I’ve lived in places with strict self defense laws and lax self defense laws. When I originally lived in the place with lax self defense laws, I thought it must be better if people don’t carry weapons. Then I moved to the place with strict self defense laws…it was worse.
I was subjected to random aggression on a nearly weekly basis. I’d be sitting at a train station with headphones on, minding my own business, when drunk assholes would take it upon themselves to square up and accuse me of anything that came to mind (am I looking at their girl, am I a queer—the irony in that contrast is not lost on me). There were several times that I actually did fear for my life, and all I could do was run away and be late for whatever I was going to. Every time, the biggest ape on the street knew they would win, and they felt entitled to rule their space with an iron fist.
Then I moved back to the place with lax self defense laws and saw it with new eyes. Drivers are more polite because they don’t know who could be armed. Nobody comes up to me in the street and harasses me for no reason. The implication that I could be armed really does seem to make people think twice, and I’ve started to believe that the impulse to check yourself in case you get shot is the only check and balance that aggressive assholes seem to understand.
Now, to the surprise and horror of my younger self, I carry a gun. It took me a while to get used to, but it has given me a new sense of security and calm if any altercation does occur. My girlfriend is disabled and can’t run from a fight—if someone targets her (which has happened multiple times before since she is visibly helpless), I must stand my ground to protect her. Also, it clarifies my thinking to deescalate conflict in those moments because I know I’m comfortably prepared if someone else takes it to a violent level. I don’t need to shout or puff up to create a barrier between her and an aggressive person, I can observe the situation while knowing that my hours of practice put me in a good position to come out on top if somebody wants to fuck around and find out.
It is my sincere hope that I will never shoot at anything other than paper. I do not want to hurt anybody and have never started an altercation with anyone. 99% of the time, retreat is still the best option. That said, I know I have it in me to protect myself and my loved ones if the moment ever required it, and I am comfortable enough with it to not be paralyzed by indecision if that day ever comes.
Needless to say, if I lived in London, I would feel better if I had something other than my fists to protect myself with because my body is not designed to be an effective weapon in the same way that my knife or pistol is. There is a whole lot of time between the start of an altercation and the arrival of police—until they get there, I’m the only responder I can count on.
Im sorry I live in the us and crazies acting like dicks is not something unusualy if you live in a dense enough region. Im guessing you lived somewhere denser and saw more of that crap compared to when you lived somewhere less so.
Regardless of how you may feel, the statistics are not in your favour. Just compare gun deaths per capita in the US vs a country like the UK and it’s clear that the US approach to gun control (or lack thereof) is insane.
I just replied to another commenter about this same thing. My decision was not motivated by gun death statistics, but rather the odds of my own death or injury (and that of my loved ones) due to the changing circumstances of my neighborhood and prior life experience. I wrote about that in a response to another user in this thread also, and hopefully it sheds some light on why I chose to buy a firearm.
You are correct, the US approach to gun control is insane, but if you live here, these are the conditions that have been set for us so far. Either you bring your fists to a gun fight, or you have a gun. There are more guns than people in this country—the odds are slim that a robber is coming in empty handed. However you choose or don’t choose to prepare for that possibility is a personal decision, and circumstances got bad enough in my neighborhood that I felt it was necessary right now.
If we enter an age of peace and understanding, I’ll happily give up my pistol. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, as they say.
Guns don’t make people safer. Knives don’t make people safer.
Sikh knives don’t really fall into those aforementioned categories though, and i’m not trying to show any support there just because of one person’s actions. If someone wants to kill they are going to find a way.
The overall number of gun deaths was not a factor in my decision, the prevention of my own death and injury of my loved ones was. I responded to another poster in this thread explaining the events that led me to choose to buy a firearm—maybe that will at least explain why I made that decision. I researched calibers and bullet types to make sure that I had the smallest chance of sending a bullet through the wall into the neighbors apartment. I practice on a regular basis to build safe habits into muscle memory. I’ve taken classes to learn from professionals and to be legally compliant. I keep everything locked up or on my body in a safely designed holster 100% of the time.
If you think that makes me a nut, then whatever, man. I’ve tried to be as safe as possible and make responsible decisions based on my life experience and the changing circumstances of the area I live in.
Where the hell do you live that you have so many crazies?
Granted, invoice in Vancouver and here it’s all queer trans cis gay whatever mixed and nobody gives a shit because why would you give a shit about that?
The strict self defense laws were when I lived in Manhattan. After the sun went down, things got crazy on a regular basis. I’m not an aggressive looking dude—skinny hippy type. I never started anything, but in the two years that I lived there, I was rushed head on by meth addicts twice, nearly mugged by a man in a ski mask, stalked in a park, and aggressively confronted by drunks at the subway platform many times.
I can’t explain it. I guess I just look like someone to bully if you are a specific kind of jerk.
I now live in a different state, but the worsening conditions in the country have caused my neighborhood to explode with the homeless and addicted. People have set off the fire alarm three times in the last year and tried to break into apartments when people open the door to evacuate. One of the people robbed was my next door neighbor—that is when I decided to buy a firearm. My apartment has only one exit, so if someone gets through my front door, I am essentially blocked in with no way to retreat.
It wasn’t a decision I made lightly or even desired, but life taught me that I needed to be ready to defend myself.
I’ve lived in places with strict self defense laws and lax self defense laws. When I originally lived in the place with lax self defense laws, I thought it must be better if people don’t carry weapons. Then I moved to the place with strict self defense laws…it was worse.
