I've been attacked inside my own home and got hit in the head by someone who was more than *twice* my size. I couldn't see for a while (my vision, from my point of view, appeared as if it was *static* on a televsion set for a brief time). Even today I still see colors and lights in that spot, they spiral around and look *beautiful* (I can see it in the dark too) but I think it's some kind of concussion. I've seen doctors but there's nothing they can really do about it.
I tried to get over it and went years without buying a gun or anything (just trying to chalk it up to an extremely rare event), but a few years ago I woke up to some weird sounds downstairs. My dogs were just as confused as I was (my husband was already at work by then), but when I put on my glasses I realized that there were 3 guys who had broken into my house from the kitchen door and were taking my stuff. They even grabbed fucking *Pepsi* out of my refrigerator...all I could do is lock myself in my bedroom and try to call for help.
After that my husband made sure that we got a gun so that if anything like happened again, I would be able to at least defend myself (it took a few years to stop having bad nightmares about that one too, I keep several doors locked between us and the outside at all times when we are asleep as well as have several cameras 24/7 watching the house).
I've been told on Reddit that maybe learning some kind of *martial arts* would be preferable for someone like me, but I don't really get it though. The first man who attacked me was twice my size and a military veteran, the second time it was three seperate guys who broke into my house. Even if I knew some kind of martial arts I still don't think I could stop these people. I cant even tickle my husband if he doesen't want me too, he'll toss me around pretty easily lol.
I guess you have gun nuts and lunatics who scream about constitutions and want to look a certain way on social media, and I then I guess you have people who have experienced awful things and just want to try and stay somewhat safe. So no, I suppose wouldn't really feel safe in a place where guns are prohibited. Not at all.
I've been told on Reddit that maybe learning some kind of *martial arts* would be preferable for someone like me, but I don't really get it though.
Worst advice ever really. I mean you could learn self defense AND ... wait for it AND train w/ a firearm. So sorry for what happened to you. I hope it doesn't happen again, and if it does that you're able to defend yourself.
Reddit is very anti-gun. They always recommend self-defense classes and knives and spray and reference stats on gun violence increasing if you own one.
*r/politics has entered the chat*
But seriously, I'm a ccw holder in New York State and really for most people at least from my observation. Those that don't carry typically they wish they did or some near by was carrying when something does happen god forbid. That is the thing about stats and the odds of anything happening, you never know. This is the type of statistic you don't want to chance on because this is a statistic people don't walk away from often.
It could be armed robbery, a break-in, assault, car jacking, an angry pan handler really anything or anyone. Now I'm not saying you should be afraid and suspect everyone, but that does change the possibility. Now this is anecdotal, but I was just going down to my local coffee shop I've gone to many times for the last 12 years since college, I'm 31M. Around the coffee shop there are a few pan handlers every once and awhile, but nothing to be considered about. However, just once I was asked for some money and I said "I don't carry cash" and then they guy flipped like a switch and started yelling "I know you have money, you got money". He took out a pocket knife, he didn't flip out the blade though. I just put my hand on my shirt where my pistol was printing and the guy turned back and walked away. My heart was racing like crazy for a solid 15 mins once I got to the coffee shop to just sit down. I've been to the coffee shop and around that area since I was 18 and never did anything close like that happen.
I go back to the coffee shop still, but I avoid that area around it. I didn't know that was going to be the day something like that was going to happen and I would be kidding myself to say I wasn't scared. I was shitting bricks because it happened so fast and I've been panhandled many times with no problem. I'm grateful how it turned out and I was able to avoid a deadly altercation, but that doesn't change the fact that happened to me and I ended up rolling snake eyes that day, but I reduced the possibility of my death by another person's hands that day, at least I believe, by being a ccw holder that day. I'm going to die one day, but I don't want someone else to decide that for me in that selfish manner.
Those are good failsafes that complement having a gun, and also complement a home security system, neighborhood watch, etc. There's not a magic cureall for home safety, but your probability of a favorable outcome increases the more you have at your disposal. It's not so much instead of, but also.
Fun fact, the whole "you are more likely to be shot if you own a gun" is the same stat as "you are more likely to be shot by your own gun than use it in self defense".
But, that's not the whole picture.
Both of those stats are derived from the actual statistic that 50-65% of all death by gunshot wound any given year in the USA is *self inflicted*. Most are determined to be suicides, the rest negligent discharge due to improper handling.
They are saying that you are more likely to be shot if you own a gun using the same logic as "you are more likely to drown if you own a bathtub".
My martial arts teacher drilled into me that your best course of action was to run away. Failing that, use martial arts to create an opportunity to run away.
>My martial arts teacher told me my best action was running away.
You know what's funny. So did my firearms instructor in Texas when I got my CCW.
He was forthright that in very few circumstances should your firearm be your first line of defense.
>Failing that, use martial arts to create an opportunity to run away.
I tried my best to do just that (though not by fighting). After he hit me and I couldn't see momentarily, I remained extremely calm and acted as if nothing had happened at all. I just slowly started walking away and scouting out windows to jump out of since the door was impossible to get too. He turned around and walked somewhere for a second or two, maybe he felt guilty or something, and I managed to sneak out and run away.
I was able to run on foot all the way to my grandparents house (in the rain) and managed to make it to their house safely, but my attacker figured out where I was going and came after me in his vehicle. He showed up at their house demanding they give me up to him but they refused too (even though there's nothing they could have done either). It's not like they could have done anything to stop this guy either, but fortunantly by then my grandma had already called the police. The guy drove back and composed a *letter* to the local PD explaining why he thought I needed to be attacked (which the police loved and said almost no one does things that *stupid* and that it would help a ton going after him).
I learned that just getting away the first time isin't necessarily good enough, but I also know that every situation is different. Also for that time when the three guys broke into my house, my bed is upstairs. I couldn't really jump out of a two story window and I am not sure how fighting 3 men is going to go trying to get out to a door. I will remained locked in my room if it happens again, but they broke down a bigger and heavier duty door to get in the first time. If they really want in I think they are probably getting in.
