View Full Version : Own a gun for protection?
pussyinboots
10-22-2011, 12:53 AM
To those of you in other countries you have no idea how violent this country is, especially in certain areas. This is why many people buy guns. The area I used to live in (Moved almost 10 years ago) went from middle class to ghetto and drive by shootings are common. Certain areas I've driven through are ghetto and full of gangs. Like mentioned gangs always get guns, even illegally. This is partly why this is a big issue. Chicago has a ban on guns, yet it hasn't stopped the violence. Like I said I hate guns, but if I lived in a violent area I wouldn't hesitate to buy one. If I lived where I used to I would need a gun for protection and wouldn't hesitate to kill gangbangers who would kill me.
I once met the lead singer of a British rock band who didn't understand why guns were legal in the US.
My one friend had to tell him that this is a violent country. Of course this nutjob can afford to live in an nice area of London so he'll never deal with this himself.
I appreciate everything you said....however....there are some parts of London that become very dangerous and people do shoot each other. Brixton is probably the best known....Hackney another.
As for rock musicians....they're not all nutjobs. I married one...and he's cool.
ashiepants
10-22-2011, 12:15 PM
No I don't have one and will never get one. I live in Canada though...pretty safe here lol. I don't feel the need to carry a firearm but if I lived in a country/state/city that was prone to violence then I'd understand feeling the need to own a gun. I grew up in a house where the doors were never locked and we left the car keys in the car....can't imagine life being any different :/
Kellydancer
10-22-2011, 03:00 PM
I appreciate everything you said....however....there are some parts of London that become very dangerous and people do shoot each other. Brixton is probably the best known....Hackney another.
As for rock musicians....they're not all nutjobs. I married one...and he's cool.
Unfortunately there are areas where it's very violent. I don't live in one now (I live in a very upscale area that is rural) but have in the past. Certain areas of Chicago are very dangerous and to live there you need to protect yourself. I don't live in those areas but if I did I would make sure my family was protected. The problem is of course that the criminals in those areas get guns illegally and when it becomes illegal for ALL people to get guns then the only ones with guns are cops and gang members. I do support gun control though to make sure those who are mentally unbalanced can't get guns, but once again the problem is many of them get them illegally. I wish it was the way where criminals had no access to guns but that's sadly not the case. Incidentally years ago I lived across the street from a guy who was selling guns and making kiddie porn. He's in prison for life (good riddance)but many more like him.
I wonder what England will do with these thugs getting guns. I think this is an issue they will need to face pretty soon.
There are many great musicians. I've met many who were very cool people. The one I mentioned is a nutjob but he would be no matter his preferences. He's just a vile guy. Your husband sounds cool from the way you've described him.
FiendishGyrator
10-22-2011, 05:22 PM
I started skimming once we got to the moral thing.
Two points:
1. I knew an older man who lived in the french quarter with his partner, and stayed throughout Katrina because of all their animals. He said that up until then, he'd always been a pacifist, but once the social order broke down and realized everyone around him had a gun BUT him that if he got through it, he would always have a gun.
You cannot depend on some social order to keep you safe, thus rapes, murders, thefts etcetera all go against how society is typically run. You never know what a mugger's intent is after he gets the money, so whether or not he actually had a gun is a moot point-- if you give him your money and he then rapes and/or kills you before leaving then that's a pretty silly comparison that "oh I wouldn't want to have a gun and then shoot the guy only to find out he was holding me hostage with a fake gun."
Remember the crime a year or two ago about the two men who followed a woman and her daughters to her home, beat up the husband, made the woman go to the bank and withdraw money, then brought her home for a merry game of rape the wife and daughters loudly for everyone in the family to hear, and then poured gasoline over everyone and set the house on fire? Except the coroner couldn't tell if the daughters had died from inhalation or had actually been burned to death?
The husband was the only one who made it out because he'd managed to finally get out of his binds and crawl (and I think he literally crawled due to his head wounds) to a neighbor's house?
Really? You wouldn't feel right killing someone? *shrug* Hope you don't have kids then because I think having guns and knowing how to use them (which means teaching your kids that it's not a plaything) is pretty pivotal in being able to protect yourself and your family *edit* moreso than pleading to your attacker(s) and then when they're not listening, to God.
