# 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:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/81 "2013-05-17T23:49:38Z")
And please, ‘high value’, if firearms are the most valuable thing in your house you need a larger trailer. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/82 "2013-05-17T23:50:16Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I thought guns made people feel safe. I would have thought others knowing they have them would make them feel safer. Now I’m confused. Are you really? A gun might make you more likely to survive some crimes: assault and murder, for instance. It’s not going to do anything for you in a burglary; deadfall traps are (rightly) illegal, and we don’t have teleporters to whisk you from your job to your home mid-break-in. Others knowing you have them might prevent a home invasion, but not a burglary. ---
**Author:** ![Archaic\_Entity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@Archaic\_Entity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archaic_Entity)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/83 "2013-05-17T23:50:25Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > Nobody was confused. The numbers are not particularly misleading, either. The US has a lot of guns and the US has a lot of gun deaths. How one interprets the number of deaths depends on one’s values. > > You can verify the numbers using the wiki with gun deaths. It breaks all kinds out by category. 6.3 gun-related suicides per 100k is quite a lot given that the US has a population of 315 million people. It is also not true that people are going to kill themselves if they want to kill themselves. Availability of sanitary, painless methods makes a significant difference. One more corrective: **msmith** is a dude. M Smith. I apologize for that. I don’t know why I kept reading that as a double “s” there. And while you and I might not be confused, I don’t know what **msmith** point was, so I was defending against it with my best guess. > [@sitnam](#): > > Yes. The gun owner’s masterbatory fantasy: there you are awaken in the middle of the night by intruders, your wife lies sleeping by your side about to get raped, your children sleep unknowingly about to be abducted, and only you with your Red Ryder carbine-action, two hundred shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock can save them. Yup, you nailed it. Every gun owner wants their family’s lives endangered, just so that they can “get the bad guy.” It’s not even remotely related to just being prepared in case that does happen. Maybe having a plan of action if it occurs. But nope, guys love their guns because they prove he’s a man. Let’s not get too ridiculous here. You missed the point anyway. I’m not home, typically, during the work day. Most likely, my guns would be. Easy snatch and grab, since my information is out there, and it’s known that I likely own a gun. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/84 "2013-05-17T23:51:00Z")
If all guns suddenly came with big shiny badges, somehow distinct from law enforcement badges, no explanation given, I wonder how many would voluntarily wear them. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/85 "2013-05-17T23:51:28Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > And please, ‘high value’, if firearms are the most valuable thing in your house you need a larger trailer. My car is worth less than my house. Does that mean my car isn’t high-value? ---
**Author:** ![Archaic\_Entity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@Archaic\_Entity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archaic_Entity)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/86 "2013-05-17T23:52:13Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > And please, ‘high value’, if firearms are the most valuable thing in your house you need a larger trailer. High-value in terms of the black market. A stolen gun is a pretty good murder weapon. Also, guns are a valuable commodity. But you’re pretty good at this. I love the image you’ve got of gun owners. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/87 "2013-05-17T23:55:44Z")
> [@Archaic\_Entity](#): > > High-value in terms of the black market. A stolen gun is a pretty good murder weapon. > > Also, guns are a valuable commodity. But you’re pretty good at this. I love the image you’ve got of gun owners. High value, period. An eight-pound AR-15 can fetch you $1,000 at the local flea market. It’s unlikely to be damaged in the theft, and it’s too large to hide in the home easily but too small to be cumbersome to steal. Other than electronics and jewelry, not much else has that kind of financial “density.” ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/88 "2013-05-17T23:56:15Z")
> [@Archaic\_Entity](#): > > I’m not home, typically, during the work day. Most likely, my guns would be. Easy snatch and grab, since my information is out there, and it’s known that I likely own a gun. I would have thought your guns would be locked up in a safe like all other responsible gun owners do. Seriously, if owning guns makes protecting your property less safe perhaps selling them might be the answer. You can drive a Lamborghini and worry constantly about it getting scratched or stolen or you can drive a 20 year old F-150 and not even lock the fucker and dare people to steal it. If protection of property is the goal guns make less sense in any realistic way. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/89 "2013-05-17T23:58:26Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > Are you really? A gun might make you more likely to survive some crimes: assault and murder, for instance. It’s not going to do anything for you in a burglary; deadfall traps are (rightly) illegal, and we don’t have teleporters to whisk you from your job to your home mid-break-in. > > Others knowing you have them might prevent a home invasion, but not a burglary. My point is owning guns is often a symptom of insecurity not an answer to solve it. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/90 "2013-05-17T23:59:26Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I would have thought your guns would be locked up in a safe like all other responsible gun owners do. Oh, have you invented the first impregnable safe? > [@Sitnam](#): > > Seriously, if owning guns makes protecting your property less safe perhaps selling them might be the answer. You can drive a Lamborghini and worry constantly about it getting scratched or stolen or you can drive a 20 year old F-150 and not even lock the fucker and dare people to steal it. > > If protection of property is the goal guns make less sense in any realistic way. If the government doesn’t supply concealed carry permit holder or purchaser information, then the risk is largely nullified. At that point, if people know you own guns, it’s on you. Do you imagine Lamborghini owners would be pleased with the existence of a searchable database of them? ---
