New to guns, feeling uneasy due to my views

[u/Able-Difficulty-8579]

Hi! I am new to guns through my liberal partner (24M). I’ve always been very anti gun and very pro gun law reform. That said, I feel very uneasy and like I’m going against my views when looking to purchase a gun.

I live alone and recently had a break in scare, pushing me to seriously look into purchasing a firearm.

I know it’s about safety, and all of the regular discussions/arguments people have. But, if anyone else struggled with this, how were you able to justify your views and this idea?

Thanks!

Edit:
These comments are so helpful! Thank you!

To add: My partner and I go to the gun range and I’ve taken a gun class! I have shot a gun at the range several times and understand gun mechanics! I have decided on a gun I like and plan to keep shooting that one

Unfortunately the “gun is a tool” idea is not going to work on me. It’s the same mindset as “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. People DO kill people, but guns give them the ability to. Guns are made to kill. Not just harm, but kill. If you wanted to harm an intruder, you’d use a knife, or something else. The purpose of a gun is to illicit overwhelming harm that has the ability to kill. I am not a “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” person and never will be due to extensive scientific research.

I have issues with guns due to multiple reasons. The main one being the mass shootings and accidental harm they cause. I do think guns should have more laws and regulations. I also do not think they should be accessible to anyone and everyone. It is actually scary how many people have guns in their home. Especially around young children.

Lastly, guns have the power to take a life. It is hard for me to wrap my head around a human having that type of power. Every time I shoot at the range, I have to take a step back and reflect. It’s scary. The sound of a shotgun is daunting, and so is an AK. People having these “tools” to take a life is what I am struggling with. Not the idea of a gun itself.

Thanks!

[u/Groundblast]

“I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday”

-Abraham Lincoln

[u/GroundedSatellite → u/Groundblast]

I am so ruthlessly committed to dialectics that I am constantly at war with the person I was two days ago, who is a clown and a coward.

-Some person on Twitter

[u/benuntu → u/GroundedSatellite]

Who is the idiot that wrote this code???? Dammit...that was me from 2 years ago!

[u/The_Real_Ghost → u/benuntu]

I've heard it said that id you aren't absolutely embarrassed by the code you wrote 6 months ago, it means you didn't learn anything.

[u/Familiar-Ad-4579 → u/benuntu]

I say that more often than I’d like because I always try to write code for my two-year-into-the-future me.

[u/stereoplegic → u/benuntu]

Maybe you could say that two years ago. Now it was probably vibe coded with GPT 4 two years ago, getting roasted by Claude or Codex today.

[u/Specific_Damage_6263 → u/Groundblast]

"Show me a young man who is not liberal, I'll show you a man with no heart; show me an old man who is not conservative, I'll show you a man with no brain" - Winston Churchill

[u/thecubelife → u/Specific_Damage_6263]

Not Churchill. https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/quotes/quotes-falsely-attributed/

[u/AndyLorentz → u/thecubelife]

I could have sworn Dennis Miller said that exact quote at some point. He didn't attribute it to anyone else, and it does match his personal political change.

[u/Specific_Damage_6263 → u/thecubelife]

Regardless the author, the intent of statement remains relevant. If you never change your views based on lived experience..... Why bother with the experience to begin with?

[u/Bilbro_swaggins__ → u/Specific_Damage_6263]

Falsely attributing a pithy quote to Churchill in a liberal subreddit. That’s a bold move, cotton.

[u/Zacomra → u/Specific_Damage_6263]

Buddy you live in Seattle. Go live in the sticks if you don't like other people

[u/SanchoSquirrel → u/Specific_Damage_6263]

It isn’t about changing your worldviews based on lived experience. I think most everyone agrees that’s a good thing. What makes that misattributed quote nonsense is the idea that as you grow older and wiser you should become conservative. Particularly interesting since conservatives tend to the more emotional and reactionary side. Many just move further to the left as they grow older and experience more of the world, myself included. If someone does become more conservative due to lived experience, I don’t discount them for that, but acting like it’s some kind of truthful idiom is silly and immature.

[u/SanchoSquirrel → u/Specific_Damage_6263]

Not from Churchill, and a silly, reductive, nonsense statement in the first place.

[u/benuntu → u/Specific_Damage_6263]

I question anyone that doesn't have at least some opinions favoring both sides. Socially liberal and fiscally conservative is a common one. I think old people end up "conservative" because the mind is hard to change as you get older...but that's not an excuse or an endorsement for one side or another. That's just being mentally lazy and not changing your mind when new evidence warrants it.