Why Do People Think They Need A Gun?

a reply to: qwerty12345

You bring up a good point, actually. I don't have a strong opinion on this one way or the other, but I'm wondering how many on this thread feel like the helicopter parents are wrong for wanting children to always be supervised to ward off any predator types who may want to do harm to the kiddos, or to make sure the kids don't run out into the streets in front of cars or .... just to protect them from any bad thing that could happen to them while they are out and about. Bad things can and do happen to kids unsupervised - we know this for a fact. Isn't it better to be there with the kid at all times - just to be prepared in case something bad might happen?

a reply to: ScientificRailgun

but they're both still deadly weapons.

So is water, see how silly it is to compare water to a gun.

Cars and guns are different problems, with different solutions, should not be compared but treated independently (which they are Btw.), But every time you people use it as a counter, it defies logic to ignore one problem by compare it to another.

a reply to: NavyDoc
First your statement is true for some states. The state I live in you have to pass a background check . take a safety course to have a license to carry. The training part , I do so wish they would install that.However that person robbing a person at gunpoint or breaking in a person's home did not go through any of the above. Also , to show the sameness with autos , a person can have a certain amount of points on their license due to traffic violations and have their license taken for a period of time or permanently if you were the cause of an accident in which someone lost their life. Yes , just like a felon . Also , in the South where I live do you know how many times I have heard the words " I wish I would have had a gun after a person had been robbed , mugged , their car jacked , or their house broken in ? Too many times.Most have been anti-gun advocates up till that event . It is bad we live in a country that we feel we have to have something for self defense but it is a necessary evil . Unless someone here has a viable option...???

originally posted by: NightSkyeB4Dawn

originally posted by: NavyDoc

originally posted by: superman2012

originally posted by: Answer

originally posted by: superman2012
a reply to: Answer

Link

I can see I'm not going to get through to most on this thread. I also see people not even talking about my original post anymore. Not one person has shown me to be wrong. If you are preparing for something negative, that means in one way or another, you fear that it may happen. If you feel the need to continue, pm me, I'm guessing the majority will just high five each other and say, "we win!", without thinking about anything.

I can explain it for you, but I can't understand it for you.

Take care.

Actually, just the inverse. People have been explaining to you that prudence/preparation are not synonymous with fear. That you have lacked understanding of that may lie in the fact that you don't seem to have prepared for anything or felt the need to do so, since your contingency needs are met by others.

I think it is more about assumptions and beliefs. People can become a bit possessive and tyrannical when you start treading on these. Unfortunately, the OP made a slight mistake in titling his post. People have a large variety of misconceptions when it come to emotional issues.

The average person will say pain is a horrible thing, but without the ability to feel pain, we would have not made if very far as a species. IMHO, I feel the same about fear. Pain nor fear are not just for weak people and things that should be rejected or scorned.

This illusion perpetrated on us through, comic books, cartoons, movies, and TV, that everybody has to be a super tough badass, to be considered of worth, is one hell of successful con job. Okay, when I was a kid, we didn't have a TV. Drop your mouth and put your tongue back in your mouth. Yeah. Some of us old farts are still around. I got my illusions through wild tales told to me by my Blarney Stone kissing Irish-Jewish grandfather, books and the radio. That is all we had. That and our imagination, so we can be forgiven, for believing what we were told by the government by way of news reels, watch the mouth, or the media. We had no way of checking and the lies, the brainwashing advertising, and the conditioning, just kept on coming. Bigger! Brighter! Extra! Free! and East Cred-dot, were the buzz words of a century.

I admit, we paved the way for this fiasco we are in the middle of, but we have a good excuse. We were dupped. You have the access to the knowledge of the entire world at your fingertips, yet you are still falling for the con. Stop believing this crap. Stop looking towards other people just as lost and confused as you are, for your answers.

I know everyone knows the story of the Ant and the Grasshopper. It is not a matter of fear. It is a matter of fact. If you do not prepare you are either at the mercy of those that have prepared, or you are screwed, if something unfortunate does happen. It doesn't matter, when you are alone, hurt, cold, wet, hungry and defenseless. And if the possibility doesn't frighten you, then you are either mentally deficient, or delusional. Don't tell me you are just an optimistic individual that rejects all negative things, therefore you are protected. If that is true, we should line you all up around the entire planet and let you work your magic. Then the rest of us can get rid of all the guns, stop working, stop preparing and just wait for you guys to send milk, honey and manna down to us.

I didn't mean to get testy but let's be honest. Life has some pretty nasty curve balls up it's sleeve. We all can't all be lucky, so somebody better be preparing. I think we are extremely stupid not to be Grasshoppers, especially since our government is spending so much money that we "don't" have "preparing" for something. I guess they are terrified of something. I wonder what?

Well fair enough. However, in these debates, the anti-gun crowed uses the term "fear" as if we were operating under irrational paranoia rather than your definition of "fear" as rational caution intended to forestall unfortunate circumstances.

originally posted by: Mianeye
a reply to: ScientificRailgun

but they're both still deadly weapons.

So is water, see how silly it is to compare water to a gun.

They are different problems, with different solutions, should not be compared but treated independently (which they are Btw.), But every time you people use it as a counter, it defies logic to ignore one problem by compare it to another.

I've never seen charges for "assault with a deadly Super Soaker". Citation needed.

