Guns

My husband just put down $100 on a Springfield XD subcompact 9mm.  It'll get here on Wednesday.  When my concealed carry permit arrives sometime in the next month, I'm going to get a .38 snubnose.

What are peoples' feelings about guns?  I started off extremely opposed to having guns, except for maybe having one in the house for home protection.  I am now changing jobs and moving to a city with a very high violent crime rate, so I decided to look into carrying.  In my state it is very easy to get a concealed weapon permit.  I plan to immediately take a class on basic instruction, safety, and maintenance.  I plan to shoot the gun at least a couple of times a month for practice.  Ultimately I'd like to take advanced classes that teach a variety of defensive techniques.

My feeling is that guns are the great equalizer.  If somebody wants to hurt you, and they have a gun, you are completely under their control.  If you also have a gun, you have a much better chance of protecting yourself. 

Thoughts?  I'd love to hear from our non-American friends, as I know guns have a very different role in their countries.

good luck with that, lysistra.  your chances of getting shot just went waaaay up.

i think there's a general belief that there are fewer guns in canada.  not true.  we have just as many guns per capita.  gun control here is a fiasco.  and yet, shootings are relatively rare (though not as rare as they used to be).

i wouldn't own a gun.  i wouldn't live in a place where i felt i needed one.  me, i prefer to live in a place where people don't shoot each other.

i prefer to live in a place where people don't shoot each other

True, I think we all would.  But there's no guarantee.  Virginia Tech taught me that.

One of my biggest concerns at first was the increased risk of having a gun-related accident.  What are the odds if you don't have a gun around?  0% chance, of course.  But guns can be handled and kept very safely, and I take safety extremely seriously.

In a confrontation, the most basic rule is to never draw the gun unless you need to and intend to use it.  Ideally I will never, ever draw my gun in public.

But, the point is, it is much, much better to have one and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

Ok. sorry to offend anyone.. but the question was asked, and I can't resist.

So, for one Canadian's point of view:

I can't, for the life of me, understand America's obsession with guns. Everybody and their dog has a gun it seems. I don't know a single person who carries a gun, and the only people I know who own guns are my bf's brother and father who have hunting rifles.

America's gun laws seem so loose to me. And how can people argue guns make the country safer when anytime I watch an American news broadcast about 5 ppl have been shot. Not to mention all the school shootings. Sure, Canada has shootings too, but not nearly as many.

I know there are some people out there who have guns and are a threat in Canada. I feel like if everyone had a gun "for protection" there would be a lot more accidents and avoidable deaths. Anyway, if someone attacked me with a gun, I'm pretty sure they'd still win against me and my gun.

In terms of guns being an equalizer: you'd have to actually have the gun on you when you were under threat by the robbers/bad guys/whoever...not just hidden in a box in the closet, locked in a rifle case, stored in a drawer across the house or wherever else.

I think guns are theoretically a good idea for home protection, but if you have kids, you should lock up the guns (not saying kids are stupid but they are curious and accidents happen every year) and if the guns are locked up...they might not be readily available for when you "need" them, so why bother getting one.

I support the right of private citizens to bear arms for the purpose of forming militias, protection of personal property, hunting, and sport shooting, in accordance with the second amendment. 

That being said, I think the Founding Fathers of America are turning in their graves at how people interpret the Constitutional right to guns. No one needs, or in my opinion should have, access to heavy duty super-powered assault rifles. No one needs a gun that can shoot through concrete walls for any of the above purposes. Some guns were clearly designed for warfare - killing humans through buildings - and those have no place in the hands of citizens. If you want one, join the Army, they'll let you borrow one while youre at war.

I tend to think of people who are really into gun culture and against any form of gun control as pessimistic and paranoid...why are they so convinced that someone is out to get them, kindnap their family, steal their stuff, etc? As a happy person who feels that no one is out to get me, I will never own a gun.

And how can people argue guns make the country safer when anytime I watch an American news broadcast about 5 ppl have been shot.

Because when guns are controlled, only criminals have them.  In New York City, for example, which has an extremly high rate of violent crime, guns are strictly controlled.  This means your ordinary law-abiding citizen won't break the law by owning a gun.  But criminals will, and you, a law-abiding citizen, will be at their mercy.

Definitely, not everybody should have a gun.  Anybody who doesn't feel confident that they could use it shouldn't have one.  Everybody who owns a gun should have it drilled into their heads that there is only one situation when using a gun is ok - when somebody's life is in imminent danger.

I suppose there is a hint of paranoia in buying a gun and carrying it around.  But it's not irrational.  I just don't want to be a victim.

i like that people carry guns, it only really saves people in the most extream of cases, someone robs a bank you can shoot him in the back.  But the most common of theives it does no good against, i promise you on a dark street when you dont expect it i could mug you if you carried a gun and kill you before you knew what was up.  Guns are clunky and have to be aimed to get real results even being point blank a lot of hand guns will let the bullet freely travle through the person without getting stopped, just a clean shot.   Carry a good switch blade in my opinion, or a good gravity knife, easy to use and one stab any where in the abdomen will drop someone very quickly.   A gun is just a false security blanket.

like kaja said, if your gun is safely stored and locked, it's not going to save you.  if it's not safely stored and locked, it might kill someone.

but i can't believe you support the forming of militias.  as far as i'm concerned, groups like the minutemen are just nutcases looking for an excuse to shoot someone.

as far as the better-to-have-one-and-not-need-it argument, i don't buy it.  even if you're assaulted by someone with a gun, they're much more likely to shoot you if you pull yours out than if you hand over your wallet.  don't you think?

i don't care what kind of threat i'm under - i can't imagine a circumstance in which my having a gun would make the situation better.

and you know what?  i'd rather be shot than take a life.  there.

on a dark street when you dont expect it i could mug you if you carried a gun and kill you before you knew what was up

Of course, paying close attention to your surroundings is an important safety rule, whether you are armed or not.

a lot of hand guns will let the bullet freely travle through the person without getting stopped, just a clean shot.

