Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire The purpose of guns?

First, making distinctions is not pussyfooting around. It's vital to any agreement on any issue.
Second, your words "what guns are designed for and the purpose of the Second Amendment" confuses this issue further. We can probably agree on the purpose of the Second Amendment. However, the purpose of the Second Amendment is related to but not the same as the purpose of a firearm.
Third, making distinctions actually supports your right to bear arms. No one will issue a CCW if they ask "Why do you want to carry?" and you say "I might have to kill someone."
Fourth, if you refuse to make warranted distinctions, and you have to shoot someone someday, you will be a defense attorney's nightmare. Good luck with that.

When armed citizens carry, it's not because they might have to shoot someone. It's because a need may arise where they must protect themselves or someone else. Sometimes the mere presence of a gun accomplishes that. And sometimes, unfortunately, the trigger must be pulled. Countless cases demonstrate that.

This comment by RickyD makes clear the distinction between what firearms were designed to do, and what their purpose is. His first sentence is about design. The rest is about purpose:

I hope you have never bought a firearm for the purpose of killing someone. If you have, and you ever do, you will join Aaron Hernandez.

If you believe what a gun is designed for and what a gun's purpose is are the same, every anti-gun liberal will not only agree with you, they will use your words to eliminate guns. The pro-gun position is to say that even though a gun is designed to kill people, God forbid it be used for that purpose.

You remind me of the time my liberal ex-brother-in-law asked me what he should do with an old, rusty, worthless rifle. I told him to wait for a gun buy-back in the city where he lived. Six months later I asked him in front of his 12 year old daughter if he ever got rid of the gun. This was the first his daughter knew of it, and she said, "Daddy, did you used to kill people?" Which is exactly what her liberal mother wanted her to believe is the only purpose of guns.

Steve.

You seem to confuse your purpose with the purposeful design of a gun.

Certain firearms are designed to kill. Some are designed to kill people. You may purchase one and carry it with a completely different purpose, but that is YOUR purpose, separate and distinct from the purposeful design of the gun.

Your purpose for owning a sword might legitimately be to swing away at a training post for hours on end. But unless the sword is a wooden replica, that was not the purpose of its design.

"Purpose" versus "purposeful design"? Thanks. That post amply demonstrates that you're the one willing to use language to confuse.

Steve.

I would say that guns have many purposes, just to name a few:
1. The protection of life, liberty and property (2nd Amendment stuff, protecting ourselves those who would do steal, murder and rape);
2. Provide food;
3. Deterrence (one of the many reasons Japan never tried to invade mainland USA in WWII was that there would be a armed man behind every door); and
4. Recreation and sport.

Fortunately, we typically only use them for #2 and #4 above, but the mere fact we have them serves to prevent having to use them for #1 and #3 above.

Just my thoughts.

The purpose of guns is to make money.

He is right. The sole express purpose of many guns is to kill people. No reason to deny it, sugar coat it, or pretend differently. The 2nd Amendment is not about shooting sports or hunting. It is about killing those who need killing in either protection of oneself or checking abusive government power.

Take the inner city hoodrats out of those numbers, and I wonder what that graph would look like?

I like that. Well said.