[Bacardi1]

No guns here; no plans to EVER have any. Sleep just fine at night. Have plenty of vets close by in case of catastrophic emergency.

And I completely agree with the folks who are saying: Want/enjoy your gun? Fine. But DON'T proselytize to me about it or your "rights".

[Slewdledo]

Never have, never will. The gun owners I know are:

- retired police officer (multiple types of guns)
- livestock farm owner (unsure of type, it looks kind of like a BB gun? for farm emergencies)
- FBI agent
- ex-Marine/survivalist & family

[Renn/aissance]

I don't own a gun and I just recently moved from within a mile of a really bad area to within a mile of another one that's pretty questionable!

That said, my father did target shooting for sport, and it's something he said he'd teach me when I was old enough. He died before he got a chance. I am contemplating taking the gun handling courses and formally learning to shoot (I can and have on a range, but not particularly well) and registering his gun in my name. Again, just for sport. I don't feel the need to have a gun for protection and never have.

My housemate is a member of the state defense force and while I don't know that it's required for what he does, he owns and target shoots a handgun. I think at one point he was contemplating military service, and that probably played into it.

[Equisis]

I don't own a gun but I do know how to shoot and have shot a few different types of guns. I live in Maryland, transplanted from Boston and everyone here was shocked that I'd never even touched a gun, let alone shot one! I've never felt the need to have one for self-defence, and to be honest, I don't know that I could use one if the situation arose. I'd be more worried it would be used against me. As for hunting, I do love venison and love the idea of eating wild meat but I am a terrible shot so it will be a cold day in hell when I'm actually able to kill anything edible. I'm glad I tried shooting (and the gun seems a lot less scary after you've held it and learned a bit about it) and I had fun, but I can't imagine I'll ever own one, at least unless I learn a hell of a lot more about them and get a lot more experience.

[mooonie]

Naah, guns are for wimps.

That's why I own my own Apache helicopter and keep my backyard mined

[horsepoor]

Don't own one and have no intention of getting one. Nothing about recent events has swayed my feeling on that. I don't hunt, and that was the only reason to have guns around when I was growing up (Dad hunted, we had guns in the house, but locked up, etc.). Most of my neighbors have guns, judging by the blasting around here, but I don't care...other than being annoyed by the noise.

For vermin, I have a slingshot! Quiet, effective, and entertaining.

[Beentheredonethat]

NO way. Not interested. I just had to go take the gun out of my mom's house because my crazy step-father got it back before he died (afraid of the "riots" after the election) and I wanted to make sure nothing loaded was there if my psychotic half-sister showed up. I HATED holding it.

I live across the street from the 18 year old and his 16 year old friend that brutally murdered a woman they worked for because they wanted to rob her because they knew she had guns. I live in a very iffy area--helicopters, police chases all of the time, and the school I work at is a bit iffy.

There is NO WAY I would ever shoot someone, even if they "invaded my house in a group of five." No way. Just can't do it. It's very visceral with me.

I have gone to a gun range with a friend once who really loved them. I don't get it.

[Pookah]

I don't own one, but I grew up with guns in the house and do know how to shoot. Not well enough that I would buy one without taking a lot of classes, but I'm a decent shot.

I actually had my apartment broken into when I was in college, and woke up at 2 am or so, to see a strange man standing over my bed watching me sleep. I was VERY lucky, and as soon as he realized I was awake, he left. That happened 15 years ago, and although I'm certainly not traumatized over it, I've never completely gotten over it either, and still have to check under the bed, in closets, etc regularly.

As a result, I periodically consider getting a small handgun, but I always decide against it. I am a very sound sleeper, and didn't wake up through this guy breaking in through a sliding glass door and coming into my room - he was literally a foot from my bed and had been standing there when I woke up. Absolutely the only way a gun would have been useful to me is if I had been sleeping with it under my pillow, which would be incredibly stupid. It made me realize that if anything, it's very easy to have a false sense of security with a gun, and that in an emergency, the odds of being able to get to it, load it, and fire it at someone for the first time, for me personally, would not be good. Plus, it would be really adding one more habit - for me to own one, I would want to practice regularly, clean it often, etc - which would be one more thing to take care of.

If I lived on a horse farm, I would absolutely want to have one for emergencies, but I live in a downtown condo and am actually happier not having a gun in the house. Instead I have a 140 lb black Great Dane, who has such a terrifying bark that anyone who would be brave or stupid enough to break in after hearing it would probably outshoot me anyway. I've heard it cited several times that dogs are better protection for women than guns, no idea if that's true but it works for me, plus it got a big black dog (the least adoptable kind) out of rescue.

[hosspuller]

I own a gun, but it's not a firearm.

