Aurel:
I have been in a situation where if I had been armed a life might have been saved. I have carried whenever possible since then as has my husband. No I will not expand as it is a very personal matter and still hurts many years later. Yes a gun does give self confidence, however, it is useless unless you are prepared to use it. Carrying yourself with confidence, and there are some very good courses for women on this, certainly helps aggressors choose another victim, however I believe it is still necessary to have the means to defend yourself at hand. For a small woman like me a handgun is still the most effective method, pepper sprays, whistles, a steakknife, martialarts traing, are all very inferior.
BlueSkyJaunte, thanks for that:) I don't believe such a stupid comment as Slakjaw's merits any kind of serious reply and says more about him than anything else.

oh give me a break i too have been in a situation where a handgun would have taken a life of someone else, geezzz tahnk you for that isabo
you just said it your self. it gives you confidence why the Fcuk do you need a gun to feel powerful over others?? can you say control freak??

on new years eve i duked it out on the sidewalk because this guy told my girl to **** off (yes i was drunk so was he) i thank god he didnt have a gun. if he did i wouldnt be able to instigate this now would i

its not the guns i have a problem with its the people who carry them

my old roommate used to have 12 hand guns and he used to enjoy takeing them out to cleen them while i had company over none of my friends are into guns but he was one of those urban cowboy types had to be a bad ass and (scare) try to impress everyone I kicked his ass out of my house when he wanted to put his sniper rifle on display on my coffy table. plus because i was scared he would shoot my ass some night when i came home late. him and everyone else i have ever met that enjoys "packing heat" is on a big big big POWER trip knowing they can kill me rather than duke it out like a man.

my last post was a joke i see that it cannot be taken for what it is i wonder why.

hey dont you feel enlightened oh wait er ummm

K
.

Clearly you have some issues that you should see a shrink about. Your former roommate seems to have become a love-hate focus.

Well, I'm a 2nd degree black belt in Okinawan karate and currently training in iaido (Japanese swordsmanship). So, yes, I *could* "duke it out" if necessary but my opponent would probably be worse for wear.

A gun is an "equalizer". In today's society you don't know who has what in mind and you don't know what their means of persuasion are until it's too late. A petite lady like Isabo is not going to "duke it out" with a 250 lb. drunkard (like yourself) unless she devotes most of her life to martial arts training or gets in some really lucky hits. Similarly, "you can't karate chop a bullet". If you lived where I live (a highway shootout just occurred 4 miles from my home) you'd probably be shopping for a weapon.

your comments are out of line blue. i do not wish to hear about how you could kick my ass, there are no bragging rights because you have a black belt, and no i do not need to see a shrink.

i do not agree with people "packing heat" for my own reasons and you will never convince me otherwise.

if you came home to see your roommate pointing his sniper rifle out the window towards nextdoor where there are girls changing and you didnt feel sickend because he was A: going to shoot them B: a sick peeper then what does that say so dont talk **** about my feelings for this certan person .

i hope to god that we never meet.

K

Ok...

Aurel, you are right, carrying yourself with confidence is important. But please tell me, why pepper spray is inferior? And here's a tip........don't put yourself in a vulnerable position.

I live in Chicago, I grew up in Gary and I never felt a need to carry a gun. I just make sure I don't walk down dark alleys at night, etc.

I would like to know Aurel, have you ever needed to use your gun? Please tell us your story how your gun saved you.

The fact is guns have greatly contributed to the massive violence that is common in this country. That "shootout" at the mall wouldn't have happened if guns weren't so readily available. A sixteen year old neighbor or the paranoid schizophrenic down the street can get a gun as easily as I can get a gallon of milk. People pull out their guns during road rage incidents.....the "gun" is the answer to them I guess. And yes, slakjaw is right, a man feels more like a "man" when he is so "tough" he has a big gun in his belt.

Look at societies where guns aren't so readily available and you will find crime isn't very common. So really, aren't we just making it worse by carrying them? The evidence seems to point to this direction.

We are becoming more violent because of them. Personally I choose to live a non-violent life (it has gotten me through many years so far....) and to associate with people with a little more class.

I used to carry my SIG P220 in the car a lot, but it just got to be too much of a hassle. VA has a very good CCW program and, to my knowledge, no one here has ever had a permit revoked for misuse of a gun. So all that bs predicting check-out line and road rage shootouts was just a joke. It never happened here and a LOT of folks carry concealed in VA. Why does DC, where all handguns are totally banned, have such a ridiculously high gun homicide rate, while just across the 14th St. Bridge in VA, where you can own and carry anything, it's very safe?

If you don't know how to behave around guns, then by all means, do not carry or even own one. I knew gun safety by the age of five could field-strip and clean my dad's 1911 as soon as I was strong enough to pull the slide back. In a house full of guns and some of them not locked up, we never even came close to having a mishap. How is that? Why didn't those evil guns make me hurt someone? Because we all knew gun safety and there was no greater crime in my parents' household than accidentally muzzle-sweeping someone or not clearing a gun before handling.

