Guest wrote:Macunaima wrote:Guest wrote:Why don’t you own a gun, if you are menaced by guns as much as you claim?
Particularly if they are as available as you say.
Do you just rely on your charm and wit to get yourself out of scraps?
Were you just born stupid, Bill, or did your momma drop you on your head when you were a baby?
I mean, you really have to be some kind of rock fucking dumb to believe that urban violence is some sort of OK Corall fast draw contest. Do you REALLY think armed criminals come at you walking down the middle of the street with a mean look in their eye and a hand on their holster?
So you don’t want to defend yourself? You rely on the cops?
Ok, I guess.
YOU rely on the cops, you just don’t want to admit it. Or rather, neither the cops nor your piece of heavy metal viagra are going to be a good defence against most crime, but your gun actually has a much larger chance of killing you. At least the cops will talk you down from the ceiling after the robber takes it away from you and kicks your fat ass. You rely on the cops because if they weren’t around, you’d actually have to face that “crime” stuff they talk about on Fox News and, believe me, you wouldn’t be “defending yourself”.
If you are like most gunnuts I know, you’ve never been mugged, never had your home broken in to, never fired a shot in anger (the small minority of you who have, have done so on military duty) and never, ever faced down a street thug or a mugger. I have personal experience with all those things except actually firing on another human being. Every time I leave the house, there is a fairly good chance I am going to get mugged. I have been through several assaults and robberies and I know, from long experience, what I am saying when I say packing a gun in a truly dangerous city will more likely get you killed than protect you.
I have a very clear understanding as to what real and tabletop violence are, Bill. You, not so much.
Let me lay it out for you, as your brain has obviously been fried by too many Hollywood movies.
Criminals don’t come after you, one on one, walking down the middle of the street in broad daylight, announcing their presence when you are good and ready for them. They wait until you are distracted and, sooner or later, you WILL be distracted. You have to get on with your life, after all. All they have to do is wait for someone to not be on the ball.
Serious criminals also rarely rob alone. One comes up at you from the front while another or two or even three hit you from behind. Even when it is the rare solitary amateur, he usually has his weapon out and on you before you even realize that you are being mugged.
What are you going to do then, cowboy? Draw?
My neighbor, who DOES own a gun, was jumped by four guys while he got out of his car with his wife and eight year old daughter, coming back from the cinema. The muggers thought he was a cop because he was wearing a Saint George medallion. They were going to kill him right then and there for that. If he’d had a gun, they would have wasted no time in wasting him. Luckily, his daughter started to scream and the entire neighborhood ran to the windows to see what was happening. The muggers then fled.
I have had American gunnuts tell me “Well, if you had a gun, you could’ve shot them when the girl screamed”.
Right. So these “good guys” and “responsible citizen gun owners” seem to think it would be a great idea for me to shoot down into a mass of neighbors and muggers, from my third story window, at night, with a little girl just inches away from the muggers, and high density residential housing all around us on every side.
Yeah. That sounds like it would have a happy ending.
The absolute BEST self defence tactic in facing urban crime is to generate situational awareness at all time. You do that, you don’t need a firearm. When things are really dicey in my neighborhood, I carry a fucking bright tactical flashlight and a small baseball bat type club. If it’s a knife mugger and I am aware of him before he jumps me, I can keep him at bay with the club and flash him in the eyes and run. If he gets the drop on me, which is probable, neither the bat or the light will get me killed.
In short, you blood thirsty Walter Mitty fucks have no idea. You simply don’t have a clue. You are so protected and privileged in your existence that you have the luxury of imagining yourselves to be action movie stars when it comes to urban violence. You should give thanks every day of your lives that the cops do indeed protect you, because you’d be a positive danger to yourself, your loved ones, and your neighbors if you actually had to defend anyone.
Please: DON’T use your gun to defend me, Bill. I have seen how you paint your miniatures and it doesn’t bode well for your aim.