2.) Didn't Australia's crime rate go up when they outlawed personal firearms? Because criminals aren't going to care about that. They're already going to be breaking the law. Laws like that would just make it easier to know that when they DO attack someone who's likely NOT a criminal, that they will not be armed and be easy pickings.
3.) California's gun laws suck, but don't they have it where you can't carry concealed but you can carry it on the seat of your car out in the open when you're driving? Many states have this, but if it's stowed away, gun has to be in one place, bullets locked away in another.
4.) Texas laws are awesome in this regard. I think a well-armed population is actually a safer one so long as there is a strong push for education so people aren't treating them like toys and brandishing them just to be macho. But anyway, Texas laws extend the Castle law of your private residence to your car, so if you are in your car and someone is trying to get to you, the car is an extension of your house and you have the right to protect your property. My boyfriend was being tailgated and harassed for going the speedlimit late one night from coming home from a trip and he had his AK-something (couldn't tell you) from hunting on the floor. The guy blew past him, and then at the red light my boyfriend put on his brights to basically say he didn't appreciate the guy being a shit head (he'd followed him for like 10 minutes with his brights on.) The guy gets out of his truck and starts cussing my boyfriend out and approaching in a menacing manner. My boyfriend just picks up his gun and doesn't even point it at him, just puts it up against his chest and the other guy just shut up, turned tail, got in his car and ran a red light (with the red light enforcement photo light going off.) :) So yes, I love Texas gun laws.
Oh and for God's sake, and your own, if you shoot someone, shoot to kill. You do not want to have them sue you afterward for some bullshit reason even though they were the one committing a crime against you. If you shoot to kill, yours is the only story that's going to get told.
Kellydancer
10-22-2011, 09:56 PM
I started skimming once we got to the moral thing.
Two points:
1. I knew an older man who lived in the french quarter with his partner, and stayed throughout Katrina because of all their animals. He said that up until then, he'd always been a pacifist, but once the social order broke down and realized everyone around him had a gun BUT him that if he got through it, he would always have a gun.
You cannot depend on some social order to keep you safe, thus rapes, murders, thefts etcetera all go against how society is typically run. You never know what a mugger's intent is after he gets the money, so whether or not he actually had a gun is a moot point-- if you give him your money and he then rapes and/or kills you before leaving then that's a pretty silly comparison that "oh I wouldn't want to have a gun and then shoot the guy only to find out he was holding me hostage with a fake gun."
Remember the crime a year or two ago about the two men who followed a woman and her daughters to her home, beat up the husband, made the woman go to the bank and withdraw money, then brought her home for a merry game of rape the wife and daughters loudly for everyone in the family to hear, and then poured gasoline over everyone and set the house on fire? Except the coroner couldn't tell if the daughters had died from inhalation or had actually been burned to death?
The husband was the only one who made it out because he'd managed to finally get out of his binds and crawl (and I think he literally crawled due to his head wounds) to a neighbor's house?
Really? You wouldn't feel right killing someone? *shrug* Hope you don't have kids then because I think having guns and knowing how to use them (which means teaching your kids that it's not a plaything) is pretty pivotal in being able to protect yourself and your family and pleading to your attacker(s) and then when they're not listening, to God.
2.) Didn't Australia's crime rate go up when they outlawed personal firearms? Because criminals aren't going to care about that. They're already going to be breaking the law. Laws like that would just make it easier to know that when they DO attack someone who's likely NOT a criminal, that they will not be armed and be easy pickings.
3.) California's gun laws suck, but don't they have it where you can't carry concealed but you can carry it on the seat of your car out in the open when you're driving? Many states have this, but if it's stowed away, gun has to be in one place, bullets locked away in another.
4.) Texas laws are awesome in this regard. I think a well-armed population is actually a safer one so long as there is a strong push for education so people aren't treating them like toys and brandishing them just to be macho. But anyway, Texas laws extend the Castle law of your private residence to your car, so if you are in your car and someone is trying to get to you, the car is an extension of your house and you have the right to protect your property. My boyfriend was being tailgated and harassed for going the speedlimit late one night from coming home from a trip and he had his AK-something (couldn't tell you) from hunting on the floor. The guy blew past him, and then at the red light my boyfriend put on his brights to basically say he didn't appreciate the guy being a shit head (he'd followed him for like 10 minutes with his brights on.) The guy gets out of his truck and starts cussing my boyfriend out and approaching in a menacing manner. My boyfriend just picks up his gun and doesn't even point it at him, just puts it up against his chest and the other guy just shut up, turned tail, got in his car and ran a red light (with the red light enforcement photo light going off.) :) So yes, I love Texas gun laws.
