7 ms·

You've obviously never been in a life threatening situation. It's very unlikely owning a weapon (gun, knife, spray, whatever) will be of any use. "Killers" or

You've obviously never been in a life threatening situation. It's very unlikely owning a weapon (gun, knife, spray, whatever) will be of any use. "Killers" or "Rapists" (whatever that means) take you by surprise and pulling a gun is not an option (even if you had the mental discipline and self control to do it). If you care about self defense, learn Krav Maga or another martial art that will condition you to actually increase your odds of survival... After years of rigorous training. Just for the record, if you live in the 1st world, the probability of dying because of murder is so low that mentioning is a waste of time. Turn off the TV. ;)

duck 14y ago
I'm sure Krav Maga would work well against a 800 pound brown bear.
largesse 14y ago
I have several friends who've defended themselves with guns during a home invasion. It does happen.
- seestheday 14y ago
  Where the heck do you live? Are you not able to move for some reason? Stories like this seem so foreign to me.
  - sukuriant 14y ago
    The woods, or some of the shadier areas of the city, places where police aren't immediately accessible I would rather like to live in the woods if I had the chance. I find it a wonderful location, quiet, peaceful. Guns still have a place in this world, it just might not be a place that you, personally, see.
    - seestheday 14y ago
      Oh, I have no problem with guns. I own a rifle and enjoy target shooting. I recently got my hunting license and plan to start hunting this summer. I have also lived in very rural areas and some very shady parts of town. I'm in Canada though, so handguns just aren't as prevalent up here (although I do have friends with restricted licenses and handguns they can shoot at the range). I had an "interesting" youth. Growing up in rural area means I'm no stranger to seeing people at parties getting beer bottles smashed over their heads during fights or hit with ash trays at bars. Looking back at that, there was not a single situation where a person having a handgun would have made things better. It almost definitely would have made things much worse. People would have died as opposed to just need stitches at the hospital. Even in this rural area, it wasn't that difficult to talk my way out of bad situations. I was blasted out of the blue once, but it was a case of mistaken identity. I think that if home invasions were a real threat to my family then I would really start to think about moving. There are just so many nicer places to live.
      - sukuriant 14y ago
        As an interesting side-note, I imagine many of the people there may have actually owned guns and even had them on them. And yet they didn't use them. If they indeed had them, then they also knew the importance of proper gun safety, even when drunk and angry :) And yes, probably.. as long as you weren't hundreds of thousands of dollars upside down on your mortgage with 5 kids (requiring a large house) [and so on, insert rough situation here]
      - largesse 14y ago
        Canada has a very different culture despite its proximity to the US. You can't even compare the two. In my experience, people in the US are taught to feel that they are losers if they don't achieve a certain amount (or basically get what they want), whereas Canadians, in general, seem far more serene about the ups and downs of their lives. Yes, it is a generalization, but it is very real. For instance, look at the disparity between violent crime rates in Seattle and Vancouver. On your second point, I feel that you are speculating. Neither you or I know what a handgun would bring in those situations. People who do concealed carry in the US are statistically very unlikely to commit violent crime, far far less than the general population. The mere presence of gun isn't as big of a deal as many people fear. The thing that troubles me in the US is that gun control advocates continuously attempt to paint a future where there are no handguns. We can't even keep cellphones out of prisons in the US, or eradicate drugs (which have been illegal for decades). With that in mind, essentially telling criminals in a society of extremes that they have nothing to worry about, that law-abiding citizens will be disarmed, seems incredibly foolish. If we had it to do all over again, I'd be for strict gun control in the US, but we have to deal with the way things are now, not some imaginary reset. Maybe the issue for today is an early ban on armed drones.
OGinparadise 14y ago
If you care about self defense, learn Krav Maga or another martial art that will condition you to actually increase your odds of survival... After years of rigorous training. So a thief or a potential rapist /murderer is in my living room at 4am. I should approach him without knowing his ultimate intention or what weapons he has, and try to some martial arts moves against him? Should I ask if he likes a cup of coffee first? How about unmistakeable shotgun click from a safer distance?
- shin_lao 14y ago
  You're right. Scaring someone who has got less to lose than you and might be on drugs is a good option. Martial arts teach you confidence and self control, this is what will be useful. One of the first thing you learn when you're taught self-defense is that if someone asks for your wallet with a blade, you give the wallet. You use self defense only as a last resort. If someone is inside your house just lock yourself in the bathroom, head low in the bathtub, and call the police. Maybe do some noise to scare the thief, or say out lout "get out, I'm calling the police". In this situation, if you have any sort of weapon, yes, take that with you as a last resort. Shotgun negotiation? Who are you kidding? If you take out a weapon, you must be ready to use it. Are you ready to shoot? Can you live the rest of your life with the death of someone? Are you even trained for that kind of situations? Probable outcomes: injury, prison or death. For you.
  - wnight 14y ago
    Which (hiding) would work great for one type of bad guy you apparently see a lot of on TV - the drugged out guys who picked a random house and wants $50. If this guy robs you he'll stop to pick up your shoes (to sell for drugs) so you can drop anything and run to safety. If the bad guy who broke into your house showed up on your security cameras' view with a "Type 1 Grunt - Snatcher" label you might even be safe to assume he would act this way. But that's not realistic so you have to figure out who he is and what he wants from his actions starting with the 2am kicking down of your door. Guess wrong and he might be a drugged out rapist instead. Really, if he's not yelling 'Fireman!' (And didn't arrive in a special truck) he's not kicking down your door to help. Some of the things that may be done to you may only (mostly) involve your things, or only hurt you not kill you, and people can give you a big song and dance about laws and morality - but don't YOU want to choose prison over death for yourself, if those really are your only two options? I'm with you, partly. No need to fight this guy to be a hero. For your additional safety, hide in bathtub, sound a siren, and get help - while holding the shotgun you will use to kill him and his accomplices if they try to open your hiding spot before help arrives.
bmelton 14y ago
So what if I have learned Krav Maga (and Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and dabbled in Sanda/Sanshou and wrestling) - and still feel incapable of defending myself against an armed assailant. Is it okay for me to own a gun now that I've jumped through your arbitrary hoops?

