Guns or not Guns

[dazzerfong]

You would be absolutely amazed at how quickly I can pull my pistol, and fire off three or four rounds.

 

Have you actually been jumped before?

When I carried an M-16, there was always a round in the chamber. Quick flick of the thumb, and I am ready to rock and roll,

 

It's in your hands. Of course it would be quick to flick the safety.

Edited January 26, 2012 by dazzerfong

[HeyYou]

You would be absolutely amazed at how quickly I can pull my pistol, and fire off three or four rounds.

 

Have you actually been jumped before?

When I carried an M-16, there was always a round in the chamber. Quick flick of the thumb, and I am ready to rock and roll,

 

It's in your hands. Of course it would be quick to flick the safety.

 

In the military. But, at that time, I had my M-16 in my hands, at the ready. (I knew I was likely to need it at the time.)

 

In my home, it's gonna be REAL difficult to 'jump' me. I have kids, and a dog...... the dog is FAR more alert than I am, and sometimes I think more paranoid too....... :D You simply CANNOT get into my house without someone taking notice. (which is where the whole argument is coming from. Defending your home.)

[Shantih]

 

We don't play baseball in Europe, in fact anyone carrying a baseball bat on this side of the Atlantic is probably up to no good.

 

You do play Rounders..same bat.

 

 

Nope. Sorry to disappoint you but apart from Brits I don't think many (if any) Europeans play these games (including cricket). If I see someone with a bat in continental Europe my first reaction will be to assume that they're up to no good.

 

Back on topic I see a lot of talk about "defending your home" and I have to confess that I don't know about the situation in the US but is it so serious that you really feel the need to have a deadly weapon to ensure your safety? Have you ever been attacked in your home?

 

From where I'm typing it sounds a bit crazy to even picture such a situation. Don't get me wrong the fact that I don't have a gun doesn't mean that I can't or won't defend myself if I have to. I still have my father's rubber truncheon but I don't think I will ever have to use it. I understand this may be different in the US but I would personally hate living in constant fear of someone breaking into my home to attack my family. That's kinda sad really.

[Syco21]

Obviously you have not read the posts by the two vets. Both have stated that they feel safe and are comfortable leaving their doors unlocked. Owning a firearm for self defense is not about fear. It's about realizing that something can happen and being prepared for it.

 

Knowing bad things can happen and being prepared for it if something does happen is not the same as constantly fearing that it will happen. Should I not wear a seat belt whilst I drive because I do not constantly fear that I am going to have a wreck?

[dazzerfong]

It's fair enough, I grew up in Australia where conceal-carry on the body is strictly forbidden except in farmlands or deserted areas. Hell, when I place my rifle in the car, I have to get a separate trailer just to store the rifle, leave the bolt in the glove box and the ammunition on the boot. That's how paranoid it is over here in Australia, it's not unfounded (Port Arthur isn't exactly our favorite place now), hence why I can't exactly comprehend the idea of actually carrying a pistol on your body 24/7.

It's about realizing that something can happen and being prepared for it.

 

So, in that, why do some people 'need' to own several GPMG's at home? I don't see the reason why...............

 

When I mean 'jumped', I don't mean the house, Aurelius. I mean on the street or outdoors.

Edited January 27, 2012 by dazzerfong

[marharth]

Aurelius, calm down. No-one's accusing anyone of anything, we're just implicating the 'lose-lose' scenarios of self-defense. Though, in my opinion, if you load an entire magazine on someone, that's overkill. One or two, even three is called being 'safe'.

 

Though, if you really think that you could whip out a gun every time someone jumps you, I will pay you $400 up-front. I'm not kidding. I highly doubt one's reflexes are that quick anyway to begin with.

I am pretty sure that if someone is charging at you with a knife you won't have enough time to get draw and get your gun ready anyways. I don't even think reflexes matter here. Unless you walk around with a fully loaded gun with the safety off at all times you won't have much luck.

 

You would be absolutely amazed at how quickly I can pull my pistol, and fire off three or four rounds. When I carried an M-16, there was always a round in the chamber. Quick flick of the thumb, and I am ready to rock and roll, if I can't bring it around in time, it also works as a 7.5 pound club. Unless said knife wielder is coming at me with a sword, I have better reach. Thump him upside the head once, and then he will be staring down the barrel of my gun. Do something stupid, and the last thing he will see is a muzzle flash.

