First, I would like to thank Edger from Opposing Views for commenting.I looked over the debate there about guns, and if they make you safer or not. Vetted experts from both sides of this debate had free reign, and the discussion looks lively.
I may, or may not be considered an expert on this subject. My background is one that includes actually using a firearm to defend myself and others. As opposed to so many that talk about having frightened off an assailant with a firearm. I also spent more than twenty years in a major metropolitan area working as a Paramedic. That gave me a front row seat in the gun play scenario. Over the years I learned a few things from that experience. I also developed some pretty strong opinions after seeing things that happened to friends.
- I never once saw an instance where a person had his or her firearm taken from them and then used against them. This is an urban myth that the hopolophobes continue to toss around that has little if any basis in fact. Think otherwise? Fine, show us the numbers…
- I have known five women that were raped and had been denied the ability to effectively defend themselves. Read; they were denied the ability to own a firearm.
- I have known seven women that stopped an attempted sexual assault using a firearm. See the above for comparison.
- Kids with guns? Just last year a young man saved his mothers life when she was attacked by Pit Bulls that had already killed another woman in the Parker, Colorado area. While anecdotal many minors have saved family members from marauding bears in Canada.
- Kids harming themselves or others “playing” with guns are the result of poor parenting, period. Teach your kids about firearms and those things will not be happening as often as they do. Which is about five times a year on average.
- Gang Bangers’ are not kids playing with guns, they are criminals committing criminal acts. Learn to tell the difference.
- Submitting to an assault is more likely to result in debilitating injury or death than effectively resisting according to the FBI. Don’t believe me? Look it up for yourself. If you refuse to do that then your mind is made up already, and fact or logic will not change that.
- Shooting someone by mistake, such as a loved one is the result of poor, or no training. I recommend FRONT SIGHT or GUNSITE for the best training available in the world. Lacking that the NRA has low cost programs almost every where. Just remember, you get what you pay for.
I conclude with this statement: Guns save lives. Guns take lives. It is the person behind the weapon that is either good or evil, smart or stupid. A firearm is a tool. Nothing more.
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