How safe would you guys feel without your guns?

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feejer222

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As I am sure you are all aware we don't have guns for public use here in the UK. After the Dunblane massacre about 10 years ago all legally owned hand guns were called in and crushed.

We are still allowed target rifles and shot guns, but under very strict rules and regulations. Recently I was speaking to my father-in-law who is a keen target shooter and owns a gun. (No idea what sort, specialist target type). He was relating a tale he had heard recently at his club.

A guy came home drunk and could not get his key to work in the door, he hammered on the door then eventually started kicking the door as his wife would not open it. Turned out that he was at the wrong house and was kicking in the door of an elderly neighbour who for his own safety had an air rifle in the house. The old guy stood on the stairs quaking, not knowing what was coming through his front door and fired into the drunks eye when he eventually got in. The drunk was permenantly blinded and the old guy served a term for grevious bodily harm.

Hard to say what is right or wrong here, except that if the old guy had a handgun the drunk would be dead and the old guy would spend the rest of his life in a cell.

I am not pro or against guns, I would probably own one for family protection if they were legal here. It fascinates me how different you guys sound when talking about owning and carrying weapons, to how we feel about them when only real bad guys have them here.

I ask again; if you guys were not allowed your guns, how would you feel? Vulnerable? No different? Safe in the knowledge that no-one else has a gun either? Totally lost without it?

 
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HOLY Political Thread Batman!

I will answer quickly before this get closed.

If there were ABSOLUTELY NO GUNS, I certainly would not feel the need to have them, BUT since there is absolutely no F'ing way you will ever get all of the guns out of the U.S., I see no reason I shouldn't have one. Yes I feel safer with one, since it has taken the Police well over 45 minutes to respond to the alarm I have at my house.

A gun is like a helmet, you don't need one, until you REALLY need one.

Since i live in the communist state of IL, I have to go without having a gun on my person almost all of the time, but I am damn glad I have one in the house, my neighborhood gets worse by the year.

 
I'm fine without guns. Used to hunt as a kid, but the interest wained when I discovered boobs girls. B)

Yesterday morning, we had some teens try the front door latch before ringing the door bell. Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled and neither were they when they saw my ugly mug when I answered the door and caught my full fury. (turns out they were selling newspapers as a way to keep them out of gangs - ahem) I didn't think for a second about needing a gun.

Been in a hotel room when it was broken into, as well... the old Cub Scout training kicked in (that's a story for another time).

But in either instance, I never felt the need for a gun. Dunno, that's just me, but I am shopping. ;)

 
This is anything but political, just a query from a different point of view to your own.....just trying to make interesting conversation.

 
Dibs on how long this one stays open?

Bottom line I don't have a gun, and I don't care to.... I am curious how crime changed after outlawing hand guns. Increase in violent crimes, decrease in violent crimes, stayed the same, did knife deaths go up???

I'm neutral about the topic, but whenever something like this is brought up, some good data is the best way to base an argument.

 
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Dibs on how long this one stays open?
Bottom line I don't have a gun, and I don't care.... I am curious how crime changed after outlawing hand guns. Increase in violent crimes, decrease in violent crimes, stayed the same, did knife deaths go up???

I'm neutral about the topic, but whenever something like this is brought up, some good data is the best way to base an argument.
I have read that crime in area where there are no guns has gone down, it has gone up, and it has gone sideways. WAY too many factors to tie to just guns.

And I have dibbs on how fast this get closed.

 
Dibs on how long this one stays open?
Bottom line I don't have a gun, and I don't care.... I am curious how crime changed after outlawing hand guns. Increase in violent crimes, decrease in violent crimes, stayed the same, did knife deaths go up???

I'm neutral about the topic, but whenever something like this is brought up, some good data is the best way to base an argument.
I have read that crime in area where there are no guns has gone down, it has gone up, and it has gone sideways. WAY too many factors to tie to just guns.

And I have dibbs on how fast this get closed.
The same could be said about any social experiment, hence it would only be correlation, not direct functional relationship. If most other things stayed equal, such as no increase in police force, no change in penalties for crimes, blah blah blah, then the correlation could be decent enough to say, there may be a relationship between outlawing hand guns and a decrease in ______.

What are we up to, 6 replies already? This could be a new record!

 
We hear the same stories over here. We don't hear or read about the crimes that are stopped because the intended victim DOES have a gun. Hard numbers would be much more useful than anecdotal evidence for the purposes of this discussion.

