I personally do like both sides of the Atlantic.
Anyway, coming over by horse is rather a stupid idea...
I never said anything about coming over by horse. I said you can call your horseback officers (on your side of the pond) and wait for them to come to your rescue, rather than relying on the sure and speedy use of a bullet, if you choose. THAT, as I said before, is a stupid idea.
But serious:
Statistically you will be rather raped by your husband, a relative, a colleague from work or after a date going a little bit wrong. So, statistically, a gun will not help you.
If I have a permit to carry that gun, and I inform the people I date, marry, and am related to of that fact, then STATISTICALLY, my chances of them risking their lives to use power and control over me, and attempt to rape me, suddenly become greatly smaller.
Also, statistically, most burglars want to steal something, so they will in most cases not be interested in you, your children or your life.
Statistically, most burglars ARE just wanting to steal something.. But what they want to steal and why are two more statistics that add to a burglary victims potential mortality, which you obviously do not wish to address. No worries, I will edumacate you.
Leaves kidnapping, which is (correct me) a very rare crime.
Unfortunately, these statistics can be higher or lower depending on your gender, age, looks, and where you live. Being a female, or a teenage runaway (homeless) greatly increases the chances of being kidnapped and flung into some bizarre and horrifying sex trafficking ring, for example. Being attractive also adds to the risk of being abducted. Ever heard a man offer to give a woman a ride home, and end up taking her to his house, or a motel room, against her will? People generally overlook the fact that this is an abduction... But it is illegal, nonetheless, and EXTREMELY common, thanks.
So, statistically, someone coming to your home in order to rob, rape and kidnap your children is more than very unlikely. But, I concede, someone simply trying to steal from you will either run away at sight of your gun or shoot it out with you, when feeling cornered. In the latter case a gun might come handy.
Most criminals are looking for only a few types of things to steal, and no- your DVD player is not one of them. They look in the bathroom medicine cabinet for prescription drugs, and the bedroom dresser for a jewelery box. They want stuff that is easy to pawn or sell on the street, or get a drug fix off of.
So, being caught, they will generally have a knife or grab whatever is nearby, including a lamp or a chair, and, in a state of agonizing pain (from the drug withdrawals that most of these criminals are experiencing), will go into a fit of desperation and do whatever it takes to get that fix.
You are more than welcome to take your chances, and even leave your doors unlocked, because of how "rare" it is for someone to come and try to rob you, but I prefer to play it safe, and keep a gun nearby. =)
But I simply suppose, that having a gun gives you a sense of safety and control.
You can handle anybody coming at you or your loved ones.
Still, personally I believe (and I have made that experience as well) that a burglar being surprised runs away. If surprised by someone with a gun, the situation becomes quickly life-threatening for one or both sides.
In this situation you might be lucky or you might not. Heavily depends upon the situation.
True, it does depend on the situation.. but I feel that without a gun, I would simply be MORE likely to get shot, stabbed, hit, etc, than if I was not armed, and the criminal reacted in a violent way. I will not take chances on this.
So, personally I think that a lot of people buy guns to feel safe and to have control. Nothing wrong with that.
Only problem is, that hopefully never the situation will come, that this is tested.
If you look closely in situations where firearms were used, you will see, that in a lot of cases things went ugly.
The situation you describe is too neat. No shots hit a child running into the line of fire, no inncocent bypasser harmed, no gun fired in anger at a husband/wife/colleage.
I have had my own experiences, and seen a lot, dear, and I think you would be surprised at how many innocent children are almost shot, and how many wives I know that are more than willing to shoot back at their old man. For women, just being the woman is sometimes where things get ugly. In the case of one woman I know, her husband, to whom she was denied a restraining order, countless times, came to her house (with their teenage daughter in the back of the car), got out, and pistol whipped her, and then went to the car, and was shooting at her, from the car. She had no idea her daughter was in the car, and shot back in self defense. She almost killed her own daughter. She was arrested, based on shit, lost her cwp, and spent three months in jail. Her charges were eventually dropped, but her daughter still cant (I guess) shake the notion that she was being shot at personally, and now she lives with grandma and grandpa.
