NR-tarded

[Aeson]

I get to pass by guards holding sawed off pump action shotguns and automatic rifles when going to places like the LTO (like DMV), many hardware stores, and most banks outside the malls. This all makes me feel very safe.

[Hauldren Collider]

The many patrols of armed guards in Israel made me feel pretty safe. Just saying.

[DinoDoc]

I get to pass by guards holding sawed off pump action shotguns and automatic rifles when going to places like the LTO (like DMV), many hardware stores, and most banks outside the malls. This all makes me feel very safe.

MILF is a threat in your area?

[Aeson]

No. But you probably knew that and just wanted to talk about MILFs ...

There are some NPA (Communist Rebels) in the immediate vicinity. There's a small military camp just north of where I'm at because of that. I haven't heard of any rebel action happening in this area in the last 4 years though.

The real threats locally are assuming water is potable, mosquitoes, fire ants, malnutrition, and snakes.

[Dauphin]

The many patrols of armed guards in Israel made me feel pretty safe. Just saying.

Would you have felt safer if there were no need for the armed guards in the first place?

[dannubis]

Would you have felt safer if there were no need for the armed guards in the first place?

Now, that is the one million dollar question n'est-ce pas ?

[Aeson]

Mostly it's the type of weapon used that causes me concern.

These are tightly packed streets with even more tightly packed shops. The use of an automatic rifle or shotgun in such situations seems like it's almost sure to end up with innocent bystanders being gunned down. Being one of the innocent bystanders closest to the weapon in question ... not so re-assuring.

It's the same issue as drones being used for domestic law enforcement. At some point the firepower involved makes the law enforcement more dangerous than the criminal threat.

[kentonio]

So facts that don't match your personal biases are stupid?

No, the fact that you expect a direct percentage to percentage comparison is pretty damn stupid. Guns don't cause murderous thoughts, guns simply make it a whole lot easier for murderous thoughts to become reality.

They're in the same ballpark.

Since when is 4 times as much 'in the same ballpark'?

On the other hand there are dozens of countries with murder rates ten times higher than yours, with far fewer guns than us. So clearly guns are less of an issue than a zillion other factors. Violence has more to do with social and economic factors than the availability of firearms.

I've never claimed guns were the main cause of violence, because that would be stupid. Almost as stupid as thinking that a wide and easy availablility of guns doesn't hugely inflate the murder rate.

So if I'm a realist, what are you?

We agree on something, whodathunkit.

[Aeson]

Since when is 4 times as much 'in the same ballpark'?

Scoring on a date is more than 4x better than just getting to first base.

[MRT144]

Would you have felt safer if there were no need for the armed guards in the first place?

[Sava]

The many patrols of armed guards in Israel made me feel pretty safe. Just saying.

Yeah. And also, putting all the Palestinians in ghettos helps too.

[MrFun]

Would you have felt safer if there were no need for the armed guards in the first place?

The best, most thoughtful question asked in this thread so far.

Seriously. We should try to solve problems related to criminal violence so that we won't need to become a paranoid police state.

[Sava]

we won't need to become a paranoid police state.

We don't need to become a paranoid police state. We already are.

[Guynemer]

America is a nation of pussies.

[Felch]

I've never claimed guns were the main cause of violence, because that would be stupid. Almost as stupid as thinking that a wide and easy availablility of guns doesn't hugely inflate the murder rate.

Here's an interesting chart on gun violence by state. According to this calculator, there's a .0113 correlation between a state's murder rate, and it's Brady score. That excludes DC, which would qualify for a 100 score, given that it's laws were so strict they had to be restrained by SCOTUS. If you include DC, then there's a weak positive correlation of .3883. In other words, wide and easy availabilty of guns doesn't hugely inflate the murder rate. Hell, New Hampshire and Vermont have practically no gun laws, and lower murder rates than the UK. Murder isn't caused by guns, it's caused by poverty, ignorance, and general contempt for human life. The most murderous societies on the planet are or were little stone age psychopaths without access to guns.