How ignorant are you?

That's a dick way to ask that question. How ignorant are you? Man killing guns were absolutely and still are viewed as tools, especially by the military.

I've got plenty of problems with the way I was raised, especially religion and politics. However, my parents and grandparents viewed guns as tools. Most people around me as a kid viewed them as tools. Concealed carry was almost unheard of and, for the most part, paranoid gun nuts were viewed with some distaste.

I was raised in rural Alabama, fwiw. I think the big change in attitude started happening with Ruby Ridge, Waco, and Columbine. There has absolutely been a cultural shift around guns and their fetishization.

As far as genocide and all the horrible things that have been done, duh. The focus was on the killing, not the tools used to do the job. You don't see people fetishizing Zyclon b, small pox, or famine to this degree.

You're just looking for something to get offended about.

But whatever, guess I'm just ignorant.

I've also seen first-hand why having a gun in the house increases risk of death, specifically for veterans like me.

There's that whole healthcare, including mental healthcare, thing again. "Here kid, take this gun and go kill people for 'Murica, like protect our freedoms or whatever. What, you want healthcare now that you're back home and fucked up? Fuck you, go to the VA and take a number." That shit is fucked and I've hung with several fucked up veterans. Poor bastards didn't sign up for that shit.

I hope I never ever have to shoot at a person.

Gun culture shouldn't even be a thing like it is. At most, it should be like car culture or something.

I enjoy my guns but I also love a lot of my other tools. I've got a 1944 or earlier Atlas lathe I restored, a '98 Ford Ranger that I keep running tight. I'm currently working on a '69 Wheel Horse mini tractor. I've got a caliper from 1856. I've got an assortment of knives that I use for various things, most of them in carbon steel.

Gun culture should be a subset of tool culture, not this insane identity political religion shit that we have now.

That's kind of the point I'm trying to make. There's a healthy way for kids to have and use guns, but it certainly isn't this.

America has so warped its perception of guns that they're now some sort of male enhancement device and tied into people's identity.

This is probably a somewhat idealized view of the past, but I would think most Americans of the past viewed guns primarily as tool instead of as a supplementary cock.

Those people have no business owning a gun. I fully support some sort of gun control. Even more than that, public healthcare including mental healthcare would go a long way towards reducing shootings like this.

If the cops showed up to talk to me about my kid making threats, I would very politely listen to them without saying much or incriminating any of us. I'd check in with his teachers, get their side. Then I'd almost certainly lock up every gun, most of the knives and get him to a shrink. If we could afford it, we'd be looking into inpatient therapy.

A big chunk of this country, for all intents and purposes, has gone permanently insane. They're a danger to themselves and others. Doesn't seem to be any fixing it anytime soon.

It pisses me off. I often feel like suburban wannabe tuff guys are trying to ape masculinity and they end up cosplaying as me. Do they feel like real big boys now?

Why? He's not as big into hunting like me, but will kill varmints when necessary and has done so when I'm not home so his mother didn't have to.

I used to go hunting alone when I was his age.

He's mentally stable, well adjusted. He views guns as tools, as do I. He also has a rolling toolbox with $1k of tools in it. He put in so much work this summer that a full toolbox was part of how I rewarded him.

Now, if there was depression, threats, suicidal tendencies, etc.: totally different situation.

Guns aren't a masculinity fetish for us, they're just another tool. Guns and other power tools are fun to play with as long as you understand the safety and proper use of them.

I'm in the market for a chainsaw, I'll be getting chaps to go with it. He'll also be trained in the use of the chainsaw and have open access to it.

I've also been teaching him how to drive and he can't get a permit until he's 16.

He uses dangerous tools regularly. More and more, he does so without my direct supervision.

It's definitely a problem. It's up to metalheads to handle it as well. Throw their bitch asses out of shows. Give them shit reviews. Any day is a good day to punch a Nazi.

My fourteen year has a few guns. 20 gauge single shot break barrel, .410 single shot break barrel, bolt action .22 rifle and a single action .22 revolver. (Single action revolvers are the really old school kind where you have to cock the hammer each time it shoots. It's a damn big revolver as well, good luck concealing it.) They are used for varmint control and hunting. The revolver is great for rat shot and he has taken quite a few gophers with it. He understands what guns do and how they cause death.

We hunt, fish, camp, kayak, live on a tiny farm.

I don't own an AR, don't have use for one at this time. Giving a kid an AR and uncontrolled access to it in an urban environment is nucking futz. My son has access to his guns because I trust him to safely and respectfully use them. He also has been trained in their proper use since he was 7 or 8.

More often than not, I meet another metalhead, instant brother or sister. Tend to be cool people.

