What are your positions on people having guns inside the home for protection?

I was thinking about this after the murder of Redskins safety Sean Taylor. I would love to get rid of guns altogether and would never live in a house with a gun (thats just my thing). But then I look at this man's situation and wonder what would have happened if he was armed as well, what would have happened. Would he be dead right now, or would he be alive. I mean the easy thing to say is that in a home invasion situation, you call the cops and let them deal with it. But in his situation, apparently the phone lines were cut, so what is he supposed to do?

I'm just wondering what people's opinions are.

Since having a gun in the home is more likely to kill a family member than an intruder.

So people who say they have guns in the home for protection are either lying or misinformed.

Unless there's some extenuating circumstance, such as a ex-lover stalker.

Of wild ex-clients of my wife :)

Even if your factoid were true, that has no relevance to why people have guns in their house.

People have guns so that their chances of being shot go up? Very counter-intuitive.

Yet, it's true, so like I said, people who have guns in their home for "protection" against the nebulous threat of anonymous burglars are either stupid or misinformed.

Some people have guns because they're target shooters.

Some people have guns because they're collectors.

Some people have guns because they're paranoid, racist morons.

For the real fear that one of my wifes clients will not be so pleased with his "deal" and will come over and say hello...

This is not an unreasonable, they have been able to find our unlisted home number, they have threatened her many times and several defense and prosecution attorneys and Public Defenders have been either threatened or attacked over the years here.

I have no children to worry about.

I am not stupid, but by your logic I suppose I am stupid for thinking the way I do.

I am not misinformed, as explained before, this is a real fear in a city where the SO is worthless and dont give a shit about investigated a PUBLIC DEFENDER! Egads!

ever got burglarized?

Nobody ever shot a burglar?

Shooting a family member is a random accident rather than stupidity or drunkeness?

I'll take the gun, you can have your safety. I'll take my chances that I won't shoot myself or a family member.

And you forgot, some people have guns so they won't be hauled off to the re-education camps.

The success of defensive guns uses is not in the number of intruders shot dead annually. Honest people defending themselves against intruders rarely have to shoot. Intruders are usually there to rob or rape, things that are hard to do when your victim is pointing a gun at you while police sirens are approaching.

An intruder sent running by an armed homeowner is just as successful as an attacker bleeding out in the homeowner's living room.

You do need to practice with the weapons you may have to use - but hope you never have the need. Besides, practice is fun.

Just be smart about it and practice personal responsibility. Use a gun lock when not in use, and do not leave loaded. If you have kids get a gun safe.

I have yet to be convinced that the Brown Shirts will never come knocking on our doors in this country.

How anybody can watch this administration for the last 6-1/2 years and not get armed is beyond me.

in the Bill of Rights.

He also had a gun. He's dead.

I don't own a gun, I'm alive.

Curt, but I think the idea is there...

... with a machete. Big mistake.

There is no guarantee that a gun would have saved him, but it definitely wouldn't have hurt.

and legally acquired--> I've got no problem.

They can be used against you or stolen and used in a crime. If you have kids, you have to especially wary. If you tend to get depressed, or drink too much, it can be too much of a temptation if you're in a black mood.

though, don't you, as a competent adult, have the right to decide what risks you are willing to take?

my personal opinion is that there are risks involved. I just hope a person considers those risks when bringing a gun in the house so he or she isn't in denial of what could possibly happen.

certainly be considered, not just in this but in every decision that we make.

We can be killed crossing the street. In fact, I knew an adult male who was. Of course, he was drunk at the time. Deciding to drink heavily, not the street crossing, was the decision that he first made wrongly.

if they use it illegally, lock them up.

the vast majority of gun owners are legal and responsible about it.

I am really a coward and need big guns to protect me......Watch me shake from fear....

Statistics prove it is more likely to get stolen and used on someone else than be used to defend my home.
I have 3 boys, and lots of their friends in and out at all hours. I lock up the liquor, why would I not lock up the gun (which would make it unaccessible in an emergency anyway).
Frankly, I have more faith in the Bitch bar that resides beside my bed. (2ft long Iron pipe). I had one in my car too, back when I bothered to own one (car).

All that aside, I am thinking of picking up a good shotgun if the economy keeps sliding down like this...

