http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/81/guns
I have a gun.
I'm not really a gun person, and that's why I like it so much. It's a gun, for people that hate guns. The reason I like this gun so much? Because it comes apart, and is meant to be apart when you're not using it. Not to mention that it's only a .22 so it has the kick rivaled by a small child, and is only deadly if you're an amazing shot with it and get super lucky with the EMTs being 300 miles away and taking a minimum of six hours to get to you. If anyone did get shot by my gun, it'd hurt, but there's little chance that they'd be dead.
Other rifles are stuck as being rifles. They're big, they're bulky, they're massive, and there's always that risk that you can just pick it up and use it. There's always that fear that someone, somewhere, will be stupid and pick up a rifle and shoot themselves or someone else. I do not have that fear in the smallest amount, mainly because my gun is in pieces.
The barrel is in one section, the butt is in another, and the empty clips are stashed away in a pocket in a different section of the case. The bullets? I don't even have bullets! When/if I ever go shooting, I shoot every single bullet I bring with me, I don't want a bullet in my house, even with a gun that is in pieces.
Then comes the main confusion with me owning a gun. I hate hunting. I have never, ever, desired even in the smallest fraction of my soul, ever wanted to go out and hunt. I don't like the idea, I don't like the concept and I find it a solid waste of time right next to fishing. I hate it. I've never even gone hunting, but I already know that I would never be able to do it.
The tricky part to top this all of, is I'd like to think of myself as a pretty good shot. For Boy Scouts for the rifle badge, you have to shoot four shots at 50 feet in a cluster about the size of a quarter. I did that when I was eleven. I only got better from there.
No matter how much I like my gun, and even how much I would like to think that I'm a decent shot, I'm not a gun person, because I see no use or purpose for it. Yeah, sure, it's cool to shoot a gun and it's cool to rip holes through things from a hundred feet away, but what's the point? Is it going to help me get a job? Is it going to help me keep my family fed or my family safe? Not so much. Guns aren't a necessity any more, they're optional. I don't need a gun to keep my property safe. I don't need a gun to eat. All of the reasons that guns were 100% essential before are no longer valid, so as much as I enjoy having a gun and shooting it, it's like having a rotary dial telephone.
It's just not needed anymore.
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