Nope. I'm not a weak little poon nor am I plagued with paranoia. Too many nutbags who got picked on a little too often when they were kids going around strapped trying to enact some type of vigilante justice is just not the way I get down.

If you live in Alaska, I get it. Carry a shotgun. Otherwise, get a life and quit using your gun to attempt to masculinize your identity.

It's cute, I bet you guys packing also get colored grips, little laser pointer sights, maybe some precious little matching holsters and such. Everything has to coordinate, right? How sweet...

Categorizing all who carry guns as weak little nutjub poons who got picked on and need to feel more masculine is akin to saying all Oklahoma residents are inbred, trailer dwelling, sister ****ing retards with an Iroc parked on cinder blocks in their front yard.

FTFY. And yes, I would agree.

As a caveat, I've hunted and shot for sport my entire life. I'm not in any way anti-gun. However, this idea that you need to be strapped as soon as you step outside of your home is just plain pathetic. I've had a gun pulled on me in DC as I was pulled over getting gas while passing through on my way to upstate NY. In no way would I go back and change it to where I was carrying at the time. Two guns don't make the situation better.

Now, if you want to talk about home defense. Yes. I believe that the sound of any number of my pump-action shotguns far exceeds any color matching, cute little bean shooter that people like to parade around with.

It's too bad there wasn't some law in place to protect you from that bad man with the gun. I mean, if we somehow were to make it against the law to kill, rob, rape, or use a weapon to intimidate your prey, the world would be a better place, right?

Sarcasm aside, those who take steps to protect themselves and their families at home and in public aren't weak minded individuals who need to have a gun to make themselves feel better. We do it because we have either seen first or secondhand what happens to unarmed individuals when a threat presents itself that means to do us harm. There are laws in place that allow us to safeguard our way of life against those who live outside societies laws.

Do we have a "Current Poll" for most ignorant statement of the month for our forum? I nominate wake_rider's above statements.

I'll just use one of your epic statements and pull the thread a bit: Why a shotgun in Alaska? Shotguns are great for defense in certain situations but according to you we don't need any means of firearm defense against bad guys so what else would you use one for in Alaska? Bird hunting is all I can think of. If you're referring to bear protection then the tools of the trade are a high-powered rifle if you'll have adequate distance to employ such a tool, or a high-powered revolver for up close. A shotgun with the right slug might be marginally effective but if you're carrying a long gun you'll only trust the deep penetration that comes from spitting something with a smaller cross section out of the muzzle at greater than 2500 feet per second.

Never mind, you probably wrestle brown bears with both hands tied behind your back.

Is your hair blowing in the breeze? I bet you feel clever with that poll statement. That kind of wit explains your ignorant point of view.


For large game protection there is nothing better than a shotgun with buckshot. Game wardens wil attest to such. A high powered rifle takes the right aim and, normally, more distance between you and the problem. Why do you need to protect yourself from a Grizzly at 200 yards? 40 yards and in is truly protection based need, and for that there is nothing ai would grab first over a correctly shelled shotgun... nor would any other person with more brain than ego between their ears.

I don't know man. Watching those Alaska shows on discovery they seem to rely more on the rifle to do the job than a 12 gauge. Either way I wouldn't want to have to stop a charging 900 pound furry ball of hate and discontent with anything short of a howitzer.

I'm sure you don't have 1/10th the experience you claim to have which makes engaging in any kind of meaningful dialogue about 50' south of pointless. You, my friend, are the one with the ego and you've done a fine job of displaying this fact.

That's absolutely not true. On the semi regular occasion I get sent to deal with bear at work, rifle it is. Buckshot would come in right above a slingshot....

Our game wardens don't use shotguns either. not that I've seen in a long time.

I was waiting for someone else with experience to weigh in on this. I'm guessing the kind of bear you're referring to are of the black variety as well and your experience is that nobody's using a shotgun, especially with buck shot to deal with a bear that generally tops out in the 200-300 lb. range. Move this situation to Alaska and start talking about the different species of bear that call this state home that can average 2-3 times the size of an average black bear and just the thought of using buck shot against such a target is so far removed from reality that absurd doesn't even begin to describe it. Last time I remember looking at terminal ballistics for a couple different loads I keep on hand I seem to remember ammo makers describing 00 Buck as useful for thin-skinned game and varmint up to the size of coyote. If the kind of bear that roam Alaska are "thin-skinned" by wake_rider's book then I'm guessing maybe he'd step up to 000 Buck for Cape Buffalo but only after his Leatherman pliers couldn't do the job?

exactly. my city has a large portion of the Great Dismal swamp in it and black bears get spotted all the time. they're not aggressive and usually run away at the sight of us. I couldn't imagine dealing with a bear 3 times bigger tho. I definitely would never throw (9) 9mm pellets at a 1000 pound animal from any distance unless it was my only option. esp since it's equivalent to ball ammo since it doesn't expand. I'd prefer at least a 30 cal rifle with a lot of powder behind a heavy hollow point.

I be carrying an axe handle(because its a misdemeanor ) so...guess I in the other weapon category.

You mean like this?

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