I have one of those pipes in my car. I don't even know where I found it---on the ground somewhere, I think---but I've been carrying it with me ever since, just in case.

I think it's ... catchy. :evilgrin:

It's not printable on DU or repeatable in polite company.

If you feel like emailing me with it, go ahead. I like to study language in all forms.

But if you are please don't say I didn't warn you.

is the one WITH the bar, I'm OK with it.

Please be careful and be aware of your state's laws concerning justifiable use of deadly force.

I think there was an episode where someone was being questioned about the iron bar in their car. That made me wonder about the legality of having it with me. But it's not in view, and I don't intend to do anything to have my car searched.

for her to be able to use that pipe, then that meets the laws of deadly force.

... in many states the mere posession of something like that in a vehicle is illegal.

Face it, our laws are written so that if a cop wants to arrest you, he can find a pretext upon which to base an arrest.

e.g. you are a plumber.

... but the cop can decide to arrest you and say "it's up to the judge to decide".

17" long, 1" OD stainless steel pipe with an 1/8th-inch wall thickness. Works on things that need to be broken. Like, say, a stubborn nut.

That that however you may... :evilgrin:

simple as that. people kill people. to advocate taking the guns from homeowners is wrong wrong wrong. I don't have any guns but it I thought there was a chance the gov was coming to get 'em I would buy every one I could get my hands on and arm to the teeth. that ole taking the guns away dog won't hunt around here

Let's buy guns to protect us from the government. Let's see you'll have handguns and rifles and the government has attack helicopters and armored tanks. That should be a fair fight.

read much into things do ya':hi:

While they have high casualties, with 3k+ soldiers dead and civil unrest, I think they're doing a pretty good job all things considered.

I can hunt (if I want to) with a rifle.
I can bear heavy arms (combat rifles, etc.) to fight against a (hypothetical) tyrannical government that takes over the USA.

I don't need a handgun for ANYTHING. AT ALL.

,never mind right, to protect and preserve your personage from attack. A firearm is a great equalizer and in fact I think Colt or one of the other original pistol manufacturers marketed as such. There is no way a 110 pound woman or 140 pound man can protect themselves from some of the large vicious amoral thugs who roam our streets. A firearm gives you a chance, that is all. The police only arrive in time to mop up, remember the recent case in CT where two daughters and a mother were burned to death while the police sat and ruminated? All that said I don't have firearm myself, but I do have a crossbow pistol.

can you spike it with poison or a sleeping agent?

We don't know either way I don't think, but it does happen, a lot. I think if it were harder to get guns, the murderer wouldn't have had one.

I don't think having a gun guarantees someone's safety any more than not having one. One instance, you're killed because you couldn't reach your gun. The next, your gun is used against you. Or it's stolen and used to kill a kid somewhere. More guns means more death. The confiscated guns in the old west because it worked.

Kellerman et al found zero instances of that, although most media summaries of his work miss that point, and the National Crime Victimization Survey didn't find any such incidents either.

Certainly, a gun you aren't competent with, or that is not within quick access, is no better than not having one at all, but criminals en masse taking people's guns and using them against their owners is mostly Hollywood drama. I'm sure it occasionally happens (after all, it occasionally happens to police officers), but the incidence is very low.

Theft prevention is a legitimate concern, though.

I choose not to have them for a couple of reasons. I have a 14 yr old boy and it would be like placing a cookie jar in front of a 3 year old and telling him not to eat the cookies. He has his grandfather and the Sports mens club to teach him about firearms and hunting. The other reason is because after 48 years of life on this earth, I've come to be fairly certain that no one is coming to steal me or my son. Now someone might come after our stuff.. but my stuff is just not that important to kill or be killed over.

Yes, one must be careful with guns, but I have them because if someone with malice comes to my home, I want the chance to protect me and the family. Gun ownership doesn't guarantee anything, but it does give me a fighting chance.

I think people should get some training in defensive use of a firearm.

:hi:

If I recall, he got in trouble some time ago for brandishing a firearm or unlawful discharge of one. IOW, he's no stranger to guns.

As for my position, I have 3 guns of my own for just this reason.

I do wonder if as a result of his probation, if he was allowed to own a gun.

