3 ms·

If you lived in a high crime area, would you deliberately choose to be unarmed, despite knowing that statistically speaking you'd be safer armed? Just to make a

If you lived in a high crime area, would you deliberately choose to be unarmed, despite knowing that statistically speaking you'd be safer armed? Just to make a political or cultural point?

willvarfar 12y ago
Absolutely. Which was the thrust of my argument. Culture can change.
- duncan_bayne 12y ago
  Interesting. What if you had dependents? Would you expose them to higher risk in order to (hopefully) facilitate long-term cultural change?
  - willvarfar 12y ago
    As a law-abiding family, we can only ever be victims of crime. And we've have break ins etc and it sucks. There is a really horrid fear for the first glance at the flat's door every time you come home, fear that it'll be ajar. And the fear that the car window will be broken again. Now I'm not the kind of man to shoot my own kids or anything like that, but statistically its the man who is most likely to use a handgun to shoot his own family rather than use it to protect them in any kind of superhero intervention dream. Every American who thinks guns solve disputes should live in Scandinavia and get a feel for how good things can actually be when life is looked at differently and norms are different. I strongly recommend that therapy. Change cultural norms I say!
    - duncan_bayne 12y ago
      Right, so: that's a yes? If the stats showed your dependents would be in greater danger if you were unarmed, you'd still be disarmed?
      - willvarfar 12y ago
        Its a No. I would not be armed. I am advocating that we don't arm ourselves to protect ourselves.
        duncan_bayne 12y ago
        I get it - I'd meant "yes" in the sense of "yes you'd choose to be unarmed".
  - ubernostrum 12y ago
    What you are missing is that your expressed attitude perpetuates the system which causes people to feel a need to purchase weapons with the expectation of actually using them to kill other people. And what you are missing is how to change that.

If you lived in a high crime area, would you deliberately choose to be unarmed, despite knowing that statistically speaking you'd be safer armed? Just to make a political or cultural point?

willvarfar 12y ago

Absolutely. Which was the thrust of my argument. Culture can change.

duncan_bayne 12y ago
Interesting. What if you had dependents? Would you expose them to higher risk in order to (hopefully) facilitate long-term cultural change?
- willvarfar 12y ago
  As a law-abiding family, we can only ever be victims of crime. And we've have break ins etc and it sucks. There is a really horrid fear for the first glance at the flat's door every time you come home, fear that it'll be ajar. And the fear that the car window will be broken again. Now I'm not the kind of man to shoot my own kids or anything like that, but statistically its the man who is most likely to use a handgun to shoot his own family rather than use it to protect them in any kind of superhero intervention dream. Every American who thinks guns solve disputes should live in Scandinavia and get a feel for how good things can actually be when life is looked at differently and norms are different. I strongly recommend that therapy. Change cultural norms I say!
  - duncan_bayne 12y ago
    Right, so: that's a yes? If the stats showed your dependents would be in greater danger if you were unarmed, you'd still be disarmed?
    - willvarfar 12y ago
      Its a No. I would not be armed. I am advocating that we don't arm ourselves to protect ourselves.
      - duncan_bayne 12y ago
        I get it - I'd meant "yes" in the sense of "yes you'd choose to be unarmed".
- ubernostrum 12y ago
  What you are missing is that your expressed attitude perpetuates the system which causes people to feel a need to purchase weapons with the expectation of actually using them to kill other people. And what you are missing is how to change that.