3 ms·

Sure but giving you the option to make that call has an effect on others. Giving you that option may increase my chance of death in that situation. How many civ

Sure but giving you the option to make that call has an effect on others. Giving you that option may increase my chance of death in that situation. How many civilians (i.e. people with no training/little training in firearms, tactics, life and death situations) are going to be able to assess that situation, make the correct call, and save lives. I would guess almost none.

mindcrime 12y ago
How many civilians (i.e. people with no training/little training in firearms, tactics, life and death situations) are going to be able to assess that situation, make the correct call, and save lives Of the civilian population at large? Yeah, almost none, percentage-wise. But of the civilian population who choose to carry and even more the civilian population who choose to get a CCW permit I'd say it's "a very high percentage". I don't know if you are a gun owner / enthusiast or not, or if you hang out with "gun people" or not, but my experience has been that the kind of people who carry regularly, go to the trouble of getting a CCW permit, etc., take shooting and training pretty seriously. There are plenty of civilians who shoot competitively and are absolutely better trained than (many|most) cops.
- k-mcgrady 12y ago
  I live in a country where gun ownership isn't a thing and I don't think citizens in my country need guns. In the US however I don't disagree with it completely mainly due to the fact that so many people already have them (there is no way to get them back) and it seems like many more criminals in the US are armed with guns. I think that I would be on your side completely if, to get that permit, you had to take a yearly training course to ensure you are going to act rationally and safely in an event like a movie theatre shooting. It takes someone with a lot of training to act rationally in a deadly situation and to make the correct call (i.e. using my weapon will help the situation or using my weapon will make things worse and even though I have it I should not use it today). It's good to be able to shoot accurately but being able to make that call is just as important.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - prawn 12y ago
    I think criminals in the US tend to have guns because the population in general is more likely to be armed. Where I live, I don't know anyone who owns a gun and don't expect to encounter a criminal armed with a gun in my lifetime.
  - mindcrime 12y ago
    I live in a country where gun ownership isn't a thing and I don't think citizens in my country need guns. Aaah, there are definitely some serious cultural differences at play here then. I grew up in a country where my grandfather bought me my first gun before I was even born. And I've been shooting guns (rifles, pistols, etc.) since I was about 9 years old. Here in the US, there is a large population of people who taking shooting very seriously. There are competitive shooting events run through obstacle courses and using pop-up targets, similar to the things you may have seen on television for police training. Yeah, people here do that kind of stuff for fun. There are magazines, books, videos, training courses, etc. dedicated to tactical shooting, self-defense, etc. Of course none of this is required (by and large, but see below) and not everybody goes to this extreme. But this is what I mean by "gun people". And in my experience here, the kind of people who make the choice to carry in public, tend to come from that population. So yeah, I by and large trust those people to do the right thing in a scary situation. I would be on your side completely if, to get that permit, you had to take a yearly training course to ensure you are going to act rationally and safely in an event like a movie theatre shooting. FWIW, every US state sets its own standards. Not all states even require a permit for pistols (concealed or otherwise). But in my state (NC), if I want to get a concealed carry permit, I do actually have to attend a training course which includes covering the legalities of carrying a firearm and using deadly force, a firearms safety component, and a visit to the gun range where I would have to certify as proficient with my weapon. There is no yearly recertification requirement however, as best as I can recall.

mindcrime 12y ago

How many civilians (i.e. people with no training/little training in firearms, tactics, life and death situations) are going to be able to assess that situation, make the correct call, and save lives Of the civilian population at large? Yeah, almost none, percentage-wise. But of the civilian population who choose to carry and even more the civilian population who choose to get a CCW permit I'd say it's "a very high percentage". I don't know if you are a gun owner / enthusiast or not, or if you hang out with "gun people" or not, but my experience has been that the kind of people who carry regularly, go to the trouble of getting a CCW permit, etc., take shooting and training pretty seriously. There are plenty of civilians who shoot competitively and are absolutely better trained than (many|most) cops.

k-mcgrady 12y ago
I live in a country where gun ownership isn't a thing and I don't think citizens in my country need guns. In the US however I don't disagree with it completely mainly due to the fact that so many people already have them (there is no way to get them back) and it seems like many more criminals in the US are armed with guns. I think that I would be on your side completely if, to get that permit, you had to take a yearly training course to ensure you are going to act rationally and safely in an event like a movie theatre shooting. It takes someone with a lot of training to act rationally in a deadly situation and to make the correct call (i.e. using my weapon will help the situation or using my weapon will make things worse and even though I have it I should not use it today). It's good to be able to shoot accurately but being able to make that call is just as important.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- prawn 12y ago
  I think criminals in the US tend to have guns because the population in general is more likely to be armed. Where I live, I don't know anyone who owns a gun and don't expect to encounter a criminal armed with a gun in my lifetime.
- mindcrime 12y ago
  I live in a country where gun ownership isn't a thing and I don't think citizens in my country need guns. Aaah, there are definitely some serious cultural differences at play here then. I grew up in a country where my grandfather bought me my first gun before I was even born. And I've been shooting guns (rifles, pistols, etc.) since I was about 9 years old. Here in the US, there is a large population of people who taking shooting very seriously. There are competitive shooting events run through obstacle courses and using pop-up targets, similar to the things you may have seen on television for police training. Yeah, people here do that kind of stuff for fun. There are magazines, books, videos, training courses, etc. dedicated to tactical shooting, self-defense, etc. Of course none of this is required (by and large, but see below) and not everybody goes to this extreme. But this is what I mean by "gun people". And in my experience here, the kind of people who make the choice to carry in public, tend to come from that population. So yeah, I by and large trust those people to do the right thing in a scary situation. I would be on your side completely if, to get that permit, you had to take a yearly training course to ensure you are going to act rationally and safely in an event like a movie theatre shooting. FWIW, every US state sets its own standards. Not all states even require a permit for pistols (concealed or otherwise). But in my state (NC), if I want to get a concealed carry permit, I do actually have to attend a training course which includes covering the legalities of carrying a firearm and using deadly force, a firearms safety component, and a visit to the gun range where I would have to certify as proficient with my weapon. There is no yearly recertification requirement however, as best as I can recall.