Oh and for God's sake, and your own, if you shoot someone, shoot to kill. You do not want to have them sue you afterward for some bullshit reason even though they were the one committing a crime against you. If you shoot to kill, yours is the only story that's going to get told.
Can't disagree with you at all. I have been hearing a lot of stories of criminals suing after being injured and sorry but my sympathy isn't with them at all. I don't care that a criminal is paralyzed for life because he was attempting to rob or rape someone and he got shot. My sympathy lies with the victims.
I used to be more anti gun until I saw my area turn ghetto. There is a saying people would tell me that many people become more conservative once they deal with things like this and this is so true. I'm not going to go into details since politics are off limits except to say once I saw criminals taking over everything I did a 180 on many things. If I had kids and I saw them being attacked my first thought would be to kill the person attacking them. I'd rather a criminal die than my kids.
phoenixxxrising
10-23-2011, 05:32 AM
No I don't have one and will never get one. I live in Canada though...pretty safe here lol. I don't feel the need to carry a firearm but if I lived in a country/state/city that was prone to violence then I'd understand feeling the need to own a gun. I grew up in a house where the doors were never locked and we left the car keys in the car....can't imagine life being any different :/
never move to the US then lol.
MissDewdrop
10-23-2011, 12:22 PM
I started skimming once we got to the moral thing.
Two points:
1. I knew an older man who lived in the french quarter with his partner, and stayed throughout Katrina because of all their animals. He said that up until then, he'd always been a pacifist, but once the social order broke down and realized everyone around him had a gun BUT him that if he got through it, he would always have a gun.
You cannot depend on some social order to keep you safe, thus rapes, murders, thefts etcetera all go against how society is typically run. You never know what a mugger's intent is after he gets the money, so whether or not he actually had a gun is a moot point-- if you give him your money and he then rapes and/or kills you before leaving then that's a pretty silly comparison that "oh I wouldn't want to have a gun and then shoot the guy only to find out he was holding me hostage with a fake gun."
Remember the crime a year or two ago about the two men who followed a woman and her daughters to her home, beat up the husband, made the woman go to the bank and withdraw money, then brought her home for a merry game of rape the wife and daughters loudly for everyone in the family to hear, and then poured gasoline over everyone and set the house on fire? Except the coroner couldn't tell if the daughters had died from inhalation or had actually been burned to death?
The husband was the only one who made it out because he'd managed to finally get out of his binds and crawl (and I think he literally crawled due to his head wounds) to a neighbor's house?
Really? You wouldn't feel right killing someone? *shrug* Hope you don't have kids then because I think having guns and knowing how to use them (which means teaching your kids that it's not a plaything) is pretty pivotal in being able to protect yourself and your family *edit* moreso than pleading to your attacker(s) and then when they're not listening, to God.
2.) Didn't Australia's crime rate go up when they outlawed personal firearms? Because criminals aren't going to care about that. They're already going to be breaking the law. Laws like that would just make it easier to know that when they DO attack someone who's likely NOT a criminal, that they will not be armed and be easy pickings.
3.) California's gun laws suck, but don't they have it where you can't carry concealed but you can carry it on the seat of your car out in the open when you're driving? Many states have this, but if it's stowed away, gun has to be in one place, bullets locked away in another.
4.) Texas laws are awesome in this regard. I think a well-armed population is actually a safer one so long as there is a strong push for education so people aren't treating them like toys and brandishing them just to be macho. But anyway, Texas laws extend the Castle law of your private residence to your car, so if you are in your car and someone is trying to get to you, the car is an extension of your house and you have the right to protect your property. My boyfriend was being tailgated and harassed for going the speedlimit late one night from coming home from a trip and he had his AK-something (couldn't tell you) from hunting on the floor. The guy blew past him, and then at the red light my boyfriend put on his brights to basically say he didn't appreciate the guy being a shit head (he'd followed him for like 10 minutes with his brights on.) The guy gets out of his truck and starts cussing my boyfriend out and approaching in a menacing manner. My boyfriend just picks up his gun and doesn't even point it at him, just puts it up against his chest and the other guy just shut up, turned tail, got in his car and ran a red light (with the red light enforcement photo light going off.) :) So yes, I love Texas gun laws.
