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| Good | 65% | 79 votes | Total: 121 votes | |
| Evil | 35% | 42 votes |
Good
by Justin Cox
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Add to FavoritesThe beauty of air guns, toy guns and real guns for that matter is that they bring out the character of the person holding them. Much as an artist's brush depicts that person's feelings and character an air gun will become an extension of personality of the person holding it. Good people will use guns in a good manner; bad people will use guns in a bad manner. You cannot cite any real incidents where a good person was enticed by a gun to do something bad, it just doesn't happen. There are occasions where a bad person who never was caught doing badness has been empowered to step out of that shadowy world by using the gun as his tool. It wasn't because the gun was bad; it was because the gun facilitated the bad person's intentions.
Guns are some of man's most powerful tools. In the hands of good people they can protect, liberate and provide food for the hungry. In the wrong hands they can enable terrible acts, make dangerous individuals more dangerous and empower tyrants. Over their history they have served both good and bad people. Their effects have shaped the world we live in today. Air guns are a close cousin to those enabling guns and also need to be treated with the respect they deserve. An air gun in the hands of a responsible person is a fine, safe tool. An air gun in the hands of a hoodlum is serious cause for concern.
Air guns prepare people to handle real guns. The same fundamentals of care, accuracy, and safety all apply. Many a lesson has been taught and learned over the barrel of an air rifle. Yes they are dangerous but they are less dangerous than firearms which make them safer for those lacking experience with safe firearms handling. Generations of dads have brightened the lives of generations of sons with the gift of an air gun. Often this is the means to an end that will result in the son's graduation to real firearms.
Air guns have provided amusement and recreation to many. They are more economical to own and shoot than most rifles and create less noise and environmental impact than firearms. A day spent at the range with an air rifle can be as therapeutic to some as a day at the spa is to others. Certainly wholesome, safe fun can be had with air rifles. They also provide a myriad of tangible benefits and are not simply toys. Effective at pest and vermin control they have dispatched many nuisance rats and rodents over the years.
Air guns in and of themselves cannot be good or bad. They can only perform the function of any inanimate object or tool which takes the operator's direction. There is no difference between a rock picked up from the ground and an air rifle in terms of good or evil. People and their different personalities are what dictate whether a tool is put to good use or bad. Do not be misled into thinking that an air rifle, automobile, rock, stick or pencil can be inherently good or bad. It's the people operating them that make that determination.
Learn more about this author, Justin Cox.
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Evil
I suppose if one were to be totally literal in interpreting this question, you'd have to say that air guns are neither good nor evil. They are inanimate objects and, as such, do not have conscious thought so can not be capable of being good nor evil.
However, I guess that the real intention of the question was in fact to ask whether usage of air guns is good or bad? This is a very valid moral debate and one that has been heatedly argued over.
Let's start with a basic fact about guns. Guns, whether we're talking about a rifle, shotgun, or air gun are designed to deliver an object at rapid speeds and if a human or animal finds itself in the path of the shot, damage is going to occur and (in some cases) death.
We can argue that sometimes guns are used in sport where no-one or no thing gets hurt. The Olympics, after all, has shooting competitions where contestants shoot at a target. I really don't have a problem with that kind of shooting, provided that the guns used for it are securely held on the premises of shooting clubs and aren't allowed outside of those premises. In the UK, rules relating to guns used by shooting clubs were significantly tightened after a number of fatal gun rampages.
If we go beyond shooting clubs and their purpose of facilitating target practice in a gun range, then I am entirely opposed to the ownership of any guns. Air guns may not be quite as deadly as some other guns but they can still be deadly. There was a case in Scotland in recent years where a toddler was killed after a stray air gun shot hit the toddler in the head. Additionally, of course, we regularly hear horror stories about bored and psychopathic teenagers killing families' pets, all in the name of having fun.
I talked at the start of this article about how guns are inanimate objects and, as such, moral tags such as good' or evil' can't be ascribed to them. Such tags are apt though in relation to the person who uses the gun. I imagine that some of the people who argue that air guns are good will use this to say that the majority of gun owners are good responsible people who would never dream of pointing their gun at a person or animal. That's fine but of little solace to someone who's lost a child or a beloved pet. The possessor of the gun doesn't even need to have evil in his (or her) mind for an evil' result to occur. Accidents happen and the combination of kids and guns is just asking for trouble.
I can't see any valid reason to allow people (especially kids or teenagers) to own air guns. If they want to shoot things, they can either go to a gun school (where usage is controlled and supervised, join the army, or play a shoot-them-up computer game.
Learn more about this author, Simon Wright.
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