General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: New Concealed Carry poll [View all]Bazinga
(331 posts)As much as you want gun-owners to be blood-thirsty, heartless neanderthals, the truth is they just aren't.
CCW is not about property defense, it is aboutself-defense. You know this, and yet you continue to misrepresent those who disagree with you as somehow secretly desiring to kill people over a few dollars. It shouldn't surprise you that "gunners" dig in their heels and refuse to listen to/compromise with you.
A mugging situation has nothing to do with the $5 in my pocket, it has everything to do with the gun or knife in my face. It wouldn't matter if every dime I owned was in my pocket, all that matters is getting home to my family, by any means. Is that unreasonable?
You have a false perception that if using a gun is an option then somehow it is the only option. The truth is the gun is the last option.
Plan A) Situational awareness/avoidance
Plan B) Run
Plan C) Negotiate
Plan D) Comply (by throwing what they demanded in one direction and running in the other)
...
Plan X) Warn
Plan Y) Brandish
Plan ZZZ) Fire to stop the threat
I'm sure even you would agree that lethal force is justified in defense of one's life. After all, we have a right to life, no?
If someone claimed that CCW reduces homicide, I must have missed it. I know you have claimed that CCW somehow increases homicides, which hasn't been substantiated with statistics. In fact, your post #214 was a response to evidence to the contrary. You even attempted to dismiss that evidence with the facetious, non sequitur "evidence" of your own. Feel free to support your claim with evidence, or not. I'm much more concerned with your perception of gun-owners than whether or not either of us is right concerning the correlation of CCW and homicide.
As far as the 508 people killed by CCW permittees in the last 6 years, others have adequately addressed the policy implications of that statistic. I would only add my condolences to their families. Lives ended prematurely are tragic no matter the means. I feel the same for the 20,000+ who take their own lives each year with a gun. Far from dismissing these deaths, we should really do all we can to lift the hands that hang down.