Oh and for God's sake, and your own, if you shoot someone, shoot to kill. You do not want to have them sue you afterward for some bullshit reason even though they were the one committing a crime against you. If you shoot to kill, yours is the only story that's going to get told.
Very good points! I used to be afraid of guns and am still a pacifist at heart. About a year ago, I got a .38 special with the help of some friends who know about gun safety. They let me use their revolvers at a free public range outside my city (ironically the gun range is in a national forest!
). Part of it was prompted by the Petit family murders (the ones mentioned above). The doctor who survived was my old boss' internist, and his office was across the street from her shop. I used to run errands for her. He was such a nice man, and his brother owned a store and many apartment buildings across the street (I lived around the corner). The doctor's office was two towns over from where he lived (Cheshire), a town with very little crime.
I left CT for FL right after the murders happened, and when I go back to visit family, I drive through the section with the doctor's brother's shop, and notice how other businesses occupy it. To say this tragedy destroyed this family is an understatement. The recent sentencing of one of the perps was heartbreaking in that Dr. Petit has noted that he has considered killing himself since the incident. The Petit family was well established in the area, and engaged in humanitarian endeavors.
Anyhow, I also found target practice to be a relaxing and empowering hobby. I would only shoot someone if my life was in danger, or they broke into my home and refused to leave. I keep some hollow point bullets in my 5-shot revolver for emergencies, and a pack of 100 regular bullets on hand for range days (or zombie war). It is a very personal decision. I'm a decent shot at the range, and very good at point-blank. At the moment, I don't carry it, but am considering applying for a permit. I want more practice first.
SnuffleUffleGrass
10-27-2011, 11:13 AM
Planning on carrying soon (in the process of paperwork). Will update.
IMO the most important thing is the mental readiness- if you know you are not 100% willing to fire the gun to defend yourself, DO NOT carry. If you are confronted suddenly, the person going after you will be able to figure out you're hesitant and it is completely possible your own gun will be used against you. If you buy a handgun, go to the range, learn how to shoot. Without preparation, the gun could be just as useless as a cinderblock if you are confronted by someone who wants to do you harm.
Also, store the gun properly. It amazes me, the amount of people who leave handguns laying around. I'm of the opinion it's a goddamned miracle we don't have more accidental shootings in the US than we already do per year.
You would be best off in any case learning simple self-defense tactics, and keeping fit. A young unarmed woman is best off evading a dangerous situation. In my experience (situations I've been told about/dealt with), a lot of rapists work in pairs or threes...Which is an unfair fight to begin with...
lifetravelergirl
10-27-2011, 06:21 PM
I'm curious as to how many of you ladies own a gun for protection and what type you own. I'm considering getting my own, but really have no clue where to start looking. I'm aware that owning a gun means nothing if I don't know how to use it, so lessons would be involved. And I'm aware that it's best to research the laws for my state and such...
Any advice?
If you are going to get a gun, get a gun that looks like a gun. The last thing you need is for a perp to think you have a toy gun in your hand so no pink guns or any of that kind of thing. I have an airweight S&W .38, it is nice and light but still looks like a gun.
Natalllia
11-04-2011, 08:06 AM
My S.O. and I each own guns.
I had a lot of concerns about owning a gun, and it wasn't something I entered into lightly. First of all, I did not want to have a gun in the house that I was not comfortable using, so I made it a priority to spend enough time in the shooting range learning about safe gun use, etc. Also, it's just us adults in the house, and we rarely have children in the house at all (and never unsupervised). I almost never carry a gun with me outside of the house, but I do feel more secure knowing I can defend myself in the case of a home invasion. Unfortunately, that is something I feel I need to be prepared for - I know several people who have experienced home invasions, and they're not exactly unheard of in my city.
Laurisa
11-08-2011, 10:58 AM
12 gauge shotgun.
Kept right above my safe.
"Why yes Mr. Robber, let me go empty my safe for you---"