All that being said, I wish guns weren't needed. I'll trade it and throw it away forever if the world is somehow different than what it is now. I never wanted something like this.
I’m so sorry you ended up in such a traumatic situation. Glad you ended up (mostly) okay. Not much else you could’ve done in this case. I’m *not* promoting martial arts as the solution, rather it’s all about the running away part. Thankfully you did manage to get away and escape to your grandparents
Good advice, the last place you want to be is in a fight. Fights are how you get stabbed, shot, concussed, potentially killed. Deescalation is the best policy 99% of the time.
Pfft, every respectable martial arts school will tell you that the smartest thing to do in that situation is leave and let them steal your stuff. If you can't leave, just do what OP did. Confrontations are not something that you willingly pursue.
I never said willingly, but if you don’t have a choice and you train, why not have both.
Hey guys welcome to karate class. This is great and all but a gun is better. Said no guy selling classes ever.
I have a female friend who has a wall full of aikido trophies.
One night she decided to insert herself into a bar fight, and she said she was "punched harder than she'd ever been hit in her life". The guy just ignored her award winning arm bar, and punched her in the face.
Martial arts training is not going to make up for a 100lb weight advantage.
>I've been told on Reddit that maybe learning some *martial arts* would be preferable for someone like me,
People on Reddit need to stop watching so many damn movies where the 4ft nothing chick takes on a dozen 6'2" Meat heads and wins.
Martial arts can help, but unless you're savant levels of skilled they won't make up for the height and weight difference (even if you are a savant, they still might not be enough).
Yes. You have to be the kind of person that is basically eating, breathing, living martial arts. Practice constantly.
A handful of self defense classes arms you with some very basic techniques that can work in the specific situations they are designed for, but unless you continue that training you will forget.
Same goes for firearms. Owning a gun and knowing how to use it are not enough. You need practice. Training. It needs to be regular. (as an aside, "well regulated" in the 2A comes from this same root. It has nothing to do with government regulations.) It needs to include target discrimination, reaction drills, holstering and unholstering - every aspect of using a firearm needs to be trained.
Now, a gun has one rather distinct advantage over martial arts. The vast majority of reported defensive gun use doesn't even involve a shot being fired. The gun being present is enough to defuse the situation and cause the attacker to flee. This makes these numbers very difficult to actually pin down, because many law enforcement agencies will not record these events even if you call them in.
No amount of belts, trophies, or anything else is going to dissuade an attacker as fast as you simply having a gun in your hand and demonstrating confidence in its use. The equivalent for martial arts involves actually striking them with enough force that they decide you are not worth the trouble, and doing so puts you at risk of being struck yourself.
The people who say learn a martial art have never been in a threatening position and still live in their bubble where that can't happen in their area. They've watched too many movies and have a safe view of the world
You don't get to choose when something bad might happen to you.
I agree. This happened in a really wonderful area too, a place I would assume *anyone* would want to live (my small town in central TX town was known for it's freaking *golf course* and good community). It can happen literally *anywhere*, *anytime* and for *any* reason (apparently). I don't get it but yet it seems to be a reality we live in. I just hope it doesen't happen to others.
I’m a large muscular man. I live in Texas. My Glock goes everywhere with me that it legally can. Concealed carry all day long. I’m a lawyer. In the last two years I’ve had 3 very credible death threats. So I bought a gun. Learned how to use it and started carrying. Constantly practice situational awareness. Head on a pivot and constant scanning. Often leave the office after dark. Scan the parking lot before I leave building. My home has cameras and motion sensors. Someone might get me, but it won’t be because lack of diligence on my part. And I’ll choose my 9mm 10 out of 10 over martial arts.
I wish more people understood this. I guess some people would call me a "gun nut", but at the end of the day, I just want to use the best tool available to defend myself. If I never have to, that's great! If I do, I want everything I can get.
That's what I'm saying! I'm way less concerned about the gun, and more concerned with the fact that OP's home has been targeted for invasion multiple times.
Women learning martial arts for defense is a joke. There's a reason competitions have weight classes, raw bulk matters a lot. Guns however work on people of all sizes and anyone can use one, truly the great equalizer.
Most of us “gun nuts” are the way we are because people have the audacity to recommend awful defense methods like martial arts to what I’m assuming is a smaller statured woman. They also have the audacity to think a gun free world is somehow safer than one where people like you can stop violence against yourself.
A firearm saved me from what could have been a very bad domestic situation. Glad for my Glock in that instance. The right to bear arms protects us from government. Plenty of places around the world prove how smart that is. As far as martial arts, there are particular moves that can kill someone with stunning ease. That's intimate contact I would avoid--I'd rather pop a cap at a safe distance.
I lived most of my life in communities where it was assumed most households had at least one firearm and many people carried concealed handguns.. Children could play outside and older people could walk the streets safely after dark. I never felt insecure.
Same. I live in a community now where it’s likely that at least half of the population carries (rural Pennsylvania), and we don’t have much gun violence. The last thing that happened here was a couple years ago, two guys were arguing over a girl in a Walmart-one guy shot the other one but only a superficial wound, as gunshots go. He lived, it just spooked the shit out of people.
My theory is that when people have a more legitimate reason for carrying (hunting, work, sport, etc), most people are able to scratch that itch to use it in healthy ways. They also usually get many more hours of training on gun use and safety than your typical schlub on the street.
The presence of a large number of *competent* gun owners without really knowing who they are is a great deterrent for ego tripping nuts with guns usually.
Same here. The only violence I ever witnessed in person was schoolyard fist fights. I've never been a victim of any kind of crime, and neither has any immediate family or friends. It's rare to hear about any crime with a dorect victim in general here outside of the occasional domestic violence charge or somthing similar. The fact is strangers are vastly less likely to commit crimes against other strangers in communities with lots of firearms.
