I always thought the best way to defend yourself was by having training, regardless of armament. A gun is not a miracle defense. You have to think to use it. You have to know how to use it. You have to draw the thing from a concealed place while mister mugger has his own piece pointed at you. And you bet Mister mugger's going to assume you're armed if you do anything funny.
While Colt's adage has it's place a gun is not a miracle shield that immediately acts as a forcefield against all evil doers. Pointing a gun at them won't automatically make them stop.
I've no real problem myself with people claiming self-defense for being armed, I just find the idea of anyone being able to go in, buy a pistol/Ar-15, wait a couple of days, then be able to go use it with no training whatsoever a bit silly. Hand me a gun and put me in a stressful situation, I'll probably blow my own foot off. Most people armed for self defense will probably do the same thing or worse. They'll fumble and drop the thing and get shot or stabbed.
In fact, the only time I fired off a shotgun, I accidentally knocked out power to an entire village (oops).
The most dangerous thing is an armed population with no idea how to use their arms. I can kill with a car as easily as I can kill with a gun (or a knife), and the State expects me to learn how to drive that car properly, obey rules of the road and in general not act the tosser. If I break the rules, I could lose the right to drive the car. A gun is at least as dangerous as a car, wouldn't you agree?
Being able to go about armed is a privilege that should be earned by demonstrating some competency beyond respiring, and reaching a certain age. If you want to go through the bother of training up to safely be able to handle a particular firearm, and how to know when and how to use it, then you should be allowed have one. If not, it's just going to be more of a liability. And having an entire population who's sole competency is watching Westerns and Dirty Harry, is rather scary.
You want to know what the best deterrent for home invasion is? Studious locking of doors and windows, a barking dog and a decent alarm system. Thieves will tend to avoid homes where the homeowner is awake and alert... even if they're just shouting at the damn mutt to shut up. Regardless of what the homeowner is armed with, if at all, thieves would rather avoid a confrontation.
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--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
While Colt's adage has it's place a gun is not a miracle shield that immediately acts as a forcefield against all evil doers. Pointing a gun at them won't automatically make them stop.
I've no real problem myself with people claiming self-defense for being armed, I just find the idea of anyone being able to go in, buy a pistol/Ar-15, wait a couple of days, then be able to go use it with no training whatsoever a bit silly. Hand me a gun and put me in a stressful situation, I'll probably blow my own foot off. Most people armed for self defense will probably do the same thing or worse. They'll fumble and drop the thing and get shot or stabbed.
In fact, the only time I fired off a shotgun, I accidentally knocked out power to an entire village (oops).
The most dangerous thing is an armed population with no idea how to use their arms. I can kill with a car as easily as I can kill with a gun (or a knife), and the State expects me to learn how to drive that car properly, obey rules of the road and in general not act the tosser. If I break the rules, I could lose the right to drive the car. A gun is at least as dangerous as a car, wouldn't you agree?
Being able to go about armed is a privilege that should be earned by demonstrating some competency beyond respiring, and reaching a certain age. If you want to go through the bother of training up to safely be able to handle a particular firearm, and how to know when and how to use it, then you should be allowed have one. If not, it's just going to be more of a liability. And having an entire population who's sole competency is watching Westerns and Dirty Harry, is rather scary.
You want to know what the best deterrent for home invasion is? Studious locking of doors and windows, a barking dog and a decent alarm system. Thieves will tend to avoid homes where the homeowner is awake and alert... even if they're just shouting at the damn mutt to shut up. Regardless of what the homeowner is armed with, if at all, thieves would rather avoid a confrontation.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?