Guns

fun2come's Avatar
endurance's Avatar
While our government is busy passing things like the NDAA, allowing police brutality and overreach, ignoring laws for the rich, and increasingly intruding on our privacy. While all our useless leaders aren't fulfilling their oath to defend the constitution and instead trashing it. Weakening the 2nd amendment is a nonstarter. These are exactly the times it is most important.

A lot of left types I still keep tabs on in San Diego, the occupy san diego people, were very anti-gun in the beginning. Guess what? After seeing their freedom of speech squashed, had laws selectively applied against them, been assaulted by police and the the full powers of the establishment crush their movement they understand the value of the 2nd amendment - you can see it on their websites now.

The lockdown we had in Lake Travis yesterday was handled well. Don't live in fear, just be as prepared as possible, do the best you can and don't let anyone force you to be helpless.
shank00's Avatar
This is a very complex and emotional subject with no clear answer. People like fun2come use misleading facts to prove their point. 2/3 of gun deaths in the US are suicides and not murders. Fact is gun laws, in general, like other similar laws do NOT have the intended outcome. For example, prohibition did not stop drinking. Also, clearly laws preventing two consenting adults from exchanging sex for $$ has totally stopped that industry (yup, right). Such laws only make criminals out of what is other wise law abiding citizens and does nothing to solve the root problem. Both political parties are only interested in their only self interest and re-election. Just my $0.02.
flower123's Avatar
This is a big problem.
It must be raised from all human.
SpeedRacerXXX's Avatar
My wife at one time did not want any guns in the house. That was until one night a meth head jumped our privacy fence at o'dark hundred with intentions of breaking into our home. He thought better of it when he saw my large dog. He then proceeded to jump the fence into my neighbors yard and broke into their home. My neighbor came downstairs and found the guy in the kitchen trying to start a fire in his house. He bolted upstairs and called the police. The Police found the man a couple streets down hiding on someones roof. This occurred in Williamson county home of the notoriously large and aggressive police force not a ghetto. So regardless of where you live there is always a chance violence can come knocking at your door.
I am thankful to this day that my home was not invaded. The experience of seeing a dead body riddled with .40 Winchester Ranger JHP from the one gun I did have in the house would have been traumatic for my girls who were early and per-teen ages at the time.
Today as has always been the case I sleep with my S&W M&P .40 next to my head. Because of that experience my wife also has a 12 gauge within easy reach from her sleeping position. She will obtain a CHL in March and carry a Walther .380. My oldest girl is now a freshman in college and like many girls her age is oblivious to her surroundings. I have taught her that if any suspicious looking person approaches her car to simple take the large bowie knife out from under her seat and place it in clear sight on her dash. So far people have kept walking as folks pray on easy targets.
The point of sharing my experience is to convey that regardless of your social/economical status trouble can reach out and touch you. I respect others wishes not to arm themselves but with all the violent crime, rape, child molestation, etc occurring I choose to mitigate some risk by arming myself and family. Originally Posted by northaustincouple74
Unfortunately a criminal looking to break into a house does not know if the owners are waiting gun in hand for him. Guns MAY protect you in case of a random home invasion.

Want to know the 3 much more proven effective ways to keep someone from illegally entering your home?

1. Find/buy a sign saying your home is protected by the "xyz" home protection agency. The bad guys won't take the chance and will move on.
2. Better yet, have a security system wired so that an alarm will sound if someone tries to break into your home. The noise will send the bad guys running.
3. Still better yet, have the security system monitored. If someone breaks in and sets off the alarm, the security company will call you within 1 minute. Unless you respond with the correct password, the police will be notified and they will be at your door usually within minutes.

Your call obviously and I certainly won't try to convince you otherwise.
SpeedRacerXXX's Avatar
I believe the Swiss have one of the lowest violent crime rates in the world. Could that be partially contributed to the fact that every adult male is issued an assault rifle? Most criminals are looking for easy targets. It stands to reason that with an increase in armed citizens it would give pause to some of these criminal activities. The alternative certainly hasn’t helped. Originally Posted by northaustincouple74
And the country with the lowest gun death rate per 100,000 population in the world? Japan, which has probably the most strict gun laws in the world.

IMHO opinion, the violent crime rate has little correlation to the number of guns on the street. It has everything to do with the culture of people in the country. The U.S. is a violent country. Of course, once a person has decided to break the law, having a gun makes it easier.
There has not been one verified case of an armed Good Samaritan stopping a shooter. Originally Posted by unagi
There's a reason for that.

The shooters aren't stupid. They do their shooting sprees in gun-free zones, like schools.

The people who would otherwise be "armed Good Samaritans" respect and obey the law, which means they're disarmed in the gun-free zones just like all the rest of the sheeple.

And, if you go WAY back in history, it was covering fire from armed Good Samaritans that make Charles Whitman keep his head down and hold his fire while the police were going up the UT tower elevators. Without that covering fire, Whitman would have been shooting more people.
SpeedRacerXXX's Avatar
This is a very complex and emotional subject with no clear answer. People like fun2come use misleading facts to prove their point. 2/3 of gun deaths in the US are suicides and not murders. Fact is gun laws, in general, like other similar laws do NOT have the intended outcome. For example, prohibition did not stop drinking. Also, clearly laws preventing two consenting adults from exchanging sex for $$ has totally stopped that industry (yup, right). Such laws only make criminals out of what is other wise law abiding citizens and does nothing to solve the root problem. Both political parties are only interested in their only self interest and re-election. Just my $0.02. Originally Posted by shank00

According to the CDC, homicides in the U.S. from guns were 11,078 in 2010. Homicides do not include suicides or accidental deaths. So the statistics from fun2come seem accurate.
budman33's Avatar
assault rifles have no purpose except the delusionary argument that we can use them to take back the country if necessary. 25-100 round clips also serve no purpose.

