RubberMallet wrote:RagingTireFire wrote:RubberMallet wrote:my general feeling on concealed weapons permits is that 95% of people presented with a situation to actually use their concealed weapon would completely screw it up and injure others/themselves before anything good happens...
I'm trying to imagine a situation in which you would need to use a weapon where anything good could happen at all. In my experience, there aren't going to be a lot of crises that culminate in a barn dance breaking out.
Having a weapon isn't about prevention, it's about minimizing the damage.
you get held up at gunpoint...instead of handing the guy your purse, you whip out pistol and he puts a bullet in your head...i guess i shouldn't of used the word good and instead said, make a bad situation worse...
when all is said and done you are more likely to crap your pants then pull out your pistol and shoot someone.....sure its nice to think you would but until you are put in the situation (ESPECIALLY IF ALL YOUVE DONE IS RANGE SHOOTING) you have no idea what its like or how you'll react...
police officers who train probably 10x as much per year on armed confrontations still screw up these kind of situations occasionally....whta chances do a soccer mom or anyone else who doesn't deal with it everyday have at turnign a any kind of situatiion into a better one by carrying...
actually, there's no guarantee he isnt going to put a bullet in your head anyways... and yes, i would rather take my chances with my own gun than to leave it up to the 'kindness and generosity' of an armed criminal...
and bringing police officers into this isn't really relevant. many police officers cannot walk and chew gum at the same time, and many times the only time they EVER fire their weapon is during qualifications once or twice a year. (i have friends in LEO that practice a lot, but they are NOT the norm...) that being said, many private citizens are MUCH better shots than regular law enforcement.
further, there is a lot of evidence to show that firearms in the hands of private citizens prevent roughly 2 MILLION crimes every year. (often without having a single shot fired...)
it is my personal experience that the people who complain the loudest against private citizens owning and carrying weapons to protect themselves, also complain the loudest when the police 'fail' to protect them from crimes. however, the Supreme Court has already ruled that the job of law enforcement is not to prevent crimes, but rather to respond to crimes AFTER they have occurred. That being the case, the job of crime prevention and personal protection is up to us and i encourage every law abiding citizen to carry a firearm in accordance with state law and local regulations.
further, i've found that those who belittle the rights and abilities of their fellow citizens (for example over their ability to shoot properly and carry a weapon, etc...) often have an elitist POV with little awareness of the reality of that particular situation.
An armed society is a polite society. And some day someone's life might be saved by that neighbor (that they thought was incompetent for carrying a gun) because that neighbor had a gun for personal protection and crime prevention and the person in trouble didnt.
Personally, I would like to see gun safety classes taught in HS just the same as drivers education classes. Ironically, gun ownership is a right, not a privilege, where as driving is a privilege, not a right. However, cars do little to secure a safe environment and society for their owners.
In a day in age when criminals (increasingly teenagers - and young teenagers at that) become more and more violent and bold, it is up to the citizens to protect themselves and the best way to do that is to carry a firearm.
"The mat is my ocean. I'm a shark. Most people don't even know how to swim.... And your kung-fu floaties are no good here..."
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