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Originally Posted by Steve
The issue isn't one of gun proliferation. Trust me, I started the thread, I know.
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If the issue is about who is willing to
“take the responsibility to do whatever's necessary to protect him or herself” and that means using a gun then it is about proliferation. It is about millions of people owning guns for that reason. When millions own them there are people who are ill equipped on many levels to make responsible choices about their use. Not simply when confronted by a group of people with pipes and bats.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve
It's not about whether or not "society" should be armed. It's about whether or not someone is willing to take the responsibility to do whatever's necessary to protect him or herself.
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Of course it is about society being armed. They all have to be able to have weapons under what I understand is your preferred scenario? Taking the
“responsibility” to shoot someone you consider a threat means different things to different people. To you you may well have thought out the consequences and pro and cons. But to someone else their level of what represents a threat may have a far lower threshold. In any case the consequences of everyone being able to have and therefore owning them presents society with millions of potentially lethal weapons that can be used and misused. If it was only a matter of people having guns to defend themselves and that could be guaranteed to provide that outcome and no other consequences could arise then there is no argument against. But that is not the case.
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Originally Posted by Steve
If guns were illegal at the time my wife and I were attacked, we would be dead right now; of that, I'm confident.
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Maybe , maybe not. That can never be proven for sure. And in a far less potentially dangerous situation another person may however make the same assumption. And kill needlessly.
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Originally Posted by Steve
Instead, I decided to be armed. I decided that I was willing to willingly accept any and all responsibility that comes with carrying and, if need be, using a weapon. Not everyone is comfortable taking that responsibility, and I understand and appreciate that.
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If I could carry a pistol to defend myself and my family I gladly would. There is nothing noble about that. I, like the rest of the world consider
myself to be responsible. But we all are not. Maybe me too. And if I can have one then so can everyone else. Proliferation.
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Originally Posted by Steve
What raises the hair on my neck, though, is when someone comes along saying that guns are bad, and that private citizens shouldn't own them. Yeah, my experience is only one example. But it's the example that absolutely convinces me that private handgun ownership is a good thing...
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I never said guns are bad. That simplistic dismissal does nothing to further the debate. I can appreciate to an extent your experience would have an effect on your position but that doesn’t change the fact I find it unreasonable to base a whole attitude on one instance.