Mandatory Gun Ownership Reduces Crime - Page 4

rwoman · 05-23-2007, 12:01 PM

I was raised in a house with guns and taught to shoot (shotgun, rifle, and .357). In fact, one of my teenage babysitting jobs required me to be able to handle a gun < hmmmm still makes me wonder as an adult >.

I don't have a gun today (well an unloaded shotgun) for protection as studies show that if you do not use a gun against an intruder then he (it's always a he, don't you know) will most likely take it from you and then where will you be? I know I am capable of shooting but know myself well enough to suspect that I would hesitate and would lose whatever advantage it gained me. So we don't have a gun for protection. Plus I have a fear of accidentally shooting my husband coming in late one night or something like that. I imagine he would eventually forgive me for pepper spraying him but not for shooting him! And soon our son will be old enough to start sneaking in (or out) at night. My husband and his bil (a cop) still laugh about the time the bil almost shot him one night sneaking in past curfew.

TopShelfToys · 05-23-2007, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwoman

I imagine he would eventually forgive me for pepper spraying him but not for shooting him!

Just get a taser imo. You get the protection aspect covered, and I've heard they make great sex toys

**John Scott** · 05-25-2007, 09:40 PM

Quote:

studies show that if you do not use a gun against an intruder then he will most likely take it from you and then where will you be?

Never heard of that. Got a link?

rwoman · 05-27-2007, 11:53 AM

No link for that specifically. This is what my three brothers-in-law (all cops) told me as did my self defense course instructor.

However, several studies do show that gun ownership does increase your risk:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Kellermann

I am thinking about that taser though. A low voltage might make it an useful parenting and spouse control tool as well...

Snarke · 05-27-2007, 01:32 PM

I don't have any fancy statistics to back me up here, this is just my opition, but I think that forcing everyone to arm themselves could lead to more gun-related crimes of passion and panic because not everybody has the self control to stop themselves in the heat of the moment. In fact I'm curious to see what happened to the rate of suicide in that town that required each household have a gun. That being said, I don't think that NO guns are the answer. I mean, okay personally I'd be okay living in a world without guns, but if it makes you feel safer to carry a gun around then that's your right. Who am I to tell you how to feel? But I DO believe in gun control: waiting periods, background checks, people who have committed violent crime with a gun losing their second amendment rights, required gun safety courses... heck--I'd even be okay with a psychological screening process. And I think the people who really do want to have a gun, if they don't want it for sinister reasons, while maybe frustrated by the hassle of the process will still deal with it. I think it's more about personal fear and power than the constitution.

Personally I'd be more afraid to live in a place that required everyone to carry guns--you never know what will make a person snap and if a person's going to snap they're going to snap regardless of how many other armed people surround them. The flip side of that argument is, of course, if somebody snaps and pulls a gun to shoot me I would be able to pull a gun of my own and shoot back at them in self defense. But knowing who I am as a person, I would be more likely to cry and wet my pants when faced with a loaded gun than pull out one of my own and go all Dirty Harry.

But that's just me.

rwoman · 05-27-2007, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snarke

But knowing who I am as a person, I would be more likely to cry and wet my pants when faced with a loaded gun than pull out one of my own and go all Dirty Harry.

But that's just me.

I'd probably say something wiseass (too often my initial reaction to many dire situations) and then they would HAVE to shoot me to save face.

**John Scott** · 05-28-2007, 05:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwoman

No link for that specifically. This is what my three brothers-in-law (all cops) told me as did my self defense course instructor.

However, several studies do show that gun ownership does increase your risk:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Kellermann

I am thinking about that taser though. A low voltage might make it an useful parenting and spouse control tool as well...

Those stats don't appear to support any conclusion other than perhaps that firearm owners tend to use their own firearms when they choose to commit suicide.