I was subjected to random aggression on a nearly weekly basis. I’d be sitting at a train station with headphones on, minding my own business, when drunk assholes would take it upon themselves to square up and accuse me of anything that came to mind (am I looking at their girl, am I a queer—the irony in that contrast is not lost on me). There were several times that I actually did fear for my life, and all I could do was run away and be late for whatever I was going to. Every time, the biggest ape on the street knew they would win, and they felt entitled to rule their space with an iron fist.
Then I moved back to the place with lax self defense laws and saw it with new eyes. Drivers are more polite because they don’t know who could be armed. Nobody comes up to me in the street and harasses me for no reason. The implication that I could be armed really does seem to make people think twice, and I’ve started to believe that the impulse to check yourself in case you get shot is the only check and balance that aggressive assholes seem to understand.
Now, to the surprise and horror of my younger self, I carry a gun. It took me a while to get used to, but it has given me a new sense of security and calm if any altercation does occur. My girlfriend is disabled and can’t run from a fight—if someone targets her (which has happened multiple times before since she is visibly helpless), I must stand my ground to protect her. Also, it clarifies my thinking to deescalate conflict in those moments because I know I’m comfortably prepared if someone else takes it to a violent level. I don’t need to shout or puff up to create a barrier between her and an aggressive person, I can observe the situation while knowing that my hours of practice put me in a good position to come out on top if somebody wants to fuck around and find out.
It is my sincere hope that I will never shoot at anything other than paper. I do not want to hurt anybody and have never started an altercation with anyone. 99% of the time, retreat is still the best option. That said, I know I have it in me to protect myself and my loved ones if the moment ever required it, and I am comfortable enough with it to not be paralyzed by indecision if that day ever comes.
Needless to say, if I lived in London, I would feel better if I had something other than my fists to protect myself with because my body is not designed to be an effective weapon in the same way that my knife or pistol is. There is a whole lot of time between the start of an altercation and the arrival of police—until they get there, I’m the only responder I can count on.
Im sorry I live in the us and crazies acting like dicks is not something unusualy if you live in a dense enough region. Im guessing you lived somewhere denser and saw more of that crap compared to when you lived somewhere less so.
Regardless of how you may feel, the statistics are not in your favour. Just compare gun deaths per capita in the US vs a country like the UK and it’s clear that the US approach to gun control (or lack thereof) is insane.
I just replied to another commenter about this same thing. My decision was not motivated by gun death statistics, but rather the odds of my own death or injury (and that of my loved ones) due to the changing circumstances of my neighborhood and prior life experience. I wrote about that in a response to another user in this thread also, and hopefully it sheds some light on why I chose to buy a firearm.
You are correct, the US approach to gun control is insane, but if you live here, these are the conditions that have been set for us so far. Either you bring your fists to a gun fight, or you have a gun. There are more guns than people in this country—the odds are slim that a robber is coming in empty handed. However you choose or don’t choose to prepare for that possibility is a personal decision, and circumstances got bad enough in my neighborhood that I felt it was necessary right now.
If we enter an age of peace and understanding, I’ll happily give up my pistol. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, as they say.
you gun types are nutters.
Areas with very restrictive personal defense laws in the US like Massachusetts have lower gun death rates per 100k by a huge margin over wide open states like Mississippi. https://publichealth.jhu.edu/center-for-gun-violence-solutions/issues/gun-violence-in-the-united-states
Guns don’t make people safer. Knives don’t make people safer.
Sikh knives don’t really fall into those aforementioned categories though, and i’m not trying to show any support there just because of one person’s actions. If someone wants to kill they are going to find a way.
The overall number of gun deaths was not a factor in my decision, the prevention of my own death and injury of my loved ones was. I responded to another poster in this thread explaining the events that led me to choose to buy a firearm—maybe that will at least explain why I made that decision. I researched calibers and bullet types to make sure that I had the smallest chance of sending a bullet through the wall into the neighbors apartment. I practice on a regular basis to build safe habits into muscle memory. I’ve taken classes to learn from professionals and to be legally compliant. I keep everything locked up or on my body in a safely designed holster 100% of the time.
If you think that makes me a nut, then whatever, man. I’ve tried to be as safe as possible and make responsible decisions based on my life experience and the changing circumstances of the area I live in.
Where the hell do you live that you have so many crazies?
Granted, invoice in Vancouver and here it’s all queer trans cis gay whatever mixed and nobody gives a shit because why would you give a shit about that?
The strict self defense laws were when I lived in Manhattan. After the sun went down, things got crazy on a regular basis. I’m not an aggressive looking dude—skinny hippy type. I never started anything, but in the two years that I lived there, I was rushed head on by meth addicts twice, nearly mugged by a man in a ski mask, stalked in a park, and aggressively confronted by drunks at the subway platform many times.
I can’t explain it. I guess I just look like someone to bully if you are a specific kind of jerk.
I now live in a different state, but the worsening conditions in the country have caused my neighborhood to explode with the homeless and addicted. People have set off the fire alarm three times in the last year and tried to break into apartments when people open the door to evacuate. One of the people robbed was my next door neighbor—that is when I decided to buy a firearm. My apartment has only one exit, so if someone gets through my front door, I am essentially blocked in with no way to retreat.
It wasn’t a decision I made lightly or even desired, but life taught me that I needed to be ready to defend myself.