A lot of good, valid points in this discussion. For now, I’ll be closing this down until we see fit to reopen it and continue this discussion a bit more. We would like to thank everyone for voicing their wonderful opinion’s.
This topic was automatically opened after 9 hours.
I muted the fire arms tread. I know it irrtates me, I hate guns. I don’t think the tread belong here, but it’s a difficult and I think political discussion. If a tread like that do not belong here a cat tread does? I like the cat tread 
So my solution for now is muting the gun tread.
8 Likes
Im an American. Im a Libertarian. I own several firearms and believe vehemently in the 2nd Amendment. That being said guns have no place in this forum. This is a place of safety and healing. Theres no need for a thread about guns. They have nothing to do with sobriety. They have nothing to do with healing. They have nothing to do with self care. There are plenty of other places to discuss firearms. No one is on here thinking man Im struggling today. Let me go check out some pics of a Glock. Its dumb. Its devisive. Its political whether you think so or not. Post your pics and have your discussion somewhere more appropriate.
16 Likes
This is a worldwide forum. Much of the world looks to one country in particular as a country where guns are easily available and people are killed with the guns. Yes, there are two sides to every coin, sport, non violence, etcetera. I get that.
This is a wonderful site where people have a lot of respect for other members. It is a site where we do not see a father at the beach with his sons because his topless bathing suit appearance could be triggering to some other members. It is also a site where there are not discussions about politics.
It is a site where many are fighting for their life. Many are hanging on by a thin thread. The members are here because they want to help themselves by getting off their drug/addiction of choice to better themselves. Every day you see these hard battles. Some of the members want to quit living. Without getting into hard statistics, there are several ways people accidentally and purposefully end their lives. To me, for some one to see, in what should be a safe place, a pic of something that many would harm themselves with or harm others with is not good. I do not think it should be acceptable. The point of it being acceptable would be for exactly what reason and to benefit who? Not the good of the greater community. I am not interested in argument on this. I did want to state how I very strongly feel. This is not the place. This should not be the place. For many, many, many reasons.
9 Likes
There is lots of valid points on this thread. What I think is of most Importance is that everyone knows how to mute and ignore. Two magical buttons that makes balance restored for all us amazing humans 
8 Likes
By that same logic, there’s a lot of things that don’t belong on this forum then. I’m not supportive of guns being here either, but I wouldn’t take it away from the people who enjoy it, since it doesn’t affect my sobriety.
I mean, where on a sobriety forum do literally any of the Just for Fun threads fit? Most of them are just a huge waste of time and a distraction from reality. There are a lot of threads on TS that are 100% non-recovery related. Why them and not a gun thread for gun enthusiasts? They’re not shoving it down anyone’s throats. They’re on their own thread, keeping it to themselves.
5 Likes
Maybe. But it’s hard to find many interests based on objects whose raison d’être is killing (or the threat of killing).
I suppose it’s possible to make the argument that the raison d’être of these objects is marksmanship. Bowling is also about marksmanship; bowling could be shared for marksmanship enthusiasts.
It could be argued that these objects are about hunting. I know some hunters. They’re skilled at trap line maintenance. (And - see below - this isn’t about “there are some cases where traps don’t work or aren’t suitable.)
The argument can be made that “oh don’t be such a softy” or a “chicken”, but that’s not really what this is about.
This is about the guns. It’s about the gunnnnns.
So - why do guns exist? What is their raison d’être?
The purpose of a gun is to kill. The purpose of an assault rifle is to assault.
3 Likes
I agree with you on many of your points. Guns were created as weapons. Perhaps one could say their purpose is to kill/assault. That’s a perspective on the gun. A different perspective might be viewed as to protect. Both may end with the same result, but with different motives.
So, saying that a weapon is evil must be a perspective. I don’t think there’s a good reason for us to have pictures of guns on the forum myself; however, I don’t think that discussions on the subject should be banned. It’s a hobby, which many relate to each other with.
Not denouncing what you are saying Matt,
But the term “Assault Rifle” was coined by the media to create fear
They are referring to an AR-15, essentially a semi automatic weapon that is similar to most other semi automatic rifles out there but it presents a tactical look.
AR actually stands for Armalite Rifles, the manufacturer of the rifle.
5 Likes
I’ll second that. Assault Rifle has been a widely popularized term by the loud mouthed media, who everyone should be able to recognize has it’s own agenda with society.
3 Likes
I’m confused. Yeah, guns were created as weapons. Weapons to hunt, weapons for war, weapons of defense. I don’t think I contradicted myself.
As for my reasoning for not supporting images of guns? I’m not voting to ban it. I don’t care what people post so long as it’s not violating the rules on TS. But, guns carry heavy stigmas the world over. Discuss, but don’t show off. We often talk about the things we do here, but that doesn’t mean we have to post pictures of it for everyone to see. I also don’t agree with sober selfies. I used to post pictures of myself and my family on here, but came to realize that we’re a bunch of addicts here. Many should rightfully not be trusted (i.e. @Englishd). I think we should be reserved in what we share sometimes. That’s all.
2 Likes
Are guns a trigger for you? Other people should be allowed to talk about them. They aren’t illegal. But why let others impact you so much?
No they’re not toys. There are a lot of sports that are equally dangerous though. Though people may not die from skydiving or base jumping, it doesn’t remove the inherent risk that you can absolutely die if you’re stupid.
I didn’t say that this weapon - this object; this machine - is evil. I said that its purpose is to kill.
@Fury (and also @DungeonMaster) your points are well taken. But - the question is about the object: guns. Not the terminology.
A gun exists to kill. Kill, assault, injure, attack… take your pick.
5 Likes
Time for another break from this divisive topic and maybe more of a focus on sobriety / recovery / support / community.
There is no discussion of politics here. In some places/ situations guns are legal. Any political discussions about the merits of gun ownership or otherwise, and the position of political parties/ affiliations in relation to this should be flagged. Please message @moderators or email Robin if you want to continue the conversation so as not to derail the thread.
3 Likes