My gun is a Pardini K10 air pistol. The muzzle velocity is too low to qualify it as a 'firearm' and it was designed with only one purpose in mind: to be a precision air pistol.

10m air pistol is an ISSF and Olympic sport. If you're wondering what it looks like, here's the London 2012 women's final.

As an offensive or defensive weapon, a competition air pistol is most useful when deployed as a bludgeon. The pellets won't hurt anyone and it's slow to reload and aim.

I prefer not to own a 'real' gun but I do love training and competing in air pistol.

An "air gun" was used by the Lewis & Clark Expedition. It was impressive enough that the group was allowed to pass unmolested through hostile territory. Google it !

[Lilypad]

I'm Canadian

Seriously though, there's no reason to since I don't hunt, live in the city, etc.

[BasqueMom]

Here's a link to the firearms on the Expedition:
http://www.westernexplorers.us/Firea..._and_Clark.pdf

They did have a whole lot of other conventional firearms including a small cannon.
And the air rifle had been modified to be a Repeater of sorts.

[WaningMoon]

Don't own one. They are not allowed in my home. And I do not support our right to own them either.

[sophie]

I don't own one. I don't feel the need and I cannot fathom hurting / killing anyone, anyway.
I also don't buy the "but they're not weapons" line. What were guns created for, if not to kill? A knife has plenty of other useful and harmless uses. And so, I DO carry a knife at all times. Not for protection, but for slicing saucisson and opening the accompanying bottle of red wine.

[Donkerbruin]

I don't own one. I don't feel the need and I cannot fathom hurting / killing anyone, anyway.
I also don't buy the "but they're not weapons" line. What were guns created for, if not to kill? A knife has plenty of other useful and harmless uses. And so, I DO carry a knife at all times. Not for protection, but for slicing saucisson and opening the accompanying bottle of red wine.

I am so with you on this. Yes, guns are weapons. I do not understand the argument that they are tools. They ARE tools, but with only one purpose: to kill.

Maybe we should get guns so that we can shoot open our bottles of wine, since they are such useful tools!

[wildlifer]

I do not -- and I do not feel less safe. In fact, if you review crime statistics, having one in the house actually dramatically INCREASES the probability of injury or death.

But nonetheless -- yes, I know how to shoot. Yes, I know how to handle them. But (1) I despise the fact that our culture has given tacit permission to solve your problems with violence and (2) if I did own a gun, I would probably be arrested within one week for rage-shooting someone or myself, I may or may not have some repressed issues, ha.

[wildlifer]

Naah, guns are for wimps.

That's why I own my own Apache helicopter and keep my backyard mined

ROFL, just saw this! Oh please let me borrow your Apache, I've always wanted to fly one just once!! That FLIR would be so handy for getting home from the farm at night!!!

[PaintPony]

Don't own a gun. I've actually never even held one.

Me either. The only guns I saw growing up were the ones worn by the FBI/CIA agents that were my friends' parents. (Yeah, I grew up in a wealthy suburb of DC! )

I've actually never felt unsafe - and I'm a female who lives alone without a dog. My brother lives in NYC and keeps a baseball bat under his bed. He calls it his Urban Defense System. LOL!

[LauraKY]

If you're that worried about someone breaking into your house, wouldn't it be smarter to put in an alarm system, better reinforce the doors and windows and locks. And maybe get a big dog or two. That would make me feel safer than having to depend on a gun (which should be locked up in a gun safe, in any case)

[Appsolute]

“But what if you are a mother home alone with your kids – and an intruder breaks in, and you have just seconds to react?!”

If you are in a home, with children – that gun better be locked up WELL. So please, tell me, how are you going to access the locked case, get the gun out, and be ready to shoot an armed intruder in seconds? If your gun is kept in such a way that it can be loaded and ready to shoot at an intruder in seconds – then it is not kept in a way that would be safe around children – or safe from the hands of criminals should they break in when you were not home.

Better off with some big dogs, an alarm system – they are less likely to kill one of your household members. – The statics confirm it.

[wendy]

no guns here. Can't think of any reason to get one. I even forget to lock my door sometimes. I frequently go out after dark alone, too, without the slightest feeling of fear. I do have two big dogs, so you'd have to be kind of stupid to try to break in. If someone did break in, I sure wouldn't attempt to kill them- if they want to steal my stuff, it's not worth anyone losing their life over. Most violent crimes committed against women are committed by family members, so I protect myself by living alone.

If I lived way out in the country, I'd feel even safer- fewer people around. I sure wouldn't feel inspired to get a gun just because I lived in a rural area.

None of the barns I've ever boarded at kept guns on the premises.

I occasionally consider taking up hunting for meat, but I'd use a bow, not a gun.