I agree that a lot of gun ownership arguments are bound up in a fantasy of imagined competence. "If I was in Aurora/Columbine/Toronto/Jacksonville/etc with a gun I'd have been able to do something." I'm sorry, but chances that if you had been able to act, and had a sidearm, you would have been far more likely to injure an innocent than incapacitate or kill a heavily armored assailant in a crowd of hundreds of people while avoiding chemical irritants and automatic weapons fire.
It's a story we tell ourselves to take power back in these situations, and I do really feel it does more harm than good.
That said, I can't help but wonder if some transowmen would be alive today if they had been able to shoot back. (Assuming of course, they aren't just convicted of "fighting back while trans" like CeCe McDonald.)
My head says that a weapons ban is part of what this country needs to slowly crawl out the dark ages its so interested in embracing, but my heart says it's feel a lot better with the *cha-chack* of a Mossberg shotgun in my home.
This is probably an artifact from growing up in a gun-heavy area and family.
Sorry I deleted my post; I accidentally replied specifically to you, when I meant to respond to the post overall!
But, I agree; the key in an active shooting situation is to get the fuck out, not stick around and make things more difficult for law enforcement or potentially cause more injuries/deaths. And, sadly, our current poster boy for packin' in self-defense is George Zimmerman. I'm not suggesting that all people would be as racist/ignorant/hot-headed as he is, but he is the example for how taking things into your own hands (or at least thinking you're doing so) is likely to go WAY wrong.
Also, I'm not necessarily for weapons-bans, but specifically assault weapons designed to spray zillions of rounds indiscriminately. We let the ban lapse, and Whooops! Thousand of Mexicans are being killed by guns pouring legally across the border! Whooops! Aurora shooter gets his hand on similar stuff legally. Everyone needs to realize that if his weapon hadn't jammed, so many more rounds could have been sprayed.
but chances that if you had been able to act, and had a sidearm, you would have been far more likely to injure an innocent than incapacitate or kill a heavily armored assailant in a crowd of hundreds of people while avoiding chemical irritants and automatic weapons fire.
Can you cite any reputable source for this, or any instances of a situation where a concealed carry permit holder actually made a situation worse? I keep seeing this bandied about but I know of no instance of this happening, and I watch the news pretty carefully for such things. I do know of several instances where either a concealed carry permit holder or an off duty officer stopped or significantly deterred an active shooter in progress.
Reputable source? For something that didn't happen? No...
I'm basing that on years of firearms training, and a family filled with combat vets. (And no, I am not a combat vet, I have been fired upon but never returned fire.)
What I'm trying to find is a situation that actually happened that can substantiate this claim. I have yet to find one. If we're discussing a hypothetical situation, then odds are strong something similar has happened before and we can take lessons from it. This is akin to the "but somebody will take the gun away from you and use it on you!" argument I hear a lot. Such situations are exceptionally rare, I have heard of exactly one. But I keep hearing people say it will probably happen if they try to use a gun to defend themselves.
It's a story we tell ourselves to take power back in these situations, and I do really feel it does more harm than good.
That said, I can't help but wonder if some transowmen would be alive today if they had been able to shoot back. (Assuming of course, they aren't just convicted of "fighting back while trans" like CeCe McDonald.)
My head says that a weapons ban is part of what this country needs to slowly crawl out the dark ages its so interested in embracing, but my heart says it's feel a lot better with the *cha-chack* of a Mossberg shotgun in my home.
This is probably an artifact from growing up in a gun-heavy area and family.
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But, I agree; the key in an active shooting situation is to get the fuck out, not stick around and make things more difficult for law enforcement or potentially cause more injuries/deaths. And, sadly, our current poster boy for packin' in self-defense is George Zimmerman. I'm not suggesting that all people would be as racist/ignorant/hot-headed as he is, but he is the example for how taking things into your own hands (or at least thinking you're doing so) is likely to go WAY wrong.
Also, I'm not necessarily for weapons-bans, but specifically assault weapons designed to spray zillions of rounds indiscriminately. We let the ban lapse, and Whooops! Thousand of Mexicans are being killed by guns pouring legally across the border! Whooops! Aurora shooter gets his hand on similar stuff legally. Everyone needs to realize that if his weapon hadn't jammed, so many more rounds could have been sprayed.
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Can you cite any reputable source for this, or any instances of a situation where a concealed carry permit holder actually made a situation worse? I keep seeing this bandied about but I know of no instance of this happening, and I watch the news pretty carefully for such things. I do know of several instances where either a concealed carry permit holder or an off duty officer stopped or significantly deterred an active shooter in progress.
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I'm basing that on years of firearms training, and a family filled with combat vets. (And no, I am not a combat vet, I have been fired upon but never returned fire.)
Ignore that as you will.
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