Posted on 11/22/2005 9:19:56 AM PST by kiriath_jearim
How many guns is too many?
By Caitlyn Kelleher
Chris Tietgens owned 15 different guns by the time he was 15.
Now, at age 66, he has a room full of firearms as part of his personal collection.
The Leominster resident has firearms that date back to the early-1800s, firearms German soldiers used in World War II, original Winchester rifles and a pocket-pistol made in Fitchburg in the early-1900s.
Tietgens collects firearms, hunts and competes in target competitions.
"They represent a whole line of interests," he said. "It's not just a one-thing reason."
Tietgens does not understand why anyone would wonder why he owns so many guns.
"It's the view of the person that knows less and less about firearms," he said.
The ability of people to sit around and casually discuss firearms has disappeared during the last few years, said Tietgens.
His comments come two weeks after Templeton Police arrested Scott Tardiff, 37 , after he turned over 16 firearms, ammunition, and an expired license to police when they served him with a restraining order.
Tardiff was charged with firearm possession without an firearm identification card, possession of a large capacity firearm, improper storage of a firearm, and improper storage of a large capacity firearm.
Tardiff, a former Leominster resident, was arrested within yards of Baldwinville Elementary School.
This concerned many parents, who said they were upset by the fact that the guns were not locked away.
While not talking about this case, area hunters and gun collectors said it is not unusual for a person to have more than one gun.
Different guns are needed to hunt different types of animals, shoot different targets and collected.
Hiding their guns away
"I think the stigma is somewhat caused by the laws," said Jim Wallace, the executive director of the Gun Owners Action League in Northboro. "By law we have to hide our guns away."
State laws require all firearms to be "secured in a locked container or equipped with a tamper-resistant mechanical lock or other safety device, properly engaged so as to render such weapon inoperable by any person other than the owner or lawfully authorized used."
Wallace said he thinks many people have a false sense of security and believe it is someone else's job to "protect me and feed me."
And while state gun laws regulate the sale, the possession, the carrying and the types of guns a person can own, they don't regulate the number of weapons someone can own.
Gun owners, including Tietgens, say many of these law are confusing, poorly designed and cause more harm to legal gun owners than criminals.
"Laws don't always make sense, they don't cover all the what ifs," Tietgens said.
A person needs to have a firearms identification card in order to possess a license in the state.
The cards can be obtained through the local police department. Applications are available in local police departments and a person must submit proof they have completed a safety course.
Police can refuse to issue the cards if someone has been convicted a felony or a misdemeanor that carries a sentence of two years or more or have been confined for mental illness, drug addiction or habitual drunkenness.
Still, many law-abiding gunowners say criminals will find ways to get guns.
"There is no way you are going to stop the average crook from getting their hands (on guns)," Wallace said. "If you are not going to stop the illegal drugs and the gangs, you aren't going to stop the illegal gun use."
Philip A. Madonia, III, the president of the Fitchburg Sportsmen Club, is a hunter.
He said he owns more than one gun but would not specify how many.
The 50-year-old Fitchburg resident said it is important to teach people to respect firearms, both to control their use, but also to remove the stigma attached to owning guns.
"I think it is a misperception of how guns are used by sportsmen and why they are used," he said. "I got introduced to it as a Boy Scout on issues of safe handling and use."
Richard Freel of Clinton agrees older generations did a better job of teaching their children to respect firearms.
"I think that used be something handled by parents years ago," he said.
The Clinton man said he owns about 10 firearms, including shotguns, rifles and pistols, which he uses in competitions.
"I shoot holes in paper," he said describing his interest in guns. "The goal is shooting a perfect target."
The different weapons allow him to perfect his shooting, depending on a variety of factors.
"I am protecting your second amendment to keep and bear arms," Freel said. "I think our forefathers, who wrote our constitution, were wise."
The enemy of my enemy is my friend... until he kills my enemy, then "he" is my enemy...
"The fustest with the mostest!"
It's good to have a few spares..
This is the larger problem. How do you teach the next generation to respect and be safe with guns when you have to hide them away? Hiding them away just makes kids curious about them and if they get their hands on them, they do not respect what can be done or handle them in an unsafe manner. I sometimes wonder how many kids are killed accidentally because guns have to be hidden away.
""A person needs to have a firearms identification card in order to possess a license in the state.""
Is this so people can tell whether its a gun and not, say a watermelon or baby carriage or something?
Semi-auto rifles? Pump shotguns?
In the hands of the police, any more than one. In the hands of a private citizen, no such number exist.
I once saw someone post that if you know how many guns you have off the top of your head, you don't have enough!
On that thread (before I read that quote), I had to open up my gun safe and take a head count! I guess that means I'm OK, for the time being!
Mark
If you know the exact number, it's not enough.
Too many? I'm sorry, I don't understand the question.
I know semi 22's are OK, as are bolt rifles and double barrel shotguns. I think pumps are, not sure on semi centerfire.
God Bless the Second Amendment.
Well, I have grandpa's Remington Targetmaster single shot 22, his Stevens 311A 12ga. double barrel, a blackpowder rifle, a Browning A-Bolt 7mm Rem. Mag., a Marlin 336c 30-30, a Swiss K31. Now that I have started Cowboy Action Shooting, I have two .44 1858 Remington Army cap and ball revolvers, one .44 1851 Colt Navy cap and ball revolver. I need to buy another lever action rifle for CAS, plus either a derringer or a pocket pistol incase I want to do a side match. Possibly a Sharps rifle incase I want to do more than one side match. I use the Stevens for now, but I may want a double barrel shotgun with external hammers for style. Then I also need to have a semi-auto gun such as an AR15 or similar, maybe two with one as back up. Gosh, one can never have all the guns they need.
IN the eyes of the anti firearm fanatics, one gun is too many.
So what is the arguement?
Most people own as many firearms as they can afford. Like tools, they have various function and capability.
There is no law that regulates the possession of tools. Yet in the wrong hands tools can be used in crimes like burglary, car theft etc.
Next thing the left will demand is gun free school zones surrounding our schools and not just on school property.
The shrill voices of the anti gunners want to threaten gun owners so they will retreat into the dungeons for fear of illegal confiscation because someone has decided on placing limits on possession.
From my cold dead hands.
Excellent bumper sticker:
I'M PRO CHOICE
2ND AMENDMENT
(with thanks to "Lady Jag" for the html)
When you can't afford the ammo..
-OR- when they are just for display..
Burt taught me everything I need to know about eminent domain and the need for firearms.
The other side of that coin is "How many are enough?" Bringing up the secondary question, "For What".
My answers would be the you can never have too many, but that as many as you can afford is enough.
We only keep them to scare liberals. They are such wussies. /sarcasm
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