You think the cops will protect you? In some rough parts of DC, the cops have surrendered and won't even respond to calls before daylight. Why? Aren't all guns banned in DC? Why does that not work? We have so many law enforcement divisions in this city, you can't count them all on two hands. You can't walk two blocks without seeing Uniformed Secret Service, DC Police, Cap. Hill Police, Metro Police, Fed. Prot. Svc., etc. You think an assailant is going to wait for you to dial 911 and then for the cops to come disarm him? I don't dial 911 and I would never rely on anyone for the personal safety of my loved ones or myself. Don't like guns? Don't own one. Driving is a privilege. Owning a gun is a right.

Slakjaw,
you don't seem to have understood my last post.

"A LIFE WOULD HAVE BEEN SAVED"

I'm sorry I mean Isabo, not Aurel (and yes I'm a 110 lb petite woman as well).

Looks like that's the first statement you've made that we can agree on.

Coolchick,
I think Richard has covered your points except for the pepper spray. Pepper spray won't stop a determined assailant, tell the police to look for a rapist with bloodshot eyes.

There is only one purpose for a handgun...and that is to kill another human being. That's sad.

At least rifles enable you to obtain food.

and Richard, the problem is mental instability in this country largely goes unchecked. Too many people have too many issues. They are the ones who have these guns.

Please Isabo, how do you know this about pepper spray? Have you any personal experiences to back up your need for a gun? Have you shot someone? Did you avoid going to jail? Have you used pepperspray and still were raped?

If anything, Slackjaw, I bet you are more discriminating in your choice of roomates, right? :)

I never said any such thing.


My point was to illustrate that I can defend my self--unarmed if necessary--but I don't willingly handicap myself by refusing to consider alternatives (like a firearm). You are projecting your own hostility into what I've said.

FWIW I have not been in a fight since second grade (!) and have never drawn my weapon other than on the shooting range.

You have deep-seated hostility against anyone who chooses to own a weapon. This is based on your limited experience with a single person (and perhaps his cronies). This hostility oozes from every word you have written so far.

I am not trying to convince you. However owning a weapon is a right (read the Constitution) and you are out-of-line attacking and insulting everyone who chooses to do so.

Clearly this fellow needs help as well. Why did you invite him into your home?

My goodness Blue.....you sure are in a mood to fight with slakjaw....did something he say ring true?

"There is only one purpose for a handgun...and that is to kill another human being. That's sad."

Really? How have I managed own all the handguns all these years and never once even come close to pointing one at someone? I've had countless hours of great fun, target shooting, reloading my own ammo at home, competing in practical shoots and just enjoying that hand-eye coordination that comes with shooting well.

If mental instability is a reason to disarm law-abiding citizens, then that's truly a case of the inmates running the asylum. It's already illegal for anyone with a history of mental illness to even touch a gun. So how is disarming me going to keep us safe from the crazies? If you don't like guns, that's fine. Lots of people have a huge fear of inanimate objects. I don't and I handle them very ably and safely.

Last time I checked, the history of humankind was one of amazing cooperation and love, balanced by an almost equal portion of hate, violence, and greed. Defending yourself from those who embrace the latter is a good thing. Living to perpetuate love and respect for others is the key. THAT, in my opinion is the point of being able to defend yourself.

Talk to a corrections officer sometime, let them tell you stories about some of the people that are in prison, like the guy who chopped up his wife in front of his kids with an axe, then locked them up in the house and burnt it down. I'm not shedding a tear for him, I can assure you. Before you start assuming that he's regretting it and can be reformed, he's put a corrections officer in the hospital and killed another inmate.

As far as I can tell, there will always be a segment of the human population that through innate chemistry and/or social pressures will continue to be disposed to violence. Might as well be able to do something about it.

Jason

Cool, No offense but you appear to be ill informed as to what is required to obtain a firearm. You are also using many inaccurate generalizations.

this may be true concentric......so let's just make it as easy for these people to kill someone in a split second as it is to buy a gallon of milk. Great society we live in....hmmmmm

And richard, you are one of a few. I'm glad you are responsible but there are 100 more who arent. Do you remember what started this thread......???

Hardly. But he sure is fun to bait. Every time he posts in this thread he comes across as, shall we say, less than coherent.

Back up your statement with numbers from unbiased, reputable sources, please.

Do you remember my (and RickM's, and Isabo's, and dd74's....) response to this?

Cool...
I understand what you're getting at here, but you can't remove the danger from life. If I really wanted to kill someone, I seriously doubt they could stop me from getting the job done, regardless of how I chose to do it. Humans are fragile. I could just as easily kill with a stick as I could a gun, should we cut down all the trees? There will always be a weapon of sorts available and always be people with the will to use it to get what they want at the expense of others.

Statisically, I don't think you're very educated about the number of murders vis a vis the number of guns in the US vis a vis the number of violent crimes prevented by armed citizens. The number of guns in America is astounding. The number of violent crimes prevented by armed citizens outnumbers the crimes committed via firearm by a factor of 5 to 1 according to studies by the National Center for Policy Analysis, among others.

With the amount of weapons floating around the world (one of the world's biggest economic markets, if you haven't been paying attention), there will always be weapons available to those who choose to disregard life and the law. Outlawing or restricting guns to people who already have to be law-abiding and austensibly sane doesn't make a lot of sense under these conditions. See D.C., Britain, etc. for some real world examples.

Long live life and love.

Jason