Has the crime rate dropped since they confiscated your guns? Murder rate dropped? Strong arm robberies? Another thing to consider is the vastness of the landscape.

In America the is still much rural (isolated) countryside. A victim couldn't call the police and expect a response as one might in the city. As an example, I have a friend who lives in the foothills of the Sierras. She lives 10 miles from the nearest 2-lane highway (that alone takes me 10 minutes+ on my FJR). In her "community" the downtown housing area is 2 blocks by 2 blocks. Most, like her, live on spur roads into canyons and draws and are quite spaced out on 2 acre-5 acre and larger parcels (lots of horses and livestock). If she were to call 911 (our emergency number) it could take the Sheriff 20 minutes or more to respond. That's a lot of time in a robbery or rape situation. Let's just say, where she lives, most neighbors are armed....and the bad guys know it. The drug growers are more likely to be confronted by an irate citizen with a rifle and a farm dog than the county Deputy Sheriff.

I have never owned a gun, but I feel better knowing my neighbors can, and do, own guns.

I'd like to see the crime statistics from neighboring communities, where 1 county outlawed guns and another (or surrounding) counties didn't. I wonder if the violent crimes would drop or increase in the"ban" area as compared to the statistics in the non-banarea. It would be telling to see if the crooks and miscreants are mobile and take their profession to the area where citizens are not armed.

 
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Seems to be an interesting subject....surely thats what forums are for?

I suppose it depends on how quick it gets hijacked and turned into something else.

TRY TO STICK TO THE ORIGINAL QUESTION GUYS

 
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I don't feel the need to own a gun, but I still own one. At home I have never felt that without one I would be a victim or would be in some sort of trouble. I do however enjoy target practicing, and I sometimes go camping where critters live.

While I've I've never had to use it to defend myself while camping, I've heard first hand stories from friends who have.

 
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I think I can safely say that I would have one if I could. Just to keep in the house for protection at night.

 
In America the is still much rural (isolated) countryside. A victim couldn't call the police and expect a response as one might in the city. As an example, I have a friend who lives in the foothills of the Sierras. She lives 10 miles from the nearest 2-lane highway (that alone takes me 10 minutes+ on my FJR). In her "community" the downtown housing area is 2 blocks by 2 blocks. Most, like her, live on spur roads into canyons and draws and are quite spaced out on 2 acre-5 acre and larger parcels (lots of horses and livestock). If she were to call 911 (our emergency number) it could take the Sheriff 20 minutes or more to respond. That's a lot of time in a robbery or rape situation. Let's just say, where she lives, most neighbors are armed....and the bad guys know it. The drug growers are more likely to be confronted by an irate citizen with a rifle and a farm dog than the county Deputy Sheriff.
All that runs through my head here is deliverance!

Just kiddin, I would definately wan't a firearm if I was out in the middle of nowhere, especially for critters like wolves, bears, or snakes, oh my...

 
Well.....deliverance, huh.....?? She does have 3 dogs, the smallest being a Border Collie, and a gun safe and a loaded 45 in the headboard of her bed (Hubby, now deceased, had a carry permit and always had one in the sidecase of his Goldwing). The neighbors in an area like that don't need a "Neighborhood Watch" organization, they're REAL, rather than social, neighbors and notice if things are not normal, then they're involved.

I think this is more normal than some people realize. Sure, we have huge metropolitan areas but I'm speaking of "fly over" country and the LD guys can attest that there is a lot of that.

AND THEN, we have some rather "sticky" language to deal with in our most treasured historical/foundational document.

 
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i live out in the country and i am more worried about the 2-legged varmints than the 4-legged kind. i own guns, i use guns, i enjoy guns. i feel a lot safer with a gun than without.

and on 3 different occasions, i have used a gun to prevent criminal behavior

 
Feej-- if you just want a gun for home protection, stick to the shot gun. No need for any other type of gun.

 
I think I would crap myself if I had to point it at someone with the intention of using it. I dont envy anyone who gets into that scenario for whatever reason.I still beleieve that I would own one though. There are lots of illegal guns around and regular shootings.

Feej-- if you just want a gun for home protection, stick to the shot gun. No need for any other type of gun.
Yep you are right, but not as practical as a small automatic that you can keep in the bedside drawer.
 
zzzzip, it was your 'good day to be retired' thread that started me off thinking about this.

I started reading looking forward to a cosy homely story about roaring log fires and snow outside, what did I get? Bruce Willis meets Ethan Hunt!! :huh: ;)

 
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