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Originally Posted by clt46910
...We seem to take on a mystical view of a firearm as some magic thing that has a will of it own and if you are not of a proper age or don't control it in a certain way it will hurt you. It is only a tool. If properly handled it is no more dangerous then a lot of other things you use everyday. In fact a lot less dangerous then some. I think it is time we, as gun owners and shooters, learn to think of them as what they are and not keep falling into the trap that the anti-gunner have backed us up into. Stop believing they are evil things that need to be locked and caged up constantly for the safety of the masses.
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I agree with most of what you stated, but have to digress a bit on this one. Firearms ARE that mystical magical image. They represent power and authority to some, death and destruction to others, and tools of aggression or defense and hunting to another set of people.
Some of this is true, some of it is the portrayal they receive in the media (by media I mean all forms: The good gun with a gun, the bad guy with the gun, the solider with the gun, etc..)
Nonetheless, and the reason for my reply is that the reason I disagree with that is takes me back to a converstation with the wife many years ago about leaving a knife on the cutting board after the food was put away. We would argue over it, her point being that it was on the counter and that was that, and I pointing out that it was a dangerous thing to have out in the open -specifially that as I treated any TOOL, that tool should be put away until needed.
We eventually compromised (married men hear me: I won
) but only due to the fact that a few years later we had a toddler roaming about the house. And she saw my point of putting away tools, or locking away tools when not in use. I don't leave my drills where they lay at the end of the day because I'm done with them. Responsible tool ownership tells me that someones toe could be injured by my diamond tipped drillbit as they walk by my drill, or someone who doesn't know how to use my drillbit may come along a try to use it on a project that it is not designated for.
Point being it that you have to respect the tool for what the tool CAN do, and not what you think the tool SHOULD do. Because not everyone is going to subscibe to your logic or effort when it comes to the responsiblity of that tool. Not everyone without the proper background or life experiances can manage that tool.
The cars and guns in your example while vastly different each require a different set of training and responsibility. I trust my child but I still wont leave my garage door open with the keys in the car ignition hoping that they will understand the point stated or not that they should not be driving without the knowledge of how to or the license to do so.
Carry on!