What's a Gun Nut?

[Faith.Man]

As a Conservative/Libertarian Fundamentalist Christian gun owner, I would like to know what a gun nut is. I see the description bandied about in the lame stream media and on this forum. So what constitutes a gun nut? Is a gun nut someone to be feared? Do you accept the idea of a Christian gun nut? Now it's your turn.

 

[Yarddog]

So what constitutes a gun nut?

Someone who leaves a loaded gun laying around so that a young kid can get to it.

Is a gun nut someone to be feared?

Yes.

 

[John S]

Faith Man - We had this discussion several months ago. I said that Jesus was neither a conservative nor a "gun" owner. Gun owners didn't want to hear this.

 

[Faith.Man]

Faith Man - We had this discussion several months ago. I said that Jesus was neither a conservative nor a "gun" owner. Gun owners didn't want to hear this.

That's not the question I asked. I asked what is a gun nut? I am looking for a definition. Is your left-wing liberal opinion that anyone owning a gun is a gun nut?

 

[Incariol]

Faith Man - We had this discussion several months ago. I said that Jesus was neither a conservative nor a "gun" owner. Gun owners didn't want to hear this.

Didn't Jesus say that people who live by the sword, will die by the sword?

 

[Biker Angel]

The gun nut screws onto the gun bolt.

 

[new_wine]

Someone with an unhealthy obsession with firearms.

Just as someone can become obsessed with drink, sex, drugs, cars, TV or pretty near anything, so too someone can become obsessed with guns.

God has made it clear that when the obsession becomes unhealthy to the person and others around them it becomes defilement.

As a Conservative/Libertarian Fundamentalist Christian gun owner, I would like to know what a gun nut is. I see the description bandied about in the lame stream media and on this forum. So what constitutes a gun nut? Is a gun nut someone to be feared? Do you accept the idea of a Christian gun nut? Now it's your turn.

 

[Faith.Man]

Someone with an unhealthy obsession with firearms.

Just as someone can become obsessed with drink, sex, drugs, cars, TV or pretty near anything, so too someone can become obsessed with guns.

God has made it clear that when the obsession becomes unhealthy to the person and others around them it becomes defilement.

You answered the question with another phrase that needs defining. What is an unhealthy obsession with firearms?

 

[tulc]

You answered the question with another phrase that needs defining. What is an unhealthy obsession with firearms?

...anyone who's started 10 or more threads about guns in an online forum not about guns?
tulc(just sayn')

 

[Biker Angel]

...anyone who's started 10 or more threads about guns in an online forum not about guns?
tulc(just sayn')

 

[Life2Christ]

A gun nut is someone who wants Americans to have free and liberal access to firearms with limited restrictions. Someone who lobbies or supports limited government involvement to firearm ownership.

 

[revanneosl]

Hmmmmm. That's a good question. Like Justice Potter Stewart (talking about a whole other thing) "I know it when I see it," but it can be hard to define. Let's say that a present-day civilian citizen of the United States could safely be said to be a gun nut if they suffer any 3 of the following 6 symptoms.

1. Fantasize about having the opportunity to defend their home or family with a firearm.
2. Imagine that they have any actual use for an automatic weapon.
3. Fear that they are in any danger of being forceably disarmed by legislative action.
4. Believe, against all evidence, that concealed-carry laws will lead to a decrease in violent crime.
5. Think that a civilian population armed with handguns, rifles and shotguns will be able to stand against a military coup de etat.
6. Believe that citizens need to arm themselves because violent crime is on the rise.

 

[Harry3142]

Faith.Man-

I met one man who owned 71 firearms. We might call him a gun nut. I met another man who wouldn't set foot outside his door without having at least one firearm on his person. He could also be seen as a gun nut. But most of the time it's a 'tag' used by those who oppose all gun ownership to belittle those who disagree with them.

 

[revanneosl]

Faith.Man-

I met one man who owned 71 firearms. We might call him a gun nut. I met another man who wouldn't set foot outside his door without having at least one firearm on his person. He could also be seen as a gun nut. But most of the time it's a 'tag' used by those who oppose all gun ownership to belittle those who disagree with them.

I agree. Most of the time it is. However, there is a sort of pathology out there, and I think that FaithMan does well to encourage us to attempt to attempt to define it.

 

[wannabeadesigirl]

According to Urban Dictionary it seems that the second definition of Gun nut is a closer explanation to the actuality of the situation:
". A person who takes seemingly morbid interest in firearms out of a belief that they provide protection, security and freedom while appearing scary to the uninitiated - usually used derogatively by non-gun people, particularly those who are scared of firearms."

 

[new_wine]

Placing faith in guns above God is a good indication that you have an unhealthy obsession.
Spending so much money on getting more and more of them.
Spending more time with your gun collection than with family and friends, that too is unhealthy.

It would be the same if they spent too much of their lives in any hobby or acquisition of things.

It is akin to getting drunk or stoned or being addicted to sex. It becomes unhealthy.

You answered the question with another phrase that needs defining. What is an unhealthy obsession with firearms?

 

[Faith.Man]

Didn't Jesus say that people who live by the sword, will die by the sword?

Then why did Jesus say the following:

Luke 22:36 - And He said to them, "But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one. [NASB]

 

[Faith.Man]

Someone with an unhealthy obsession with firearms.

Just as someone can become obsessed with drink, sex, drugs, cars, TV or pretty near anything, so too someone can become obsessed with guns.

God has made it clear that when the obsession becomes unhealthy to the person and others around them it becomes defilement.

So someone with an unhealthy obsession against those who choose to exercise their constitutional 2nd Amendment rights would be an anti-gun nut, right?

 

[Faith.Man]

A gun nut is someone who wants Americans to have free and liberal access to firearms with limited restrictions. Someone who lobbies or supports limited government involvement to firearm ownership.

"Finally, I contended that the debate over the question of self-defense was unnecessary since few people suggested that Negroes should not defend themselves as individuals when attacked. The question was not whether one should use his gun when his home was attacked, but whether it was tactically wise to use a gun while participating in an organized demonstration." Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? Chapter II, Black Power, Page 27, Harper & Row Publishers Inc., First Edition, 1967.

"As we have seen, the first public expression of disenchantment with nonviolence arose around the question of "self-defense." In a sense this is a false issue, for the right to defend one's home and one's person when attacked has been guaranteed through the ages by common law." Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? Chapter II, Black Power, Page 55, Harper & Row Publishers Inc., First Edition, 1967.

An opposing point of view:

"The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subjected people to carry arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subjected peoples to carry arms have prepared their own fall." — Adolf Hitler, Edict of 18 March 1939

 

[Faith.Man]

I agree. Most of the time it is. However, there is a sort of pathology out there, and I think that FaithMan does well to encourage us to attempt to attempt to define it.

By some people posting on this thread, my wife is a gun nut (as am I). She's licensed for concealed carry and rarely leaves the house without a gun. We didn't buy our first gun until I was in my early 40s, she was in her late 30s. I was going to be gone for awhile in Europe on business and I asked her if she'd feel safer with a gun in the house. She said yes, as long as we were not scared to handle and shoot it. So before my trip, a Evangelical Christian gun-owner work friend of mine took me to a gun store and I bought our first gun, a .40 S&W Glock. We shot it and loved putting holes in paper. Since she was molested and raped while growing up, and having a crazy ex-husband to boot, I wanted her to feel safe. We don't hunt or fish and have never drawn our guns on anyone. But to some, we are gun nuts. So it goes.