Ronn Blankenship wrote:
>Then what method do you recommend that the safety-conscious, law-abiding
>homeowner have ready to defend his home and the lives of his family members
>from an intruder armed with a potentially lethal weapon (gun, knife,
>crowbar, etc.)? Simply asking the intruder to wait until the police have
>time to get there is probably not going to work . . .
My father was once sent into a state of foaming rage by some people we
knew who carried guns for exactly the reasons you're describing... but
didn't load them. Their theory was that the muggers/rapists/thieves would
be scared because they were waving a gun at them. My father's theory was
that the bad guy would take one look at the gun, think, "great, these
people can kill me," and kill them as quickly as possible rather than
just beating them up or whatever.
So these people were *extremely* stupid, but I can't even count the
number of people I know with guns who keep them unloaded... or have never
shot a gun before... or who tell me they would "shoot to wound", and
*still* expect the gun to protect them from "intruders". This is
bullshit. A gun is a lethal weapon; it is not only foolish, but
dangerous, to carry a gun unless you are willing to kill with it. The
number of gun-owners I know who fit into that catagory are infintesmal.
I have shot a gun, but I have never owned a gun or wanted to own a gun
because I don't want to kill. Thus, I am a lot safer without a gun.
Owning a gun does not simply imply a great deal of responsibility
(although there is that, too); it puts you into an entirely different
catagory of danger, and one that you had bloody well better be ready to
deal with.
Kat Feete
P.S. I'm back.
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