duck 14y ago

I'm sure Krav Maga would work well against a 800 pound brown bear.

largesse 14y ago

I have several friends who've defended themselves with guns during a home invasion. It does happen.

seestheday 14y ago
Where the heck do you live? Are you not able to move for some reason? Stories like this seem so foreign to me.
- sukuriant 14y ago
  The woods, or some of the shadier areas of the city, places where police aren't immediately accessible I would rather like to live in the woods if I had the chance. I find it a wonderful location, quiet, peaceful. Guns still have a place in this world, it just might not be a place that you, personally, see.
  - seestheday 14y ago
    Oh, I have no problem with guns. I own a rifle and enjoy target shooting. I recently got my hunting license and plan to start hunting this summer. I have also lived in very rural areas and some very shady parts of town. I'm in Canada though, so handguns just aren't as prevalent up here (although I do have friends with restricted licenses and handguns they can shoot at the range). I had an "interesting" youth. Growing up in rural area means I'm no stranger to seeing people at parties getting beer bottles smashed over their heads during fights or hit with ash trays at bars. Looking back at that, there was not a single situation where a person having a handgun would have made things better. It almost definitely would have made things much worse. People would have died as opposed to just need stitches at the hospital. Even in this rural area, it wasn't that difficult to talk my way out of bad situations. I was blasted out of the blue once, but it was a case of mistaken identity. I think that if home invasions were a real threat to my family then I would really start to think about moving. There are just so many nicer places to live.
    - sukuriant 14y ago
      As an interesting side-note, I imagine many of the people there may have actually owned guns and even had them on them. And yet they didn't use them. If they indeed had them, then they also knew the importance of proper gun safety, even when drunk and angry :) And yes, probably.. as long as you weren't hundreds of thousands of dollars upside down on your mortgage with 5 kids (requiring a large house) [and so on, insert rough situation here]
    - largesse 14y ago
      Canada has a very different culture despite its proximity to the US. You can't even compare the two. In my experience, people in the US are taught to feel that they are losers if they don't achieve a certain amount (or basically get what they want), whereas Canadians, in general, seem far more serene about the ups and downs of their lives. Yes, it is a generalization, but it is very real. For instance, look at the disparity between violent crime rates in Seattle and Vancouver. On your second point, I feel that you are speculating. Neither you or I know what a handgun would bring in those situations. People who do concealed carry in the US are statistically very unlikely to commit violent crime, far far less than the general population. The mere presence of gun isn't as big of a deal as many people fear. The thing that troubles me in the US is that gun control advocates continuously attempt to paint a future where there are no handguns. We can't even keep cellphones out of prisons in the US, or eradicate drugs (which have been illegal for decades). With that in mind, essentially telling criminals in a society of extremes that they have nothing to worry about, that law-abiding citizens will be disarmed, seems incredibly foolish. If we had it to do all over again, I'd be for strict gun control in the US, but we have to deal with the way things are now, not some imaginary reset. Maybe the issue for today is an early ban on armed drones.

