Southern Gun Owners!!!

As I have previously alluded to, I am from the South. Georgia to be more specific. Now granted, Georgia is probably one of the most advanced and progressive of the Southern states (but I am kind of biased). When I say Southern I mean south-eastern, so all of the states west of the Mississippi (which may not be my favorite state, but is my favorite to spell) are not Southern to me. I know that they are technically southern, but they are not "Southern."

I know that Florida is probably a lot more progressive (in some parts) than Georgia, but who the hell really thinks that Florida is Southern, other than the redneck riviera (Panama City) but even Panama City is not really Southern, it kind of violates many of the tenets of 'our great society.' Don't get me wrong I am very proud of being from the South, but that does not mean I am incapable of being critic of the South.

The other day I was perrusing on Facebook. I am not an avid Facebooker, I mostly maintain my account so that I can keep up with my family and close friends. I used to play Farmville, but then I realized how big of a waste of time it was. But I do sometimes enjoy screwing with people on there.

Well I seen where one of my aquaintences, actually a old neighbor, had posted a picture to their page. 

This just humored me. So I figured that I would screw with this person. So I commented with the following:

"I agree but.... Pencil's allow people to miss spell words, trucks allow drunk people to drive them, spoons allow people to eat (sometimes to much), and matches allow people to start fires. It is not so much that guns as inanimate objects cause people to kill people. It is more that guns allow people to more easily kill people. I guess we should just kill all people to solve the gun problem in America."

I mean sure... Guns to not kill people, people kill people. Guns just make it easier for people to accomplish this goal. So since we cannot possibly just kill people based on their propencity to do wrong, we do the next best thing, try to regulate guns. I mean what the hell does everyone need a gun for. I mean I own guns, don;t get me wrong. My .22 was bequeathed to me by my Pop, or grandfather, and my 12-gauge shotgun was a random Christmas present from my parents. I say random because I wear I did not remember asking for a 12-gauge, but what ever. I also do enjoy guns, I love to target shoot, and stuff like that. I am not a big hunter, mostly because I do not have the heart to kill anything. Except spiders, those little bastards can all die. 

But that all being said, I really do not get why people are so obsessed with guns. I swear I have an uncle, who lives in Alabama, that has more guns than a small arsenal. I mean what the hell do you need that many guns for. I like guns for either of two reasons:

 1.) As a utilitarianism piece, like my 12-gauge. It serves its purpose. Say if I ever want to go hunting. Or on the rare chance that someone breaks into my house and I break out the gun, crack the barrel open, get out a bullet, load the gun, close the chamber, put the gun against my shoulder, aim, and pull the trigger. Now I went through all of that because I wanted to prove a point. By the time I did all of that, I could have already found some sort of an alternative, like say a baseball bat. 

2.) For sentimental or artistic pieces, like my .22. My grandfather bequeathed this gun to me. So when I get all sentimental, and miss my Pop, I can break the good ol' gun out and shoot at like a board and remember my Pop. But their are also Artistic guns, or even special guns, that are worth having. Like a Civil War buff owning a Carbine. 

But their is also a third reason that people own guns. Many people, especially down here, own guns for tradition. They believe that their is some sort of an evil out there, and that owning a gun will protect them. What I like to remind these people is that the crime rate has fallen. The thing that has increased is reporting, leading to a false sense of hostility and violence which leads to a bunch of trigger happy rednecks feeling that they are justified in owning guns. 

This over reporting has also caused us to think that everything is worse than it actually is. Even the 'bad' people think that it is worst than it has ever been, so they feel justified in their violence. So just imagine how much violent crime would drop if we were to stop watching the news. We would no longer have the false sense of violence, which would lead to us not reacting so violently to everything. I think that crime rate would drop even more.