# Guy carrying a gun walking around the neighborhood... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 26, 2018, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guy-carrying-a-gun-walking-around-the-neighborhood/809630 "2018-02-26T23:08:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guy-carrying-a-gun-walking-around-the-neighborhood/809630/121 "2018-03-02T16:07:05Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Are you former military? No I wasn’t but I used to be a security guard when I was young. I’m a handgunner since the 80s and I spend a lot of time at the range. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guy-carrying-a-gun-walking-around-the-neighborhood/809630/122 "2018-03-02T17:28:15Z")
> [@SigMan](#): > > Wistful thinking. Some robbers shot the clerks after getting the money. I will have my gun out in case. Will I shoot I don’t know, I can’t answer that. Robbers don’t like to be murderers. If you hold up a store, if you happen to get caught, you spend maybe a couple years in jail. If you shoot the clerk, they look much harder for you, and you spend a much, much longer time in jail (or maybe not so long, in death penalty states). The person robbing the store is doing so out of desperation, they need money, and that is where they are looking to get it. They are not doing so because they want to kill people. If your scenario was common at all, gun murders would be far, far higher than they are. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guy-carrying-a-gun-walking-around-the-neighborhood/809630/123 "2018-03-02T17:52:53Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Look for the “Sporting Goods” sign. It depends where you are. I don’t remember seeing guns here in the Chicago area in a Walmart. When I go to Arizona, they’re ubiquitous. I was actually surprised the first time I saw this. “Holy shit, Walmart sells guns and ammo?” ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guy-carrying-a-gun-walking-around-the-neighborhood/809630/124 "2018-03-02T18:00:35Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Robbers don’t like to be murderers. > > If you hold up a store, if you happen to get caught, you spend maybe a couple years in jail. > > If you shoot the clerk, they look much harder for you, and you spend a much, much longer time in jail (or maybe not so long, in death penalty states). > > The person robbing the store is doing so out of desperation, they need money, and that is where they are looking to get it. They are not doing so because they want to kill people. > > If your scenario was common at all, gun murders would be far, far higher than they are. Are you kidding me? Robbers do and did killed clerks because their lives means nothing to them. You need to get out from under the rock. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/F4FJyAA9pUU/maxresdefault.jpg "St. Pete store clerk shot during robbery despite handing over cash") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4FJyAA9pUU) ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guy-carrying-a-gun-walking-around-the-neighborhood/809630/125 "2018-03-02T18:50:58Z")
[quote=“SigMan, post:124, topic:809630”] Are you kidding me? Robbers do and did killed clerks because their lives means nothing to them. You need to get out from under the rock. [/QUOTE] And you are contending that this happens: A) Always B) Most of the time C) Some of the time D) Rarely E) Never In order to justify your level of paranoia about robbers, you would have to be on the a or b. I would answer d. You are more likely to increase the tension, and increase the chances of someone (including yourself) getting shot by bringing your own firearm into the situation. The problem is that you look at an extremely rare event, and plan for that, forgetting that in the much more common scenarios, your plans do more harm than good. ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guy-carrying-a-gun-walking-around-the-neighborhood/809630/126 "2018-03-02T18:55:21Z")
Man, you are so full of baloney. You don’t know me at all. Anyway my answer is C. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guy-carrying-a-gun-walking-around-the-neighborhood/809630/127 "2018-03-02T19:06:44Z")
Since the worst case scenario is death, I would play it safe and think that a robbery would end in death. If I survive a robbery, you are free to ridicule me as you like. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guy-carrying-a-gun-walking-around-the-neighborhood/809630/128 "2018-03-02T20:28:20Z")
> [@SigMan](#): > > Man, you are so full of baloney. You don’t know me at all. Anyway my answer is C. I am responding directly to what you said that you would do, and your plans, and your statement before that that “I told everyone, “I’ll survive, you won’t!””. I don’t need to know you to read your words, and your words are indicating that you believe that if you do not have your gun with you at all times, then you will end up dead. Seriously, how can you parse “I’ll survive, you won’t!”, especially in responding to someone saying that he feels that normal home security is all you really need, and that he hoped that he would not become so paranoid or frightened to feel he needs a gun on him all the time, in a way that does not indicate that you are just a bit more concerned about your personal security than your average citizen? > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Since the worst case scenario is death, I would play it safe and think that a robbery would end in death. If I survive a robbery, you are free to ridicule me as you like. 🙂 Most robberies do not end in death. If you “played it safe”, then you are making the situation more dangerous. The overwhelming vast majority of robbers have no plans on shooting you if you hand over the money. They will start shooting if you pull out a gun, though. That puts not just your life, but the lives of bystanders at risk. ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guy-carrying-a-gun-walking-around-the-neighborhood/809630/129 "2018-03-02T21:17:10Z")
I only said that to scoffers and you don’t know what I’ll really do. Maybe I’ll chicken maybe I can’t. That’s why I said that I can’t answer that. Anyway I’m through with this place, too many assholes who tried to twist my words around so fuck you. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guy-carrying-a-gun-walking-around-the-neighborhood/809630/130 "2018-03-03T15:58:16Z")
> [@SigMan](#): > > I only said that to scoffers and you don’t know what I’ll really do. Maybe I’ll chicken maybe I can’t. That’s why I said that I can’t answer that. > > Anyway I’m through with this place, too many assholes who tried to twist my words around so fuck you. You are not banned. Yet. If you chose to return remain civil unless you are in the Pit. This is an official warning. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guy-carrying-a-gun-walking-around-the-neighborhood/809630/131 "2018-03-03T17:34:43Z")
Dunno 'bout y’all but I had been under the impression that one of the points about an organized civil society is to \*\*\*not \*\*\*have to live in constant standing survival mode… ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guy-carrying-a-gun-walking-around-the-neighborhood/809630/132 "2018-03-04T14:53:17Z")
I don’t remember seeing this posted anywhere. > **[How The NRA Lost Its Mind](https://www.cracked.com/article_25195_how-nra-lost-its-mind.html)** > > In the wake of last year's shooting in Las Vegas, which saw 58 concertgoers murdered and 800+ injured, Donald Trump promised that we'd be soon "be talking about gun laws." It was really easy to call bullshit on that promise, but then ... we started... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guy-carrying-a-gun-walking-around-the-neighborhood/809630.md?page=6)