Guns are very seductive, having owned an air pistol and having fired a proper gun once, such that they often give one a greater sense of power than actually exists. As in - how many people would actually be prepared to kill another based on some sketchy belief or knowledge concerning another's intent. L
People's feelings about possession of a weapon must
vary a lot, and how you felt at first contact would not
be how you'd feel later. Just human nature.
Personal observation-
To the extent that I ever thought about guns, it
was entirely negative,
Not so long ago, recently enough that the
effects are constantly with me, I was attacked
and,well, left in bad condition, lucky to have
survived, really.
If I had had a gun at the time, I dont know.
Probably would have kept thinking this
cant be real until it was too real, and too late.
Now? I did go to a training class, and learned
a lot. I fired my little pistol, a lot. I know how
to use it.
The emotions-first afraid of it. I had to have it
proved ten times over that it was not loaded.
That it is not alive and ready to bite me.
I just looked at it, worked the mechanism,
studied how it works, "dry fired" it, until it
was as familiar as driving a car, or, you know.
So the fear-emotion was gone. Sense of power?
No. More like a sense of immense responsibility.
That should never leave one!
I got some kind of low powered practice bullets
and shot shot shot. Pretty soon I found out it
is fun! Weird. Guys at the range thought I
was cute I guess, so they would be like here,
try this gun, try this gun. Funny guys.
So I shot the ar15 and the ak47 and the
whatever. Take it slow, be sure you understand
it, and, when confident, go ahead!
It is fun. So I kind of saw how that is.
I dont have the gun anymore. I gave it to
a girl-friend as I cannot have it in NYC, and
I see no need for it anyway.
Power? IF someone were breaking down my
door, or had entered my home, I would have
had at least the chance to defend myself.
A chance is a lot better than no chance.
Believe me, I would rather die than go through
what happened to me again, and, I would
find it in me to shoot.
So we are all different.