Rant-- Accountability -- edited for meaning

[Cindiloohoo]

Quote:
We live in the same town?

Hmmm, I am certain granny can outshoot anyone, she grew up when gun = dinner.

Gun=dinner still around here. My granny taught me how to shoot

 

[Boyd]

Quote:
We live in the same town?

Hmmm, I am certain granny can outshoot anyone, she grew up when gun = dinner.

Gun=dinner still around here. My granny taught me how to shoot

I still have some fur pieces used as clothing around here

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Quote:
You could also say that people that dont carry guns just under estimate the danger.... Both statements are bull.

 

[Dar]

its obvious that some have feathers ruffled.... however i am not meaning to say that there is any wrong way or right way.... what i am saying is that not everything has to come down to violence...

 

[Cindiloohoo]

From the rules

PETA

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Dar, I don't think any gun owners/carriers here ever do want it to come down to violence. A gun IMO is more a preventative of violence against ourselves, not a promoter of violence towards others.

 

[fancbrd4me02]

Quote:
You could also say that people that dont carry guns just under estimate the danger.... Both statements are bull.

I disagree. You are not more likely to be in danger than I, unless you fit into a danger catagory which I mentioned above. Anything outside of that is random.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

About 7 years ago I was mugged at gunpoint.
I'm fairly intelligent and pretty aware when out in public. I'm also fairly pragmatic and not prone to hysterics. At the time I was working late hours in the downtown area (notoriously unsafe). I got mugged in the suburbs (a really nice, fairly expensive part of town) on my front doorstep by some little gun carrying punk who decided to steal money rather than work for it.
It was beyond terrifying. Words cannot express how bone deep the fear is and how your brain just shuts down. It was like watching a movie, except there was a gun about 6" from my head.
Until you find yourself in that situation, you have no idea how you will react. I was very lucky. The punk who robbed me was maybe 15 years old and only wanted beer money (and he got the $14 I had on me with no argument). Since he had the gun, he pretty much could have done anything he wanted though. I was completely at a loss to do anything other than agree with whatever he wanted.
Once he left I called the cops and then called my sister and BIL. They made it there about as fast as the cops did. There were no police anywhere near me when the mugging was going on. It was just me, a single woman in her early 30s. The cops didn't put a whole lot of effort into finding the guy (a whole other story that I won't go into). I realized that my protection was up to me.

My take on gun control? In a perfect world we would totally control who had guns and only the nice, responsible people would have them. Is this reality? No way. The idiots and deranged and just plain mean and hateful will always find a way to get their hands on a gun. Do I wish I had had a handgun and been trained on how to use it? Yes. Do I wish the neighbor who just stood and watched all this happen had been man enough to have had a handgun and have used it? Oh yeah. (And before you think I'm one of those women who is just waiting for a man to protect her, I'd have been pretty happy if it had been a female neighbor with a gun as well.)

The rest of the story is not that I now have my CC permit. While I have a couple of shotguns, I do not have a handgun. I think my aim is better with a shotgun than something handheld. Plus I work on a college campus, so I can't even have a gun in my car. Pretty pointless to have a carry permit when I'm not allowed to actually carry the gun when I need it. I did get a dog pretty immediately after the mugging. She's a boxer mix, but looks like a pit and sounds ferocious (not the dog in my avatar). The dog went everywhere with me for 3 years until I took the university job. Literally, the dog was with me almost 24/7. She went to work with me everyday and ran errands with me when the weather permitted (so she could stay in the car while I was in the store). Would I have been mugged if I had had the dog? Doubtful. I don't know what she'd do if I was in harms way, but I do know she'd bark and growl like crazy. Would I have been mugged if I had had a handgun? Probably, but it's possible that I would have been the last person the punk mugged. That's what really bothers me about the whole deal. The little punk got away with it and most certainly went on to terrify others. His violence probably escalated and who knows what harm he went on to do to others. Do I wish he had been stopped at that point? Most definitely. Maybe if I or my neighbors had been armed he would have been stopped.

Anyway... that's my 2 cents for what it's worth. It's great to talk about guns in theory. In reality there is a time and place and need. Even when you live in "safe" places.

 

[redhen]

Random acts of violence aganist others happens all the time... dont you watch the news? Someone is always getting robbed or car jacked , broken into or raped..

hell..i live in a little po-dunk town in Mass..and my brother was SHOT in a drive by shooting! THey shot right through his house and hit him in his back/chest while he was sitting on his couch. Thank god he lived.. he still has a bullet in him though..
My point is..criminals have NO problem getting guns...and people DO need to be able to protect themselves aganist these creeps..

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Actualy I do fit in to that catagory but if I didnt why would your opinion trump mine?