Well, that’s simple. If nobody is shooting at you, you don’t shoot at anybody else. You take cover and stay out of the crossfire.
That be said, I agree with the blogger’s later statements about being tired of wish-fulfillment fantasies, which only serve to make gun owners look as hot-headed as gun prohibition advocates make them out to be. A defensive firearm is a weapon of last resort, and a handgun a rather poor choice at that.
Strabger
Well my honest hope would be that I’d never fire a single shot outside of a gun range. But it’s the simple difference between being completely at someone’s mercy, or at least having the means to defend yourself.
Get rid of the guns. Please. This isn’t the wild west anymore. Ban hand guns. It might take a decade or two, but so what? Ban hand guns.
If you decide to carry a gun, please, make the decision as part of a rational calculus, not in the rush of emotion following a horrific event. “I’d rather go down in a fight” is not a good reason to own a gun.
I figured my “I’d rather go down in a fight” comment was pretty well explained by the rest of my post as my desire to not be a helpless victim if, God forbid, I were ever in a similar situation.
What I can offer has already been said: go to a range, get comfortable with shooting, and then consider buying a handgun. No sense going out and spending $500 on a pistol you’re uncomfortable with only to find out you’re no good and would do better with a can of mace.
Leaffan, I hear ya man. . . but their proliferation makes them a necessary evil.
and on preview, I’ll also agree with Pochacco. When you carry a handgun, you also carry the moral burden of knowing how to use it, and when.
Tripler
Remember, John Wayne was just in the movies.
Noted. Remember, before yesterday I could have been considered just another liberal gun-demonizer. Now I’m just coming around to the realization that a gun may be a necessary evil should I ever be faced with a situation where I would be dead without one.
I’m not a lawyer, but if your university is a private institution I am positive you would have no case because the second amendment applies only to the government. If it’s a public university, I’m not sure what the law is.
So in other words, no offense, you’re having an emotional reaction. Not to dissuade you from buying a gun, because it’s not my business, but you might as well consider that while you consider what you would want to buy.
Fair enough. When you’re not just thinking about what happened in Virginia, consider how unlikely it is that you will ever be in a situation where it would help.
The flip side of that is that the more people who have guns legally, the more guns that are available illegally.
The odds of which are vanishingly small. Random shootings by crazy strangers are exceedingly rare.
In certain situations carrying a gun for your own safety is prudent. I won’t argue with anyone who owns or carries a gun when they regularly find themselves in dangerous locations or situations. But carrying all the time, regardless of circumstance, “just in case”, is not a rational response to the level of threat.
There are situations where you can find yourself dead without matches. Or rope. Or a pair of pliers. Do you carry these with you all the time?
A gun is a tool. If you have a reasonable expectation that you may find yourself in a situation where you need to kill someone in the near future, then by all means, carry one.
Miniscule odds of ever being in such a situation. But these situations have occurred in the past and will occur forever. What happened in Virginia was the worst massacre in the US, because it was worse than all the other massacres that happened before it. How many years before another one happens? How long before this is no longer the record? Of course the odds are small, but the fact that it happens at all, ever, anywhere, should be cause enough for ALL of us try and make ourselves safer.
If I don’t at least do some research and try out some guns at a gun range, and just keep going about my daily routine as if nothing happened, or nothing will ever happen again, I’ll just feel like I’m sticking my head in the sand.
Other than an old .22LR of my brother’s and stuff for work, I haven’t had much interaction with guns. I still lean towards the “Necessary for the security of a free state… right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” line of thinking.
If you’re mainly into the “I refuse to helplessly wait for the cops.” factor, you could look into something less lethal while you learn more about carrying a gun in your locality. Pepper spray, tazers, situational awareness and self-defense classes, etc.
True. Also wouldn’t get me expelled.
Before you make a purchase, make sure you’re mentally prepared to end somebody’s life. Otherwise, don’t even think about carrying a gun. Don’t carry unless you’re ready to draw; don’t draw unless you’re ready to fire; don’t fire unless you’re ready to kill. Not wound, but kill; turn a living human being into a rotting corpse.
If you do decide to carry the means of instant death with you at all times, good luck. Your human-killing tool is far more likely to be the source of tragedy than its remedy. It will not make you safer.
Are you mentally prepared for a situation where all you can do is hide under a table and hope the guy next to you takes a bullet to the head instead of you? I’m not. In such a situation I’d be much better prepared to end a life that I would be to accept my own death.
You’re a lot more likely to die from being in a car accident. About 40,000 Americans die that way every year. You’d have to have over 10,000 incidents like this, or 27 every single day, for the death toll from random shootings by crazy strangers to be as high as that from car accidents.