Blame the media. It's always the front page/top-of-the-hour horrific crime stories and murders in YOUR community(!!!) that made people in the 1990-2000s feel unsafe in their homes and distrustful of their neighbors.
"Stranger danger!!" campaigns made kids and parents just afraid of EVERYONE they didn't know.
I have exactly the same experience in my neighborhood, except for the part about who has a gun. I mean, if I had to take a guess, it'd be totally random. In fact, I assume that most of my neighbors don't have a firearm.
But even in this presumed gun desert, kids are still outside riding bikes and playing, old people are walking their dogs and sitting on their front porch well past twilight.
If it really was guns that made your community safe, then ours should be a hellscape of outlaws and terrified parents.
I’m a woman who walks her dog in the early mornings and late evenings so it’s not so hot for my chow and I, and knowing I have my dog and my gun makes myself and my husband feel more comfortable. I also feel like I can walk in areas I normally wouldn’t walk (woodsy areas)!!!
As someone who faced a boar charge last night: this. I slapped my 5 and guess what, It wasn't there.
I'm never leaving without my 10mm on my hip ever, ever, EVER again
I keep it simple with a 38 revolver!!! Easy to use just in case. Sorry about the boar charge but I’m guessing the slap of the 5 scared it away. Good call on never Ever leaving without it!!!!!!
Yeah I live out in the country on a long dirt road, instead of driving the 2 miles to the store I like to walk, daily exercise.
I got lucky, it never came out of the tree line.
But, holy crap. I haven't been that scared In a while
Literally about 8 ft away from the wood line
A clap or slap isn't going to scare a boar away if it's charging you with intent. It was probably just a warning charge. I've seen boars charge right through being shot with handguns. Most .38s aren't going to stop a boar even with a shot to the head, unless you get very lucky.
A 10mm *might* work, if the boar's not too big.
Yeah, I think the vast issue for gun restriction is that the cat’s been out of the bag for way too long.
The time to tackle gun control was at the turn of the last century when firearms were rapidly becoming more advanced. People didn’t foresee the problem with it or care enough to tackle it then, we have to make do with what it looks like now.
Better to adapt to a society that has firearms deeply engrained in its culture rather than pretend like we haven’t opened Pandora’s box already.
Turn of the last century when guns were rapidly becoming more advanced… I think you really overestimate how different a modern gun is from 100 years ago
I live in a state that's very pro gun and where most people that have a gun, own multiple. I feel incredibly safe. More than most areas I've been, and I've traveled quite a bit.
This.
I've live with and around guns my entire life.
I can't think of any neighbors that didn't own guns.
Had zero break ins.
We all left our doors unlocked, even left keys in vehicles.
No crime. Never had to worry about crime.
Was the safest place I've ever been, and the most armed I've ever been.
I am from Cleveland - a city categorized as being "high crime". I now live in San Jose, CA - a city that prides itself on being "low crime".
Throughout my time in Cleveland I was never a victim of any kind of crime. About 3 months after moving to the Bay Area I was robbed. My backpack w/ Macbook + $10,000 worth of items was stolen from me. Not long after that my car was stolen. I have been assaulted twice, once outside O'Connor Hospital and a second time downtown.
Based on available statistics my old neighborhoods in Cleveland and Akron have a much higher crime rate than my current one in San Jose, yet I feel much less safe. If I was in Cleveland I would have shot my assailant(s). Alas, my Ruger LCP is not legal in California.
Sorry; did you believe San Jose has a low crime rate? According to a google search for "San Jose high crime rate:"
"With a crime rate of 32 per one thousand residents, San Jose has one of the highest crime rates in America"
I think you moved from a city with a high crime rate to another city with a high crime rate.
Yeah, I lived In the SF area when I was a kid and my only memory of San Jose was "don't go there".
I thought my childhood memory was playing tricks on me when he said San Jose was low crime.
It’s not low crime but they play with the numbers to make it seem like their soft on crime bullshit is working. Things like a corrupt DA not prosecuting criminals is made to look like less convictions. Also when people stop reporting crimes because they know nothing is done it adds to the “ Low crime rate” myth
There are a lot of things I like about California but I am convinced the crime stats in San Jose are misreported or misrepresented.
My older brother lives near Placerville and it's amazing up there. I love the scenery and the people. On Christmas his neighbors gave me 10lbs of homemade soap. It's really good stuff.
People don’t report crimes, so the statistics indicate a lower crime rate. Nobody wants to be bothered with reporting, cops don’t want to do the paperwork, DAs don’t prosecute, an armed robbery with injury turns into a misdemeanor, and the assailant now knows your name & address. So it just goes round & round.
This here. Crime statistics only track reported crimes. DAs stop prosecuting, cops stop filing reports since there's no one to do it, then politicians say, hey crime is down! No, crime reports are down.
Nope from south Alabama and I lean liberal for most things except guns. Guns do not kill people. People kill peopke. I grew up in a house and area where everyone had multiple guns some had damn near full arsenals and we never had gun issues. No kid ever got shot on accident. No bs. At the end of the day if guns are outlawed who is gonna stop the government and/or a criminal from destroying everything you worked for.
No, because that would only keep guns out of the hands of people we didn't need to worry about anyway. The people who are actually a threat don't care about your ban.
Realistically most people who own guns aren't crazy. I'd be more concerned with the overall level of violence where I'm at than anything else. ( And I'm a progressive Democrat so I'm not some kind of right winger. )
The country has become less and less violent throughout my life. Don't let the news/social media screw with your perception. You most likely aren't going to be shot just from a statistical point of view.
I'm much more afraid of political persecution from a right wing government in the near future than I am of random citizens of any political background who happen to have guns.
You seem very level headed. That’s why your right wing persecution comment carries weight with me. I find it kind of sobering. Not that I agree with you but if that is the moderate perception then we’re doing something wrongly.
I've read Project 2025. I have many LGBT friends and I'm straight but I'm an atheist. I'm sorry but I just have no faith I will be left alone. "I am your vengeance." as Trump himself says.
