Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Guns When Gun Control Freaks Go Wild:-)

I agree with you, Issodhos.

Where we differ is that I regard using a gun, carrying a gun, and owning a gun to be looking for trouble.

I have never owned a gun, and I have always avoided trouble (for instance, I have never visited Texas). It has worked out well for me.

I did remove a pistol from the home of my aged mother and dispose of it. In her old age, she became subject to sudden and irrational rages, usually directed against her neighbors. I didn't want to take any chances. I could imagine newpaper headlines: "Octogenarian goes on deadly rampage: kills neighboring family of four." Not all dangers of gun violence come only from young people.

You may think that I was over-reacting, but she came after me once with a baseball bat. I was surprised at how strong her swing was when she was in one of her rages.


I quite agree with you, Ardy. I live on "a stone, set in the silver sea, which serves it as a moat...against the envy of less happier lands."

Americans have never been noted for their self-control, but in my lifetime I have seen an alarming increase of mental instability among those people whom I deliberately avoid.

An obsession with firearms, I regard as a primary indicator of dangerous mental deficiency. At the least, it is an indicator of the unhealthy individualism that has been so prominent a part of American society.

When they feel threatened, why is their immediate reaction to get a gun, in order to protect themselves alone, as if they were isolated in a rock fort under attack by a horde of savages? I prefer to "risk" isolated and improbable assault, and bend my efforts to living in a peaceful, orderly and caring society, surrounded by a variety of social networks, and playing my part in them.

If Americans put more effort into caring for each other, and moderated their hypertrophied individualism, then they would not need guns.

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Hear! Hear!

Isso is correct. There are in this case exceptions to every rule. It happens that people who are aware and who do take precautions and do not venture into places and things that might put them in harms way are set upon by criminals, but those people are the exceptions.

One only need to look at animal kingdom to see weak ones culled from the heard. Always? No. Sometimes even the weak ones get away. Sometimes even the strong ones are caught, but most of the time the weak ones are targeted and taken by the killers. Lions don't generally hunt and kill other lions or jaguars or leopards because they know that those animals are similarly "armed'. Even in a herd of giraffe lions are going to go after the one that is perceived to be weak, or alone or preferably both. And even then lions will attack in groups, to lessen the risk.

Study a bit of criminology and you'll quickly find that dirt bags who prey on other people say time and time and time again that the reason they chose a particular person or place was because the person or place presented an opportunity that was perceived as a lesser risk than other choices.

As Isso says - You don't want to be seen. You want to be damn near invisible to criminals. Wear a t-shirt with anything written on it increases your visibility. Wear a shirt with "I hate guns and I am not armed" is more than foolish and greatly increases your visibility.

Ask a cop about protecting your home from bad guys. He'll tell you that no home is burglar proof, but you can do things that will greatly reduce the risk of having your home broken into. Go back to - 'You don't want to be seen". Where you live and how it appears that you live can bring attention to your home or can make you damn near invisible. If your home has an alarm system and a sign saying so, if you have lights on in appropriate places, if bushes near windows do not obstruct view from the street, all those things you know or should already know when practiced reduce your risk of being a victim. Add yapping dogs, radio or tv noise and a varied routine and the bad guy is more likely to pick an easier target. Put a sign on the door that says "I hate guns and there are no guns in this house" and you may very well increase your risk of being burgled.

Like it or not firearms are a deterrent. You don't have to own one, but in America you benefit from the fact that other law abiding citizens do own firearms.

I have no problems with what you say Mickey. On the other hand, I do not think it is necessary to have zero restrictions on fire arms in order to achieve that objective.

That may be true, but that statement is a non-sequitor from the rest of your post, and I would really love to see some factual backup for the claim you make.

Your recollection is incomplete as it relates to this discussion. Suicide by firearm is in large part restricted to men. It's not a preferred choice for most female suicides.

So - I am not a greater risk to myself from firearms (which was the original point of the discussion) than I am from others wielding guns. As a non-gun person, it's highly unlikely I will ever harm myself with a gun, as I generally refuse to handle them.

And it is as easily true that someone who is looking to steal guns would leave me alone.

This is all very much up-in-the-air, and it's doubtful that any of us truly think like criminals - for one thing, I have a strong suspicion that we're brighter than the average criminal.

It's just that I get tired of the "gun control freaks run wild" label. Just as I would never label my gun-owning friends at RR as "gun-toting, trigger happy lunatics," it would be nice to get an acknowledgment that not all people who dislike guns are out to strip everyone of their Constitutional Rights. It's also true that we're not out skipping through the park thinking life's a bowl of cherries.

It's just that we choose to live our lives without arms. Oh, yes - and we vehemently wish that others would, as well.

And (at least in my case) we favor the sorts of fire arms regulations that would be consonant with the phrase "a well regulated militia." In other words, rights to own and sell guns accompanied by responsiblities.

Yes, isn't it interesting how much those in the gun lobby insist upon their "rights," and how seldom they talk about their responsibilities.

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Bingo! Give that gal a C-gar! I was not restricting my comment to firearms related suicides or homicides, Mellowicious. That is why I wrote "by any means". But, you are partially correct. Females are less likely then males to commit suicide using any method, and far less likely to do so using a firearm. There for you are even safer than you thought. One of the bothersome things about how statistics are often used is that they are quite general in nature and address at best a collectivist view of society. In other words, x number of people are affected by something so action is taken on behalf of the herd whether it applies to the entire herd or not. You, however, in pointing out that you have differing demographics, characteristics, and preferences, have shown that you are not as threatened or in danger of death from a firearm as you are from other things. In other words, you spoke and acted from the point of view of an individualist and have claimed your right to choose whether to exercise your right to privately own and use a firearm.

Hopefully you will not selfishly deny others the right to choice whether or not to exercise a right.:-)
Yours,
Issodhos