I’ve come to the conclusion that the rest of us should just raise our hands in the air and back away very slowly from the crazy country. It’s too far gone and nothing will fix it.
So if you had to choose only one for the rest of your life, and the choice was between “gun” and “car” you’d take the gun? (all other things being equal)
I think you’re right there -
what I don’t get, what I really can’t understand, is the people saying that MORE guns is the answer.
I seriously can’t imagine what might have happened had two or three “George Zimmermans” had happened to have been present in that Aurora movie theatre.
And given the fantastic record of how accurate the American police are in high stress situations I can’t imagine how having shootouts at the O.K Corral on a regular basis would be a negative thing:rolleyes:
Sorry, I’m just not buying Nancy Pelosi as “an omniscient deity”.
Fortunately, other women have a different slant on things.
*Well, I met a pretty gal, she was tall and thin
I asked her what she had, she said a Fox four-ten
I looked her up and down, said boy this is love
So we headed for the brush to shoot a big fat dove
Shotgun boogie, boy the feathers flew
Look out Mr. Dove when she draws a bead on you*
- Tennessee Ernie Ford
The day “an omniscient deity” appears before me to discuss guns is the day I shoot “an omniscient deity”.
I don’t own a gun, but presuming that I did If the deity said “murder” then no, since there’s no difference between murdered by a gun or some other implement, so I may as well keep the gun as the murder will still presumably take place.
But if it was just a generic “someone will die”, I’d get rid of them since accidents do happen. Similarly, I’d get rid of my bowling ball if told that someone would accidentally be killed by my bowling ball.
If I knew with absolute certainty (so as not to fight the hypothetical) that I would kill an innocent person with my car at some future point unless I gave up driving, I would give up driving in a heartbeat. Are you seriously saying you wouldn’t?
That’s correct. I would not.
Everybody is going to die at some point. When and how is very unlikely to make any difference to society at large.
And before you pat yourself on the back too vigorously, consider this–perhaps the person who replaces you in that situation will do something that causes more than one person to die. In other words, if you continue to drive, that might potentially be the best possible solution available.
Yes, but in the hypothetical, you are the cause of death, shortening that person’s life by a nonzero amount that may be two hours or may be sixty years.
“He was going to die at some point of something anyway, so he might as well die under my wheels if the alternative is an infringement of my freedom to drive” is incredibly callous. We aren’t talking about society at large, we’re talking about you killing one other person. The hypothetical in the OP said nothing about every single gun owner having a vision of killing someone, it specifically said you.
I’m not patting myself on the back at all, and you’re amending the OP’s situation in an unwarranted manner, in order to make your viewpoint look less awful.
I just know there’s no possible way I could get behind the wheel of my car if every time I did so, I had to wonder if this was the day. I can do that now in my present life, because I have no reason to believe I will ever kill someone with my car, and given my driving record, it’s statistically very unlikely.
So, after I get rid of the guns I currently own, will I be able to buy more? Or is this an “if you own a gun at all, ever, someone will die because of it” situation? Also, do I have to destroy my weapons? I’m wondering if there’s some sort of Twilight Zone “gotcha” where I do what the deity says and someone is still killed with “my” gun that I sold to my neighbor.
I don’t currently own a firearm. But I’m solidly pro-gun rights, and I would be skeptical of any “deity” that told me the world would be safer if I didn’t make precautions to defend myself than if I did. I’m a safe driver. I would be suspicious if someone told me I would kill someone on the road in the future. If they told me I would be involved in an accident where someone else died, I would wonder if me staying off the road would merely ensure someone else hit and killed them instead.
Similarly with guns. I don’t even load my weapons until right before I plan to use them, and I always verify my target is clear and no one is near the path of the bullet. So if someone was going to be killed in an accidental shooting with my weapon I would be skeptical, and also suspicious that if it wasn’t my gun that killed them, it would just be someone else’s, and nothing would be different. If time travel movies have taught me anything, it’s that you can’t change the course of history.
How come the brain-washed PC crowd in their pathetic little attempt at an allegory ignored the second half of my post?
The vast majority of people die innocent and everybody dies. Not playing along with whatever scam this cut-rate deity is running.
Because none of us think you’ll be around very long.
Because that omniscient feminist “deity” is really the Devil in disguise…“Dear boy, you must give up your ability to defend yourself and those you love because if you don’t something bad will surely happen, and if you do your lovely government will protect you and all you ever have to do is call 911 and the police will be sure to arrive within the hour.”
Because it was really, really stupid.
I don’t personally own any guns, but I am generally in favor of gun rights, but if I did own weapons, I’d probably have to say no.
First, without fighting the hypothetical, since we’re given absolutely no basis for how that person might die, what if the use that results in death is reasonable? Say, for instance, someone finds out I have guns, breaks into my house, and I shoot him. But if I get rid of my guns, he doesn’t bother to rob me. And, otherwise, nothing else really changes. It would suck to have to shoot him, but it’s not because of a choice I made, but because of one he made.
Similarly, if my gun is stolen, especially if I have it properly stored, as even a high quality gun safe can be broken into given enough time, how am I in any way morally or ethically responsible for such behavior by that criminal, especially if I’ve done everything I should to prevent it?
Second, fighting the hypothetical, it’s a bit of a silly question of basically asking what my rights are worth. As others pointed out, replace “owning a gun” with some other right, and it’s basically asking if such and such a right is worth the death–justified or not, accidental or not–of just one person. In all seriousness, many of the rights we enjoy have resulted in countless deaths. How many people have died for the right to vote, the right to free speech, freedom of religion, etc. over time? Not just MY right, but THE right to vote, speech, own a gun, religion… those are worth dying for. Certainly, if MY right would unavoidably cause a lot of deaths, I’d consider it, but one death, particularly without knowing how, no. And I say that with the full knowledge that probably one of the most likely to die would be me.
But all of that said, while if I owned guns I wouldn’t give them up based on that knowledge, given the risks associated with my ownership (low, but not zero) compared to my particular desire to own one (also low), I just don’t see the need. But that’s the point, maybe I’ll change my mind at some point down the line.
The hypothetical states “innocent,” thus presumably excluding someone who broke into your house.
Why is the OP sexist?
WHY is it really stupid to ask why these bs’ing monkeys all dolled up in $10,000 suits and $20,000 pajamas say, “Do as I say not what I do.” What’s good for the goose is good for the gander!
You posted this before I noted you in the other thread, so I’ll let this go with a note as well. You really need to tone it down and leave personal insults and name-calling out of your posts if you wish to continue here.