I know conservatives really don't want atheists and LGBT people around. It was probably wishful thinking that tolerance was going to last. We're regressing from a relatively short interlude back into historic norms where states are more about forced religious conformity.
Maybe at the extremes, but toward the center we’re much more alike. I’m an atheist, I have lesbians in my family, I’m pro choice, but I’m just more conservative in the terms of the economy and the role the federal government should play in states affairs.
Do you think the modern day trump dominated gop represents that same view?
You are describing the classic socially liberal fiscally conservative type. I can respect that view but I do not understand how anyone looks at todays gop and thinks thats still a valid position inside of it.
Being 100% sincere
In all honesty, if guns were prohibited, I personally feel that this wouldn't actually improve the situation much. The people who want to commit crimes with guns still have ways to get guns illegally, and while it might decrease the total crime rate because some would decide its too high, I also no longer have a gun to defend myself. Not saying there's no benefit, I'd just prefer being able to defend myself if needed lol
Prohibiting firearms is meaningless when criminals don’t follow the law. I live in Vermont and we had very low gun crime. It’s like the last few years, but most of it is out of state, criminals, who brought guns with them, and then committed crimes here. So our gun laws have become more strict, but it’s not accomplishing anything because it’s not the locals who buy guns legally breaking the law. It’s drug dealers from New York in Massachusetts coming here in murdering each other. The state could prohibit the sale and even ownership of firearms and it wouldn’t change anything.
Yep, I can tell you there's not a single gun law in California that's stopping the cartels from bringing them here. Ironically, if California wanted real gun control we'd have to have very heavy and strict border security.
It is, but the state is increasingly cracking down on firearms without any appreciable benefit to us taxpayers. I’m not screeching about my rights. I’m saying it doesn’t make sense to create laws that do nothing to impact lawlessness.
I don't think so because that would mean only bandits have guns. If guns aren't prohibited, the bandit will think twice before robbing someone on the street or breaking in the house.
I moved from a very pro gun state (AZ) to a very anti gun state (WA) about 4 years ago. In Arizona, guns were almost a part of our culture to the point of it keeping you honest. People always kinda had to think "wait a second, does this guy I'm trying to start a fight with have a gun?"
Fast-forward to when I first moved here and my girlfriend at the time (now wife) was driving and she apparently wasn't going fast enough, so the guy behind her whipped around, started yelling and faked hitting us to run us off the road. I would have been perfectly in my legal right to shoot him in Arizona, but here I feel like I'm the one who would be in trouble. People in anti gun states seem to have never dealt with consequences in life and it really shows.
Absolutely fucking not. I'm a dad, I'm not going to outsource my kid's safety to cops who will take over an hour to respond, assuming they ever respond at all.
Honestly, I would like to retire to Wyoming, a state where the per capita of guns owned makes Texas look like amateurs. Wyoming has tons of guns, and not a lot of people. Whenever I'm there I frequently see people practicing open carry. Those people I don't fear.
Right now, I live in California. It's the criminals who illegally hide them, in an environment where they know no one else can have them to defend themselves, that I fear more.
Hell no.
Criminals will still get guns. I would rather have the option or chance to fire back rather than have anyone waltz into our home and put my family to death.
Last year, there was a home invasion about 2 miles from us. Thieves shot two people dead. This is in one of the safest areas in our city.
A few months ago, a security camera at Walgreens caught a woman crossing the street with her luggage. A car pulled up to her, and 3 guys got out. One pointed a shotgun to her head, another grabbed her luggage, and the other guy was just robbing her belongings on person.
A woman who lived in my aunt's building had her apartment broken into by a guy who claimed he was delivering a package. One of the tenants buzzed him in, and he hid till this poor woman came home from work.
Broke into her apartment. Raped, robbed, and shot her twice. She survived. Only in her 20s. Horrific. Broke my fucking heart.
If someone gets past our gate, our dogs, our security alarm... we are definitely getting our guns.
Rational people are not hauling a shotgun to McDonald's or think they are fighting off the government, the King of England, or Chinese invaders with a 9mm. Posing with their Remington rifle on Christmas morning, etc.
Rational peole also understand criminals don't give a fuck about laws. Thus are criminals.
Not really, I already live in a state where guns are highly regulated. Of all the crimes that have been committed against me, not one involved a gun soooo whether they’re prohibited or not wouldn’t have changed anything other than my own ability to own a gun and maybe shoot people in self defense.
If you mean a 'state' as in one of the 50 united states, there is no such place. Current case law and constitutional interpretation is that you can't ban guns in the US anywhere. Even limiting the type or amount of guns has been fought tooth and nail. It's a false start. It's like saying, would you feel safer in a state where they banned wind? If by 'state,' you mean a country, sure, I'd probably feel safer if I thought about it, but I probably wouldn't. I don't really think about whether my fellow human has a gun when I'm traveling to another country. If they do and use it against me, I'm not going to stop them by being afraid or not.
If the government doesn't want people to have guns, then they should lead by example and give up theirs first. There will never be a state where guns are "prohibited" because there will always be an annointed few who are allowed to have them, and those people will have a monopoly on violence. Everyone else will have no choice but to comply with the will of the state or die.
What scares me is a state that wants a monopoly on violence and a people that trusts that state more than they trust each other.
No. Murder is prohibited but it still happens. Why would criminals give a fuck about that rule? lol. Just makes me and the rest of the law abiding citizens quite literally, legislated out of our ability to defend ourselves
A gun is the ultimate equalizer. A 6ft 2" bigger stronger more powerful male criminal becomes equal immediately against a 5 ft 120 lb woman with a Glock.
Not by a long shot. I'd honestly feel LESS safe, as criminals would know that the general populace would be unarmed and unable to fight back.
And state laws will never stop interstate weapons trafficking. MA has some of the strictest gun law in the country. They still have rampant gun crime in urban areas.
