It could be a manhood thing!!

You wouldn't have to be psychic to guess my opinion on gun control.

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Lucky is he (sic) who has been able to understand the causes of things
Virgil

Well since you're using a not-so-subtle attack on someone's sexuality as a way to degrade them because they dont believe in being disarmed, it would be reasonable to conclude you are anti-gun. That is a common tactic of the anti-gun crowd.

Perhaps you could explain for the rest of us how it is so much more "manly" to be unarmed, use government to forcibly disarm others, and depend on the false hope of someone arriving to save your sorry ass in the event it is needed?

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In case you were wondering, yes, there really ARE more idiots these days....technology has made natural selection obsolete.

Too much is made of that. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and sometimes a gun is just something you can blow the fuck out of something else with.

Dump the false-Freudian references, they're bollocks.

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"There were no D-Day Heroes in 1973" - Cold Chisel Khe Sanh

Aha! Ahahahahahahahahaha!

How do you know that the posters who choose to go armed are not women?

This is such a tired argument that I almost left it alone, but I just couldn't pass it. Although, it does remind of a line from a musical:

"Sometimes, men raise a flag because they can't get anything else up." Cookie for the reference.

Truth be told, men and women have lived their lives armed for much longer in history than they have gone unarmed. Maybe it's not a manhood thing at all, maybe some of us are just atavisms.

And again, I carry a knife because that is what I do. It's not for protection, unless you think that everyone who carries a swiss army knife is looking to shiv their attackers. Maybe I could fend them off with my corkscrew! Or the wirestripper!

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If common sense were common, we would all have it (including me).

Yes, legally, and I look at it as no different than other forms of insurance. May never need it but prefer having it in place, just as I prefer having an entry gate and security system in place.

Don't find it necessary to carry gun. Mostly a non-issue here...

Goodness, didn't I rattle some cages!!

It all seems ridiculous to me. Carrying a gun! Why???

I travelled all over the US by train. Sometimes the stations weren't in very salubrious sections of the town. Once I got off in the middle of nowhere at 4 am relying on friends to be there to meet me. Even in St Louis (which someone stated is very dangerous) I walked across deserted areas at 7am with no-one around until I nearly reached the Arch.

What a bunch of sissys. Can't you rely on your wits and your own resources and rationality? Has it not occurred to you that you are merely upping the ante and encouraging baddies to be badder? As for shooting dead someone trying to rob you, bloody hell, how over the top is that? Are a few dollars, no matter your wealth, worth a life!

This attitude is beyond my understanding and experience!

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Lucky is he (sic) who has been able to understand the causes of things
Virgil

And I'm astonished at your reaction, Diuretic. You live in Adelaide for christssake!! Not exactly a hotbed or urban violence.

Remember Max Gillies? "Another sherry, Nigel?"

"...blow the fuck out of..."????

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Lucky is he (sic) who has been able to understand the causes of things
Virgil

Part of the training I have taken includes de-escalation and defusing.

The difference is that, if faced with a true predatory felon, all you have it rationality. If the other guy refuses to be rational, you're out of options.

I still have one.

I hope never to use it, but the only thing worse than having to use it would be needing to use it and not having it.

Matt

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De duobus malis, minus est semper eligendum

Well, Matt, I will never understand the necessity. I didn't find the US overtly violent, in fact, as I have said, I was treated with courtesy and kindness everywhere I travelled. Total strangers offered me help. I am sensitive to my surroundings and at no time did I feel threatened in any way.

Actually, I have just realised that isn't quite true. I walked the wrong way in New York City and all of a sudden a young black man crossed the footpath and deliberately knocked against me. Not hard, but enough for me to feel it. I turned and looked at him and I could see in his eyes that he wanted me to make something of it. I stared at him for a second or two until we both turned away and went our separate ways. He had two friends with him who didn't look at me, and in fact, seemed to divorce themselves from his action. I have put my own interpretation on the incident, but I would be interested in what others make of it.

I find it very sad that this ethos has gripped the US. Perhaps this explains much of US foreign policy, such as, meet obstacles and tricky situations with violence. Who knows??

Someone mentioned that people had gone armed a lot longer than not. This is an argument I find very strange. People also had worms a lot longer than not, however, modern medicine has reduced this to one little dose of a small pill. The world has moved on, most of us wouldn't even know how to dress a chook let alone a side of beef.

There is always the added danger to women, I don't think I need to go into details, and it regularly happens. Carrying a gun doesn't seem a solution to me. Societal attitudes and education seems a better solution.

Well, I hope one day, Matt that violence is not viewed as a solution.

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Lucky is he (sic) who has been able to understand the causes of things
Virgil

You're missing the point, IMHO.

I've never been anywhere where my firearm was necessary outside of a shooting range.

And if I were ever planning to go someplace where I knew it would be necessary, I just wouldn't bloody go.

Again, you miss the point.

I do not view violence as a solution. I do not engage in violence.

However, there are people out there for whom violence is not only a solution, but a way of life. Hopefully, I'll never encounter one face to face in a situation where they are offering violence.

If I do, I have a range of tools with which to meet that threat, up to and including a firearm. But it is not the first choice.

It's like wearing your seatbelt in a car. You don't plan on getting into a crash, but it does happen...

Matt

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De duobus malis, minus est semper eligendum

Criminals are cowards by nature. People would merely keep their firearms at home if the criminals didn't carry guns to assert themselves. The statement you made earlier about carrying a gun being a penis-enhancer has a lot of truth to it when one is discussing criminals, but the law abiding citizens now choose to carry because the criminals are actually the ones who upped the anti. Your chances of being a victim of a violent crime are now greater than they ever were in this country (unless you were a black person in the old south). Even the "wild west" was nowhere near as wild as we have all been led to believe.

It is unwise to confuse technological development with the advancement of mankind. Even though we have computers, cars, medicine, cell phones, and all this great stuff humans are the same as they were 5000 years ago. Humanity has not advanced on bit and we never will. There will always be others who will do harm to us and there is no way around that.

The bolded part. Therein lies the key to different mindsets I reckon..

All I can say is...thank goodness I live in Australia!

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Lucky is he (sic) who has been able to understand the causes of things
Virgil

I"ll second that!

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If common sense were common, we would all have it (including me).