That depends on the gun, the ammunition, and the shot.  First, it is the force of the impact that is most likely to stop the attacker, not the bullet itself.  So even a tiny little .22 bullet will have a lot of force behind the impact, although you'd be better off with a larger caliber gun.  The standard defensive ammo is hollowpoint, which does not exit cleanly (if at all).  Lastly, if somebody is attacking me and threatening my life, I'm sure as heck not going to only fire once ... I'm going to rapid-fire every shot and be prepared to reload.  This is why practice is essential ... a trained shooter can place 6 shots in a tight group in under 30 seconds.

I am very against the idea of carrying knives for defensive purposes.  Knives also require a lot of training to be effective and require you to close the distance with your attacker, which is the most dangerous position for you to be in.  A handgun wil give you protection up to 15-10 yards away.

lysistrata, it sounds like you can't wait.

even if you're assaulted by someone with a gun, they're much more likely to shoot you if you pull yours out than if you hand over your wallet.  don't you think?

Most of the time, probably, yes.  A gun is not a forcefield, it's just a tool that can help you if you use it properly.  Part of using it properly is recognizing that it is useless to you if you allow an armed attacker to close the distance on you.  Whether you have a gun or not, the best thing you can do for your safety is to pay attention to your surroundings, keep an eye out for unusual behavior, and always exercise caution.   And my concern is much less about protecting my property that about protecting my life and health.  So I'd probably give the robber my wallet even if I had the gun.

and you know what?  i'd rather be shot than take a life.  there.

Fair enough.  I can respect that.  But I'd much rather kill a punk than be victimized - just my attitude.

My husband has guns he sold a few and I think he is planning on selling the one he has left.  For some reason every time we went down to Phx he felt he had to put the gun in the glovebox.  I hate the dang things.  Personally I don't feel safer with them around but more like if the bad guy gets a hold of it first thats it its all over. 

We used to live in a very high crime rate part of Tucson drive by shootings were almost a weekly event - so we moved to a small town to protect ourselves and family.  We took a cut in pay and lifestyle to be safer. 

lysistrata, it sounds like you can't wait.

See post #2 - "Ideally, I will never, ever draw my gun in public."

I would be ecstatic to go through my entire life never needing to defend myself.  I'm just not gambling my life and health on it.  ;-)

Yes, I support the right of wacko kooks in Idaho to join/create militias because its in the second amendment and because they arent hurting anyone. The original intent of the "militias" thing in the bill of rights was as a reference to how the revolutionary war was an American militia vs. the British...the theory being that if the government goes crazy, private citizens should have guns.

i have always been against firearms, but living in inner city new orleans (highest murder rate) only made me dislike guns more. i don't think anyone should have guns, not even police officers. i think guns give a huge false sense of security and also a false sense of power. the odds of anyone actually hitting a moving target when you're under attack and panicking are really low, so that firing range training isn't going to do you any good unless the attacker stands still for you while you aim, take off the safety, and fire on them. if you want the gun for the intimidation factor, well... they're going to have a gun too, and i'm sure they'll have no problem using it on you.

violence breeds violence.  in my opinion by carrying a concealed weapon, you are contributing to the problem not investing to find a solution. 

i live in a city with a high violent crime rate.  hell, we were known as the murder capital for many years (maybe we still are...).  i've been mugged at gunpoint, i've had a gun raised in my general direction 3 other times (1985, 1992, 2001).  i've had friends shot.  i've known too many people who have lost friends/family members due to guns.  i've walked by way too many inner-city sidewalk memorials.  I refuse to buy the bullshit that says guns protect you in your everyday life.

I recently read the following Washington Post article, A Gate-Crasher's Change of Heart, and while I will admit that it is a unique situation, I think there is a valuable lesson to be learned there about how one can respond to the threat of violence.

Lysis not that i have but this is what id do, id walk by you bump into you appologize look to see where your pockets were, where your hands were where your jewelery was and where your purse was id walk up the street then.  id go into a store, or by a house door waste some time looking like i was going inside to give you time to pass me, id then be behind you grab you on the left shoulder with my right leg kick the back of your knee hard to force you to a kneel while pushing down on your shoulder, with the right hand flip out a knif place it under your neck pressed into your artery where one quick pull would leave you a mess on the ground, how does your gun save you?

handguns have one purpose.  purchasing a gun is equivalent to forming intent.  the fact that you've already imagined scenarios in which you would use your gun demonstrates that.

But I'd much rather kill a punk than be victimized - just my attitude.

this instantly reminded me of the movie Crash...and how quick we are to prejudge someone.

So whats intent matter at all?