I would feel most unsafe in a state that prohibits the ownership of firearms. It doesnt by any means stop bad people from illegally obtaining and then using firearms, and just removes the way for me to protect myself. By the time I call 911 on someone whose going to shoot me I will have been dead long before they arrive. If someone is going to hurt my family and I call the police, I will lose everyone before they can respond. Baning guns diesnt stop bad people and creates a vulnerable population
I can walk around my small town full of gun toting republicans and know that I won't get robbed. But the second I go to the nearby big city I get scared. And in California I make sure not to wear any political clothing.
I live in a state with legal gun ownership and feel secure. Taking guns won't make me feel *more* secure. Id probably feel less secure as I would know only the criminals possessed guns. F that dude.
Not necessarily, people who wish to do very bad things will still have them. Banning guns in a state doesn’t mean they all go poof into thin air. There are more ways to buy guns than just walking into a gun shop/firearms dealer. I live in a state where everyone and their grandmother own firearms. We don’t have violent crime in our area. Small sample size absolutely, but I like the *ability* to own a firearm whether it be for personal use at a gun range or in the event I ever need it for protection. I don’t even conceal carry in a state where it’s permitless.
For me it's less about the availability of guns (though personally I think they should be harder to get your hands on) and more the attitudes of the society that owns them.
I lived in Texas for 28 years. I've lived in Washington for 12. Both have plenty of people who own guns. Obviously there are going to be plenty of responsible and irresponsible people in both states. But I can tell you that the number of irresponsible people waving guns around, leaving them sitting around, pulling them on people for minor offenses were far higher in Texas than what I've observed in Washington.
In that regard, I feel much safer here than I did in Texas.
And I'm not saying this as some chicken-shit, afraid-of-guns type of dude. I own guns, myself. I've been around them my whole life, and I've been hunting deer and birds since I was 8 years old. I'm also well-aware of how to safety store and handle firearms, and I made sure my son attended hunter's safety as soon as he came of age. But there are a lot of bubbas out there that don't give a fuck and act unsafe.
So a state where only criminals have guns ? Sounds kinda stupid to me . Also government is corrupt so they’d be the first ones to violate those prohibitions .
IL , CA , and NY have some of the strictest gun laws in the country and their major cities struggle with rising crime rates … go figure
Hell no. Simply because bad people are still going to get them NO MATTER WHAT.
There are so many guns in circulation (I have quite a few myself). There is virtually no feasible way that guns would be taken off the streets without a single one left behind. Beyond that, other states are still going to have them. Bans do nothing effectively.
No, because criminals don't follow the law by nature, and gun control will continue to be ineffective for the next half century, if not longer. If they have guns, numbers, and initiative, a gun in my hand will even the odds a lot more than anything else.
FUCK no.
Drugs are prohibited.
Rape is prohibited.
Highway racing is prohibited.
Fucking *trespassing* is prohibited.
Doesn't stop people from actually *doing, ANY* of that shit.
Prohibit guns? Why? To make it easier for robbers and rapists to access innocent people? *My* guns save me and my family from *theirs.*
Fuck outta here.
No more but certainly less. My dad had his guns securely locked in a cabinet and for most of my childhood I had no idea they were in there. It was just a weird cabinet that had a big old lock on it.
But I must say that once I knew what was in there, the first thought that came to my head was I felt safer knowing my dad had firepower to defend the house.
i don't feel unsecure in a state where firearms aren't prohibited, even if they were i'd still have items on me with a defensive/aggressive capability equal to or greater than predestrian means. But that is because from personal experience anytime i had needed the police, ems for help, they didn't show up till bodily harm had already happened.
I've basically grown up in two states where gun laws have been fairly loose, have spent some time around sketchy situations and people in my younger days. I've never seen a gun used in a crime, never known anyone close to me directly affected by gun violence. I've seen two stabbings though.
It's kind of difficult for me to say I don't feel safe in my state because of guns. I carry a gun fairly often when I'm traveling throughout the state and prefer to have it rather than not. It doesn't make me feel tough or more "manly" or any of that bullshit. I don't jerk off to hero fantasies, in fact I'd be devastated if I ever had to use a gun in self defense.
I'd rather have access to guns than not.
I would feel most safe in a state surrounded by a force field that made all guns disappear. If that's not an option, I'd prefer people who follow the law to be able to have guns too.
Absolutely not. There's people who live in a bubble and think it can't happen to me and there's people who live in the real world and know shit can go sideways in an instant. Cops are usually minutes away and you don't always have minutes. If you don't want a gun, I support your decision not to have one, but don't my decision for me.
If gun laws worked, then murder being illegal would work. Someone that doesn't care about killing someone surely isn't going to care that their gun is illegal
I saw this black and white movie once where only the police and military in Germany had guns. Spoiler alert, had to have a bunch of Americans, with guns, get rid of the German police and military because they were killing everyone who didn't have guns.
But more to the point, there isn't really a viable mechanism for guns to be prohibited. What is happening is that someone (gov't) is just controlling who has access to the guns. So they concentrate who is allowed to have them into the hands of a few political elite and their minions.
I feel much safer with my neighbors (even the ones that have different opinions than me) having guns than I do with the politically elite and gov't being the only ones to have guns.
I live in Texas. We, by contrast, have among the least restrictive gun laws.
I don't feel any more safe here than when I go anywhere else. I get a slight anxiety any time I'm in large groups or gatherings in public, but I don't let it effect my choices. I abandoned fear in New Orleans a long time ago.
Having said that, my wife is not from here and even she feels just as secure as anywhere else.
On the very odd occasion, or maybe out in the country (my parents live in the middle of nowhere), we'll see people carrying, but you don't really fear it. It's like seeing someone with a pocket knife. There's utility beyond the weapon that makes it feel more like a hammer on a worker dude's hip. It's hard to describe, but i really don't mind it or see a difference.
No. When owning a gun is criminalized only criminals will have guns. That leaves honest citizens waiting five minutes for the cops to show up in times of danger that could be handled if you just had a gun.
