I Am A Firearms Owner.

[Ikonoklast]

I have owned andused many different types of firearms, up to and including semiautomatic- fire rifles and handguns, and still own many to this day.

My father, at age 83 is a Korean War Marine vet has been an active firearms user and is a collector of military firearms with a historical value all of his life.

He is still active in adding to his collection.

When a much younger man, Dad was a Civil War re-enactor. He still owns an actual woolen government-issue Union uniform, along with the cartridge belt, canteen, etc. all purchased for next to nothing from shops when he was but a young man.

Dad's original 1863 Springfield musket hangs over my fireplace, still in operating condition.

One of my earliest childhood memories was going with him as a family and camping out while he was on bivouac with his Union regiment.

Each of us five kids was taught firearms safety, and how to shoot when we were old enough to understand the responsibility that goes along with using a deadly weapon.

Dad, along with my older brother and I are former NRA members, having left that organization when they lost their minds back in the 80's.

One of the firearms I currently own is one of the first Colt model AR-15 semiautomatic rifles that was produced for civilian use, new in the original box, never fired, bought waaay before the "Black Rifle" craze swept through the shooting world.

I would have no problem whatsoever with rules being implemented and enforced as to how and to whom I may sell or transfer any firearm I own, having turned down potential purchasers before because they just skeeved me right the fuck out.

I would welcome a global background check that encompassed all sales, public and private. I have no problem registering any firearm I own, as I do not fear confiscation by the government on a whim or without due process.

I would have no problem with a potential firearm owner (of any kind) showing that (s)he has attended a safety course much like those mandated now for a CCW permit.

I would like to know that any person that I have dealings with regarding sales to or from are above-board, have no criminal records or serious mental health issues, and that no firearm I previously owned was used in the a criminal act of any kind.

I have never felt or expressed the need to carry a weapon in public, concealed or otherwise, even though I have worked in some of the highest crime-rate areas of town for many years over the course of my life.



I would like to think that I am a typical Democratic firearm owner, open to common sense solutions to a very real and serious problem that plagues this nation.

I am by no means an absolutist, which seems to be the current way to interpret gun rights under the 2nd.

Gun violence does not happen in a vacuum.

There are reasons why it happens, and if we can all work together to reduce those reasons, one at a time, or all at once, then we all need to do work in that direction.