It may be that he copped to a violent misdemeanor that made him prohibited from having a firearm. I really don't know.

Since it was probably cops who shot your dog anyway.

:hide:

who seek out the least resistance (and I think that is most criminals according to the neighborhood watch cop that I heard). If they know a barking dog is in the house, they won't chance it. Worst case would be the dog warning the resident who has a gun and then uses it on the perpetrator.

I grew up with a good watch dog and one of these days I'm going to get another one. I also like locked doors and secure windows. ;-)

Among other reasons...

I don't have the time to look after one (not with my work schedule).

My landlord doesn't permit it (at least I can hide my guns from her).

And last but not least... my parrot would be very upset if I brought a dog into my apartment. :smoke:

more likely to be used to shoot a member of the household than an intruder

more likely to be stolen than used to shoot an intruder

Defensive use of a firearm does not necessarily involve firing it.

Sort of.

..apparently a gun still has some utility while empty.

I think that guns are a good thing when it comes to protecting your family in your home.

They're not talismans, though; they're tools. If you don't take the time to learn how to use it, it won't do you any good (which is equally true of any martial art or defensive tool).

We must remember that people are often foolish creatures, and innocent people will continue to die from gun accidents and so forth. But what can be done about it? Human nature and guns combined ensure this fact to sustain itself.

I have a dog, and finally, I have a gun. If the alarm fails to scare them off, it will damn sure wake up the dog...which I can guarantee they will not like dealing with.

In the highly unlikely event they blow by the alarm and defeat the dog, I will by then, be fully awake and aware. I have a 12 ga pump shotgun loaded with 00 buck. If I check and I know where my wife and daughter are, then anyone else is an intruder and the next sound they her will be me racking a round into the chamber and asking them who they are and what they want.

They will have precious little time to answer or I will dispatch their ass. It is my right to own that gun to protect my home and I am highly proficient with it.

I like your system.

I'm not some nut in a big itchin' hurry to shoot someone, but I won't leave my family helpless at the hands of scumbags. They are too precious to not protect.

your better choice would be 8 shot. 00 buck will go through walls and carry out into streets.

But if you're rural, like me, it's OK. Many folks aren't aware that 00 is as dangerous as a .38 cal. only there's 9 - 12 pellets that size and velocity. Good for well over 100 yds.

are well away from my house, my property is a rural neighborhood type setting where the houses are spread out. From my bedroom, the shot would have to go through 5 walls to get outside, then it would have to pass through a storage shed full of stuff to get to the neighbor's property.

Thanks for posting that though, the effects of firing a weapon in close proximity to one's neighbors is well worth mentioning :hi:

An "L" framed Smith under my pillow, #4 Buck already chambered, and no chatting with intruders. It's just me and my old dog in the house so there is no concern about innocent parties. Between sundown and sunup, the only sound that I will intentionally make is muzzle blasts. And the muzzle blasts will continue until it is clear that the intruder is no longer a threat. Step over the threshold of my home uninvited, particularly during the hours of darkness, expect no mercy because none will be offered.

Regards, Mugu

... with post #s 1, 2, sort of 3, 4, sort of 8, 9, the subject line of 10 :evilgrin:, and 19.

It is and should be a natural right of man. Both my parents and at least two of my grandparents have used firearms effectively in self defense. Yet, I would will still only possess one myself if/when the gov't gets much closer to a tyranny, or if I found myself in the same position as my grandparents (against the Klan) or parents (drug dealers out in the boonies).

I actually did have a feud with some drug dealers here in Chicago. But one of them made the mistake of threatening me, a middle-aged professional white man, in public. So I simply took his boss to the side and pointed out the obvious: when middle-aged, professional, white men get killed after being threatened by a drug dealer in front of witnesses, the drug dealer may as well kiss his ass goodbye.

Don't hate me for recognizing the truth that the system in America is stacked in my favor. I didn't make the rules, but in this one instance, I was perfectly happy to take advantage of them.

And I might've done it.

That's your choice. You have a right to, and you are choosing not to.

I also have a right, and I do choose to.

