Private Gun Ownership

[Dr Strangelove]

Getting a handgun is on my list of things to do. perhaps this fall when I get some down time.

Pity you weren't a Hokie year before last. On the first anniversary of the VPI massacre the guy who sold the pistols to the shooter held a public meeting on campus and offered to sell handguns at cost to the students for 24 hours.

[Space05us]

New Mexico?

[SlowwHand]

My brother lived a few years in Las Cruces. He likes it.

[Space05us]

My brother lived a few years in Las Cruces. He likes it.

I've been living in Albuquerque the past few years. I think I would be happier somewhere with a much smaller population, and somewhere with real trees and mountains, where it rains more than once a year, and snows, I miss snow. I would also like not having to check my bed for bugs every night before going to sleep, or my towel before drying off after showering. Black widows are ****ing everywhere here, with the occasional brown recluse.

I would say that the hot latinas make up for all the downsides, but there aren't enough. And every other person here is a landwhale.

[asleepathewheel]

Pity you weren't a Hokie year before last. On the first anniversary of the VPI massacre the guy who sold the pistols to the shooter held a public meeting on campus and offered to sell handguns at cost to the students for 24 hours.

What a bizarre post. Yeah, it is a pity that I wasn't there and therefore not killed/injured in the massacre. Lucky me.

Why do I need a gun? I'm a prosecutor in Texas whose job is to send people away for a long, long time. I also go on the occasional arrest and search warrant run, and quite a number of my witnesses are located in interesting neighborhoods in my city/region. Further, it isn't terribly difficult to track someone down, even in a city of 5.7 million people. I deal primarily with high dollar fraud cases, so my security isn't as threatened as my brethren, which facilitates my procrastination on arming myself.

Is that good enough justification, or do you want prosecutors to be defenseless and just hope for the best that no one they send to prison has an angry family?

[Ben Kenobi]

I understand that the doc doesn't like people who've had their ass shot, but isn't that an occupational hazard of a criminal?

I don't have any sympathy for someone who tries a break and enter and has it foiled by someone weilding a gun who shoots them.

As for me, I don't own a gun, and won't own one, but I know how to use them. I think everybody, whether they own one or not should be trained in their safe operation.

[Docfeelgood]

I understand that the doc doesn't like people who've had their ass shot, but isn't that an occupational hazard of a criminal?

I don't have any sympathy for someone who tries a break and enter and has it foiled by someone weilding a gun who shoots them.

As for me, I don't own a gun, and won't own one, but I know how to use them. I think everybody, whether they own one or not should be trained in their safe operation.

You can just throw the bullets....

[ricketyclik]

In Sydney, a few days ago: "The 66-year-old truck driver was killed by a stray bullet as he drove past a shoot-out in Sydney's south-west on Thursday night, a freak occurrence his family said would have thrilled him if he had seen it on a crime show."

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/driver-too-good-to-die-in-accident/1552520.aspx

[ricketyclik]

My understanding of death by shooting statistics in the US is that the majority are occupants of the house where the gun is kept.

[Dr Strangelove]

What a bizarre post. Yeah, it is a pity that I wasn't there and therefore not killed/injured in the massacre. Lucky me.

Hmmm, I think I made a mistake. I meant to say April before last. I didn't mean that you should have been at Tech for the massacre, I meant that you should have been there for the bargain sidearms.

Why do I need a gun? I'm a prosecutor in Texas whose job is to send people away for a long, long time. I also go on the occasional arrest and search warrant run, and quite a number of my witnesses are located in interesting neighborhoods in my city/region. Further, it isn't terribly difficult to track someone down, even in a city of 5.7 million people. I deal primarily with high dollar fraud cases, so my security isn't as threatened as my brethren, which facilitates my procrastination on arming myself.

Is that good enough justification, or do you want prosecutors to be defenseless and just hope for the best that no one they send to prison has an angry family?

Meh. I carry a little prescription pad around at work with which I can help a dude score thousands of dollars woth of narcotics, and if I write a favorable report to Medicaid, he (or she) can have the taxpayers foot the investment costs. I've been threatened over both many a time. The best deterrent is that cops like to park in our lot and watch traffic.

[Felch]

Meh. I carry a little prescription pad around at work with which I can help a dude score thousands of dollars woth of narcotics, and if I write a favorable report to Medicaid, he (or she) can have the taxpayers foot the investment costs. I've been threatened over both many a time. The best deterrent is that cops like to park in our lot and watch traffic.

Cops aren't everywhere. It's nice that they're watching you though.

A shotgun and game loads are a better home defense than a handgun. You're not going to be murdering anybody, but you will hurt them badly. Plus it's cheaper. A couple hundred bucks for peace of mind.

[DirtyMartini]

Cops aren't everywhere. It's nice that they're watching you though.

A shotgun and game loads are a better home defense than a handgun. You're not going to be murdering anybody, but you will hurt them badly. Plus it's cheaper. A couple hundred bucks for peace of mind.

This is actually a great argument against my least favorite part of the gun issue -- the recent increases in concealed carry. If you really want that gun for protection, home is where you're most likely to need it ,and a 12 gauge pump action full of birdshot is a lot more effective than a 9mm in a shoulder holster. Dudes who insist on exercising their concealed carry "right" are either hoping to get their face on TV as a vigilante hero or they're a giant douche with some political bone to pick.

[KrazyHorse]

If you really want that gun for protection, home is where you're most likely to need it

This is nonsense. I'm far more likely to be mugged/assaulted on the street than I am to be the victim of a home invasion.

[KrazyHorse]

For reference purposes, there are 6 people living at any one time in my building. Over the course of 3 years, 2 people have been the victim of a violent crime on the street. One man was beaten so badly that he spent 3 months in the hospital with brain trauma. A woman was mugged and attempted to run, so the mugger chased her down, picked her up and threw her onto the ground, giving her a black eye, scrapes and bruises etc. In addition, I was the victim of an attempted mugging (turns out the kids chose the wrong vic).

In contrast, there has not been a single home invasion anywhere in my neighbourhood in 3 years.

[KrazyHorse]

I'm rather ambivalent on the issue of concealed carry. I don't know if I've seen a study yet (on the issue of prevented crimes/injuries versus deaths caused by legally permitted concealed carried weapons) to fall strongly on one side or the other of the issue.

I do know that police protection is woefully lacking throughout this city.