1620: The Governments

[picard102]

Originally Posted by s1lentslayer

I'm from Texas and our murder rate is 5.0 per 100k versus 4.5 for New York and 6.4 for NYC. Yay guns!

I'm sure the vastly different population densities have nothing to do with higher instances of crime.

NYC: 1030 square feet per person

Texas: 291652 square feet per person

[Junkenstein]

Love annie, but wheneve ri hear that "i am more awesome cause of my parents treating me like shit", i have the creeps.

people are awesome ontheir own and would be anyway, having asshole parents is not a cause for awesomeness (actually the contrary is more like it)

[Sparrow]

Most everyone I knew growing up kept at least a shotgun in the house. People hunt in these parts and you grow up learning how to handle your weapon, if you got a good Daddy. Hell, the boys kept racks and rifles in their trucks parked at school. No bigs. On the weekends it's common to hear shots ringing through the valleys; about the only time folks use their handguns are to shoot at shit in their yards for fun.

When Sarge came back from Baghdad he kept a loaded handgun next to the bedside. I've slept with it under my pillow. No bigs. He knew thefuck he's doing. If he was good enough for Iraqi diplomats it was good enough for me.

Respect and Control. Responsible use is what I'm saying. I feel totally comfortable around firearms with folks who know how to use 'em. Even Bucktooth Billybob knows to not ever ever ever ever ever point it at nobody.

That being said, do I shoot? Hell no. Having the means to take an actual living breathing life complete with backstory and folks who love them is too much. I don't need that. I know it and I don't have guns. If I get spooked (I absolutely can/do) and mistakenly mace a body, no bigs. I don't want to kill anyone nor do I want to be a victim of my own weapon. I'm not strong. A good size dude could easily disarm me. No thanks.

[Daemonik]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

That being said, do I shoot? Hell no. Having the means to take an actual living breathing life complete with backstory and folks who love them is too much. I don't need that. I know it and I don't have guns. If I get spooked (I absolutely can/do) and mistakenly mace a body, no bigs. I don't want to kill anyone nor do I want to be a victim of my own weapon. I'm not strong. A good size dude could easily disarm me. No thanks.

On the other hand, that good sized dude can get a lot closer before the mace does any good. A round or two in the leg means he's not going to get close enough to disarm you, and frankly I wouldn't let someone's mother getting upset keep me from preventing their kid from doing me harm.

I also have to wonder if you'd get "spooked" if you were certain of being able to defend yourself if the need came up?

[thirteen]

Oh man, laughing out loud at Annie here.
Keith is right about the parenting thing though.

[Sparrow]

If he's far enough away that mace won't do any good, that's probably a distance I'd still be considering whether or not I want to pull the trigger.

I would think about that mother. I would think about their favorite book as a kid. I would think about the last time they laughed with family, their first kiss, and if they watched late night cartoons like I do. Killing a person has a fall out and it would devastate me. I'm not passing judgment on other folks with more wherewithal, but for myself I know it's not something I need to make more possible.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by Daemonik

I also have to wonder if you'd get "spooked" if you were certain of being able to defend yourself if the need came up?

are...are you trying to rape me right now?

[Junkenstein]

sidenote: mariah mccarthy was very anti-tosh on facebook and her blog. kinda saddened me, smehow.

especially how she felt the need of using the "i was raped" argument. cheap move

[pmbailey]

Originally Posted by Daemonik

Trey may know about firearms but his attitude about the dangers of a .22 is the sort of thing that gets people killed. Even a BB gun can kill someone unintentionally. A firearm should always be respected.

Yea, he did underplay the deadly force of a .22cal. I think what he meant though was that there are only a few places in your body that a .22 would kill you. However, they are a gun of choice for hit-men, mainly because they're quiet and if you shoot someone at close range in the head, the bullet has enough power to penetrate the skull (at least a .22LR), but not exit the skull, which means it bounces around inside your head, and it's not much louder than a firecracker.

Originally Posted by Daemonik

Conversely, why don't more women carry firearms if they're so afraid of being a victim all the time? I've heard lots of women say a guy is scary because he's bigger and they're small, but a 9mm is a nice equalizing force if you're small. Yet women get mace, men get handguns.. why is that?

I dunno. My cousin is the exception. She's about 22 years old, she's got a couple 9mm's and a .22cal. She has no problem firing them, enjoying them, and respecting them. But then again she was shooting at a young age like me (around 7 years old). You get that many years of experience with your weapon, there is no fear of it, even for women. I've owned guns for over 30 years (well about 25 years if you don't count my first .22's).

I can't explain my mother's fear of them -- it was her father who taught me to shoot so young.

It's still fun to listen to people that don't know anything about firearms except "violence" talk about them with such authority.

[BrianAlt]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

are...are you trying to rape me right now?

Just his version of foreplay.