We moved this summer using an old box truck. Had a breakdown in the middle of Ohio, stuck at a gas station, no cans or uber. Totally told a kid that was gothed up and covered in tats, "Are you a metalhead? Metalheads are cool people, my kid and I are broke down and need a ride." Joey was very cool, gave us a ride to the parts store and a hotel, wouldn't take my money. He likes that Screamo stuff that I'm not real into, we both agree that Maiden, cool jazz, and OTEP are the tits.

For the few assholes: the Dead Kennedys said it best.

You have your religion. Your religion says it's not ethical to kill animals. I don't believe in your religion.

Yup, omnivore. I've got the canines and binocular vision as well as the molars and gut to prove it. I like meat and vegetables. Your religion says it's bad to eat meat. I don't care about your strongly held beliefs: I think they're a bunch of hooey.

I have no ethical or moral problem with killing as I do it. It's not wrong to kill animals and eat them.

Hunting is pretty much built in to being human. It's about the closest thing to religion I have left. Squirrel hunting is my favorite type of quarry. I get to sneak miles through the woods and explore.

Other than a few vegans that actually do a lot of camping and hiking, I'm far more connected to nature, my place in it, and the effects of climate change than most vegans ever will be. My family and I moved 700 miles this summer. Climate change and the future of my children and maybe grandchildren was a big factor that drove the move.

Again, you have strongly held religious beliefs that I think are bullshit. I also really dislike the sneering judgement I see so much of coming from your religion and people. It's just like fundamentalist Christians in tone, stridency, superiority, and sanctimony. You're not any better than me. You just believe some crap that I don't. Again, just like the fundamentalist Christianity I grew up in. You know those televangelists that beg for money? That's a mirror of the people you believe in. The people protesting outside abortion clinics? That's your people with a different set of beliefs.

As far as climate change and greenhouse gases go, yup. Major problem. I'm actually reducing my impact, but, unless we tackle the industrial sources, an individual's impact is a drop in the ocean at the scales that we're talking about. Also, meat taken by hunting is about as low impact as it gets. Especially venison.

Exactly.

I enjoy hunting but I don't glory in the killing. There is always a part of me that is sad when I kill. Even killing a rat or butchering a fish gives me a twinge. I don't feel bad when I kill a mosquito, but do feel bad when I kill a black widow.

If I raise an animal to eat it, it will be properly cared for and have a good life and as painless a passing as I can make it.

When I take a picture of something I killed, I make sure blood or injuries are not visible. That is disrespectful to that life I took.

I recently killed a groundhog because it was being a varmint and digging up the foundation of my garage and chicken coop.

I tried to clean it so we could eat it, but must have hit the glands. The smell of the carcass was almost chemical it was so strong. They're supposed to be good, but I'd never had to kill one. Harder to skin than a squirrel and they have super tough hide.

I had to toss it and it bothered me. Even though it was being a varmint: to me it is ethical to kill a varmint and not eat it. However, you should make use of that life if you can.

I killed a coon once as a kid and had to eat it after it was smoked. Not good. Never killed an animal again that I wasn't going to eat except for varmints.

Varmints are animals out of balance. Rats and roaches are almost always varmints. Spiders rarely are. Overpopulated deer are often varmints. A groundhog out in the woods is just a critter, a groundhog digging out my foundation is a varmint. Cats are varmints when they are feral and killing wild birds, especially ground nesting birds.

Critters are animals in balance or domesticated.

Varmints are also almost always a species of least concern.

The environment would be in a much better place if people were more connected to their food.

Yah, I was pretty insulting. Removed for lack of civility. I enjoy venting my rage at holier-than-thou vegans. They hate the religious and fanatic comparison. I've dealt with a lot of religious bullshit in my life, so someone judging me by their religious standards tends to put me in a vengeful mood.

Unashamed omnivore, fisher, and hunter here. Working on our play farm so we can source all of our meat ethically in the future. Taking active steps to prevent the suffering of animals we consume. Don't have an ethical or moral problem with killing animals to eat them. Prefer to do it myself so that I know that I have done my best to minimize the suffering of the critters I kill.

I've been told I'm a raper and abuser.

fite me

I didn't read OP's statement as racist.

I think anyone with taste knows that a small non-chain restaurant, stall, or cart will have much better food than some corporate chain crap food made with industrially sourced 'ingredients.'

Personally, I'm always looking for the small restaurants that serve food on Styrofoam or paper plates. Bonus points if it's attached to a gas station or the owner's little kids are in the dining room or kitchen playing and coloring.

Ethnicity doesn't matter, it can be a barbecue joint or some sort of Asian culture I'm ignorant of.

You see a little kid quietly coloring in a booth by themselves, you know that shit is going to be good.