For home defense a shotgun or a pistol of certain calibers is best. otherwise you risk shooting outside your home and killing lots of innocents.

Ak47's are not very good hunting rifles. Neither are AR-15's. And if you cant hit something in under 10 shots, then you shouldn't own a gun, some police officers included.

Let common sense prevail not the NRA.
shank00's Avatar
Speedracerxxx, according to OAS 3,600 gun deaths during homicides 6,200 by suicide with remaining accidental deaths, etc. The 11,000 figure is total gun deaths. My point is that the problem is societal.
SpeedRacerXXX's Avatar
Speedracerxxx, according to OAS 3,600 gun deaths during homicides 6,200 by suicide with remaining accidental deaths, etc. The 11,000 figure is total gun deaths. My point is that the problem is societal. Originally Posted by shank00
CDC data disagrees with the OAS data.

Suicide by firearms: 19,392
Homicide by firearms: 11,078
Injury by firearms: 31,672
Deaths due to accidental discharge of firarms: 606

No matter which numbers are correct, the U.S. has many more deaths by homicide than any other country with similar demographics.

But I agree with you totally -- the problem is societal. People in the U.S. think less of killing others than people in other countries.

What should catch the eye of people who have guns in their homes -- 31,672 injuries by firearms and 606 deaths from accidental discharge of firearms.

I have weighed the possibility of a home invasion and being the victim of a violent crime versus the danger of having a firearm in my home and I just can't justify having a gun in my home.
Those statistics are certainly things to keep in mind and consider Speed. I would think 606 accidental deaths a year though would be a pretty small percentage. With that said no one would want it to happen to an loved one in their family. I do think some simple measures can be taken to mitigate that risk as well though.

You also offered up some good advise about displaying security signs in the yard. As luck would have it I had one in my yard at the time the home invader paid a visit. Of course the sign was in my front yard and the meth head jumped the 6 foot privacy fence in the back yard so he did not see it. Plus he was too high to read I would imagine.

Here is my concern with relying completely on a home security monitoring service like ADT/Ranger America, etc....how long does it take for a police officer to arrive once a break in occurs? I think you said the service waits 1 minute then notifies the police. Then you have what a 3 minute window before an officer arrives if your lucky? So that is 4 minutes that a potentially armed man with malice in his heart has to send bullets downrange at you before he begins to rape and kill any wife/kids in the house. Oh and the gun being used probably would not have been purchased legally so all the legislation in the world would not prevent that person from obtaining it.

While we are on the subject of police response I'm sure most heard about the hostage situation at the Nordstrums store. The standoff lasted for 4 hours with one victim being stabbed in the neck and another raped. At the end of the day the perpetrators escaped and evaded capture. So even given a 4 hour lead time the police /SWAT were to inept to secure a perimeter. That's not the kind of folks I want to trust my families safety with.

The good news is that the odds are with you in that you will never be victim of a home invasion. I don’t know that I could look at myself in the mirror each day If I was though and failed to protect my wife, daughters and special needs son.

Other the home invasion I worry about my wife and daughters being raped. As someone who has seen first hand how much a rape can devastate a young lady I harp on situational awareness with my daughters and fully intend to do all I can to make sure they never have to experience it. Sadly its become a wide spread epidemic in our society.

Furthermore a search of registered sex offenders would likely surprise many people with how many live in close proximity to them. I recently moved from my home in Williamson county to a more economically depressed part of town where I had a rent house that now is my full-time home so that I would leave my career and devote my time to being a full time care giver to a special needs child. Sadly on my street alone there are 3 registered sex offenders, one being a red dot offender with a history of three separate child molestations.

As I said in a previous post gun ownership is a personal choice we must all make on our own. All I ask is that I'm not limited by ineffective laws from making legal purchases aimed at protecting my self and family.
For you people whining about high capacity mags , a SKS uses 10 round stripper clips , and takes approx 5 seconds to load . What's to stop you from wearing a fanny pack , and carrying 10 stripper clips with ammo on . Or hey , you like semi auto hand guns , 10 clips x 5 seconds to load = Good Fucking Luck .
SpeedRacerXXX's Avatar
As I said in a previous post gun ownership is a personal choice we must all make on our own. All I ask is that I'm not limited by ineffective laws from making legal purchases aimed at protecting my self and family. Originally Posted by northaustincouple74
I fully agree with all your comments. Well said. What many gun rights advocates believe is that if they give an inch on gun control, the government will take a mile. I just don't believe that at all.
unagi's Avatar
  • unagi
  • 01-18-2013, 12:50 PM
Eeeeew using motherjones as a source - very bad!

China man attacks 22 kids with knife
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...icle-1.1220230

San Antonio Movie Theater shooting stopped with gun
http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews...dia-ignoredJan

The 2nd amendment was added to protect us from our gov't which is why the American Revolution was fought. If our forefathers did not own guns for the purpose of fighting off the British we would be a totally different country. Originally Posted by dante0322
You quote shotgunnews.com and complain about Mother Jones? Name one thing wrong in that article.

Yes, 22 kids attacked, none dead.

The shooter in the SA theater was shot by an off duty police officer working as a security guard in the theater. Someone trained for that situation.

If you really want to follow the Second Amendment, as the founders intended, you should join a well regulated militia. The Texas National Guard would count, I think. The Second Amendment was passed so that slave states would have enough armed men around to quell slave insurrections.