**Author:** ![Archaic\_Entity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@Archaic\_Entity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archaic_Entity)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/91 "2013-05-18T00:00:34Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I would have thought your guns would be locked up in a safe like all other responsible gun owners do. > > Seriously, if owning guns makes protecting your property less safe perhaps selling them might be the answer. You can drive a Lamborghini and worry constantly about it getting scratched or stolen or you can drive a 20 year old F-150 and not even lock the fucker and dare people to steal it. > > If protection of property is the goal guns make less sense in any realistic way. Or… you could side-step the issue by not posting the information in the first place. And yes, guns should be locked in a safe, but if I’m not home and they are there and equipped to steal stuff, they can conceivably break my safe, too. Safes aren’t 100%. If my information’s not posted, then I’m not targeted, then my guns don’t enter into your equation you’ve got there. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/92 "2013-05-18T00:00:35Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > My point is owning guns is often a symptom of insecurity not an answer to solve it. That’s not a point, so much as a caricature. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/93 "2013-05-18T00:03:43Z")
> [@Archaic\_Entity](#): > > . . . applied to her link. . . The poster’s name is m smith, not ms mith. Please use the male pronoun to avoid personal issues. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/94 "2013-05-18T00:06:20Z")
> [@Archaic\_Entity](#): > > But you’re pretty good at this. I love the image you’ve got of gun owners. > [@Sitnam](#): > > My point is owning guns is often a symptom of insecurity not an answer to solve it. This sort of personal sniping is no longer permitted in this thread. Stop it. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/95 "2013-05-18T00:06:56Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > Oh, have you invented the first impregnable safe? Safe crackers spend years of training perfecting their craft and hand picking their crew to steal your cheap ass Glock. It’s odd Hollywood hasn’t made a _Italian Job: Nashville_ yet, it’s such a hot topic. > [@Human\_Action](#): > > Do you imagine Lamborghini owners would be pleased with the existence of a searchable database of them? Do Lamborghini owners purchase them for the feeling of security? ---
**Author:** ![Archaic\_Entity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@Archaic\_Entity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archaic_Entity)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/96 "2013-05-18T00:07:12Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > The poster’s name is m smith, not ms mith. Please use the male pronoun to avoid personal issues. Yeah… **maeglin** pointed that out to me. It was my mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Archaic\_Entity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@Archaic\_Entity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archaic_Entity)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/97 "2013-05-18T00:08:49Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Safe crackers spend years of training perfecting their craft and hand picking their crew to steal your cheap ass Glock. It’s odd Hollywood hasn’t made a _Italian Job: Nashville_ yet, it’s such a hot topic. > Do Lamborghini owners purchase them for the feeling of security? Here’s breaking a safe in less than three minutes: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MgWrCtdbPc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MgWrCtdbPc) And there goes my Glock. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/98 "2013-05-18T00:11:27Z")
> [@Archaic\_Entity](#): > > And yes, guns should be locked in a safe, but if I’m not home and they are there and equipped to steal stuff, they can conceivably break my safe, too. Safes aren’t 100%. Guns aren’t 100% safe. Statistically the one you own is more likely to kill someone you care about than someone committing a crime. If statistics have any impact on you you’d sell your weapons. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/99 "2013-05-18T00:13:56Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Safe crackers spend years of training perfecting their craft and hand picking their crew to steal your cheap ass Glock. It’s odd Hollywood hasn’t made a _Italian Job: Nashville_ yet, it’s such a hot topic. No, they just bash and pry them till they open, or move the safe elsewhere and do it there. Also, they don’t know if there’s going to be a safe until they’ve broken into your home. If they shrug and give up, they steal whatever else they can on the way out. Yay. > [@Sitnam](#): > > Do Lamborghini owners purchase them for the feeling of security? That has what to do with protecting them from burglary, again? ---
**Author:** ![Archaic\_Entity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@Archaic\_Entity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archaic_Entity)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602/100 "2013-05-18T00:14:43Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Guns aren’t 100% safe. Statistically the one you own is more likely to kill someone you care about than someone committing a crime. If statistics have any impact on you you’d sell your weapons. That’s a fallacious stat. Of course, a gun that I own has a better chance of hurting or killing me or someone I love than a gun I’ve never seen. Your kitchen knives have a better chance of cutting you than someone coming in and using a knife on you. But a gun that is unloaded have a very low chance of causing me any personal damage. And by following gun safety precautions I can limit the potential of hurting others around me with my firearm. Just as you putting your knives up where your kids can’t get to them, and learning how to properly cut vegetables, will keep you and your loved ones safe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-gun-owners-do-not-have-to-wear-yellow-stars-in-public/658602.md?page=6)