3 ms·

In my experience, at least, safety is not the driving factor. Not unimportant, but also not primary. It's more about self-reliance. I know a pretty decent num

by donw 10y ago

In my experience, at least, safety is not the driving factor. Not unimportant, but also not primary. It's more about self-reliance. I know a pretty decent number of people with concealed weapons permits, and not one walks around in cloud of fear and suspicion. Nobody carries because they fear a mass shooting, or because they are afraid of being attacked. I can also say with confidence that all of them hope to never need to use their weapons, outside of a range. But, as the old saying goes, it is better to have and not need, than need and not have. Hopefully this isn't too political for the mods; apologies if it is.

smt88 10y ago
We're not exactly talking about people carrying handguns. We're talking more broadly about the ideology behind gun-rights support. Though unlikely, your friends who carry might support an AR-15 ban. To address the tangent though: if they carry the gun, they do so because they think they might use it defensively. That is fear, to me. If people walked around in bulletproof vests, I'd say they were also doing it out of fear.
- donw 10y ago
  Given that they all, except one, own AR-15s -- it is the most popular rifle in the US for a reason -- I rather doubt they would support a ban. It's not like one model of rifle is really any more or less lethal than another, after all. As far as fear goes, if we apply the same logic, would it be fair to say that people who own fire extinguishers, train in CPR, wear seatbelts, own amateur radios, or use bike helmets also do so primarily out of fear?
  - smt88 10y ago
    > It's not like one model of rifle is really any more or less lethal than another, after all. That isn't true, because rates of fire, capacity, accuracy, and ammunition vary between rifles. An M1 Garand is just not going to kill the same way (or in the same quantities) as an AK-47, which can fire 10x rounds in the same amount of time. > fair to say that people who own fire extinguishers, train in CPR, wear seatbelts, own amateur radios, or use bike helmets also do so primarily out of fear? Yes, absolutely. In some cases, it's not their own fear, but rather society's fear (which results in regulations, like mandatory extinguishers and mandatory seatbelts). But, at its core, it's still a fear of something going wrong that has motivated those decisions. What's wrong with fear? Fear is a vital emotion that sometimes helps us make great decisions and sometimes causes us to make terrible decisions.

by donw 10y ago

smt88 10y ago

We're not exactly talking about people carrying handguns. We're talking more broadly about the ideology behind gun-rights support. Though unlikely, your friends who carry might support an AR-15 ban. To address the tangent though: if they carry the gun, they do so because they think they might use it defensively. That is fear, to me. If people walked around in bulletproof vests, I'd say they were also doing it out of fear.

donw 10y ago
Given that they all, except one, own AR-15s -- it is the most popular rifle in the US for a reason -- I rather doubt they would support a ban. It's not like one model of rifle is really any more or less lethal than another, after all. As far as fear goes, if we apply the same logic, would it be fair to say that people who own fire extinguishers, train in CPR, wear seatbelts, own amateur radios, or use bike helmets also do so primarily out of fear?
- smt88 10y ago
  > It's not like one model of rifle is really any more or less lethal than another, after all. That isn't true, because rates of fire, capacity, accuracy, and ammunition vary between rifles. An M1 Garand is just not going to kill the same way (or in the same quantities) as an AK-47, which can fire 10x rounds in the same amount of time. > fair to say that people who own fire extinguishers, train in CPR, wear seatbelts, own amateur radios, or use bike helmets also do so primarily out of fear? Yes, absolutely. In some cases, it's not their own fear, but rather society's fear (which results in regulations, like mandatory extinguishers and mandatory seatbelts). But, at its core, it's still a fear of something going wrong that has motivated those decisions. What's wrong with fear? Fear is a vital emotion that sometimes helps us make great decisions and sometimes causes us to make terrible decisions.