Posted on 07/16/2016 5:40:02 AM PDT by marktwain
Arabic is his first language.
Dems have made it clear the Constitution is meaningless to them; nobody believes them anymore (especially the blacks being gunned down in the welfare hatcheries).
“I think the Swiss are required to own a gun for their national defense.”
All Swiss males enter the military at age 18. In basic training, they are issued individual arms, then receive assignment to a unit and enter the reserves (small numbers go on active duty or undergo more advanced technical training). They retain their issue weapon.
They remain in the reserves until age 61 or so. During this time, Swiss federal law requires that they keep their issue weapon in their home, together with a specified number of ready rounds, and some items of personal gear. The policy promotes readiness, reducing time required for call-up and service on active duty.
In addition to specialized refresher training, all reservists are required to re-qualify annually, with their issue weapon. In many towns, annual shooting practice and re-qual have become the focus of social events.
But the servicemembers do not own their issue weapons.
Okay, change “own” to “keep” — a difference without a distinction.
Only 99 people, since you have all 112.
Good one!
“Okay, change “own” to “keep” — a difference without a distinction.”
There’s an enormous distinction.
An owner may sell a gun, or destroy it at whim (assuming lack of interference from meddlesome and nosy government officials - a freedom not common these days).
A member of a reserve military organization is typically responsible for the physical security of any equipment issued, or property under that person’s care. Operability must be maintained, and equipment guarded from theft or physical deterioration. Weapons, munitions, and related items of personal gear such as knives demand greater attention, and the issuee is expected to exercise greater prudence and care.
Selling off issued equipment is not even made light of in jokes.
The above restrictions are placed on military personnel who do not live on base, but who must have equipment ready for instant use, or at oddball hours when issuing offices are not open for business. Aircrewmembers who must report for flight duty at night are a prime example.
Wouldn't be the first time my math deficiencies were exposed by an engineer.
The word “keep” does not mean to sell. In fact, the word “keep” precludes selling or destroying. Who destroys a gun on a whim? Why did you go off on that tangent?
LOL
That’s why sniper skills are important to learn.No straight-up firefights,just slow attrition in areas previously thought to be secure.
“The word “keep” does not mean to sell. In fact, the word “keep” precludes selling or destroying. Who destroys a gun on a whim? Why did you go off on that tangent?”
owdawg chooses the wrong word - “tangent” was not my choice. Neither was the lack of distinction between “own” and “keep.”
I have worked for the past 14 years in the gun sales and repair business. Before that I spent 29 years in uniform, more than half of that stretch in staff positions supporting operational test and evaluation of weapon systems - ongoing assessment as mandated by law of the most powerful devices fielded by forces of the United States, at the highest levels.
The most common thread winding through all this is the breezy indifference of so many involved, to rigor of definition and precision of measurement.
The thing I least expected was the breezy indifference of so many gun owners, to the application of rigor (legal and technical) to terms and measurements: the kicker was how many continue to reject technical advice out of hand, just because they are a gun’s owner. Simple stuff like “use the caliber of cartridges this rifle is chambered for, not some other caliber.”
Kind of like the distinction between “own” and keep.” Ignoring such can bring the lives of owners - and their loved ones - into mortal peril.
And I can say from direct personal experience that some owners end up destroying some of their guns through indifference that goes well beyond whim. Doesn’t matter what their true intent is - results are the same.
I really cannot believe this.
The obvious answer to the question of the article about why do people want guns (now) is self defense.
If I need a gun, and I have a gun in my possession, I will not stop and reflect who the owner of the gun is.
Sometimes it’s not intentional...we’ve all come across that gun that was bought decades ago and got wet and rusty because it was left in the basement or attic and forgotten. On a more extreme level, there’s those who don’t know their ammo, and blow up (or at least prematurely wear out) their firearm because, for instance, they don’t know there are multiple types of 9x19 ammo and they are not interchangeable. Or they kept shooting despite signs of excessive headspace (hard extraction, bulging cases) until a case finally failed.
I think the point he’s trying to make is that “keep” implies not merely possession, but maintaining it in a ready state...oiled, cleaned, parts in spec, ready for use. Not everybody does that.
What you describe sounds little different from how many average people today view their cars, or their iPhones, or...most things.
“Check tire pressure and oil? Naah...I let the mechanic do that!”
“That vibration I feel in my foot while I’m driving? Well the car runs, so it must be okay!” (They said, as that cracked axle bearing gets worse and worse until....)
Most of the low-gun ownership countries are either Communist or Muslim. Shocking!!! /sarcasm
“I really cannot believe this. ...”
owdawg is free to believe or not, according to whim; all I can offer is my unsupported word about spine-tingling episodes, drawn from personal experience as a repair technician. Once the forum gets the general drift, it ought to be easy to confirm with any gunsmith or dealer forum members might know.
At my place of employ, an individual brought in his Mosin-Nagant M44 Red Army carbine chambered (as all were) in 7.62x54R. He’d torn off a case head while shooting.
We pried out the remains and determined he’d fired a 7.62x51 NATO round. How he managed to ignite the primer, I still cannot say. We urged him to use only ammunition designed strictly for his rifle. He glared at us and objected that since both contained the figure “7.62” in the name, they should interchange.
Another time, a rural ranching family brought in a Winchester Model 70 (pre 1964) with the remnants of a case stuck in the chamber. The head had split from the rest of the case while they were afield, practicing.
We pried out the stuck body, and peered for some minutes at the deformed head, fiddling with lamps and magnifying glass to read the numbers and letters stamped into the brass. The caliber designation was just barely visible: “300 Savage.” Measurements of the body confirmed it.
The rifle’s barrel was stamped in letters and numbers almost 1/4 inch high: “270 Winchester.”
Some months later, the family returned to pick up their rifle. Mom, dad, and four kids were the picture of sweetness and innocence.
We informed them of our findings. They hung on our every word, mouths open.
After listening to us warning them to use only the caliber of ammunition their rifle really did chamber, the eldest son looked at his father and said, “Gee, dad, I guess we shouldn’t have tried that third shot.”
The father nodded thoughtfully.
odawg [post 73]: “ ... If I need a gun, and I have a gun in my possession, I will not stop and reflect who the owner of the gun is.”
Shy of the direst tactical emergency, odawg had better stop to reflect on it. Attorneys make money off of unconfirmable sales, when legal status of ownership versus actual possession are in dispute. Applies to more than firearms.
M1903A1 [post 75]: “What you describe sounds little different from how many average people today view their cars, or their iPhones, or...most things. ...”
Too true, I fear. But iPhones typically do not kill or injure users if they malfunction. Automobiles can.
But few things match the cluelessness of someone who inserts a round of ammunition into a rifle, then squeezes the trigger, creating a pressure spike exceeding 50,000 psi inches from their face - without knowing the provenance of ammunition or rifle, or their mutual compatibility.
Gun use is fraught with other special ironies. Confident in the conventional wisdom, “They don’t make them like they used to,” legions of gun owners demand parts for grandpa’s old gun, built y a gunmaker they cannot identify, in a year they do not know (very often more than 100 years distant), used and owned by others no one knows, and stored and maintained in ways all are ignorant of. Many times, new parts are not available, but the owners simply refuse to believe it.
Many thanks to archy [post 76] for the delightful image. To us diehard enthusiasts, few women are so attractive as those carrying a gun. Especially if they know how to use it.
Okay. If your life is in immediate danger, and there is a gun lying close by, go ahead, don’t use it. If you are set on dying, I supposed an exploding gun or a bullet in your head doesn’t much matter.
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