RE: Weapon or Rifle?
 

What I' d expect from taterhaid bureaucrats. Throwin' my whole idear into turmoil. Well, I say we go on an' stick to rifle ' thout the taterhaids. Soon as they git some real colleges in thet state their bureaucrats might learn how to use the ' merican language properly.

RE: Weapon or Rifle?
 

These are interesting perspectives. Weapon can associate itself with a different crowd than hunters, such as those who only use firearms for self defense, recreation, military training, or just cause they want to. Weapon can employ images of automatic rifles, tactical knives, and billy clubs. Rifle kind of sounds like your daddy' s old 30/30 Winchester 94, a tool for hunting, as noted above. However, I think that the question is not which word to use, rather who to align yourself with. Hunters should align themselves with firearms owners, of all kinds, because hunting in its very nature calls for the use of firearms (ever try to bowhunt waterfowl?). The preservation of firearms rights is directly correlated with the preservation of hunting, because the same types of groups that are anti-hunting are also anti-gun rights. The firearms owners hunters need to distinguish themselves from are the ones who own firearms illegally, and use them the same way. We need to have a public voice that states that we believe very much in our second amendment freedoms, but that we definitely do not condone, under any circumstances, the use of firearms illegally or irresponsibly. Remember, we have to be responsible and civil in our right to bear arms, but we also have to not give so much ground that the anti-gun crowds start taking and taking, without understanding our culture. We must be, in a cliche phrase, firm yet fair.

RE: Weapon or Rifle?
 

Guys, nothing is a weapon until it is used for fighting. You can turn an ordinary pencil into a weapon when you attack someone with it. The everyday automobile is the most lethal weapon out there but no one calls it a weapon. Why is that? The computer that you are typing on can become a weapon if you want it to, but it isn' t called a weapon. Some things like AK 47s are designed to be a weapon but unless you use it for fighting it is simply a rifle.

Words can do a lot of damage if spoken to the wrong people at the wrong time in the wrong place. You wouldn' t say that so and so is a BIT** with her 80 year old mother standing in front of you would you?

I think old Beaver has a good point.

RE: Weapon or Rifle?
 

Well said, BigBulls. That was my way of thinking as well, Anything can be a weapon.

RE: Weapon or Rifle?
 

An ole griz came in chargeing and I raised my weapon and shot it.

An ole griz came in chargeing and I raised my rifle and shot it.

Does it make a difference? Its just label makeing.

Bobby

RE: Weapon or Rifle?
 

I tend to agree with Beaver Jack on this . A weapon is an implement of war whether used in a foreign land or during a burglary/robbery assault in an urban environment. A rifle/bow is a tool for the humane harvesting of a game animal.

And I quote from Encyclopedia Britanica:

[quote][an instrument used in combat for the purpose of killing, injuring, or defeating an enemy. A weapon may be a shock weapon, held in the hands, such as the club, mace, or sword. It may also be a missile weapon, operated by muscle power (as with the javelin, sling, and bow and arrow), mechanical power (as with the crossbow and catapult), or chemical power (as with the rocket and missile and such guns as the cannon, rifle, and pistol). Weapons may also be classified as conventional, destroying by kinetic energy (as with the bullet) or by chemical energy (as with the bomb and grenade). The nonconventional category comprises nuclear weapons, such as the atomic bomb and thermonuclear bomb, as well as weapons of chemical warfare and biological warfare. All the aforementioned are offensive weapons, but such defensive measures as fortification, armour, and the helmet have also been considered weapons.
/quote]

RE: Weapon or Rifle?
 

Its not just the label making, it gives the perception that our hunting tools are somehow evil and capable of great harm(They are capable of that used unwisely) but only on animals. Anyone that uses a semi-auto such as a BAR has probably heard stuff that he/she would not have heard years ago because of the crazy lefts rendition of the assault rifles...you know the bs bullets that tumble, 6000rounds per minute, can shoot thru buildings etc...some of these antis associate normal 3 round magazine semi-autos with assault rifles because of that.

RE: Weapon or Rifle?
 

All political correctness is getting old!!

RE: Weapon or Rifle?
 

Yeah, but we all have to deal with it.

This aint John Waynes' world any more.

RE: Weapon or Rifle?
 

I' m not one to get caught up in words. My Mom has never in her life said she was proud of me. She says people have too much pride in todays world and shes not going to be one of them. I try to explain to her that some pride is good and some is bad. I think " weapon" is the same way. I mean if you were writing a procalmation and you wanted to state that a person could use a bow, rifle or muzzleloader how would you word it? You say " any weapon" because a weapon to me is something used to take life.

The difference is sometimes a life is taken for a good cause, in the case of hunting its Gods circle. One animal is taken so other animals can survive. In the case of violence on the street lives are not taken for a good reason. To me just having the intellelect to know the difference is more important than giving it a different label.

However I agree with your underlying message 100%. We need to put hunting in the proper light. Its everyday needless violence thats turning words like " weapon" into a dirty word. If weapons were only used for good then they would be percieved as a good thing and we wouldn' t be having this discussion. I even know people who now cringe when they hear the word rifle because of the sniper case back east. Until needless violence slows we as hunters will always face this problem.