The need for a defensive weapon.... AKA Gun

No snakes in New Zeeland?!
Now, THAT's a country for me

I hate snakes
All snakes
They give me the creeps
Even how they move.....'slither'

They don't have to be venomous to cause me to scream like a little girl, just by the sight of one

That's what I so liked about our mountain cabin up near Crater Lake
The 'soil' was mostly pumice from Mt Mazama
Snakes hate pumice
C'mon Gary - -Man up !!! Nothing wrong about screaming- - - - but like a little girl? I always try to (at least) scream like a middle-aged woman. :p
 

Club, Knife, Firearm, vehicle, it's a sicko's mind.
Most all the loony farms are now closed.
But they manicure the lawns of them.

I was in the Garden, 8 years old and saw a corral snake. It was killing my baby bunnies that I raised, pulled them out of the hutch.
The Adult Rabbits were constantly banging their foot, scared to death they were. Red next to yellow will kill a fellow, cut it in half
with my hoe. ... ... Didn't eat any of that sweet corn either.
 
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No snakes in New Zeeland?!
Now, THAT's a country for me

I hate snakes
All snakes
They give me the creeps
Even how they move.....'slither'

They don't have to be venomous to cause me to scream like a little girl, just by the sight of one

That's what I so liked about our mountain cabin up near Crater Lake
The 'soil' was mostly pumice from Mt Mazama
Snakes hate pumice
wasn't it a snake that screwed the world up in the beginning??
 

There's snake shot loads, even for .22s
You best have some fire power close at hand where we lived
It was quite remote
and bear, big cats, and wolves cruised thru on a steady basis
Then there was the 2 legged varmints
All the above would scatter at the blast of my 12 gauge into the air
Have snake shot in both 22 and 9 MM on hand. We to are in a rural area with similar issues, mostly coyotes, well a few less.
Thankfully not many of the 2 legged kind.
 
Is the USA the most dangerous country in the whole wide world?? I doubt it
USA is #32 on the list of gun homicide's, 3.96 per/100K, with 13 other countries following in the 3/100K range.
The top 12 countries range is 15.62/100K to a whopping 36.78/100K...
Even more interesting is 9 of those 12 are in South America.
For some comparisons, US auto accident deaths 12.9/100K, US OD deaths in 2021 32.4/100K
Gun Violence by Country 2024
 
When I went to school, almost every family owned some kind of a rifle, usually for hunting, as well as for family protection when needed. This was especially true for the people who lived out in the country.
In the fall, the high school boys who drove the family pickup to school usually had their hunting rifle in the back window, and it was never a problem back in those days.

I took the hunter safety course when I was in Jr. High,, and we had WW2 vets who ran the course, and though us kids gun safety, and how to shoot and hit a target. Now, people get a weapon and have never had any kind of safety course in how to care for it or teach their kids any kind of gun safety.

A copperhead in the backyard definitely calls for having some kind of weapon !
OR simply walking AWAY from it. Move away, leave the snake alone. You do NOT have to kill it. JImB.
 
As of 2021, the FBI reported New Hampshire as having the lowest homicide rate in the country at 0.9 per 100,000. NH also has one of the highest rates of firearms ownership in the US and does not require a permit for concealed carry. Maine and Vermont are similar.

Glad to hear that you found a fun club to join, @Pepper :)
It may have been exaggerated, but I've heard a number of times about a community just north of Atlanta where residents are required by local ordinance to have a firearm in their home. It is also said that their crime rate is extremely low. Even if not true, such a rumor may have the desired effect.
 
There's snake shot loads, even for .22s

You best have some fire power close at hand where we lived

It was quite remote
and bear, big cats, and wolves cruised thru on a steady basis
Then there was the 2 legged varmints

All the above would scatter at the blast of my 12 gauge into the air
Yep. I won't waste my time justify my gun ownership. It's legal where I live to own and Tennessee is one of the growing number of US states where open carry is legal. Every time there is an outcry for some sort of gun control, firearm sales soar.
 
OR simply walking AWAY from it. Move away, leave the snake alone. You do NOT have to kill it. JImB.
We have an extended family member who was hiking near her home in Arizona. She encountered a rattler and tried to walk away. She medically dealt with that issue for months, being very fortunate to survive. Around where we live in Tennessee it is common to meet up with copperheads. They are known to be very aggressive, and give no warning. One was killed recently less than a 100' from a playground where kids play daily year around.
 
I was raised around farmers and many of my cousins were farm kids. Shooting was just part of the culture. Most of the adult males hunted, and most of them put in military service. I've fired several types of firearms, but I've never owned any myself.

