# Folks, gun owners do not have to wear yellow stars in public. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 17, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602 "2013-05-17T15:07:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/201 "2013-05-30T14:52:47Z")
> [@ChickenLegs](#): > > Gun ownership, and the carrying of guns, by the citizenship as a whole, deters crime. Individuals who shirk this civic duty are increasing my risk of being a crime victim. Kind of like herd immunity for immunization. > [@](#): > > \*I can tolerate the people whose attitude is “I realize that if it came right down to it, I couldn’t defend myself. Sorry.” > > I have nothing but scorn for those who think “I realize (to myself only) that if it came right down to it, I couldn’t defend myself. So I’ll try to normalize my deficiency by removing YOUR ability to defend yourself.” Its more than that, they have a distorted view of the cost benefit of having guns. > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > A quick Wikipedia check shows there have been two fatal bear attacks since Wyoming achived statehood in 1890:..The last was June 17, 2010. Maybe this one – apparently the first since 1892 – had morphed into “a couple.” John Wallace, 59, August 24, 2011 Yellowstone National Park Brian Matayoshi, 57, July 6, 2011 Yellowstone National Park I believe these were both in Wyoming. I’m no expert on bears but I also get the impression that most bear attacks aren’t lethal. The way it was explained to me was that they don’t usually attack you because they are looking for something to eat, they attack you because they want to eliminate you as a threat or something like that. So a lot of times they leave when they don’t feel threatened. > [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > More people are killed and injured by accident by people they know, than are killed and injured by guns wielded defensively while committing an assault or other crime. Does every defensive use of a gun result in the killing or injuring of the assailant? If not then why is your statement a meaningful statistic? ---
**Author:** ![ChickenLegs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@ChickenLegs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChickenLegs)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/202 "2013-05-31T02:54:24Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > I’m no expert on bears but I also get the impression that most bear attacks aren’t lethal. The way it was explained to me was that they don’t usually attack you because they are looking for something to eat, they attack you because they want to eliminate you as a threat or something like that. So a lot of times they leave when they don’t feel threatened. The general wisdom/advice is this: Grizzly bear (brown bear) attacks are usually territorial or protective in nature. So the best thing to do is to play dead; the bear will usually stop the attack once it perceives you’re no longer a threat. Black bear attacks, on the other hand, although much rarer, are usually predatory. That bear likely means to eat you, so it’s best to fight back with all available means. There are are exceptions, of course. Like that photographer that got eaten by a grizzly in Denali last year. A man’s gotta make his own decisions, of course. I, for one, am not going to let a bear of any species gnaw on me and count on statistics that say I probably won’t die. ---
**Author:** ![ChickenLegs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@ChickenLegs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChickenLegs)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/203 "2013-05-31T02:58:00Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > A rather skewed opinion from someone who claims not to know anybody that doesn’t own a gun. “Claims”? By the way, are you really bad at reading comprehension, or do you intentionally distort things? This isn’t your high school debating team. “I actually do live in **Wyoming** , and I don’t know one single **household** that doesn’t have a gun.” ---
**Author:** ![ChickenLegs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@ChickenLegs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChickenLegs)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/204 "2013-05-31T03:08:55Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Its more than that, they have a distorted view of the cost benefit of having guns. I disagree. It’s the chicken and the egg thing. The anti-gun people first recognize their own inability to defend themsleves, THEN search out any available “evidence”, no matter how preposterous, that allows them to self-justify their own weakness. For some, not content to leave it at that, the following stages are jealousy, then hate. That’s how we get the hardcore gun banners that keep insisting that I, personally, would be better off if I disarmed myself. Edit: Not to say that there aren’t some people that honestly do believe that guns make individuals, and society as a whole, less safe. But these people are the casual dupes of the hardcore antis, not the hardcores themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/205 "2013-05-31T06:26:36Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Does every defensive use of a gun result in the killing or injuring of the assailant? If not then why is your statement a meaningful statistic? If you are going to count every time a gun stoker shoots at a thief and misses, then I get to count every time a gunstroker mistakenly shoots at his children/spouse and misses. Apples to apples, gun owners are a menace to themselves and their loved ones, far more than toward legitimate assailants. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/206 "2013-05-31T06:41:54Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > If you are going to count every time a gun stoker shoots at a thief and misses, then I get to count every time a gunstroker mistakenly shoots at his children/spouse and misses. Apples to apples, gun owners are a menace to themselves and their loved ones, far more than toward legitimate assailants. Cite? IIRC civilians are less likely to hit innocents in the exceedingly rare event that that they do fire their weapon. It may be a lot easier to take you seriously if you can quit with the insults and childish name calling outside of the pit too. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/207 "2013-06-01T19:23:48Z")
> [@ChickenLegs](#): > > By the way, are you really bad at reading comprehension, or do you intentionally distort things? This isn’t your high school debating team. > [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > If you are going to count every time a gun stoker shoots at a thief and misses, then I get to count every time a gunstroker mistakenly shoots at his children/spouse and misses. Take the name calling to the BBQ Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/208 "2013-06-01T22:56:13Z")
> [@ChickenLegs](#): > > The general wisdom/advice is this: > > Grizzly bear (brown bear) attacks are usually territorial or protective in nature. So the best thing to do is to play dead; the bear will usually stop the attack once it perceives you’re no longer a threat. > > Black bear attacks, on the other hand, although much rarer, are usually predatory. That bear likely means to eat you, so it’s best to fight back with all available means. > > There are are exceptions, of course. Like that photographer that got eaten by a grizzly in Denali last year. > > A man’s gotta make his own decisions, of course. I, for one, am not going to let a bear of any species gnaw on me and count on statistics that say I probably won’t die. But all in all. . . bears, right? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/209 "2013-06-02T00:51:35Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Apples to apples, gun owners are a menace to themselves and their loved ones, far more than toward legitimate assailants. Only if you consider all gun owners indistinguishable. Responsible gun owners bitterly resent being treated statistically like molecules of gas. ---
**Author:** ![ChickenLegs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@ChickenLegs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChickenLegs)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/210 "2013-06-02T03:15:14Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > But all in all. . . bears, right? Well, we have mountain lions, too…but they aren’t much of a threat to adult males. Mostly only women, children, and people from California are at risk. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/211 "2013-06-03T05:54:08Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > If you are going to count every time a gun stoker shoots at a thief and misses, then I get to count every time a gunstroker mistakenly shoots at his children/spouse and misses. Apples to apples, gun owners are a menace to themselves and their loved ones, far more than toward legitimate assailants. No, you don’t. We are talking about the risks of owning a gun compared the to benefit of owning guns. So you get to compare the actual harm that guns cause in the form of accidental deaths to the instances of harm that are prevented by guns. Suicide is not a risk, that pretty fucking deliberate. And unless you want to move the conversation to whether to not we should have the second amendment at all in light of the 400 million guns already out there, then start a new thread. > [@Marley23](#): > > Take the name calling to the BBQ Pit. But I can keep referring to the two sides of the debate as gun grabbers and gun nuts, right? > [@ChickenLegs](#): > > Well, we have mountain lions, too…but they aren’t much of a threat to adult males. Mostly only women, children, and people from California are at risk. A hungry mountain lion was beaten back from attacking two people by a dog once. I always thought mountain lions were badasses. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602.md?page=10)