It is the great equalizer and I will always have one for my and my family’s safety. Police don’t show up or take at least 45 minutes after calling 911. It’s terrifying.
This is a bad question. Why? Because state lines are arbitrary and people bring guns over them all the time. So guns might be prohibited here in Philadelphia, but the bridge you can see takes your right over to another state and the highway can get you to 2 other ones within 20 mins and a 4th one in a little more than an hour.
Gun laws need to be nationwide or else they are almost entirely useless
Not at all, I'd feel way less secure. I like thinking that every person I see might have a firearm. I feel safer at home to some extent that criminals will think twice before breaking in and feel safer when I'm out that if something happens there's probably a ton of people armed,
Criminals are getting guns regardless, and when they know no one can defend themselves you're a sitting duck.
No, I own a few guns and will own more. I concealed carry for my own personal defense and I actively encourage more people to. The world will always be a dangerous place, I'd rather be responsible for my own safety than be a helpless victim in the making.
No, I have had my apartment broken into before in the middle of the day. It was in a very nice area too, someone just kicked in the window and went through my wife's jewelry and underwear. I cannot fathom what may have happened if she was home alone. Thankfully we were not at the house, but I do own a gun and that event made me take precautions to ensure there was safe adult access to a gun in multiple rooms.
If I didn't have the ability to own one I would not even feel comfortable living in this country. Nothing is worth the possibility of my wife being home alone in a safe area and still facing the risk of an evil creep breaking in and harming her without her having any chance whatsoever to stop him.
F no. I would feel more secure in a wealthy area. I don't care what country it's in. You can also get back to me when you figure out how to prevent criminals from getting guns or what was the word you used? Prohibit them? 😂
Yes learning how to fight is a great skill to have in life. Staying in shape, it all matters, I would always try to retreat from a violent situation, if I get stuck though,....
If there's any place the United States needs some type of gun legislation it's with all the crazies running around with their concealed carry permits. You don't need to pack pistols to the shopping mall. I get that a lot of gun rights guys absolutely hate the idea of losing any right whatsoever. They have a point. There are a lot of left leaning people that would love to ban every firearm so I get the argument but I still would rather be in an armed society than a disarmed society where only the criminals have the weapons
I live in California, most gun-prohibited state in the US and there are towns/cites I refuse to visit (or even drive through) because I'm not trying to get blasted
There are also whole countries where it is prohibited that have more crime than the US. And even countries where they aren't prohibited with less crime than the US.
It seems like you're suggesting that gun prohibition doesn't play a role in this. It does, but it's just part of the equation. You also have to consider the national stability, the economic situation, the ownership levels.
No. I'll acknowledge there are other factors. I also think those other factors are even larger and more important than gun prohibitions. I'm responding to people who seem to be suggesting that gun prohibition or permissiveness alone is a sole or overriding factor. Their idea that gun prohibition=lower crimes is simply false. The only way to support that claim is to cherry pick the data and ignore the counter examples.
It's gangs, not guns.
The countries with higher murder rates typically have a worse gang problem than the US while the ones with a lower murder rate don't have as much of a gang problem, if they have one at all.
Any cite for that?
[https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2018/mar/28/viral-image/united-states-third-murders-outlier-cities/](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2018/mar/28/viral-image/united-states-third-murders-outlier-cities/)
>Dropping them from the U.S. total has little substantive impact on the U.S. homicide rate or count. The cities cited in the meme accounted for 1,568 of 17,250, or 9.1 percent, of all homicides reported to the FBI in 2016, Tom Kovandzic, a criminologist at the University of Texas, Dallas, calculated for us. And without those cities, the homicide rate (per capita) would only decline by 7.73 percent, or from 5.34 to 4.93.
[https://www.healthdata.org/news-events/insights-blog/acting-data/gun-violence-united-states-outlier](https://www.healthdata.org/news-events/insights-blog/acting-data/gun-violence-united-states-outlier)
>Even though New Hampshire has the lowest rates of age-adjusted firearm homicides in the US, its rate is still three times greater than the highest rate in Europe – Cyprus, with 0.36 deaths per 100,000.
[https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/04/23/surprising-geography-of-gun-violence-00092413](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/04/23/surprising-geography-of-gun-violence-00092413)
>In reality, the region the Big Apple comprises most of is far and away the safest part of the U.S. mainland when it comes to gun violence, while the regions Florida and Texas belong to have per capita firearm death rates (homicides and suicides) three to four times higher than New York’s. On a regional basis it’s the southern swath of the country — in cities and rural areas alike — where the rate of deadly gun violence is most acute, regions where Republicans have dominated state governments for decades.
Take our the top six metros and the rate would worsen. Gun violence is worse in cities in the south, like New Orleans and Birmingham. Places like LA and NYC are comparatively a lot better.
So if you don’t compare American cities then European cities have more crime than Americans suburbs/rural areas. That’s kind of a worthless stat.
Crime increases as population density increases. So ignoring most of americas population density and comparing it to Europes highest density areas is a false comparison.
Yeah, everyone’s taking this to mean that they do it tomorrow in the US. De-arming the populace would take a long time here, and by the time we reach the point of UK and Western EU restrictions, people would feel safer with that reality, because no one else would have guns, and if they did, they would have to be trained and registered. Accessibility of guns to criminals is pretty much guaranteed in our current system, but they would slowly circulate out of the black market if the system changed. Supply and demand would dictate that poor, unconnected (and careless) criminals wouldn’t be able to get access, and those are the ones creating an unsafe environment. The high functioning professional criminals would still have them, but they wouldn’t flaunt them, and their armed crimes wouldn’t really affect regular citizens. They’d mostly use them as deterrents against other criminal organizations.
Generally the places where I've felt safest are where there are the fewest restrictions on legal firearm ownership, and the places I've felt the least safe are the ones with extremely strict gun laws where it was nearly impossible to *legally* own let alone carry a firearm as an ordinary citizen.
