I belong to several mailing lists, one of them is luv-talk at Linux Users of Victoria. Mostly its linux talk, but this morning on checking I discover a topic on Guns and Linux with reference to an American Linux Local Users Groups, and it made my mind boggle!
The discussion starts with this:
I'm thinking about buying a Glock 22, but have never fired either a Glock or a .40S&W pistol. Anyone know where I can try one? A couple of larger questions I have are 1) are there any recommended ranges in the area and 2) anyone ever take a pistol course in the area?
He finishes his post off with this:
N.B. I'm writing this email to TriLug because, while the topic is clearly not on-topic, I have the notion that libertarian-types also like guns. The same cannot, I believe, be said about librarians. libertarian != librarian.
And the discussion rolls on form there with everyone having a go and suggesting the best gun for home ‘defense’ (I’m sure the word is defence…) I mean really, what can I say, if ever I’ve seen a clearer example for banning private use of guns, this is it. Among the posts is the one to this article in the North Carolina Sportsman that starts by giving you the senario of hearing something go thump in the night, you grabbing your gun and getting your good lady wife to lay on the floor by the bed, I assume so she’s out of harms way. The hero then prowls the hallways and rooms of his house looking for the intruder. The article is really about a hand gun called the Judge – that alone pretty well says it all.
What sort of dumb arsed system says its ok to keep a gun, a loaded gun, in the bedside table. All in the ‘defense’ of your home, so let the bastards steal your plasma TV or computer, or whatever it is they want. If their intent was to execute you do you think they’d have woken you by thumping around the house? This is another clear example of what’s wrong with the world, more than happy to kill or harm someone for stealing something that’s yours. Killing someone because they took something of yours is just wrong. The stolen items can be (mostly) replaced, and look, they’re just things. And did it occur to you that if a burglar had no expectation of being shot they probably wouldn’t have a gun? And what about grabbing your mobile and ringing the police as you climb out your bedroom window to gain freedom?
Bloody Americans.
I would just like to point out three things:
First, while it *is* stupid to search your house for an intruder, sometimes it *is* necessary to go through your house until you secure your other family members;
Second, there are many intruders that are ready to hurt and/or kill you with a knife, a bat, or even brute strenghth and fists for your possessions, and if they come into your bedroom, it is best to be prepared with a weapon that would allow you to keep your distance from such nasty weapons;
Third, sometimes your possessions are only secondary: the intruder might very well be there to rape or murder you–in which case, it would be a matter of life and death to have a gun with you at your bedside and the training to use it, to protect yourself and your family. Crawling out a window, or waiting for the police, will not be a viable option in this case, because the police will take minutes to arrive to defend you when seconds count.
This rant, to me, is an example of what is *truely* wrong with this world: too many people are unwilling to take the time and the responsibility of arming themselves and obtaining the training to use their weapons for self-defense. Instead, they rely on others to provide that protection for them!
Thanks for your comments. Most of the world seems to get by quite alright without guns in their bedside tables. While house break ins and violent assaults happen the world over, I’m sure you’ll agree that guns in the house don’t help to prevent them.
I’m happy to pay my taxes for someone to protect me.
–Bruce
I *don’t* agree that “guns in the house don’t prevent them [house break ins and violent assaults].” If criminals are afraid that owners of a house will have guns, they will be less likely break into houses; if a criminal doesn’t know *which* house has guns, then the criminal will be less willing to break into people’s houses.
Also, you don’t pay taxes for someone to protect you, unless you pay taxes for a bodyguard to stay at your home. The police are mostly there to pick up the pieces when something bad happens, although in a tyranny, police are also used to break things.
Self defense, and using a gun in particular, are things that you learn with the hope that you will never need them, but with the understanding that the time may come when your life depends on them! Deciding to keep a gun is equivalent to keeping a first aid kit or and a fire extinguisher in the home, and knowing basic first aid and firefighting skills. Although you may never perform surgery, or fight fires, or conduct a criminal investigation, when an emergency occurs, you often have seconds to save a life or a home when a doctor, or a firefighter, *or a police officer* is minutes away.
And, like my skills in self defense, I hope to never need to use my first aid kit or fire extinguisher!
While it’s true that most of the world seems to do all right without guns beside their bedside tables, it’s difficult to know how many people have *some* sort of weapon by their side; also, far too few have access to first aid kits and fire extinguishers when they are needed.
Thanks for your comments ‘An American’. I would guess that break ins still happen where you live – so the threat of a gun in the house doesn’t seem to deter the burglar, it probably encourages them to carry a gun.
And I do pay taxes for the police force to protect me and my property. It doesn’t mean that they sit outside my place – but it does mean if I call them and say ‘some one is breaking into my house’ they’ll be here very quickly.
Keeping a gun is nothing like a first aid kit or a fire extinguisher – I understand the analogy that you are trying to draw – both could save your life, as could a gun, however the gun is designed to kill. Unless you’ve taken to hurling bandages across the room…..
I don’t think most of the world has some kind of weapon by their side. Most of the world isn’t the nervous type.
Well, just because something happens doesn’t mean that it isn’t deterred. Laws against murder deter murder, yet it still happens. If you would like to examine deterement, you need to look at “before” and “after” statistics–and in Canada, England, and Australia, laws against guns have demonstrated that they don’t deter gun violence, and that “hot burglaries” (where homes are invaded while people are home) increase.
Keeping a gun by your bedside is *exactly* like having a fire extinguisher or a first-aid kit. In the few minutes that you have for the “authorities” to arrive, you can be dead–either murdered by a burglar, burned to a crisp by a fire, or bled to death from accidentally cutting yourself from a kitchen knife. While most of us cannot receive training to be police officers, or firemen, or surgeons, we still need to know certain basic skills to preserve our own lives until we could get proffessional help.
And, in the event of a disaster, it’s likely that *any* police, medical, or firefighting help you will receive will take *hours* or even *days* to get to you. This is why, in America, CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training is so crucial. (CERT just addresses fire, medical, and light search-and-rescue, though; you’re on your own for learning self defense.)
This isn’t to say that, after I complete my CERT training, I will be able to do everything. The goal is to merely “hold the fort” until the “calvary” arrives!
Finally, it is far easier to sleep with a weapon of some sort by your side than you realize. Once, when I was visiting a family in New York, the father was frightened by some sort of noise–and he grabbed a baseball bat with a quickness that startled me. He lived in a rough neighborhood, though, one that very likely had many illegal guns, among other things.
Most of the world isn’t just nervous, but it’s brutal as well. Although many governments are republics or democracies of some sort, far too many are still brutal dictatorships, and all countries have less-desirable neighborhoods.