[ Outline ] · Standard · Linear+ Va Tech Shooting

Man this is a fucked up tragedy. 32 people dead and more injured.
What is wrong with people today?

[quote=baby21,Dec 20 2007, 04:48 AM]
If you thought for about two seconds about what I wrote, then maybe you'd realize that the whole process of getting a gun would discourage people. If they were at least somewhat more difficult to obtain, it would take the "appeal" out of it and someone who was going to committ a crime of passion wouldn't be as capable in most circumstances.
Yes, since I so said that I wanted to get robbed, raped or killed. There are other methods of self defence other than carrying a gun around that would be just as effective and less harmful. I feel more threatened by paranoid people such as yourself than anything else. I honestly doubt that you will ever run across an instance where you will need your gun. If you do I doubt that you'll be carrying it and have access to it in time to make any difference.

That's not really my point though.. my point, like Bondi's is that guns just aren't for me. My other point is that if you value your right to own a gun so much, then you should go through all the training, and background checks, and yearly checkups the government can handle to inforce. (sounds like you shouldn't have a problem with this since you've apparently already had training). I really don't see what the big deal is.
<_<

Well, where to start? First off, I can think of many instances where being armed is better than not. I might be driving a moving van into an area that is a high crime area. The truck I'm driving contains literally every single thing a family owns, except maybe a suitcase and the clothes on their backs. If someone were to rob me and get the keys to my truck, that family would lose everything. Insurance would cover MY loss, but not theirs. I do antique shows around the country. There are times when they're are items in the truck worth many, many thousands of dollars. (I need to carry two million dollars of insurance just to be eligible to carry these loads.) Do you think a crook wouldn't love to steal a truck with a that kind of pay-off? There are times when I have to report to the local police station and get an escort into the place where I'm unloading. I need to show them my weapon and carry permit so everyone knows that I'm armed.
And, Bondi is right. I don't always have a weapon on hand. I don't carry when I'm jogging or shooting hoops or just going to the beach or grocery store. America is safe in the sense that people don't need to walk around paranoid, but that is beside the point. I have a responsibility to myself to try never to be a victim of a random crime. It is not my intention to try to persuade others to act as I do. I'd be happy if there were less guns and more restrictive availability. There should be background checks and mandatory training. But, for the government( which, in reality, is just someone bureaucrat) to say that I don't have the right to protect myself, that's where I draw the line. They're not up to the task of protecting every citizen. How many times have you ever heard of a cop PREVENTING a rape or robbery? They always show up on the scene AFTER the damage is done. And, how much comfort is it to the victim's family to hear such platitudes as, " We'll do every thing we can to find the guy" or "We're sorry, we're doing all we can." And, I'm not knocking the cops, they're in an impossible position. It's simply not possible for them to prevent crime. They respond after the crime has been committed. I think that most people who feel "safe", are delusional to a certain extant. They seem to go around with the mindset of "It can't happen to me". But, it can and it does. I know I'm not going to change anyone's mind about guns or gun laws, but not everyone is in the same boat.