I say you're wrong. Displaying a firearm and NOT shooting it is meritorious and worthy of praise. You've prevented a disaster and no one died.
You are correct that the object of my affections may take it the wrong way and get all pissy, and I'd certainly take his attitude into account before escalating the conflict to a potential shoot-out.
On the two occasions I've had to display my sidearm, the actors would have to bathe, put down their tire-iron, and wipe the drool from their chins before making a complaint.
In my state, you can't lose your permit simply because you were arrested.
It's interesting that no matter what you say in this discussion, you still enjoy the benefits of the so-called "special relationship" our countries have had since WWII. Your native language is still NOT German, now is it?
You mean like the near zero probability event of having a shooter suddenly open up in a crowd? That is the first near zero probability event, and without that first zero probability event occurring, my zero probability event is of course pegged at zero, but let's run with it - it happens, and other people start shooting, too. Do you honestly believe that everyone is going to stand around to let the concerned citizen get off a clean shot? What if there are a number of armed concerned citizens standing on all sides of the shooter, which is the usual state of affairs in a crowd. Would the concerned citizens communicate wordlessly and decide who had the best shot, hold off and let that guy take the shot? Or would it be everyone take their best shot? Wouldn't the bad guy be trying really hard not to get shot?
Bystanders getting shot is usually a "poor bastard, but look what that crazy guy with the gun did to start the whole thing!" Back seat news, perhaps. Much like friendly fire statistics everywhere else they're footnotes and back page fodder.
We're not talking about one guy pulling a gun to stop a robbery. We're talking about pandemonium in a crowd. People running, ducking, hitting the deck, screaming, and that cool, calm, definitely blue-eyed citizen calmly pulls his gun, waits for a clear shot and picks off the bad guy standing behind his hostage human shield. Could happen. In a movie.
There's a lot of truth in that.
And these were trained professionals, right? So even the pros can miss the mark - but that isn't a surprise.
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You should be viewing this in a more analytical way, Bob. It's more akin to physics and statistics than it is about guns, gun control, terrorists or any of that.
The more people firing, the more misses and the greater the likelihood of people getting hit. Friendly fire on home soil at a shopping mall doesn't make it more palatable. The people standing around when the stuff goes down are not going to calmly look for the exits. Everybody who has ever been shot at unexpectedly has had a massive rush of adrenalin, which does not make for clear thinking and steady hands.
Carrying a gun with you at all times based on the extremely, extremely remote instance that something really bad is going to happen, and that a gun can fix it. That is just another form of delusion. It makes _way_ more sense to know basic first aid and have a defibrillator on hand as those type of occurrences are far more likely to happen. But that doesn't sell in Peoria, does it? Which of the following headlines is going to make it to the front page? Guy with defibrillator saves life Armed citizen kills terrorist at pep rally
Umm, Jim...? Nobody operates on facts all of the time. They only think they do. The standard procedure, of which both you and I and everyone else in this and all other threads is guilty of, is cherry picking data to support their particular belief.
It's well documented that the emotional centers of the brain light up when "discussions" turn to politics and religion. The emotional responses rule.
Keywords: "In my state". One size does not fit all, and the scenario I described was explained to me during my third CCF class by an Internal Affairs Bureau panel member with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department who investigates OIS's. (Officer Involved Shootings) He explained that if one perp lies, and another swears to it, you would lose the gun and permit until you could make a judge agree with your side of said scenario. He said he had seen it happen.
Bottom line, yes, you can defuse some situations by showing a weapon, or even intimating one with your hand. But, you also must admit that there have been situations where doing that has gotten innocent people in trouble.
I monitor Southern Nevada Law Enforcement channels when in Las Vegas, and have for years. You'd be surprised the number of people who call in others for making a gun gesture with their hands. Now, the police do not really look for that individual, but have it on record, and if that person is stopped, it pops out, and then they usually spend some time getting searched.
I like my 17 shot 9mm, for now anyway. I just don't like the bulkiness of a .45. I carry a .380 Keltec at times, and yes, I know, it's a small gun. So small that I can put it in my pocket.
A wimp. This is one who stood by and let nine year old Miss Green die. Your all American hero. Stood there wetting his pants.
But then this runs from top to bottom. USA attacks the undefended. Afraid of the USSR, North Korea, Iran, China. Mind, you did pretty well with Greneda.
It is the irony of it all. We have six people murdered by a loon with a gun. And your justification for owning one, proving that it's necessary is you nearly shot a dog (or two). =================
I will do absolutely anything to protect my kid. That includes using my teeth to rip out another person's trachea, and eating it, hopefully while the offender's children are watching in horror. It is absolutely normal to protect one's young using any means available, and anyone who disagrees with this is seriously maladjusted.
You will attempt to prove me wrong. You will fail.
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Ever thought the owner might then have shot you? Dog owners are slightly mad.
================= Of course. His attempt would've failed.
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I used to work for the local power company and was often confronted with dogs of various temperaments.(Hundreds of times) I could always handle the situation. I never felt the need to own a gun. Just to understand canine behaviour.
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I deal in absolutes. I was prepared to deal with those dogs in the exact same way the police deal with them when they're called to deal with a vicious dog which has just bitten someone. They make a decision very quickly. If the animal cleanup officer(s) can't get there quickly enough, they shoot the dog.
I can say with absolute certainty that if you had been in my situation, you would NOT have been able to deal with these dogs by understanding their behavior.
By the way, you pretended not to notice an issue I mentioned earlier. When I educated the dog owner about what was about to happen, he was able to make his dogs retreat by yelling a one word command. The police found this very interesting. Can you explain WHY the police found this interesting? It caused the police to take the guy's dogs away.
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011 08:49:02 -0800, "Steve B" wrote Re Re: O.T. The sick gun culture.:
You guys are going to laugh at me for this, but I'll tell you anyway. My favorite carry piece is an American Arms PX22 loaded with .22LRs.
It's small, light, has very little power and is not accurate beyond about 10', but that's what I wanted. I figured that any threat that was more than 10' away was not enough of a threat to contemplate pulling on.
I used to carry a .38spl snub nose, but I found it was just too heavy and uncomfortable for me to carry all day; so I found myself carrying less and less often. Then I thought that a small .22 that I had with me was better than a .38spl that I didn't have with me.
They all poke holes if you know how to use them. .22's are particularly nasty because they have high muzzle velocity, and fragment so much. A favorite of mob hit men.
I just read in today's Washington Post that more people in the U.S. have been killed by guns in homicides, suicides, and gun accidents than have been killed in all wars starting with the Revolutionary War. Unfortunately, that number was not broken down by legally owned guns versus illegally owned guns. However, the number is sobering, or should be.
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