Are you a member of the NRA ?

Boobala said:

You must admit, like it or not, they DO have a pretty powerful lobby in Washington, all (like all the other lobbies) powered by BIG Bucks, and in the past, have had a strong influence on gun-law politics ......

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Fish said:

Now Planned Parenthood, powered by BIG BUCKS, and our tax dollars too!!
So they can buy politicians!!

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bertsmobile1 said:

Well it is.
First off how did you come into contact with an armed criminal ?
Second most civilised police forces send in negotiators to talk armed people down ( using your head ) before they open fire
And lastly you question was very much situation dependent.
If I was in a corner store & confronted with an armed robber then a diverson can of food followed with a direction can of food might just be the right tool at the time , again using your head.
For a car jacker simply jambing on the brake or accelerator can do the trick, but reaching across to the glove box or centre colsole storage to retrieve your gun is likely to get you &/or every one in the vehicle shot as the criminal now has nothing to loose.
I drove cabs many times when work was hard to find and I worked the worst, least safe areas of Sydney, because that was where the most profit was.
Thus I have been threatened with every thing from a razor blade to an ex-police stub nosed 38.
The fact I am here writing this reply shows I managed each & every one of those encounters, some a bit better than others .
Now we all kept out tyre irons next to the seat by the door & I did have to resort to using it on more than one occasion, but pulling a gun on the potential assailant would not have improved my situation in any occurance.
In fact the drivers who did carry ( totally illegal ) ended up injured far many more times , including being shot by their own gun, than any one else. Probably ( suposition of course ) because they thought that the gun would some how protect them.

Then it come to using your head politically.
When are you, Mr Joe public most likely to be confronted by a fire arm brandishing criminal ?
Obvious answer, a property crime.
Why do the criminals steal ?
usually drug related
How do you stop this ?
Decrimalizing the drug trade, same as the booze wars were stopped by ending prohibition.
The FBI did not win by shooting all of the gang members did they ?

Portugal finally worked out that they would be better off legalizing drugs than keeping them illegal and receiving US foreign aid for doing so.
The result was violent property crime went down a whopping 70% ( roughly ) all property crime went down by over 50% and street mugging virtually vanished.
That is how you really use your "head" to keep your family safe.
Drug use initially went up around 30% then dropped and is still dropping as is the crime levels .

Then we could look at proper social security which reduces ( not ends ) the need for property crimes but we are now entering idealistic territory where rational debate is almost as impossible as rational religious debate.

To put the shoe on the other foot.
When , where & how do you propose having a fire arm protects your family ?
I know for a fact it does not work in South Africa , I have relations there and they are forever attending funerals for people accidentially shot.

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graaar51 said:

I was years ago and I still get invitations to come back with a free gift. What's funny is it's the same gift that I got many years ago.

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deriter said:

After reading through this thread, I feel totally blessed to live in this USA. I have the freedom to call 911 and wait for minutes for help to come or I can defend myself and my family as to what or how I choose. This is why I am a member of the NRA because I feel they are our best defender of our 2nd Amendment freedoms. These freedoms to choose to join or not to join are another part of what freedom is about.

I wonder how well the no guns or weapons theory would work on the national level. Would some of the roughneck countries stay within their borders and behave themselves? What if we would get rid of our warplanes, missiles, battleships, etc. Just a thought. Personal defense and country defense. Not a lot of difference only on a bigger scale. IMO

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bertsmobile1 said:

Hard to call 911 when the cranky upset person you just passed thought you dissed him by the way you looked at him so he pulled his Glock out from his pants and put 15 rounds through your head , because the first one missed.
We have police to keep law & order
We have defence forces to protect our countries
All of these people are highly trained, they do not get emotional and go take their frustrations out on innocent bystanders.
They don't go to school and turn other peoples children into low quality dog food because some one teased them about being fat, dumb or stupid
They don't hear messages from God and go into a gay bar and shoot everyone who was in there.
If you and your guns are the only thing that can protect your family then you have to be with them 24/7 gun in hand finger on the trigger, and hope your see the shooter before the shooter see you.
Then be sure that what you thought was a shooter really was a shooter or you will do 20 years and you can not defend your totally defenceless family from the big bad world from inside the can.
Too many people have watched one too many re-runs of Davey Crocket.

As for worldwide dissarmerment, it would be fantastic but highly unlikley.
Take away the defence spending and the government would have enough money to pay you not to work.
SO the people who want to work & get ahead can and the ones who don't wont get in their way.
Most of the weapons never get used except for target practice then get superceeded and replaced with newer more expensive weapons which in turn never get used except for target practice till they again need replacing.
I am 68.
A few of my year became police.
In 1978 they were all armed
Not a one of them has ever drawn their weapon let alone used it other than on the range to be certified.

However if you have been so totally brainwashed that you honestly believe that you and you alone are the only person that can protect your family then you have failed myserably as a father by raising your children to be victims .
If you think the only time any one of them will be threatened will be when you are there and armed then you are dellusional .

But if the only thing that allows you to sleep at night is having enough weapons in your home to wage a small war then go ahead, just pray that a drugged up junkie housebreaker does not break into your home while you are out shopping with your family and greet you at your own door with your own guns.

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