 

Also, if someone is coming at me with a knife, it's not like I am gonna just stand there, and wait for him...... I am not rooted to the spot.

Well you do need to realize how many people are not actually military trained and would have a huge shock effect before being able to do anything.

 

I guess it changes quite a bit if you are military trained, but most people wouldn't be able to deal with these kinds of situations as easily.

[Syco21]

It's fair enough, I grew up in Australia where conceal-carry on the body is strictly forbidden except in farmlands or deserted areas. Hell, when I place my rifle in the car, I have to get a separate trailer just to store the rifle, leave the bolt in the glove box and the ammunition on the boot. That's how paranoid it is over here in Australia, it's not unfounded (Port Arthur isn't exactly our favorite place now), hence why I can't exactly comprehend the idea of actually carrying a pistol on your body 24/7.

It's about realizing that something can happen and being prepared for it.

 

So, in that, why do some people 'need' to own several GPMG's at home? I don't see the reason why...............

 

When I mean 'jumped', I don't mean the house, Aurelius. I mean on the street or outdoors.

It's amusing. You talk about us being paranoid for owning firearms, but then go on to say the people in your home country are overly paranoid of firearms. It is unfounded. Port Arthur is an example of why you should carry. There have been a number of mass killings that were stopped due to armed citizens. You don't hear about them, either because the shooting spree was ended quickly, or simply by the fact that shooting sprees are rare in general as it is. So it doesn't happen very often. When one is brought up to support an argument in a gun debate, it is usually by an anti. As such, they may bring up Pearl High School as a reason citizens shouldn't own guns. But they'll fail to mention the rest of the story and for obvious reasons.

 

 

Edit: To answer your question. Gun ownership isn't all about being prepared for the worst. It's also a hobby. There are also those that like to prepare for disaster scenarios, like Katrina, or the recent Bastrop Wild Fires which saw looters raiding many homes. Then there are also just plain riots to think about. There are those that believe that as the economies crumble, civil unrest will increase and the dangers become far greater. I'm not saying they're right, but I'm not going to say they're wrong either.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Syco21

[RZ1029]

You would be absolutely amazed at how quickly I can pull my pistol, and fire off three or four rounds.

 

Have you actually been jumped before?

When I carried an M-16, there was always a round in the chamber. Quick flick of the thumb, and I am ready to rock and roll,

 

It's in your hands. Of course it would be quick to flick the safety.

I have been jumped before, when I was a white guy on the wrong side of Atlanta too late at night. I can draw and empty my magazine, clip, whatever you want to call it, in under four seconds. Not amazing, but not bad, either. That's 13 rounds, center of mass, mostly kill shots. In the instance of Atlanta, I shot the man who tried to jump me at least once, maybe twice, out of the three shots I got off before he turned tail and ran.

[dazzerfong]

Four seconds: in that time, someone could already gut you unless he was gutless himself.

 

@ Syco:

 

Sure, normal untrained civilians could let alone carry a gun and not wet themselves in time to pull out their pistols and try to shoot the guy who has an AR-10. I'm not saying it could not have prevented it, but the other potential consequences are much worse.

 

I never said anything about paranoia on owning firearms (I own several myself), but the fact that you carry them around like wallets. Stop putting words in my mouth, it's getting very annoying.

There have been a number of mass killings that were stopped due to armed citizens.

 

Proof, or you're lying.

 

And yes, I am aware that gun ownership is a hobby: I have a R93 even though it's nothing in terms of grouping compared to my Model 44. However, when you own a GPMG, shouldn't you know, well, disable the gun first?

Edited January 27, 2012 by dazzerfong

[Syco21]

I haven't been jumped personally. But I have witnessed attacks before. I once had to jump a man with a knife to protect a friend. It's a long story. The short of it is, I was in college, so no gun. The man had his back turned to me while trying to break down a door to get to my friend. So I jumped on his back and did my best to wrestle him to the ground. I was about 3 times his size, maybe more so. And it still took 3-4 men to hold him down. We were the biggest, strongest men on campus. But none of that matters when the attacker is in such a blind rage. Fortunately no one was injured, but it wouldn't have taken much for things to have been different. It definitely would have been a whole lot worse if he was high.

 

This attack went on for a long time before we stopped it. I don't know how long, but I know that he had ran through the dorms and busted up a door long before it reached the cafeteria where I was. I know this because before I went to the cafeteria, I was in my dorm and saw the busted door and wondered what had happened.