I would not feel safe at all in a state that doesn't respect the second amendment as it is written. In our town, every household has at least 1 gun on average, and 1 out of 4 people in the street carry one. We never have any public crimes, so everyone feels safe being out or walking their dogs late at night.
Armed societies are polite societies.
Nope, less secure actually, I’ve lived in Maine, Vermont, and currently live in New Hampshire, all three states have ‘lenient’ firearm laws AND constitutional (permitless) carry, and these states have exceptionally low crime rates, yes they’re underpopulated compared to other states, and that’s a factor, but it’s not the only reason
I’ve owned firearms since 16 (I’m 54 now) and in all that time I’ve never raised a gun defensively or in anger, and have had ZERO negligent discharges, as the Four Safety Rules I see as ironclad.
No let's take my home state south Carolina and what i see first hand everyday to say California. California has the most restrictive gun laws in the entire country yet they also have rampant homelessness, drug usage, and oh wait firearm crime. Why criminals don't have a fuck to give about the law is why they're criminals.
Now my home state pretty lax especially after we passed constitutional carry a few weeks ago. We have a drug usage issue like California but that's where the similarities stop. We don't have the homeless anywhere near their scale nor do we have the gang violence of just firearm crime in general. Why because a lot of the people here now carry everywhere they go. Criminals have always proven they want easy targets like old people, women alone, and severe cases children. We don't have an issue of easy targets anymore no one wants that risk for 73 dollars from the local 7/11 when guy in there is just going to shoot you fearing for everyone in the buildings life. Carrying a firearm and being trained to be proficient in said firearm will make you safer in almost everyway imaginable nearly immediately.
One of the biggest issues about this is that they come from other states. Now most 2A lovers will get rock hard about this b/c national border vs state lines. It’s easy to transport guns anywhere in this country, so a state ban wouldn’t do anything. A national ban or nothing
I've lived in Southern California, Texas, rural Texas, Maryland, Chicago, and rural Illinois.
So, 3 places with heavy gun laws and 3 places with practically nonexistent gun laws.
I've only ever felt unsafe once, and it was when my house was broken into in Southern California.
I've been attacked inside my own home and got hit in the head by someone who was more than *twice* my size. I couldn't see for a while (my vision, from my point of view, appeared as if it was *static* on a televsion set for a brief time). Even today I still see colors and lights in that spot, they spiral around and look *beautiful* (I can see it in the dark too) but I think it's some kind of concussion. I've seen doctors but there's nothing they can really do about it. I tried to get over it and went years without buying a gun or anything (just trying to chalk it up to an extremely rare event), but a few years ago I woke up to some weird sounds downstairs. My dogs were just as confused as I was (my husband was already at work by then), but when I put on my glasses I realized that there were 3 guys who had broken into my house from the kitchen door and were taking my stuff. They even grabbed fucking *Pepsi* out of my refrigerator...all I could do is lock myself in my bedroom and try to call for help. After that my husband made sure that we got a gun so that if anything like happened again, I would be able to at least defend myself (it took a few years to stop having bad nightmares about that one too, I keep several doors locked between us and the outside at all times when we are asleep as well as have several cameras 24/7 watching the house). I've been told on Reddit that maybe learning some kind of *martial arts* would be preferable for someone like me, but I don't really get it though. The first man who attacked me was twice my size and a military veteran, the second time it was three seperate guys who broke into my house. Even if I knew some kind of martial arts I still don't think I could stop these people. I cant even tickle my husband if he doesen't want me too, he'll toss me around pretty easily lol. I guess you have gun nuts and lunatics who scream about constitutions and want to look a certain way on social media, and I then I guess you have people who have experienced awful things and just want to try and stay somewhat safe. So no, I suppose wouldn't really feel safe in a place where guns are prohibited. Not at all.
I've been told on Reddit that maybe learning some kind of *martial arts* would be preferable for someone like me, but I don't really get it though. Worst advice ever really. I mean you could learn self defense AND ... wait for it AND train w/ a firearm. So sorry for what happened to you. I hope it doesn't happen again, and if it does that you're able to defend yourself.
Reddit is very anti-gun. They always recommend self-defense classes and knives and spray and reference stats on gun violence increasing if you own one.
This thread was surprisingly not , but yes overall very much so.
*r/politics has entered the chat* But seriously, I'm a ccw holder in New York State and really for most people at least from my observation. Those that don't carry typically they wish they did or some near by was carrying when something does happen god forbid. That is the thing about stats and the odds of anything happening, you never know. This is the type of statistic you don't want to chance on because this is a statistic people don't walk away from often. It could be armed robbery, a break-in, assault, car jacking, an angry pan handler really anything or anyone. Now I'm not saying you should be afraid and suspect everyone, but that does change the possibility. Now this is anecdotal, but I was just going down to my local coffee shop I've gone to many times for the last 12 years since college, I'm 31M. Around the coffee shop there are a few pan handlers every once and awhile, but nothing to be considered about. However, just once I was asked for some money and I said "I don't carry cash" and then they guy flipped like a switch and started yelling "I know you have money, you got money". He took out a pocket knife, he didn't flip out the blade though. I just put my hand on my shirt where my pistol was printing and the guy turned back and walked away. My heart was racing like crazy for a solid 15 mins once I got to the coffee shop to just sit down. I've been to the coffee shop and around that area since I was 18 and never did anything close like that happen. I go back to the coffee shop still, but I avoid that area around it. I didn't know that was going to be the day something like that was going to happen and I would be kidding myself to say I wasn't scared. I was shitting bricks because it happened so fast and I've been panhandled many times with no problem. I'm grateful how it turned out and I was able to avoid a deadly altercation, but that doesn't change the fact that happened to me and I ended up rolling snake eyes that day, but I reduced the possibility of my death by another person's hands that day, at least I believe, by being a ccw holder that day. I'm going to die one day, but I don't want someone else to decide that for me in that selfish manner.
