Have you ever seen the highly educated in possession of firearm(s)?

turbo

A couple of people that I knew as a kid (fathers of close friends) were reloaders. They wouldn't buy new ammunition when they could could reload their own. One of the fathers was a doctor and the other was the only lawyer in town. They weren't ignorant people. They would sometimes spend quiet evenings in their basements resizing shell casings, re-loading shot shells, etc. They might not have been the smartest people in town, but they had the most college education.

ThomasT

A doctor and a lawyer. Yeah, that qualifies as highly educated, albeit in a niche sense. But then, I suppose that's characteristic of all high education.

Anyway, I think a lot of it has to do with one's circumstances. If I had decided to stay in the town I grew up in I'd probably be a reloader, no matter what my level of educatiion. But instead I got into tennis ... and other things. It's just circumstances, situations. A lot of which we don't pay attention to until it's gotten hold of us and it becomes apparent that it's determining the course of our lives.

Anyway, guns are an ok hobby, and, for some people in some situations, a necessity, imho.

Astronuc

I know a few highly educated folks, including PhDs, who own guns, collect guns in some cases, hunt and/or do competitive shooting. They don't advertise it - except perhaps in their personal space.

Dr Transport

Absolutely, collect, shoot and hunt. Also a veteran, 20+ years as a combat engineer/demo expert, I usually hit what I aim at and it doesn't survive....

fluidistic

Hi turbo,
have you ever shot a bear? My cousins have a country house a few km away from Maine's fronteer (in Québec). The neighboor has shot bears and many other animals I think... but he worked in the wild forest.

turbo

I don't shoot bears because I don't eat them. I have had bear steaks and roasts (thanks to neighbors when I was a kid), but that meat doesn't compare with venison. I am a still-hunter, so I see more potential game than most people in the woods, but I still won't shoot a bear.

I had a bear living on the back-end of my property a couple of years back, and though (s)he ripped down one of my welded-wire suet-feeders right in front of this window, I bore it no ill-will. The previous year that bear decimated a huge nest of white-faced hornets that were preventing me from accessing a particularly nice patch of blackberries.

Black bears will run from you if they can. The are not aggressive or trouble-makers, so I leave them strictly alone. There are people up here who bait bears, and then put packs of dogs on their scent, just so some rich jerks from out-of-state can "bag a bear". I think this practice is reprehensible and should be banned, but there are business interests involved that have more clout than I do.

turbo

I should add that one of my oldest friends is both a pharmacist and an attorney, and when he comes back to Maine to visit me, he usually wants to go to the local sand-pit and target-shoot and plink. He's one of the few people with the hand-strength to handle my Glock Model 20 (10mm Auto) accurately.

fluidistic

I see, thank you very much.
P.S.:In Québec they warn people about bears when the mothers get the children. Apparently they can be agressive during this period (I don't remember if it was automn). When you're alone in a forest and in front of such a bear, I guess it's always good to have a weapon, just in case.

turbo

It's always a good idea to stay away from any large "mama" when they have little ones. Not just bears, but moose, too. A very large protective mother can be dangerous, so it's best to give them room.

alexg

Besides, target shooting is fun.

I went to one of the best engineering and science schools in the US, and we had both rifle and handgun teams. (as well as a fencing team).

Alex_Sanders

Yes, one of the best, lets see:

MIT
Stanford
UCB
UIUC

GT, TA&M, MSU,SCU, UCLA...

did I hit anything?

Office_Shredder

I'm guessing MIT

mathwonk

does highly educated include knowing the stats on how likely people with guns are to shoot someone in their own house and family as opposed to a burglar?

i grew up handling guns and shooting in the basement from age 10, because my father was involved in actual gunfights as a young man in the early part of the 20th century, but when i grew up i moved away from that wild west mentality, and became slightly more civilized. (In my 20's I carried a lugger's hook instead of a gun.)

Now that some legislators are considering allowing students to pack heat, I am very glad I am retired, or I would have to alter my grade scale radically.

Basically there are two points of view on this: there are those who believe there are good and bad people, and that the good people need weapons to protect themselves from the bad people. There is some truth to this of course.

But then there are those who believe there are calm people and angry people, and that when people get angry it is better if they are not armed. There is also some truth to this.

I belong to the second group, as I have noticed I can make almost anyone angry. (i.e. how do you feel right now?)

hence I prefer a world where as few people as possible are armed.

Drakkith

I understand what you mean but I am a believer of allowing people to do what they want as long as it isn't a MAJOR problem. (Which I don't believe it is or ever has been a major problem except in specific areas) And even then there are steps you can take other than banning guns, such as enforcing Firearm Safety courses and similar things to encourage safe gun use. It's a difficult decision to decide how far you go on gun laws.

Pythagorean

I prefer tough tests to get armed. But I will pass them.

mathwonk

i believe you. just let me know when you are coming through town so i can leave.

Pythagorean

Unless you live in deer country, I probably won't be packing any firearms...