Patrick wrote:
>
> But are these _really_ the only available choices?
> Either carry a gun or be a crime victim? Are there
> no other steps you can take to protect yourself,
> such as avoiding high crime areas, locking your car
> doors, buying a burglar alarm, carrying pepper spray
> and so forth? While none of these steps _guarantee_
> that you will not be a crime victim, neither does
> carrying a gun. (Unless you're Quick-Draw McGraw,
> carrying a gun can get you killed instead of just
> mugged, though.)
>
You're right, there are nonviolent choices and things
that you can do to avoid the situation in the first
place. If you don't feel comfortable or safe with
carrying a gun, by all means you shouldn't. Tasers
and sprays are quite effective in many cases. But if
you don't have personal objections to firearms,
there's no logical reason to not use that instead- use
your best and most forceful option when using force.
And no, there are no guarantees in anything. Many
people (most notably law enforcement, of course) have
chosen to keep their weapon concealed and attempt to
defuse the situation- the important thing is to save
lives, not have a cool shoot-em-up story for your
wacko friends. Sometimes you have to take the life of
an aggressor to save others, but that's not always the
case. The 'quick draw' scenario is ridiculous for the
most part. Anyone who's been through a CCW class has
had it drilled into them that that is one of the
_stupidest_ things you can do. The classes are almost
without exception taught by experienced law
enforcement people.
Dean Forster
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35
a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/
