Proof That I Am The Classic Bleeding Heart Liberal

[filkertom]

This is a story of heroism -- at least, that's obviously how the TV station is playing it. And it is, no question -- many kudos to Brent Alvarez and Billy Denney, not merely for stopping a crime but for their humility and compassion while doing so. But it's also a story of luck, good and bad

Comments

[alverant]

Desperate people do desperate things. What do you think the gun was worth? Do you think it would have done anything?

[chaotic_nipple]

There's a saying common in NRA circles that goes "A gun will get you through times with no money better than money will get you through times with no gun". Ostensibly it's about hunting and not having to buy food, but I have my suspicions about what they're REALLY thinking.

[catlin]

Considering the average Joe living in town doesn't actually know how to hunt, yeah. That and while there are alot of squirrels in the average backyard, it isn't actually legal to hunt them.

[catlin]

It falls into a trap I have seen a few times. The few items that Can be sold, can't be sold for enough money to help for more then a meal, mabey two. My husband and I are book dragons. We have probably accrued thousands of dollers of books during our marriage. Selling them though is next to impossible. Take a hundred dollers worth of books to the average used book dealer and you MIGHT get ten bucks back for them. Used video games are the same way, and jewelry. Guns have the added difficulty of liscences. The police like to know where guns end up.

[bryanp]

Most states (California being a notable exception) have no "licensing" of any sort. The background check is for purchasing from an FFL. Private sales have no such requirement. And unless you're desperate to sell on short notice, guns tend to retain at least 90% of their value or increase in value.

But this gentleman does live in California, so he'd have to register his private sale with the state.

Quick Fix

[baronet]

Re: 100 out of 100 times, armed robbery is not the best way to raise money.

If he sold his gun, he would have enough money to make it though a week. Do you think that he wasn't able to project a week into the future and despair over what to do then?

I think that 80 out of 100 times, it is an effective, if not socially desirable, way to raise money. The other 20 it is a catastrophic way to raise money. Or maybe the numbers are 50 and 50 or 99 and 1.

Sleeping in a bathroom with your son is a bad way to spend the night. But sometimes that is (or looks like) your best alternative. Just ask Chris Gardner.

I, as a potential mugging victim, have a vested interest in making sure that mugging isn't (and doesn't look like) the best choice for anyone around me.