Guns and/or Weapons Poll

Durwood

Just saw an ad that got me thinking. I know right:jester:

Generally speaking do you think of YOUR guns as weapons.

jbp-ohio

No

Nope. It is a tool. A rock is a weapon if you use as such

Eli

Yes

Some of them, yes.

My .22s are toys, potentially lethal toys, but toys nonetheless. My Glock 34, revolvers, and shotguns are toys as well.

My rifles and carry guns are slated for the role of "weapon", fortunately they haven't been used in that capacity, and hopefully never will, but that is their main purpose.

Fat Billy

Yes

Everything that can cause harm to another is a weapon IF used that way. Guns are effective weapons and FUN to use but if misused or handled poorly can be deadly. Dead is dead. It is harder to kill someone with a hatchet than a firearm. If someone breaks into your home and you bury the hatchet in their forehead no problem. If someone breaks into your home and you shoot them it takes a bus load of lawyers to keep you free. Weird huh? :bang: Later,

wddodge

Yes

Anything can be a weapon depending on how its used. Let me eat a crave case of White Castles and my butt could be classified as a weapon.

Denny

tennmike

No

I think of all of my firearms as tools. Some tools are multipurpose, and others perform one function, and one function only. Firearms are multipurpose tools. They can keep you fed, fend off those with evil intent, and provide satisfaction in punching holes in paper or other targets. My straight claw framing hammer is a tool built for a dedicated purpose, but it can also be used as a defensive tool if necessary. A cheap Bic pen is handy for writing, but can be a weapon if necessary.

Calling them weapons is pushing them into a slot in which they do not comfortably fit. They are more than that.

Freezer

No

My firearms are tools. I have one that was designed as a man killer but it's not a weapon, it's a self defence tool. Weapon it too general, a knife, bat, tire iron or firearm, all can be used as a weapon.

Jermanator

I have found some loop hole in this question so I ain't responding cuz that' how I do

I got a weapon of gas destruction.

NN

I have found some loop hole in this question so I ain't responding cuz that' how I do

Zee

Jayhawker

I have found some loop hole in this question so I ain't responding cuz that' how I do

I have firearms that could rightfully be referred to as weapons...
I have firearms that would be most accurately called tools...
I even have firearms that are works of art...

BAMAAK

No

If I'm using it for fun no, If I should happen to need for defensive purposes, it's a weapon.

Big Chief

Well, most of us have Concealed Weapons Carry Permits, not Concealed Toy/Tool/Art/Fun Carry Permits from our states :jester:

I think all of the above, depending on how they are used.

Barryd

Yes

While only one of mine has ever been used as a weapon, they all have that potential.

samzhere

Yes

All guns are weapons, even those small caliber made exclusively for target shooting. The principle is always the same, regardless. Guns are designed to kill things.

sarg1c

I just bought a new Rav4, it could be a weapon....It just about kills me everytime I go to the bank... I do have a utility rifle, at lest that's how it's classified??? I guess it's how you look at it. If you look at how I shoot, it would be hard to prove it's a weapon... Even the deer follow me around laughing...I bet the anti-gunners are laughing, taking notes. We don't realy need feed them.


the way some talk, even a fishing pole is a weapon...

coolgunguy

No

samzhere wrote: »

All guns are weapons, even those small caliber made exclusively for target shooting. The principle is always the same, regardless. Guns are designed to kill things.

No. No they are not all "designed to kill things". While all might be capable of doing so, they aren't all designed to do so. Semantics maybe, but the difference is real. We wouldn't consider labeling all knives as weapons, would we? Aren't they all designed to cut, slash, poke and stab things?

To paraphrase a wise old shrimp boat captain: "A weapon is as a weapon does". If it ain't used for hurtin', killin', or for the preparation of the possibility of such, it ain't a weapon.

Jayhawker

I have found some loop hole in this question so I ain't responding cuz that' how I do

samzhere wrote: »

Guns are designed to kill things.

Respectfully disagree....I have a few guns that were designed from the ground up to do nothing more than punch holes in paper or break little clay disks...

Durwood

No

tennmike wrote: »

SNIP...

Calling them weapons is pushing them into a slot in which they do not comfortably fit. They are more than that.

Well said:beer:

Durwood

No

Wambli Ska wrote: »

Perfect answer. I normally consider them tools or toys with the potential to be weapons, but to be frank I describe them as toys most often than not.

Exactly how I think of most of my guns. Yes, I am fully cognizant of their potential to be lethal, but I rarely think of them that way.

Durwood

No

samzhere wrote: »

All guns are weapons, even those small caliber made exclusively for target shooting. The principle is always the same, regardless. Guns are designed to kill things.

This response is ignorant beyond belief.

Bigslug

Yes

cpj wrote: »

Yes. It's a weapon. And the NRA **** that refuse to acknowledge them as such annoy me.

