Your First Time

[Traitorfish]

Disagree. Everybody else in this thread has been quite nonchalent about handling a gun. Arronaxx is extreme in his emotions. I fear he may need counselling now...

I don't really see how that proves or disproves anything. It's not at all evident that the apparent nonchalance of posters is psychologically healthy. It could just as easily be that this is an affection adopted for pride's sake, that it is an acquired immunity to the psychological impact of carrying a firearm, that a culture in which firearms and their use plays a large role encourages an individual to suppress any feelings of unease, or any other number of factors, including the ungenerous but none the less actual possibility that some people are poorly socialised or have an underdeveloped sense of empathy.

(That said, it's probably worth noting that some people have occupation or cultural background in which firearms figure more highly as practical tools- farm use, hunting, etc.- for whom it seems fairer to assume that they have been able to reconcile an awareness of the dangerousness of firearms with a relative comfort in carrying and handling them; like how a butcher won't wander around the place going "holy crap this is a sharp knife I'm holding", but is also generally able not to stab things overmuch.)

I imagine it helps, too, that the forum has a significantly disproportionate representation from a demographic with significantly under-developed faculties of reason, i.e. adolescent males, who may simply not grasp the full weight of swinging around a little bundle of death. Doubly so, given that this demographic is also quite keen on affecting a front of stoic machismo- as illustrated by, for example, the fact that your reaction to somebody expressing Arronaxx's views is to make fun of them.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I wish they'd relax the restrictions on deer hunting. Apparently, those things are everywhere these days. A deer almost killed my mom a few days ago.

Yeah they do need to be culled in some areas pretty badly.

 

[JohannaK]

I love TF's post.

 

[Borachio]

I think this whole gun thing is just phallic. What does that make me?

 

[Antilogic]

I think this whole gun thing is just phallic. What does that make me?

AdamCrock?

 

[Deaths Advocate]

I think this whole gun thing is just phallic. What does that make me?

Freud?

 

[Bugfatty300]

I think this whole gun thing is just phallic. What does that make me?

A sub par stand-up comedian washout?

 

[Borachio]

Well, thanks a bunch! (Tbh, I can't now remember what I was thinking with "What does that make me?" Must have been something or other. Oh yeah: nonchalance about handling weapons. Hey, I was funnier than I remembered. But my audience does have to work with me, that's for sure.)

 

[Formaldehyde]

[

I wish they'd relax the restrictions on deer hunting. Apparently, those things are everywhere these days. A deer almost killed my mom a few days ago.

I think this is a rather silly argument unless the deer was stalking and hunting her. But I'm certainly glad to hear she didn't die.

(That said, it's probably worth noting that some people have occupation or cultural background in which firearms figure more highly as practical tools- farm use, hunting, etc.- for whom it seems fairer to assume that they have been able to reconcile an awareness of the dangerousness of firearms with a relative comfort in carrying and handling them; like how a butcher won't wander around the place going "holy crap this is a sharp knife I'm holding", but is also generally able not to stab things overmuch.)

The difference, of course, is that handguns only really have one purpose if you discount the personal protection from dangerous animals or target shooting arguments.

 

[Farm Boy]

I think this is a rather silly argument unless the deer was stalking and hunting her.

Eh, not really. You could make a good argument for re-introducing natural predators to deer, but most people don't actually want to live close to a dense population of those, which may actually stand a chance of stalking and hunting your mother, or at least your dog.

In a situation where we lack those predators, licensing deer hunting is one of the more economical and least wasteful methods available to come up with something resembling population control and husbandry.

 

[Bugfatty300]

I think this is a rather silly argument unless the deer was stalking and hunting her. But I'm certainly glad to hear she didn't die.

Of course the deer wasn't trying to kill her.

Edit: Just to clarify this happened in downtown and not out on a country road. The idea being that if deer populations weren't so high in the wild then perhaps there wouldn't be as much incentive for deer to venture into populated areas to begin with.

 

[Formaldehyde]

How dare they encroach on clearly human habitats.


Link to video.

I'll always remember the look of extreme fear in my cat's eyes accompanied by heavy panting after encountering his first deer herd in his own new backyard when we moved to a slightly less developed location of the SF bay area. It was like "what do I do now"?

 

[Bugfatty300]

Forma, it's not about being angry or indignant towards the deer.

http://raleighdurham.about.com/od/citiesandneighborhoods/a/deercontrol.htm

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/11/12/3659626/deer-vehicle-collisions-on-the.html

 

[Formaldehyde]

I understand the issues quite well.

I once hit a mule deer on Highway 84 in California driving from Woodside to Alice's Restaurant on Skyline Drive. The doe was standing by the side of the road so I stopped. When she appeared to not show any sign of wanting to cross the road, I switched lanes to put as much distance as possible between us and accelerated to get by. She jumped in one hop immediately in front of my car, hit the bumper, and cartwheeled right into the windshield right in my face.

Deer were so prevalent in the afternoons at Bridgehampton race track on the tip of Long Island that we had a special Bullwinkle signal to tell drivers they were near the track. That didn't stop them from occasionally causing extensive damage to cars being operated at well over 100 mph.

But I really don't think the appropriate answer is to deliberately thin them out. At least that is, not until they are far more plentiful than they are now, which will likely not occur.

YMMV.

 

[Bugfatty300]

Glad you weren't hurt. By the way, won't you tell us about your first time? I'm interested at least.

 

[Formaldehyde]

I've already posted about my extensive experience with firearms numerous times, including quite recently.

When I was 10, my dad brought home a .30 caliber Browning machine gun from Rock Island Arsenal where he was stationed. It was a big hit with the Webelos scout group.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I've already posted about my extensive experience with firearms numerous times, including quite recently.

When I was 10, my dad brought home a .30 caliber Browning machine gun from Rock Island Arsenal where he was stationed. It was a big hit with the Webelos scout group.

Rock Island Arsenal is on that island in the middle of the Mississippi river in Northwest Illinois, right?

 

[Farm Boy]

Rock Island Arsenal is on that island in the middle of the Mississippi river in Northwest Illinois, right?

Speaking of things near Moline, I haven't been to the John Deere museum in a while...

 

[Phrossack]

I find the deer population control argument interesting. I know there are a lot of deer- my local archery range has about 15 and counting, deer have jumped out onto the road in front of me, and five or so once ran through my neighborhood.

But it seems a little disingenuous to claim that the hunting is done for population control because the hunters actively target large bucks with large antlers. Not only does this encourage survival of the small and weak, it also does little to reduce the population. After all, males can reproduce very often, but females can only reproduce once every so many months. So if hunters really want an effective cull and keep the population low for a while, they should shoot does rather than bucks.

 

[holy king]

awkward and a bit embarassing.