Circumstances can happen that can make either of our decisions the right one, or the wrong one. Unless you live in a particularly crime-ridden area, the odds are pretty good that you will never have to face down an intruder in your home, and thus will never have cause to regret your decision to not own a gun because, for example, you don't want your kids to find it. And the odds are very good that my son will not accidently shoot himself, and thus will never have cause to regret my decision to own a gun because, for example, I might have to confront an intruder.

Or you can wind up in an ambulance trying to keep the blood inside your body after a thug slices your guts open, and I can wind up being awakened from a deep slumber by an intruder poking me with my own shotgun.

:shrug:

Regarding Sean Taylor, it's difficult to tell with a celebrity. The murderer might have been some mentally-distrubed fan, who would not act the way most intruders do. Intruders don't generally want confrontation (unless they are rapists), they want to loot and scoot. A big burly football player with a long knife would get me out of there! But a celebrity stalker might well be there for irrational reasons and stand his or her ground, or even seek out Taylor to hurt or kill him.

Taylor's wound was not immediately fatal or incapacitation, from what the news says. If he'd had a gun, even if the intruder shot first Taylor might well have taken the intruder down with him, or at least wounded the intruder so he or she would be caught recieving medical treatment.

In a known home invasion situation, you get your family in a room with a door you can lock and barricade, get your guns out (if applicable) and call the cops. Let them deal with it. They have the organization, training, numbers, and equipment to deal with the intruder far more effectively than you do. In this case, I'm sure that Taylor had plenty of cell phones he could have used. If I can afford one, he can afford lots. In this day and age, cutting a phone line is good for disabling the alarm but not so good at cutting off voice communications.

The problem is that the invasion of your home may not be immediately apparent. A funny noise in the kitchen does not bring the same level of alarm as booted feet smashing in the back door or a crowbar punching through a glass window. So you decide to go take a peek just to make sure it wasn't the cat playing with a saltshaker or a kid sneaking a snack.

This is the kind of situation that a good pistol and a good flashlight can really help out in.

gun ownership in rural areas is very different than gun ownership in more populated metropolitan areas.
there must be a way to accommodate both.
I don't have any guns.I'd worry about them being stolen by a burglar and used to shoot some convenience store clerk.

15 years ago before my children were born when I lived way out in the sticks, I felt very differently about guns. I kept them around, read hunting magazines and belonged to a gun club.

I am still the same person.


I like Chris Rock's suggestion of making a bullet cost $5000.00.
Cause if a bullet cost 5 grand there would be no innocent by-standers.
" I'd blow your head off.... if I could afford it"

anyone from breaking into my house. But when she passes on, I will definitely be buying a gun because I am a woman who lives alone.

1. Settle domestic disputes
2. Settle disputes with neighbors
3. Something constructive to do while drunk/stoned
4. Hours of fun for the kids
5. Hours of fun for the neighbors' kids
6. A big help during temper tantrums
7. Chance to be judge, jury, executioner...a big man
8. Almost like having a big penis
9. Big bonanza for gun thieves
10. Surefire way to blow your dough
11. Terrify the meter man
12. Help deal with feelings of guilt, inadequacy, rage, and other honky stuff
13. Fun to fondle...and so BIG
14. "I was totally sure it wasn't loaded, Your Honor."
15. Get yourself killed in a raid, rather than merely arrested
16. You can't always be reading great literature, right?
17. Rare chance to become a murderer, get reborn as a lab animal, etc.
18. "If it's good enough for the American Nazi Party, it's good enough for me!"
19. Angry white men never screw up
20. Such a comfort when depressed.

I wouldn't even allow rifles or bazookas if I had my way.


Actually, I wouldn't want to have a gun in my house, but if people wish to own a gun, then that is their own choice. Even more so if they live out in the middle of nowhere.

toys.

I want nothing whatsoever to do with them, and don't want my children near them.

Now if someone else is well trained and careful enough to feel safe having one of those contraptions in their home, that's their business.

with guns in the home. I have several, myself (family of hunters & cops). If you are mature and have a knowledge about guns and gun safety, there should not be accidents.

As a practical matter, I wouldn't want one, since it's more likely to kill one of the kids by accident. The odds that it will actually end up being used as successful defense are so slim that I'm willing to take the chance. The media makes the odds seem higher than they are. It is like getting on an airplane. True, it may crash, but you take the chance anyway, since it's pretty slim.