+10,000,000,000!! I took the NRA handgun instructor course back around 2005 because I thought it would be good for the resume. Due to their refusal to call a spade a spade when teaching their curriculum, it's a certificate I have NEVER used and will NEVER renew. It left me wondering about how they run their Highpower Rifle instruction: at the point you're not allowing an M1 Garand (which can claim a body count roughly on par with smallpox) to be called a "weapon", you have truly chugged the bong water.

Short version, I have not drunk the hoplophobe Kool Aid, and I will gleefully kick over the pitcher of anyone trying to mix up a batch.

wildgene

Yes

...had to answer "Yes", but then again I consider newspapers, magazines, coat hangers, just about anything that comes to hand as a "weapon"...

Pelagic Kayaker

No

Generally speaking? No, not at all.

For me they are mostly a hobby and I shoot at least two to three times a week. Target shooting out to 1,000 yds is what I enjoy. From my Shiloh Sharps to my M1A they are 99.9% recreational. However, like anything else from cars to power tools, they are to be treated/stored/locked with respect and safety, especially around the youngsters. About the only thing I'd consider soley as a weapon would be a nuke.

sarg1c

A weapon or gun, no matter is like a B-52D, sure makes a good deterrent....

bisley

I have found some loop hole in this question so I ain't responding cuz that' how I do

No...my whole body is a weapon.

horselips

Yes

Of course they're weapons. How deep in denial do you have to be to deny that? Sure, some of these weapons are used for sport, as tools or toys, or simply for collecting, trading or investment. But don't kid yourself, whatever their use, against things animate or inanimate, or completely unused and locked under glass, firearms are weapons. And in that, lies their intrinsic appeal.

Linefinder

No

Much like a sharp stick, they are weapons only when I decide they are weapons. That said, they're better than sharp sticks.

Mike

snake284

No

I voted no because I haven't encountered too many deer in the field that shot back. However There are a few that I consider weapons. Since I don't do a lot of target shooting with my hand guns, they are more or less weapons. I mostly use them for SD-HD, so I consider them weapons. I have one pump shotgun that doubles as a HD firearm and a hunting firearm. The rest I use strictly for hunting and shooting paper. But that's not to say that in a pinch I wouldn't use one of my rifles or my O/U 12 Ga Browning to defend myself, my family, and my property if push came to shove.

Big Dan

No

If it has a primer or other means to ignite gun powder, of some sort, and by means of expanding gas, expels a projectile out of a tube and goes bang, pop or phssst (poor attempt to mimic a suppressed report), it is a firearm.
(If smokeless and bigger than 1/2" bore, doesn't that qualify it as being a cannon??)
What you plan to do with the firearm determines if it is a weapon or not.
As far as being PC or not, I have a number for friends that have had some "in your face" gun buffs rant and rave to them about having the right own any type of weapon they want to and to be able shoot anyone they can justifiably shoot. They now think anyone that likes guns is a Neanderthal, is dangerous and should not be allowed to own a weapon. It takes forever and a day to turn these people around and get rid of the impression that everyone that owns a firearm is a natural born killer or wants to be one. Plus, it doesn't make it any easier to get them out to a range to experience and understand that shooting sports are a safe and fun activity for the entire family.

If I can bore you for a minute??
I am a NRA instructor for rifle, pistol and shotgun, RSO and BSA Merit Badge Counselor for Rifle & Shotgun.
When we teach boys and girls to shoot and per NRA direction, we refer to the firearms as rifles, shotguns, pistols and revolvers. We teach kids firearm safety, how to shoot, how to compete for score, and gun safety. Notice the term is firearm or gun safety, not weapon safety.
By us taking a neutral position on naming a firearm, a lot more people can be converted to firearm safety, gun ownership and believing in 2nd Amendment rights.
Personally, I will not allow a child that wants to take a MB course from me to "learn to kill something" to participate in any of my courses. The last thing any of us counselors wants to do, is open the paper and see headlines screaming that "Local Scouter Teaches Youth to be KILLERS." We all know that there are some of the press folks that would think they had died and gone to heaven if they could author such an article.
If you are given or acquire a firearm with the expressed intent that that it will be used kill people, it is a weapon and you are either in the military / militia or need to be in the nut house like the latest series of mass murders should have been. Zombie killing is another story.
An old preacher told me that it is hard to convert someone to Jesus when you start out telling them they are going to Hell because they don't believe exactly what you do.
My Mauser K98, Enfield Mk 4, M1 Garand and M1A1 were built to be weapons. I refer to them as my rifles and hopefully they will never have to be used for what they were designed to be and will forever remain as my rifles not my weapons.
Sorry for taking so much space but I'm a unabashed 2nd Amendment evangelist intent on converting anyone I can.

Zee