I'm not saying they're the same problem, I never did, but it seems like the people who decry all these gun deaths are ignoring a much larger killer of the U.S. population, and when confronted with this, they all make the same argument which is "They're not comparable, it's not the same thing, etc.". We know it's not the same thing, but it's still a much BIGGER problem in the U.S. than gun deaths, and yet almost nothing is done about it. The tens of thousands of fatal car accidents are written off as "inevitable". Why apply the standard to one problem and not the other? That is where I take issue with your argument.

a reply to: Semicollegiate

Well, no deaths would be nice, but that is impossible, so eliminate the ones that can be eliminated relatively easy, or avoid worsening the problem.

But as i said, you can't fix the gun violence in the US, it's to late.

I going to weigh in as a Brit who supports American gun ownership rights. Hand guns were banned in the UK and now only criminals and the police carry them.

a reply to: ScientificRailgun

Ever heard of death by drowning, happens all the time as murder.

So you are saying nothing is done to car safety, and trafficlights, speed limits, safety barriers, stronger cars, seatbelts and what not, is pointless.

I can't stand your logic, it completely fails IMO, sorry...

originally posted by: Mianeye
a reply to: Semicollegiate

Well, no deaths would be nice, but that is impossible, so eliminate the ones that can be eliminated relatively easy, or avoid worsening the problem.

Birth is the leading cause of death.

But as i said, you can't fix the gun violence in the US, it's to late.

I prefer to mind my own business, as "good intentions pave the road to hell".

Statist solutions always have state expanding consequences.

originally posted by: Semicollegiate
Birth is the leading cause of death.

I know 4 out of 5 dentists say so but I happen to side with the other one.

originally posted by: Mianeye
a reply to: ScientificRailgun

Ever heard of death by drowning, happens all the time as murder.

So you are saying nothing is done to car safety, and trafficlights, speed limits, safety barriers, stronger cars, seatbelts and what not, is pointless.

I can't stand your logic, it completely fails IMO, sorry...

The person commits the murder by drowning, not the water. Water is water, and you falling back on such a flawed premise shows how flimsy your argument is.

Also, are you saying that all the regulations to owning a gun haven't been effective to helping stop gun violence? Owning a gun is even more difficult to do than driving a car, and yet cars STILL kill more people per capita. Do you see the parallel here?

originally posted by: ScientificRailgun

Also, are you saying that all the regulations to owning a gun haven't been effective to helping stop gun violence?

To me they have not seemed to slow down the ones committing the vast majority of all gun violence.


Criminals.

As far as the US goes the fire arms genie is out of the bottle and it is not going back in anytime soon, if ever. All arguments against it are folly.

a reply to: ScientificRailgun

The person commits the murder by drowning, not the water.

and yet cars STILL kill more people per capita

Mhmm Classic nitpicking.

I don't NEED my guns. I LIKE them though. They're fun. Used to be useful but I can't hunt anymore. Now just fun. I like other tools I have too. Like my computer.

a reply to: intrepid

I like guns to, just not in the wrong hands

originally posted by: Mianeye
a reply to: ScientificRailgun

The person commits the murder by drowning, not the water.

and yet cars STILL kill more people per capita

Mhmm Classic nitpicking.

You done being a contrarian? Attacking the wording, and not content? It just proves my point further that you're not interested in genuine debate, just belittling tactics and snide remarks.

a reply to: ScientificRailgun

You started.

Anyway, i made my point, and see we get no further as i see your counter points as flawed.

It's not that i don't want to debate, i just see your points as silly, thereby a waste of time.

originally posted by: hotel1
As far as the US goes the fire arms genie is out of the bottle and it is not going back in anytime soon, if ever. All arguments against it are folly.

Agreed. I made the point several pages back where I said I wish the U.S. were more like Japan with their (admittedly draconian) laws against gun ownership. But you're quite right, the veritable genie has been out of the bottle since the U.S. was born. And with poor border enforcement and such a large landmass it's unlikely it'll ever be brought under control without a tyrant and millions of deaths.

a reply to: Answer
Well you know what they say back in the day. God made men, but Smith & Wesson made them equal. We have not moved that far from them days as people like to think.

I have known some who I would not turn by back on for a second, one guy even I remember in highschool we even used to hang out a bit now and again, he was more the whole do anything/bully/dumbass type of guy, the guy did anything and everything to get his money, I remember once he came with a backpack full of videogames and was selling them at the school, I think he worked at one of the big chain stores and just emptied the place one day. I wasn't there but heard it from others who were, but the guy was talking to another guy, and a bit of spit flew from his mouth and hit him, then he took out his knife and cut his throat. Really it was basically an accident, some people just got the whole Sylvester the cat thing going on when there talking....Suffering Succotash.

This happened years ago, i think he may be out by now, or not, or he could be the president of his own company by now for all I know, so who knows.


I would say in day to day things your not likely to never need a gun, but there are those instances which come out of nowhere now and again, were you would wish you had one, because its likely the other guy has one as well. If you live in the country, depending on were its just best to have one handy, if nothing more but to keep the local wildlife away, and in some places, mountain lions, bears, and racoons and foxes are pretty dam common. The mountain lions are smart enough to stay to there areas, but bears and them other critters do wonder around now and again and will likely steal more then you chickens if given half the chance.

In cities however, once in a while you have to worry about much more dangerous animals roaming around. And crime rates are not going to go down the worse society gets and the more pressure there is in basic every day things such as jobs, and needed resources for living. Really if the # really did ever hit the proverbial fan, you would be much saver living next to the bears and mountain lions then in some of these so called modern "cities".

The fact that there is so many crime stories and over petty reasons, is a much more disturbing then the fact that people have or carry guns. Because lets face it, if you wanted to you can kill somebody with a sharpened pencil. All of this is just symptoms of the societies and states, both mental and actual state on maps we live in.