I don’t think the OP is lying. I just don’t believe he increased his safety by buying a gun.
It really sucks, though. The OP’s feelings are understandable. I’d probably be nervous about reporting something like that. In my neighborhood the threat is implied, what with the black American flags and militia shit and skulls and guns. Fortunately they don’t know I’m liberal. I really can’t wait to move to a more moderate neighborhood.
This, I’m pretty sure, just about everyone agrees with. And, as a gun owner, who’s participated in more of those threads than I like to think about, I am deeply saddened that the OP feels forced to do it, because it is an additional risk to take into a home.
I just desperately want to avoid blaming the OP for feeling at risk, or being ‘weak’ for not sticking to a previous desire to not own a firearm, or somehow ‘unfaithful’ to Democratic / Liberal norms in the face of in personal direct threats.
I think motive is important to take into consideration with this sort of thing. There are people that own guns who are just itching to kill somebody, and there are people who own them for self-defense. And I don’t think liberal orthodoxy is to be anti-gun. You can support gun control measures and own a firearm at the same time. I personally don’t oppose gun ownership (except by domestic abusers), I just think it’s important to be honest about the risks.
In my case, I will never own a firearm because I have a young child and a history of suicidal ideation. And because I just know things that make me feel like any attempt at self defense would likely go wrong. It’s one thing to practice at a range, it’s another thing to be filled with terror and have your brain make a split second decision without ever giving you a chance to reason it through. I assume combat training in the military addresses this, but I’m not sure the average gun owner has that kind of training. So if I did have a gun, I would want to make sure I could use it even when I was an adrenaline -soaked wreck.
Unfortunately, not all of us have that. Most of my neighbors know my political leanings, and until the last few years, I was only concerned that that may lead to an argument across the fence or at the dog park.
I don’t know that any of my neighbors are MAGA enough or violent enough to come try to kill me, but I don’t know that they aren’t either.
Doubtful any are out to kill you. But Christian Nationalism is definitely on the rise, and some of the adherents are worthy of concern. Lots of overlap with them and MAGA types, white supremacists, and the Qanon crowd.
Eh, I hope not. But can I be confident in that?
Post #151 happened not all that far from me. My neighbors know my political leanings, and I have gotten into heated debates with them. I never thought it would escalate to violence, but between FOX and MAGA propaganda, they are being stoked into stochastic violence.
Once enough Republicans like @ExTank here decide that they need to shoot and kill Democrats and are given the go-ahead by party leaders, I have very real reason to expect an armed confrontation with some of them.
Yes? No? More probably no than yes though. The CCW (Concealed Carry Weapon) Permit class I took spent at least an hour on the stressors involved in a shooting, and discussed multiple types of image, snap cap, and alternate non-live fire training to try to make you ready if you ever decided to use such weapons. And probably just as much time, spread over the course, saying that if you had any doubt as to whether or not shoot, do not do so. But part of that is the fact that out in the ‘wild’ as it were, you often have a lot more options to not be involved.
I suspect that it’s less difficult if you’re defending your house and home, but still something I’d want to have plenty of time and mental effort into considering as a new gun owner (which I’m not, but the point remains).
Back to your first point though, the term “average gun owner” is having to do a lot of work. I personally don’t think there is such a thing anymore, if there has ever been. It covers people who have never owned a pistol, but have had rifles and hunted for generations (Pistols being seen as something inner-city-bangers use), to TEOWAWKI (The end of the world as we know it) preppers, to wannabe zombie hunters, to scared POC who’ve seen others assaulted by hateful strangers and killed by cops.
Based on my old thread, and other anecdotal evidence, a large number of new purchasers (including the OP) seem to be doing the right thing about getting formal training which should include both the psychological and legal issues in even a self-defense shooting, but all of them? I doubt it. My biggest concern in the prior thread was that there is going to be a large class of people who buy a new firearm for safety and with luck will never need it. But that gun will still be in the household for years, possibly generations, long since after it has dropped out of active memory.
Speaking to the OP’s situation specifically, they seem to enjoy the non-defense aspects of ownership, and even have a talent for it. Ideally that means it won’t ever be a forgotten hazard, and that they’ll always be mindful in securing said device.
And it’s the ‘bureau drawer gun’ which was fired perhaps once and then put back in the box and left there for decades that is the unicorn that all old gun collectors hope to find. It’s old, but it’s still in good-as-new shape.