Gun Control.

There seems to be a consensus that there can never be an agreement to the issues of gun control. Advocates and their nemesis, ideologies swinging from the most peaceful of folks to the wicked and beyond, I too held firmly to my convictions on the issue.

I had never considered advocating gun control, knowing that it is man who maimes and murders, not guns. Knowing that good is where my spirit resides, I feel an obligation to arm myself and as a last resort to protect a victim of violent, injurious crime.
Weather it be myself, my family, my friends, even if it be a total and complete stranger or my worst enemy, I acknowledge the free choice and 2nd amendment.

Yes, it all sounds so cut and dry. War, Death, Guns....

Those who want gun control, and I mean real gun control that even I could advocate?

It only takes one minute to view the following short video that does express the type of gun control even I can advocate...
Link

The trouble with that example for many of the "gun control" folks is that a)its hollywood (even though many of their fears are based on hollywood, go figure) and b) he represents a wealthy lawyer or one of the "elite" The "gun control" crowd are usually perfectly fine with the "elite" protecting themselves. They are, after all, better than us.

The interpretation reflected in this clip to me personally is not an issue of class or race, it is an issue of defense against violent crime and training so that the "accidents" related mostly to inproper weapon storage where an individual without understanding gets hold of a weapon, is defeated and the reality now lost to a generation is rediscovered.

would it be better to take a head shot at that range? abdomen? watch the poisons take it's toll?

If America got rid of it's ass-backward crime vs. punishment adaptations, our prisons would be sparsely populated and the real criminals would be walking around less an appentage or two through sentencing that has a proven track record and should be court madated. By example, the incentive to commit crime would drop to almost 0 when the punishment could truly be personal and irreversable.

I was going to start a Gun Control thread today in response to a local Grad Student's plight. Up until the Virginia Tech shooting spree, it was illegal (even in Florida) to carry your concealed weapon on campus. The law has recently changed, but the wording is somewhat vague and it hasn't been to court yet.

On April 1st, a popular Communications Grad Student at FSU walked home, across campus, from a friends apartment, but he never arrived at his own apartment. On April 8th, a missing person's report was filed, and last night, April 13th, 3 men were arrested in Miami, FL, and they were connected to the disappearance in Tallahassee.

It turns out that 3 men guilty of Armed-Robbery and Manslaughter, were able to escape from prison in Louisiana, and happened to travel through Tallahassee on their way to Miami. While in Tallahassee, they robbed a Walgreens store, broke into an apartment near campus, and somehow came into contact with this student walking home. When they were picked up, they had evidence connecting them to both robberies, and the student, and they still had a bloody knife in their possession. The missing student still hasn't been found, and the blood on the knife hasn't been confirmed to be his yet, but one of the men did admit to being involved in his disappearance.

So, here is my gun control spiel. I have walked across this campus literally hundreds, maybe thousands of times at all hours. I always carried my gun, even when it was illegal. I have been approached a few times by bums, or shady looking characters, but my size and demeanor always caused these people to move on without incident.

So, am I really that intimidating, or was it because I had the gun, and the inner knowledge that I could defend myself that made me look like less of a victim, and cause these encounters to be non-events? If I wasn't carrying the gun, and if I tried to avoid these situations, would I have been pursued and robbed, due to my "prey" behavior? If this student, who was a pretty big and outgoing fellow, if this student had been carrying a weapon, would the 3 escaped convicts have chosen another target and moved on? If they still chose to press this victim, would his concealed gun have saved his life against 3 men with 1 knife?

In 20 years, I have never once had to pull a gun from its concealed location on my person, but I have had many scary encounters that I faced with confidence instead of fear, and I believe that having the gun as a last resort is the very reason I have never needed it.

BTW, please pray for the safe return of this FSU student. He may still be alive and wounded somewhere.

reply to post by getreadyalready


This example is testimony to my view.
If these convicts were to lose a hand as sentence to robbery and put in high security for the weapons aggrivation while commiting the crime, this would never have happened, and even if they were to escape, identification would be easy due to the disability.
Also, once recaptured, the sentence could be more harshly imposed and that thought alone could cause them to reconsider escape knowing what recapture could bring.

