Unfortunately a lot of people that grew up in the city, it's the only life they know of. I was a victim of it too, I grew up in Chicago.
The city life makes you believe the entire country is similar to it. It has a way of influencing you, concentrated a massive population in a smaller area, you are brought up and taught a specific code of morals, a way of life, you are taught there is no need to leave the city because you have all the education and job opportunities one would ever need.
Along with that, corrupt politics. What one considers a conservative in New York is not a conservative in the midwest or the south.
One a person is conditioned into the city way of life and thinking, it's ...difficult to make them think outside the box, and the same has applied.
When I grew up in the city, I was taught in school that guns were bad and to report them. I was taught that the only people who should have guns are those that hunt and that no one hunts in the city and as a Jew, hunting was prohibited. I was taught handguns are used for self defense but that if I ever saw a kid with a handgun, he was either in a gang or had bad intentions. Kids were taught to stay away and don't ask questions about guns, don't learn about them, just ignore them. Even the mere drawing or sight of a gun even on a police officer brought feelings of fear.
AK47's and uzi's were seen as outlaw weapons and had no place in society, crudely manufactured and not welcome in our society or place, a true gangster weapon.
When my dads weapons were confiscated, my opinions changed, my dad taught me everything I knew about guns and I was told that I had to defend myself from nazis and blacks, the school system told me my dad was paranoid and that I should never pick up a gun, just focus on education.
When I finally moved and left, I went to rural areas outside of the country, I learned quickly how different life was outside of the city, the culture, the people. We were taught that the South didn't welcome Jews, it was a rural hostile place full of nazis and KKK gun toting thugs and that I should have no place in their society. I was wrong.
I was welcome with open arms by southerners, they were the most hospitable people I had met and they asked a lot of questions. I learned everything I needed about guns by rednecks living in the open country and being able to shoot. I started conceal carrying weapons with permit and at first I wanted only a handgun, over time I learned about rifles and realized that most of this stuff about "full automatic machine guns" and "gangster weapons" was a load of crap, that it was a citys way of controlling people and making them into sheep, demonizing weapons so they could ban them. Turn people into useful idiots, feel them propaganda and censor out the truth.
over time, I learned the history of every military gun where it was made, how the AK47 was designed by the Soviets as a peasant rifle, the most reliable rifle in the world and how guns themselves were not evil, just inanimate objects and that only the people who used them could be judged. The first time I held that AK47 in my hand, I felt like I had power in my hands, I felt like no one would ever mess with me again, and I felt like I wanted one, that envy. I felt with a gun, I automatically deserved respect.
After that envy died, I bought my first gun very excited, I did all the research I could about the gun, the history, the markings, what it meant, the safety, I watched videos on youtube how to field strip it, how to properly hold a gun, the 4 safety lessons, everything I could to be a safe shooter to show responsibility. My buddies were impressed.
I finally purchased my first military style rifle semi-automatic galil, I remember the media telling me how these guns were cop killers and that they should be banned, holding it the first time, I felt like I had something that was tabboo and the fact that politicians wanted it banned and it was controversial made me want it even more. After a while, I realized it was no different than any hunting rifle I had shot or even that bolt action rifle, as a matter of fact, that 5.56 x 45 was no more than a little .22 caliber with a lot of gun powder behind it. I realized the only difference was the magazine capacity, the folding stock, and the bolt lug and flash hider. I could have done more damage with a hunting rifle or a shotgun.
After a while, I stopped having that "superior feeling" to owning guns, I no longer cared and it was just a tool to me, that feeling wore off. I focused less on buying guns to be a badass and more on why I wanted guns to begin with, I knew I needed them because of my background being a Jew, I knew I was more interested in collecting guns because I was interested in history behind them and the wars they were used in, almost like collecting a sword that was used in a ancient battle or something.
I got more interested in politics involving gun laws and safety to set a prime example to other new gun owners and get them involved.
I started questioning all these rediculous laws and why they even existed in the first place, we were told to register our guns, ban assault weapons, limit capacity in magazine, all for the children because of spiking gun crime, what gun crime? We had 3 murders in our town with 17,000 people in a year and none with guns, why should my rights be sacrificed in some city that had nothing to do with me? Then it hit me, people didn't see the whole picture, only black and white. These cities where most of the gun crimes occurred were in cities where the guns were already banned.
There you have it, the laws did nothing.
I got involved in firearms for the wrong purposes, perhaps out of curiosity and just having one to own one, and I turned it into a positive thing.
I don't want people to make the same mistake as me, I want people to own guns for responsible use and I want them to use them responsibly. I don't want people to be afraid of buying a gun because it looks to "evil" or the appearance or because a "gang member used it", I buy military guns because I like quality, if the militarys using them, it means that the government contractors have to work that much harder to make a reliable weapon suitable for military purposes. Gang members are merely using a tool for the opportunity.
I saw a lot of these school shooters, they had little exposure to guns as a kid, they saw guns as this "forbidden fruit" and had to have it, they thought that power in their hands would solve all the issues like a video game, take out all their victims and then off themselves, it was a godlike feeling to them. They never respected the tool, merely used it as a tool of intimidation of fear and power.
I realized this and didn't want to be in the same shoes as them, I justified my hobby and realized the power of firearms, I learned to respect the tool and saw it as a object I hoped I would never have to use it for except plinking at paper targets.
When these gun legislatures came out, I felt insulted like a slap in the face, I knew it wouldn't stop school shootings, merely politicians that waited for the situation to arrise to back their political bills banning weapons that had absolutely nothing to do with the shooting at all, like politicians passing a assault weapon ban after virginia tech where the shooter used 2 handguns.
I don't worship guns, I am defensive about my hobby and my rights because other people want to take away those rights, they say they support the 2nd amendment but they want to chip away at our rights, give them an inch, they will take a mile. My rights are under attack and that's why I defend my rights.
You use the tools you need to survive in this world, not because of fear and ignorance, education is the key.
Learn, educate yourself, practice, train, and enjoy yourself. If you fear guns, they will control you, real gun control is you controlling your weapon.
I thank G-d the day I moved out of Chicago, I maybe an isolated Jew but it was the best move I ever made to open my eyes.
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Topic: Will you buy a gun before November elections? (Read 28422 times)