Gatchamania.net - Print: So cool!

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Posted by CricketBeautiful on 02-09-2004 at 23:44:

Next question, totally off topic: Would any of those jogging girls know what to do with the handgun, or would it be used against them? Or would having the gun make them feel safe enough to go jogging at four in the morning?

Having never lived in a dangerous area myself, I can't say. Often, what appears to be the right choice to an outsider is often an impossible option for the person in the situation. I just thank God that I've never had to choose.

Totally off-topic, but I'm glad your sister took a course and got some practice before expecting to actually use the thing. I've shot a target pistol a few times, and can only guess how difficult it is to get a real gun to do what you want.

__________________
Between stimulus and response there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

- Viktor E. Frankl

Posted by Elvin Ruler on 03-09-2004 at 03:55:

Yeah, I'm glad she took one too. She actually doesn't have a gun yet, and she plans on taking a refresher before getting one.

I don't know if the girls would know what to do or not. Frankly, they're already being stupid when they go out at night. *Everyone* gets a huge lecture at the beginning of the year about the dangers of jogging alone at night. Even though our police force is the third largest in the district, they can't be everywhere at once. So...basically their feelings of safety can't be trusted.

When I move out onto my own, I'll probably take a course and at least have a handgun in my house/apartment/cardboard box. But basically, here in this town, the options for a girl walking around off campus are (a, walk with a large group of girls, (b, walk with some guys you *trust*, or (c, take a handgun course and carry it with you. The campus also provides a free transportation service.

Personally, handguns don't make me feel safer. If I have one, it will be because I feel I need it for protection. Thus, my safety supposedly lies in a piece of machinery. Also, a handgun does nothing if you aren't actually willing to use it when necessary. If you tell someone to stop or you'll shoot and they come closer, they'll figure out that you can't handle the gun if you spaz out.

It was weird, though. One time (a little off-topic), my aunt and I were talking about this sort of thing (she's only a few years older than me ^_^). She's pro-gun control. But something she said interested me. She told me that she believed in gun control in that only people with clean records and who had taken a required amount of gun courses should have them. She said that, though she's personally against handguns, she feels in reality that if guns are outlawed, then, besides police and military, only outlaws would have guns. So if a criminal, having gotten a hold of a gun illegally attacks you, you can't defend yourself with equal strength. It was a really interesting conversation.

Completely, way off-the-charts, nowhere near the topic, the campus police have TAZERS! Yup! The guy speaking at our dorm (an all-female dorm) said that he hoped that he'd never use it on us (mainly because it'd hurt his pride...having to resort to using it on a girl and all ^_^), but warned us that if we saw the police pull it out, to scatter. A little red dot appears on the target's chest and then BAM! They're flopping on the ground with some serious voltage for about five seconds. It was cool.

Tazers are real! Live long and prosper!

*pops in Revenge of Khan*

__________________
What if there is a spoon? Nerd

Posted by Ashke on 05-09-2004 at 05:31:

Gah! I hate guns. I subscribe to the belief that real canadians carry knives! Especially If I have to go outside at three in the morning. Not like anything serious has ever happened to me yet, but best to be prepaired.

Posted by meridianday on 05-09-2004 at 05:57:

That thing with guns being outlawed so only the outlaws have guns is pretty much the case over here. Outlaws and farmers (farmers and gun club members legally with licenses), anyway. Police only carry guns only certain circumstances. But I'm still glad that guns have to be licensed and so are not owned by the majority of people. It's a bit of a problem that with the war in Bosnia and other conflicts that a lot of guns have been smuggled in illegally, and so far more criminals and tough-guy gang members have them than, say, 15 years ago.

__________________

Mallanox : "My mother was Irish and my father was an alien. I was an only child and I dress funny." Devilstar

Posted by Elvin Ruler on 06-09-2004 at 01:28:

Ashke: Knives aren't such a big deal here in Texas, because even the preppiest cheerleaders carry knives. Schools have more problems with kids illegally carrying knives onto campus and stabbing someone than they do guns. >.< But basically, everyone usually carries some form of the swiss knife or something.

Personally, I'm glad that people who are licensed and checked out can have guns legally and that every policeman carries a handgun. Just a personal preference. The aunt who put my sister through the gun course (different from the one above) says that it's "better to be tried by twelve than be carried by six." Of course, the true reason they chose to do it was because she and her husband own a ranch, and they have problems at times with grizzly bears (or just regular bears) coming down for food. Especially helpful now that the stupid law that, if attacked by a grizzly bear, you had to wait until it actually *hurt* you to shoot it. 0.o That's one law I'd probably break with no qualms whatsoever. ^_^

__________________
What if there is a spoon? Nerd

Posted by CricketBeautiful on 07-09-2004 at 15:39:

If the gun registries worked, I'd be all for them.

I forget the stats, though, but the vast majority of crimes are either with properly registered guns in cases where there is no question of who to blame, or with guns that aren't registered (either imported or stolen).

Likewise, most of the damage done by guns is by people who wouldn't be affected by a gun course -- either not take, or not listen, or no brain to start with.

I'm sorta on the fence for this one. The law enforcement folks have to have ready access to enough firepower to down the baddies, and fast. Yes, investigate later, and definitely do lots of training for alternatives and how to talk someone calmer, but, when it comes right down to it, a foot-wound puts some people into shock, and others continue after chest-wounds. And I'd rather the cop survive. Or the person in front of the bear.

The average civilian?

If they have a gun, they have to know how to use it and care for it and store it.

Whether the average city person should have one? Locally, TG, we don't need them, and having them would only escalate the spiral. But in other places, where the spiral is well on its way up?

And a grizzly hurting you first? If that's the case, having the gun is a mute point. Maybe "hurt me by scaring me and raising my adrenaline to dangerous levels".

__________________
Between stimulus and response there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

- Viktor E. Frankl