I pray the missing student is safe, and wish these desperate actions were thwarted preemptively

Originally posted by imd12c4funn

If America got rid of it's ass-backward crime vs. punishment adaptations, our prisons would be sparsely populated and the real criminals would be walking around less an appentage or two through sentencing that has a proven track record and should be court madated. By example, the incentive to commit crime would drop to almost 0 when the punishment could truly be personal and irreversable.

If it came to extremes like that, what would stop the criminals from shooting first? THe crime would get more ruthless when theres nothing to loose.

You sound like you would enjoy living in the middle east with the Sharia laws....

reply to post by imd12c4funn


While I can't entirely agree with maiming criminals, I do agree in concept. Our penalties should be swifter, and more severe for crimes that are violent in nature, or that have a clear victim.

All other "crimes" should become civil matters. I don't believe in drug crimes, or mandatory sentencing, or 10-20-Life or 3-strike rules, or prison sentences for "victimless" crimes. DA's often list the "state" as the victim, and that is bogus.

I also don't believe in "state-sanctioned" death penalties, but I am highly in favor of victims rights, so if the family chooses to pull the switch or push in the injection, that is terrific! I just don't think a neutral agent of the state should do it in such a cold, clinical manner.

So, I think I agree with you, but I cutting off people's hands is going to be a very hard sell!

reply to post by getreadyalready

When I hear the words Florida, College, Crime and Guns, two words pop into my mind.


Ted Bundy

If just one of those nurses had a gun in her purse and knew how to use it................

I agree, our punishments do not fit the crimes the criminals commit. Some people commit violent crimes, and get slaps on the wrists, where others who commit non-violent crimes get harsher punishments. It's deffeintly not a fair system. and it's heavily over-burdened with cases.

I also agree that gun control does nothing but make it harder for law-abiding citizens to protect themselves... After all, most crenels are not concerned with "gun control" if they have ill-intent to begin with, and will aquior a firearm any way they can for such acts.

I did get a good laugh out of the W. Shattner video... That was great.

imd12c4funn:

would it be better to take a head shot at that range? abdomen? watch the poisons take it's toll?

At that range, I'd still advocate center-mass shot(s).

"Gun Control" to me means hitting what you aim at. Just like my bumper sticker says.

reply to post by JIMC5499


Yep. Tragic. Years ago in Missouri there was a TV spot that had a young woman, licensed to carry concealed in her state, but no reciprocity in OK. She was in a Fast Food restaurant when a gunman came in and her emotional testimony in the spot stated, "I had to watch the gunman reload before he killed my parents." If she was carrying her weapon, how many lives would have been saved? At that time, Missouri voted to allow Open-Carry, but I think they now have concealed licenses as well. I know my Florida license has reciprocity in Missouri anyway.

Va Tech, same scenario. One professor gave his life to blockade a door while students escaped, sure would have been better if he had a gun!

Carrying a gun does not mean you will always be safe, or that you will always be able to save someone else, but it certainly means that these mass shooting sprees will be cut short, and as I said in my first post, it means you will walk with the confidence of a person capable of defending themselves, and hopefully that alone will put enough doubt in a would-be attacker to convince them to move on.

I will relate another good story of a gun that I never saw. Right after my divorce, I was pretty angry and irritable. I pulled out of my apartment complex and this girl doing about 60 in a 15 mph zone runs up on me, slams on the brakes, honks her horn, passes me and flips me off. I lose it, and I pass her, cut her off, jump out of my truck and begin yelling in her window. She reaches into a compartment in the dash, lowers her voice, calls me sir, and apologizes with an eerie calmness. I recognized a very volatile situation, I meekly accepted her apology and walked back to my truck! Situation averted, because two, armed individuals recognized a volatile situation and "chose" to make better decisions. We were both stupid for acting that way, but the fact that we were both most likely armed helped to AVOID an ESCALATION. No Gun Control advocate would ever believe a story like that. They think we are all itching to shoot someone, when exactly the opposite is true. I may have been quick to fight someone, but definitely not quick to even think about my weapon. I DON'T WANT TO USE IT. I am willing, but I am not eager!

[edit on 14-4-2010 by getreadyalready]

[edit on 14-4-2010 by getreadyalready]