I wish I was as niave as you.
Aestu wrote:
A gun should be properly secured when not in use.
A properly secured weapon is inaccessible while your home is being invaded.
This is not true. I can secure my weapons in a bed-side safe that opens with the swipe of a finger. The whole process takes a second and that second is all that stands between me arming myself when I hear a suspect noise in the house.
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A home invader is likely to get the drop on you should he have the inclination to enter your home armed in the first place and you will die far from your weapon unless you walk around with a thigh holster at all times of day and night. The invader will likely kill you with a gun he would not have access to if you didn't have access to them either.
You're assuming the only weapon I have is bed-side. Without small children in the house I can leave weapons laying in all sorts of places, despite what you say about needing to secure them all. Fact is, regardless of where I am in the house, I could be close to a loaded weapon.
The over-arching truth to this all is if I had no weapons in the house I'd be less safe in the event of a home invasion than if I had one, because there is still the chance that I would be near that single weapon... and if I didn't have a weapon, well, I'd be a sitting duck at my aggressors mercy.
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Empirically, many die daily in America to gun violence, but very few are saved by gun ownership.
Countries that do not have widespread gun ownership have far less violent crime, and most countries that have issues with violence resolve them through disarmament - so the argument that weapons reduce the likelyhood of violent crime is empirically false.
If a person kills another person with a gun, the gun isn't to blame... the person who pulled the trigger is. Also, the person who was killed is likely to die through some other means; knife, hands, vehicle, etc. If you're that determined to do harm to a person you'll find a means to do harm. That's a fact. Now, as for the fact that more people die to gun violence than are saved by guns... the fact that people
are saved by guns is all enough reason to not have a ban on them. Criminals, regardless of the law, will have their hands on guns.
Even if you were to disarm an entire country gun violence wouldn't drop to zero because the people who are using the guns for malicious reasons are likely to be criminals, and criminals don't play by the same rules. I like using Washington DC as an example - they've had gun bans for decades now but there are still an outrageous number of gun-related crimes in the city. Why? Criminals don't follow the law. "I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it." I'm almost positive I'd never turn my gun on a person unless I'm truly threatened... so, until that day comes, my guns will sit idle and ready. Should I be disadvantaged when it comes to saving me or my families life just because
you, or someone else thinks I might do harm to someone else without provocation?
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Most home invaders stake out homes and try to invade them when no one is present. Armed home invasions are very, very rare. Why would anyone want to invade YOUR home, anyway?
Your argument leaves room for armed home invasions to happen and for that reason I'll continue to arm myself. By your own admission, they
do happen. As for why would someone want to invade my home? Why not? Maybe they think I'm an easy target because they're hoping I don't have a gun? Maybe they've been stealing mail from my mailbox and found out I'm financially comfortable, although I don't live in the most up-scale community? Maybe someone I know mentioned something about all the toys I have in my house? inb4 "Malcom X sedz..."
Aestu wrote:
The only reason people like to own guns is a lack of self-mastery - an inability to be a man and face life without this toy. Proof of this is that you make two completely unrelated and equally irrational statements in favor of guns - but the only common theme of both arguments is a morbid fascination with an instrument of killing. The appeal is psychopathological.
The world is a scary place and it's full of scary people. Many of these people, for no apparent reason, can snap and have a gun poined at the back of your head without warning. They don't care about my life or the value I place on it... almost like I'm simply human filler to them. Forgive me if I appear weak to you, but when it comes to the world and the people in it, I'd rather arm myself and have a fighting chance rather than being the one staring down a barrel of a gun with no way to defend myself. Without my morbid fascination, I could be dead, my wife could be raped and my son could be gutted and used to transport drugs across the border. Yea, not likely... but, it could happen. Should either of us be faced with that day I'll be more prepared to defend myself than you would be... and I'm fine with that.
