• LucasWaffyWaf@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Last time a recruiter harassed me via text he tried to convince me of all the kickass benefits and fun of being in the military. Straight up just told him “Dude, if you put a gun in my hand, you’re going to be responsible for a suicide. Not happening.” For some reason he never replied.

    • OldChicoAle@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Why I refuse to have guns even though I’m really interested in learning to shoot. I would love to go to a range and get better at target practice but I just don’t want to go down that path. Maybe I should consider archery

      • Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        You can probably hire them at the range.

        But a VR gun app may satisfy you. You get the skills without the danger, noise and cost (ignoring headsets cost).

        • sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip
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          5 months ago

          … a very, very small subset of the skills, if any.

          Is there a VR gun app that simulates guns having… weight?

          How About how to handle misfires, squibs or jams? Does it go over safety precautions, proper storage, handing, transit and relevant local laws?

          Oh how about recoil management and shooting stances and shouldering? All the intricacies of reloading different kinds of weapons? Trigger pull and break?

          If you got your gun training from VR, you’d still probably want to take a firearms familiarization course IRL before actually using a gun, as all that VR can really offer is the general concept of aiming.

          Also, depending on your VR headset of choice, you could probably actually buy a decent pistol, rifle or shotgun and a day at the range’s worth of ammo for the same cost.

          Honestly, a pellet or bb gun would be a far better way to learn a lot more applicable basics of shooting for cheaper than a vr headset.

      • MrVilliam@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Idk if this is something that would be legal in every state, but most shooting ranges I’ve seen have firearm rentals. This typically helps them to sell guns because you can see how they feel, but there’s no obligation to purchase. They also might let you rent stuff that you couldn’t legally purchase without crazy licensing, like fully automatic machine guns.

        I have a friend who doesn’t think it’s a good idea for himself to own a gun for similar reasons. Others here seem to be alluding to that being a huge issue, but I don’t think that’s necessarily the case. It’s weird to assume that the people who don’t want you own guns must have mental health issues. The data is clear that owning a gun makes a person significantly more likely to be harmed by a gun, whether it’s self-inflicted, an accident, a robbery gone wrong, or any number of other events. If you feel like your health and safety are at risk because of anxiety or depression or anything like that, I hope you’re able to help yourself by even just chatting with somebody who is qualified to help you, maybe getting some medication and lifestyle tips also. I found that I had a vitamin D deficiency, and just taking a standard supplement every day has had a big positive impact on my mood and attitude. Like, I still feel helpless in a shitty world that we as a species are actively making worse every single day, but now I know that that’s a problem that’s way too big for li’l ol’ me to solve. But what I can do is take a few minutes to type something to an internet stranger to tell them that they matter and that they are worth the effort of helping. You matter and you’re worth the effort of helping. Even if you don’t think it’s particularly dire, check in with yourself. Therapy is not for emergencies, so don’t wait until it’s an emergency to talk to somebody.

        <3

      • sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip
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        5 months ago

        I suggest if youre looking for a shooty type hobby that doesnt involve actual guns, yes archery is very neat, though modern compound bows are comparably pricey to many guns…

        Perhaps try paintballing or airsoft?

        Frankly I’ve always found airsoft and the community around it pretty cringey, but I had a blast ‘woodsballing’ as a kid. The indoor competitive ranges I found silly… but it can be great fun to stomp around in the woods for a day, if you don’t mind huge bruises from getting hit haha!

        Even so, probably most outdoor ranges have an area for chronoing (dialing in your gas pressure so your paint is flying at an appropriate speed) or just target practice, and you can probably just plink at such a range if you wanted to.

        Or maybe airsoft sounds more your thing?

      • Guy_Fieris_Hair@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Jesus, there is a non-zero number people, in this thread, that don’t get guns because they are afraid they might suicide? I hope you get the help you need, keeping a gun out of your house is a good thing but it is just the tip of an iceberg.

        Edit: Everyone on this thread is acting like this is normal, THIS ISN’T NORMAL OR OK. PLEASE take care of yourself.

        • The Menemen!@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          I hope those people seek further help (just google sucide prevention). Not having a gun is not sufficient suicide prevention.

        • FooBarrington@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          There’s a well-known and strong correlation between gun ownership and suicide rates:

          Men who own handguns are eight times more likely to die of gun suicides than men who don’t own handguns, and women who own handguns are 35 times more likely than women who don’t.

          I’m not sure if it’s fair to say that people are “acting like this is normal” - it is a real danger, and it’s good that these folks are aware of it and are acting accordingly. Even if you get help, you won’t just magically get better and will never suffer from suicidal thoughts again. Making sure you don’t put yourself in unnecessary danger seems like a healthy strategy to me.

          • Guy_Fieris_Hair@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            I don’t know if it’s a people who already have issues and have guns are more likely to use the gun instead of other means kind of statistic you have there, but owning a gun does not want to make you want to kill yourself purely by existing. It is a problem that exists regardless of the gun. And people who just… don’t have a gun have a thousand different ways to accomplish the task. You aren’t like, a healthy individual then get a gun and suddenly have … urges.

            • FooBarrington@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              I don’t know if it’s a people who already have issues and have guns are more likely to use the gun instead of other means kind of statistic you have there

              Well, you could easily figure that out by reading the link I sent. But I’ll gladly clear it up for you: the statistic isn’t about “likelihood of using gun for suicide”, it’s “likelihood of suicide”. Men who own guns are 8x more likely to kill themselves than men who don’t.

              but owning a gun does not want to make you want to kill yourself purely by existing. It is a problem that exists regardless of the gun.

              It is, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore the statistics. Owning a gun dramatically increases your chances of suicide, mostly because it’s the quickest method easily available. Suicide is extremely often an impulse. If you have a quick and easy method available, you’re far more likely to commit suicide than if you don’t. This has been researched for a long time.

              And people who just… don’t have a gun have a thousand different ways to accomplish the task. You aren’t like, a healthy individual then get a gun and suddenly have … urges.

              Okay, so people with suicidal thoughts should just buy guns and go through with it, or what? I’ll repeat myself: you don’t just get help and are magically better the next day. Improving your mental state is a process that takes at the very least multiple years. Knowing yourself and statistics well enough to not give yourself an easy suicide method is good.

        • Madison420@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          I think it’s more of a don’t trust themselves with that power sort of thing, I’ll bet most of them have a hard time making the big calls and hard shots of life and work.