger.

The chances that you’ll be in a position to use it are quite remote, especially if you keep it locked up somewhere (which you should). The chances that you’ll use it effectively when needed are also remote, although if you train regularly, that would be less so.

I just can’t see any good justification for a gun as protection, except for people who want to feel strong. It helps you feel good, but doesn’t actually help you in any substantive way. It is not worth the cost.

Yes. I had it picked out and I had the cash to buy it and then I thought about actually using it and gave it back to the man. I was more afraid I would try to use it on myself than someone else. Considering where my life went after that, I’m am very glad I changed my mind.

When I lived on a cruising sailboat based out of Miami we had guns on board. I learned how to use them and twice during those years we had to at least display them to prevent problems while out at sea. However, where we were you could not call 911. There were no police and even the Coast Guard was well out of range.

I have not contemplated buying guns now that I live on shore, but my husband has. He was a bailiff when I met him and carried a gun routinely at work. He also had owned hunting rifles prior to meeting me but had sold them. He considered getting a gun for home but decided against it because as an officer of the court he saw way too many cases where guns got into the wrong hands and someone innocent was hurt or killed. In addition, we had small children at that time and currently have a bipolar teenager in the house. Having a gun present would be a great risk.

I have friends in law enforcement who own guns and keep them at home. In one case, the gun was kept in a locked safe, but the owner’s 7 yo son knew the combination, much to his dad’s great surprise. In the other case, the gun is kept with a trigger lock inside a locked case inside a locked closet, yet when the husband became depressed, his wife took her gun out of the house and locked it up elsewhere.

Our solution now that we have seen an increase in home invasions in our area was to get two large and well-trained dogs. We have a 60 pound pit bull and a 125 pound American Bulldog who respect us as pack leaders and are sweet as lambs with us and who never, ever leave the house and yard without being on a leash. However, they bark very loudly when anyone comes on to our property, and the one time someone burst through our front door the dogs, who like to sleep on the cool tile in the hall, took off after them.

It is very hard to commit suicide with a dog and burglars really dislike them very much, so that is our solution.

Absolutely. I have grown up in a family which appreciates guns and uses them correctly. I have shot guns and rifles for hunting, target practice, etc. but I would really like to buy a nice hand gun soon. First, I need to get my lifetime permit though, which will take time and money.

yes, recently

I have always been against weapons, mainly on the basis that there could always be an accident, especially since I have a child at home. I once pointed my cousin’s loaded gun at my sister when we were kids (not knowing it was loaded of course). My dad had a rifle which he always locked up and it was the only place I never managed to crack, even though I was a pro in finding out where our mum had hidden the chocolates. And he always kept the ammo in a different place just in case.

I recently thought of buying a gun, since my life is constantly under threat these days. The problem is I’d be tempted to use it. I even went into a shop and asked about the prices, but changed my mind the last moment. I may still get the licence just in case, but I wouldn’t trust myself with an actual weapon. I think my enemies are better off if I remain unarmed and try to have them arrested instead.

@Jack79 Why is your life constantly under threat?

it’s always about money, innit? ;)
it’s being sorted as we speak though :)
I just need to lay low for another couple of weeks until they get caught :)

I own a gun and have for 20+ years. I do not have children in my home and I don’t advertise that I have guns. My husband bought me a .357 Ruger after a young girl was abducted less than a mile from our home. It was the 2nd abduction in less than a month. He was concerned about me being home alone late at night while he was working. I took a gun safety course, used to go the shooting range regularly, but rarely these days, but I feel very comfortable having a gun in my house. I think the only time I would be afraid of a gun is if I was looking down the barrel of it in someone else’s hands. I have a healthy respect for weapons, but understand that gun ownership is not for everyone.
I should mention that I am very much a pacifist and would only use my gun if my life or my family were in imminent danger.

I bought a snub nose.38 in 1991 for protection. My former employer turned out to be a coke dealer, and when I quit, he threatened me, so I got the gun along with some hollow point bullets. I have kept in in pieces in different areas of the house, for safety purposes, and we have never had any “mishaps ” with it at all.

Wow! Never saw that coming!!!

We always had guns in the house growing up. I always knew exactly where they were and they were very easy to get to. However, I also knew that if my dad found out I touched his gun if it didn’t kill me he would for sure.

As an adult I have absolutely no interest in buying or owning a gun. With kids in the house it makes no sense to me and it would not be worth the stress. My ex always wanted one and going through what we have this past year I have been thankful many times that we never got one.

There are quite a few things to consider when trying to make this decision.

There are plenty of sources out there that make it pretty clear than owning a gun makes a pretty good risk for having it taken away from you and used against you (which I’m too lazy to look up at the moment).

Don’t just go to a gun range and plunk away – take a course on gun safety. Protect yourself by learning how to handle a weapon properly, what the local laws say about how you can use and store and carry that gun, and under what situations you can use it and not face prosecution.

When you take a gun safety course, one of the things that the instructor will tell you is that you should never have a gun for self protection unless you plan to use it. If you have reservations about shooting someone in your home, don’t get one.

Make sure that you and any other adult know how to handle a gun safely. Even if someone else in the house never wants to touch a gun and never plans to use it, they should know enough to be able to tell if someone else is handling it unsafely.

If there are children in the house, you have a whole new set of things to worry about and guard against. There are precautions that you can take, but it’s amazing how effective kids are at getting around fail safes.

I thought about getting a Stephens 410 double barrel, simply because it is the SWEETEST shotgun ever mass produced. I of course would only use it for target shooting as my hunting days are over, but finding one is pretty difficult, and the prices they want for them are outrageous. I’d want one just because it is the finest shotgun-type weapon ever made. As it is, it would be more of a collector’s item, because I really have no place to go shoot the darn thing.

Why do I crave to collect the things that are so hard to find?

@evelyns_pet_zebra – What would be the fun of collecting things that are easy to find?

I thought about getting a gun long ago, but did not because if I have it I might have to use it. If I lived in a rural area, or did a lot of hunting, I would buy one for that purpose, though.

You might also be interested in THIS question:

http://www.fluther.com/disc/36705/did-you-ever-need-a-gun/

@loser you never saw what coming?

Apparently, if you have a gun, the chances of you getting shot go up.

Complete pacifism is unrealistic. Don’t look at is as fear, look at it as precaution. Someone attacking you with the intent to harm is unlikely, but that doesn’t mean it is impossible. Wouldn’t you rather have the means to effectively defend yourself rather than lie there and take what a violent attacker dishes out? If you buy a gun and learn how to use it safely and effectively, you won’t have to worry about someone taking it and turning it on you. It’s not crazy to say that there are violent and whacko people in the world, and chances are, they don’t give a damn about your ideals, so you might as well take the precautions and learn to defend yourself.