Just a thought..

[omniman]

I have recently been conducting a personal experiment...I've owned guns for 30+ years,..I have been away from firearms as a daily "obsession" for years, but recentley returned.

Been asking my (for years) daily business/personal aquaintances this question recently..." are you interested in firearms ?" The responses have floored me, I either get "no" (10%), or yeah!, why? (90%) to which I respond, I have a few guns, just bought an AK47,.... and the flood gates open !! It amazes me just how many of us just quietly own guns and follow this course, without being "public" about it. It warms my heart.

I am looking at doing the Appleseed soon, but....I must say... I personally think the American Citizen Militia is well intact, Appleseed or not.

The essence of American Patriotism is healthy, and deep rooted.

Personally, I sleep well.

my .02

[devildog999]

Sadly, most ppl I talk to don't own firearms

[rod]

I have recently been conducting a personal experiment...I've owned guns for 30+ years,..I have been away from firearms as a daily "obsession" for years, but recentley returned.

Been asking my (for years) daily business/personal aquaintances this question recently..." are you interested in firearms ?" The responses have floored me, I either get "no" (10%), or yeah!, why? (90%) to which I respond, I have a few guns, just bought an AK47,.... and the flood gates open !! It amazes me just how many of us just quietly own guns and follow this course, without being "public" about it. It warms my heart.

I am looking at doing the Appleseed soon, but....I must say... I personally think the American Citizen Militia is well intact, Appleseed or not.

The essence of American Patriotism is healthy, and deep rooted.

Personally, I sleep well.

my .02

Was your experiment conducted at a shooting range? I don't think there is 90% of any population that own guns, but I agree that a good number of people do own guns or are into them. That shouldn't surprise anyone. What is alarming is, as you say, most gun owners are quiet. If anything is to be done about CA gun rights, gun owners in CA need to stand up, speak out, and educate non gunowners. If most gunowners are content with owning grandpas shotgun, then that's all they can expect to own in a best case scenario. Gunowners need to unite (not just CA, but everywhere) and restore ALL of our rights and protect them. We all need to work together and speak as one very loud voice on all the issues that concern us. BTW, Nice avatar.

[omniman]

talk to people in Orange County

quote["Sadly, most ppl I talk to don't own firearms "]

Or so you think.

Example: The owner of a fabrication business next door to my shop comes in to discuss a project he is doing for me. Understand, I have been an "aquaintance" of this guy for almost 20 years, done business with him for just as long. He sees me inspecting a UPS package from Midway (gun stuff) and asks what gun its for etc.

We wind up talking guns for a bit, then he takes me nextdoor to his office to show me the SKS and .40 S&W Sig he keeps there !! I then showed him my 12gauge I keep at my shop for SHTF, then he brings over a bottle of Croatian wine his family makes, and we share a glass and talk more guns. 20 years

[caldude]

When I started shooting about a year ago, I found out one of my colleagues shoots also. At one work party, we were talking guns, and discovered at least four other shooters that we work with. However, I found there's a big difference between the knowledge of a casual shooter, and those who have an 'obsession'.

[omniman]

Was your experiment conducted at a shooting range? I don't think there is 90% of any population that own guns, but I agree that a good number of people do own guns or are into them. That shouldn't surprise anyone. What is alarming is, as you say, most gun owners are quiet. If anything is to be done about CA gun rights, gun owners in CA need to stand up, speak out, and educate non gunowners. If most gunowners are content with owning grandpas shotgun, then that's all they can expect to own in a best case scenario. Gunowners need to unite (not just CA, but everywhere) and restore ALL of our rights and protect them. We all need to work together and speak as one very loud voice on all the issues that concern us. BTW, Nice avatar.

OK,OK.. maybe 10/90 is an exaggeration, and I am talking regular folks I see daily, not at the range. I do deal with kinds of people that might skew the curve, construction guys, high performance car people, machinists etc.

You make some very good points about our rights and the cost of being "quiet gun owners"....

Here is one way to speak out:

http://grassfire.org/111/petition.asp?PID=18751165#J1

[radioburning]

Unfortunately, half the time end up in conversations with people about guns, their first reaction is outright horror. Their next reaction is "so you're a right winger then, huh". What's funny is a lot of the people that are into guns are the ones I wouldn't expect.

[dixieD]

Sadly the people I know are generally afraid of guns, and even learning about them for themselves.

[omniman]

Even my biggest lefty/liberal friend showed me his Rossi dbl bbl shotgun when my wife mentioned I was buying a new gun in conversation at a dinner party !

[Crusader]

I live in a fairly conservative area and know in talking with most of my neighbors on all sides of my house that I am the only one who owns rifles. My next door neighbor owns a handgun, but only because he carries it at his business.

[aklon]

When I was working for the lawyers, I had to be very circumspect about firearms. But I did connect with one of the associates who was into civil law.

One day I was doing some business with him and I noticed he had a lot of works on the wall by the Founding Fathers and before you know it the conversation had turned to the (then recent) Kelo decision. Our man had nothing good to say about that, so I figured what the heck and asked how he felt about the Patriot Act. He went off like a rocket about rights destroyed and lost, a police state, etc. etc. I asked him if he felt that way, would he like to exercise one of the rights we have before it's taken away? He asked me which one would that be and I told him "The Second Amendment."

Now, it's true: most San Francisco liberals will look at you wide eyed and ask "You have guns???" Not this guy. He just looked at me coolly and said: "You're right. I have to learn how to shoot."

He wasn't a bad shot, either, which he was pleased to find.

(For what it's worth, I worked at Thelen Reid and this 84 year old law firm closed their doors today forever.)

[GammaRei]

At my coffee shop there are at least 50 people I talk about guns to daily. Most wouldn't strike me as the type to be into the hobby but it just randomly came up.
There's just some people you really need to quiet down around. For the most part, alot of the people that I do talk to are police officers.

- G

[Steve O]

I live in the bay area, and my friends that i have grown up with think I'm a crazy gun nut. There all happy about the Obamanation were in, and they freak out when I mention how I'm stocking up on ammo and guns.

They ask me why I need a semi auto rifle that uses "the same ammo as the military" and I say "Just because of that!"

I believe our founders wanted us to be equally matched...and that it must be so to ensure our freedom... They cant understand that concept!

[Steve O]

At my coffee shop there are at least 50 people I talk about guns to daily. Most wouldn't strike me as the type to be into the hobby but it just randomly came up.
There's just some people you really need to quiet down around. For the most part, alot of the people that I do talk to are police officers.

- G

yea see that's what pisses me off! My same fiends, that hang around the coffee shop, and talk guns. They talk shotguns, pistols, and C&R, but when I mention AR-15 or AK47 they don't think there's a purpose. Saying we got our military we don't need those assault weapons!