Here’s another way to put the risk in perspective. Say one of these shootings happens about once every year somewhere in the US. (I’m not an expert on these things, but that seems about right to me, based on a brief googling) The US has a population of about 300 million people. Assuming everyone’s chances of dying in one of these shootings is the same, you get a 1 in 10 million chance of dying in one. The National Safety Council says that 47 Americans died from being hit by lightning in 2003. The risk of being killed in a random shooting like this is similar to your risk of being struck by lightning, actually a little less likely than being struck by lightning.
We all have to make our own decisions about what kinds of risks we’re willing to take. I personally don’t think this is a likely enough risk to make significant changes to my lifestyle over. I can’t tell you if it’s significant enough to change your lifestyle.
Guns are demonized in our (American) left-leaning culture only if that’s the shape of your particular inkblot.
I see plenty of gun-worship and fetishization in popular culture and the media. I see a fairly right-leaning political culture. All political parties outside the insignificant fringe are against communism and socialism for example – all, it’s not like there’s a range. Both major parties are pro-business, pro-farm-subsidy, pro-development, anti-animal-welfare. Every Democratic presidential candidate poses with a gun and hunting vest (so far).
Guns are allowed and promoted practically everywhere; there’s a Constituional amendment that appears to guarantee their right (as long as we pointedly ignore
the militia clause).
When you see anti-gun staements in the press or by individual citizens, what you’re seeing is just alternative opinion, not left-leaning culture.
Sailboat
Anne, we have precautions to limit the number of car accidents. I wear a seat belt. Many states require them by law. I drive the speed limit. We have strict penalties against drunk drivers.
When there’s a thunderstorm, you don’t go outside.
There don’t seem to be any precautions against random madmen. There are no seatbelts or airbags, there is no shelter. There’s no penalty to deter people from committing these kinds of atrocities because the killer will end up killing himself.
Our law enforcement, FROM WHAT I’VE SEEN, exists to give a false sense of security, when in fact there is very little. Just watch the news, with all the reports of these warning signs that were completely ignored.
Oh sure, we’re going to take these kinds of threats seriously from now on. For 2 years. Maybe 3. Then we won’t. Then there will be another shooting. Lather, rinse, repeat.
I know you are simply trying to make a point about how miniscule the chances are that I would ever be in such a situation. But the fact of the matter is that the possibility DOES exist, and much in the way that I will always wear a seatbelt and never drive drunk, citizens should be allowed to take measures to protect THEMSELVES in these kinds of situations. Because God knows no one else seems to be concerned about it. I watched the memorial services when I was in high school and Columbine happened. I watched them today.
There’s no excuse for it, because it could have been prevented, or at least minimized. And yet we almost excuse it.
“Oh, just a troubled boy. These things happen.”
“We need to do away with these video games.”
“We need to take better care of the psyches of our young adults.”
All bullshit. You guys keep going with your pro-active solutions. I’d rather be safe. I’m tired of watching memorial services and hearing a parade of excuses and blame-passing.
9mm is not my caliber of choice, but I’ve been shooting for 30+ years. How big are you? How big are your hands? How much are you willing to spend? How often can you practice? What is allowed at your closest range (one near me doesn’t allow jacketed ammo, so most semi-auto’s are right out)? How much can you afford for ammo? How often are you going to practice? Practice a lot, but keep it fun - Don’t beat yourself up over a bad day at the range. Fun and practice.
Every gun is loaded, especially if it isn’t
Don’t point your gun at anything you aren’t willing to destroy
Keep your damn finger off the trigger
Know your target and beyond
(probably referenced already, but can’t hurt to see it again)
Get a gun (don’t be afraid, just lock it up unless you’re using it for now), learn the local laws, get training if you can find and afford it, but most important is practice practice practice. Talk to the guys at the range and gun store - if they look like they just came out of a Rambo flick, they probably aren’t going to be the best choice. Learn how to maintain it. If you aren’t able to practice a lot, avoid complicated semi-autos
You can own a gun without being prepared to take a life. I know plenty of people who keep theirs locked up when not in use. Well over half of my guns are, in my opinion, mostly useless for defense but are great fun at the range.
Key point to remember - shooting is fun. Get a gun that is fun to shoot. Unless your finances prohibit such extravagance, get a small caliber accurate semi to play with (Ruger Mk II or III, for instance) and maybe in 6 months or a year start looking into self defense capable.
Or maybe find the local clubs and if they have a lot of Cowboy Action Shooters, hang around with them for a while. Maybe you’ll end up with a SAA (not so good for CCW) or blackpowder or a WWI or II vintage rifle.
An aside - as I mentioned, I’ve been shooting for 30 or so years and have been told by punks half my age (well, 2/3’s anyway) that I need a lighter trigger or a heavier caliber or (what it all comes down to) a pricier gun. I suspect this is primarily because I come in dressed as a computer geek and not a Navy SEAL wannabe. Guys in Cowboy hats around these parts are more likely to ask what you plan to do with it while guys in camo are more likely to tell you what you need to do.