imported post
EdwardNorton wrote:
Mitochondria wrote:
Now that was funny.
There is no reason to justify guns in Starbucks. I would rather have people throw coffee on each other, than shoot each other. People need to be able to feel at least somewhat safe and comfortable. I live in Jamaica, where the gun violence situation is very extreme, and no one goes outside because of it. That has quite literally diminished the quality of life here substantially.
Many people think that they are invincible because they have guns, and they certainly are not. They are killed and robbed very frequently, and easily. The use of guns as self defense weapons has failed to keep crime under control, mainly because you never have easy access to your gun when you need it most, and if you position it for easy access, then burglars have easy access to it and shoot you with it very easily. They are silent, and sadly, too successful. There is also a huge problem with school shootings due to children taking their parents' guns to school. You can either conceal your gun thoroughly and get killed easily by a criminal, or you can make yourself very vulnerable and make it easily accessible to both you and your children. As you can see, it is a lose-lose situation. Good for criminals, and terrible for innocent citizens. Humans are irresponsible, and cannot be trusted with certain things, especially not things such as guns and alcohol. Those two things are mostly abused, and are not helpful.
Ahh and the blind lead the blind.
First of all I am justified in carrying my legally owned handgun into a Starbucks far more than the idiot that may come in there with criminal intent in mind.
You are blind to several facts my friend. First of all most handguns that criminals obtain are from the streets and not from their parents dresser drawer.
Since you chose to bring up the shootings in the schools how about we address the numerous other places that criminals are killing people. For instance, our churches, our shopping malls, our banks, our fast food business's & just about any other place where the public gathers.
Most criminals are not silent as you and Hollywood tend to present to those that watch. Criminals that break into homes for the most part make noise and in some cases, a lot of noise.
People that own guns know that they are at risk to loss of life, that's why we own them. It's people such as yourself that rely solely on the local law enforcement to arrive on the scene to "save the day". (again a Hollywood scenario, which rarely happens by the way).
I have many friends that live in Jamaica & I've been there several times and let me tell you this much, guns are not the issue or root of the problems there. It's the mentality of some that they must take from others to justify their hate toward anyone and everyone. An old Jamaican phrase concerning how to get even with those that do them harm is "to remove a weed from a garden you do not simply cut it off-you remove it by the root". Meaning that you do not kill the one that offended you but you kill their entire family. That is the problem in your country and has nothing to do with guns.
Moan and groan all that you desire. As for me and my family, we will continue to fight for our right to own and carry our handguns. We will also carry them without the fear that those do not chose to carry a handgun live with. When someone starts shooting at you then duck if you've time or run if you can. I wish you all the best.
The same applies to idiots. I know that criminals are the issue, and guns are making it much easier for criminals to commit crimes, and on top of that they make it easier for them to get away with them, they can shoot from far away and never be caught. Listen, if someone decides to shoot you, you will most likely not have your gun out, loaded, and in your hand to shoot them, so they win, and you lose. Jamaicans have guns, like Americans, and the criminals shoot the living daylights out of them anyway.
I am not for conventional gun control laws, because that is what you seem to think I am for. I know that it isn't enough to only ban guns from public places, but, Starbucks can set up gun detectors, those are making progress, to keep most guns out, unless a VERY clever and extremely skilled person managed to construct one that can get past such a doorway scanner. I don't trust the judgement of your (probably) biased friends that live in Jamaica, who will probably deny that there is a major problem with gun violence. I was born and grew up here, of course I know that gun violence is a huge problem.
On the news. I always hear that people were
shot and killed, I don't usually hear that they were
stabbed and killed. Thousands are killed by guns, yearly, in this tiny little country, guns are definitely a huge part of it. Now, since the gun control situation is so complicated, I would be much happier if guns were actually helping the citizens to stay safe, but they are not. I already explained how futile it is whether or not you have a gun if a criminal decides to shoot you. I don't know if you are picturing one of those "quick draw" situations similar to those in old western movies, but, most situations are not like that. If someone wants to kill you, they can simply wait behind your wall or hedge, and shoot you through the car window when you drive out, and your gun could not have saved you. See how easy that was? That was quite literally effortless!
Here is another example, you are sleeping, and someone wants to kill you. AIM through the bedroom window and POP, you're defeated again. I don't care if you have a giant collection of machine guns, they will still kill you even with a pistol, guns are
significantly better for murder, than they are for self defense, otherwise, I would have one right now. I actually thought about getting one the other day, and realized that it would not make me safe, maybe it could make me safer if I had it loaded and properly positioned in my hand at all times, but, that is not feasible, is it?
I will give you my honest opinion on Starbucks. Without a proper gun scanner, it is a bad idea to ban guns, because the criminals will certainly sneak in with them, and then the law abiding citizens would be unarmed. So it is either a properly planned ban which effectively keeps guns out, or no ban at all. About the fact that I am "blind" about, I never said that criminals get their guns from the parents' drawers, I said that children do. Criminals smuggle guns from various places, but sadly, since it is so easy to get them in the U.S, even criminals outside of the U.S are getting their guns from there, just because of some stubborn hillbillies that want everyone to have guns, even though they are not ready for that.
"We will also carry them without the fear that those do not chose to carry a handgun live with." I'm sorry, that made me laugh. Without the fear? Are you saying that you will carry them without the fear of being effortlessly shot? That won't save you. I am understandably more fearful than some people that own guns, because those people are simply too confident, and as a result of that, are not nearly as cautious. I know them and they get into a lot more trouble with people than I do, and those same gun owners have to wait for the police to come and put them in body bags, or their family. Caution is best. Fearlessness = Stupidity. Fear causes caution, caution is the best lifesaver. Please be logical.
Burglars are usually petty thieves though, and yes, they are quiet. They just want to sneak in, grab some small enough things, and then get out easily, they don't want any trouble, otherwise they would not be sneaking.
I do understand that you want people to have peace of mind, but not in the way that you want it. They still have to be cautious enough. because that is necessary.
A world without guns, is a much safer world with a much better quality of life.
I would like someone to explain why assault rifles are necessary? Those are only for war and giving single criminals the ability to murder many people at once, especially in banks, churches, schools. There will never be a day where tens of thousands of civilians and police officers face off with automatic machine guns. It is paranoid to expect such an extreme situation. Guns are extremely expensive, anyway. Paranoia is not only mentally unhealthy, but it can be uneconomical as well.
Alright, when someone starts shooting at you, I wish you the best, because you will have to duck or run too, unless for some strange reason, your gun is in your hand and loaded.
Who is the blind one now?