But when I see some rando carrying I go the other way. Gun control probably isn't the answer, so far it hasn't proven to be, but far too many who shouldn't own them today. I trust the loudmouths less than anyone else.
 
I was raised around farmers and many of my cousins were farm kids. Shooting was just part of the culture. Most of the adult males hunted, and most of them put in military service. I've fired several types of firearms, but I've never owned any myself.

But when I see some rando carrying I go the other way. Gun control probably isn't the answer, so far it hasn't proven to be, but far too many who shouldn't own them today. I trust the loudmouths less than anyone else.
I don't know the answer. Usually the politicians try to garner support on either side of the equation depending on their audience. It is not unusual these days for churches to discreetly have armed persons in the congregation. It is a sad commentary that anyone would see a need for that, but it is true.
 
I was raised around farmers and many of my cousins were farm kids. Shooting was just part of the culture. Most of the adult males hunted, and most of them put in military service. I've fired several types of firearms, but I've never owned any myself.

But when I see some rando carrying I go the other way. Gun control probably isn't the answer, so far it hasn't proven to be, but far too many who shouldn't own them today. I trust the loudmouths less than anyone else.
I agree, dilettante. In today's climate (not yesterday's!) if I see someone carrying, I turn and walk the other way.
 
Yep, the sickos usually are drawn to crowds where they discriminately harm people. Maybe they feel harmed in some way and are only getting even. Though that's socko to you stuff too. Think there are tons of knife crimes too. If you continue to see 2 or more squirrels in your eve spouts you got to do something, don't you. My friend ran into a Farm tractor hauling a round bale of hay after dark with no rear cab lights on for vehicle road safety. Harmed my friend and his girlfriend were. Wanna know about crazy criminal he the farmer surely is. Driving on a highway hauling a bale of hay on forks at the rear of the tractor and no rear cab warning lights.
 
Gun Control Network The more guns there are in society the more gun violence there is. International studies of high-income countries typically find that firearm availability is positively correlated with firearm homicide and usually overall homicide (Grinshteyn & Hemenway, 2016 American Journal of Medicine, in press.) Comparisons between the United States and the UK make this abundantly clear.

The rate of gun ownership is 3.3 per 100 people in the population in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) compared with the US rate of 101, thirty times higher. The annual rate of gun homicide per 100,000 of the population is currently 0.03 in Great Britain. This compares with 3.6 in the USA, a rate that is 120-fold greater. The total firearms death rate is 51 times higher in the US than in the UK.

That snake handler looks to be a far safer option.
Come on "horseless" of course you get a "correlation" to guns when you actually have folks who own guns! Daaa!
It is also to be expected that populations that have gun ownership, will see some murders using guns. Of course, it may have happened anyway using a knife, automobile, fire, etc.

The difference in gun death rates between the USA and the UK is simply because guns are legal in the USA and not in the UK...Again...DAAA!

Move on, No News Here...
 
So glad that you had a way to protect your family from a striking Copperhead, @old medic ! (Even sans pants 🤭) I'm thinking it wouldn't have listened to pleas of "now you stay right there and don't move until the nice people from the snake catcher's office come to relocate you." Most likely would have fallen on deaf fangs.

Well obviously you don't stand there talking to it. And it doesnt have to stay right there.

You calmly walk inside and the snakecatcher will know how to find it.
 
USA is #32 on the list of gun homicide's, 3.96 per/100K, with 13 other countries following in the 3/100K range.
The top 12 countries range is 15.62/100K to a whopping 36.78/100K...
Even more interesting is 9 of those 12 are in South America.
For some comparisons, US auto accident deaths 12.9/100K, US OD deaths in 2021 32.4/100K
Gun Violence by Country 2024
that was all a bit of a jumble??
 
Carrying a gun is legal in Nevada but if I see one I leave immediately. About 10 years ago during hot august nights 2 motorcycle gangs got into a shootout in a casino. Now they don’t allow certain colors to be worn inside. I also avoid the casinos during large events.
 
if you got a spade shovel and went to attack the snake you would be putting yourself at risk.

and worse thing to do is to run, that agitates the snake - what you do is walk calmly and slowly inside and call the snake catcher

Australia has a huge number of venomous snakes - I've never seen anyone use that as their argument for increasing gun ownership.
Thankfully, I don't live in a region with lots of snakes and I don't go hiking. Plus, no yard.
 
I know its a toxic subject around here, But the immediate availability of a destructive device of war came in handy yesterday. Napping on the couch I awake to several screaming voices... My DW, Sister and her 2 youngins Are in the yard with a Copperhead snake aggressively striking at them.
I surly hope no video of me, running outside in my boxers shows up on facebook.

I am so happy that I live in a country and neighborhood where I don't need a gun.
 


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