My own husband chased me with a rifle, asshole. Thank God my son was at a neighbors house that night. Women are treated like shit in America. You just don't see it, probably because you are a man, and you don't experience it. I now wish I had just picked up that rifle (that I owned) myself, and kicked his ass out, but I just don't believe in intimidating people using firearms. Oh and that
was a middle class suburb. Real artsy fartsy, too.. And that jackass also got away with it, along with all of his other crimes. And yes- I got lucky, but I was smart. I knew he would only fire if he felt he could get away with it, and I got my ass on the phone, called 911, and pretended the operator had already picked up. That was what saved my life. Thankfully he wasn't on coke that night, or he would have killed me, as soon as he heard me SAY I was calling 911. Cocaine makes people ultra swift, feeling like they are invincible. Any other man would have shot me anyways.. The husband (ex husband, well we are separated, I am still too scared to file for divorce, 7 years later) was a sociopath, but smarter than the average bear.
As said before, I really doubt, that in a nice, middle-class suburb a lot of firefights will happen, although the number of arms will be higher than in a comparable area in Spain, Germany or France. Why ?
Because in most cases a responsible citizen acts responsible.
Does this prevent crime ?
Depending upon the situation.
My ex doesn't have a criminal record. He is not responsible, though..
And in middle class neighborhoods, you would be surprised at how much gun violence there is. Violence is not something that only occurs in the slums, you know. It happens EVERYWHERE.
Most likely someone like above will in general have a smaller risk of being a crime victim than someone living in an area with high unemployment, social tensions and a drug problem.
What if he becomes a crime victim, will a gun help ?
Difficult to say, as stated above, it depends upon the crime and the situation.
Bullshit. You don't know what you are talking about, obviously. Every type of neighborhood has drug problems, sex offenders, unemployment, social tensions, and violence. Look at Tiger fucking Woods, for Christ's Sake! The man is worth a billion dollars, and his wife probably just about wants him dead right about now.. Even in the "safest" places on the planet- Jails, and hospitals, even, full of armed guards- there are still murders, drug use, and violence.
A person's risk of death depends MAINLY on how well prepared they are to defend themselves against that criminal. Period. The situation does not matter at all.. You have to be a good chess player, and anticipate your opponent's move before he makes it.
You need to understand- when you are walking down the street, walking into the grocery store, and screwing around on the cellphone, not paying attention to your surroundings, that is something a criminal will notice, and when they will strike. A woman standing close to the street, waiting for a ride, will be more likely to be attacked, than one standing near the wall, away from the road. A child who is outside by himself is more likely to be the one who is molested. And if you want to talk statistics, do you know that one in five kids in America are molested? It is NOT an uncommon problem, as you like to think. One in three women are raped. Half of all women who are killed, are murdered by an intimate partner, and the majority of all murders, in total, men and women, are by a stranger. Check the DOJ website. There are fact sheets on this stuff.
So, feeling safe and being safe are not necessarily the same thing.
No, but being prepared and aware of the possibility of violence, in ANY type of neighborhood, sure help your chances of survival. And leaving a gun in some storage unit sure isn't the best way to prepare, IMHO.
As I see it, Americans and a lot of others rather mistrust their government and police and therefore feel the need to arm themselves.
Also, being able to defend yourself and the right to own and carry a firearm, is a constitutional right, which is held high.
On my side of the pond people rather feel unsafe when seeing a firearm. Also, in general, the mistrust to our government is not so deep-rooted, that we feel the need to arm ourselves.
It used to be..and for some of ya, it still is- Hence the fact that WE pretty much all hail from that side of the pond.
So, from your perspective we are pussies.
From our perspective you are guncrazy lunatics.
regards
ze germanguy
regards
ze germanguy
Not pussies, just unprepared self made slaves to criminal activity, and your own government. And we aren't lunatics, although I do like the word "guncrazy".
Hope you have a safe night.. I KNOW I will.