OGinparadise 14y ago

If you care about self defense, learn Krav Maga or another martial art that will condition you to actually increase your odds of survival... After years of rigorous training. So a thief or a potential rapist /murderer is in my living room at 4am. I should approach him without knowing his ultimate intention or what weapons he has, and try to some martial arts moves against him? Should I ask if he likes a cup of coffee first? How about unmistakeable shotgun click from a safer distance?

shin_lao 14y ago
You're right. Scaring someone who has got less to lose than you and might be on drugs is a good option. Martial arts teach you confidence and self control, this is what will be useful. One of the first thing you learn when you're taught self-defense is that if someone asks for your wallet with a blade, you give the wallet. You use self defense only as a last resort. If someone is inside your house just lock yourself in the bathroom, head low in the bathtub, and call the police. Maybe do some noise to scare the thief, or say out lout "get out, I'm calling the police". In this situation, if you have any sort of weapon, yes, take that with you as a last resort. Shotgun negotiation? Who are you kidding? If you take out a weapon, you must be ready to use it. Are you ready to shoot? Can you live the rest of your life with the death of someone? Are you even trained for that kind of situations? Probable outcomes: injury, prison or death. For you.
- wnight 14y ago
  Which (hiding) would work great for one type of bad guy you apparently see a lot of on TV - the drugged out guys who picked a random house and wants $50. If this guy robs you he'll stop to pick up your shoes (to sell for drugs) so you can drop anything and run to safety. If the bad guy who broke into your house showed up on your security cameras' view with a "Type 1 Grunt - Snatcher" label you might even be safe to assume he would act this way. But that's not realistic so you have to figure out who he is and what he wants from his actions starting with the 2am kicking down of your door. Guess wrong and he might be a drugged out rapist instead. Really, if he's not yelling 'Fireman!' (And didn't arrive in a special truck) he's not kicking down your door to help. Some of the things that may be done to you may only (mostly) involve your things, or only hurt you not kill you, and people can give you a big song and dance about laws and morality - but don't YOU want to choose prison over death for yourself, if those really are your only two options? I'm with you, partly. No need to fight this guy to be a hero. For your additional safety, hide in bathtub, sound a siren, and get help - while holding the shotgun you will use to kill him and his accomplices if they try to open your hiding spot before help arrives.

bmelton 14y ago

So what if I have learned Krav Maga (and Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and dabbled in Sanda/Sanshou and wrestling) - and still feel incapable of defending myself against an armed assailant. Is it okay for me to own a gun now that I've jumped through your arbitrary hoops?