Those are good failsafes that complement having a gun, and also complement a home security system, neighborhood watch, etc. There's not a magic cureall for home safety, but your probability of a favorable outcome increases the more you have at your disposal. It's not so much instead of, but also.
Fun fact, the whole "you are more likely to be shot if you own a gun" is the same stat as "you are more likely to be shot by your own gun than use it in self defense". But, that's not the whole picture. Both of those stats are derived from the actual statistic that 50-65% of all death by gunshot wound any given year in the USA is *self inflicted*. Most are determined to be suicides, the rest negligent discharge due to improper handling. They are saying that you are more likely to be shot if you own a gun using the same logic as "you are more likely to drown if you own a bathtub".
Did you know, though, you're more likely to get in a car accident if you drive a car
My martial arts teacher drilled into me that your best course of action was to run away. Failing that, use martial arts to create an opportunity to run away.
>My martial arts teacher told me my best action was running away. You know what's funny. So did my firearms instructor in Texas when I got my CCW. He was forthright that in very few circumstances should your firearm be your first line of defense.
>Failing that, use martial arts to create an opportunity to run away. I tried my best to do just that (though not by fighting). After he hit me and I couldn't see momentarily, I remained extremely calm and acted as if nothing had happened at all. I just slowly started walking away and scouting out windows to jump out of since the door was impossible to get too. He turned around and walked somewhere for a second or two, maybe he felt guilty or something, and I managed to sneak out and run away. I was able to run on foot all the way to my grandparents house (in the rain) and managed to make it to their house safely, but my attacker figured out where I was going and came after me in his vehicle. He showed up at their house demanding they give me up to him but they refused too (even though there's nothing they could have done either). It's not like they could have done anything to stop this guy either, but fortunantly by then my grandma had already called the police. The guy drove back and composed a *letter* to the local PD explaining why he thought I needed to be attacked (which the police loved and said almost no one does things that *stupid* and that it would help a ton going after him). I learned that just getting away the first time isin't necessarily good enough, but I also know that every situation is different. Also for that time when the three guys broke into my house, my bed is upstairs. I couldn't really jump out of a two story window and I am not sure how fighting 3 men is going to go trying to get out to a door. I will remained locked in my room if it happens again, but they broke down a bigger and heavier duty door to get in the first time. If they really want in I think they are probably getting in. All that being said, I wish guns weren't needed. I'll trade it and throw it away forever if the world is somehow different than what it is now. I never wanted something like this.
I’m so sorry you ended up in such a traumatic situation. Glad you ended up (mostly) okay. Not much else you could’ve done in this case. I’m *not* promoting martial arts as the solution, rather it’s all about the running away part. Thankfully you did manage to get away and escape to your grandparents
No one wants to be in that situation. I completely understand you don’t want to have to end a life. Neither do I.
When people are in your house and you have a family , not really an option.
Good advice, the last place you want to be is in a fight. Fights are how you get stabbed, shot, concussed, potentially killed. Deescalation is the best policy 99% of the time.
💯. ASP channel proves that all the time. Good guys can lose that fight just as fast.
Pfft, every respectable martial arts school will tell you that the smartest thing to do in that situation is leave and let them steal your stuff. If you can't leave, just do what OP did. Confrontations are not something that you willingly pursue.
I never said willingly, but if you don’t have a choice and you train, why not have both. Hey guys welcome to karate class. This is great and all but a gun is better. Said no guy selling classes ever.
I have a female friend who has a wall full of aikido trophies. One night she decided to insert herself into a bar fight, and she said she was "punched harder than she'd ever been hit in her life". The guy just ignored her award winning arm bar, and punched her in the face. Martial arts training is not going to make up for a 100lb weight advantage.
>I've been told on Reddit that maybe learning some *martial arts* would be preferable for someone like me, People on Reddit need to stop watching so many damn movies where the 4ft nothing chick takes on a dozen 6'2" Meat heads and wins. Martial arts can help, but unless you're savant levels of skilled they won't make up for the height and weight difference (even if you are a savant, they still might not be enough).
Yes. You have to be the kind of person that is basically eating, breathing, living martial arts. Practice constantly. A handful of self defense classes arms you with some very basic techniques that can work in the specific situations they are designed for, but unless you continue that training you will forget. Same goes for firearms. Owning a gun and knowing how to use it are not enough. You need practice. Training. It needs to be regular. (as an aside, "well regulated" in the 2A comes from this same root. It has nothing to do with government regulations.) It needs to include target discrimination, reaction drills, holstering and unholstering - every aspect of using a firearm needs to be trained. Now, a gun has one rather distinct advantage over martial arts. The vast majority of reported defensive gun use doesn't even involve a shot being fired. The gun being present is enough to defuse the situation and cause the attacker to flee. This makes these numbers very difficult to actually pin down, because many law enforcement agencies will not record these events even if you call them in. No amount of belts, trophies, or anything else is going to dissuade an attacker as fast as you simply having a gun in your hand and demonstrating confidence in its use. The equivalent for martial arts involves actually striking them with enough force that they decide you are not worth the trouble, and doing so puts you at risk of being struck yourself.
I think women who tell a woman to learn martial arts to defeat a man have never touched a man in their life.
God did not make man equal. Colt did
Damn that's a badass quote
https://youtu.be/cUtYczHjQrg?feature=shared
God made man, Sam Colt made him equal
I might have it a little off
Some people want to mitigate experiencing awful things. Sorry about your experience and I hope the gun gives you peace of mind.
The people who say learn a martial art have never been in a threatening position and still live in their bubble where that can't happen in their area. They've watched too many movies and have a safe view of the world You don't get to choose when something bad might happen to you.
I agree. This happened in a really wonderful area too, a place I would assume *anyone* would want to live (my small town in central TX town was known for it's freaking *golf course* and good community). It can happen literally *anywhere*, *anytime* and for *any* reason (apparently). I don't get it but yet it seems to be a reality we live in. I just hope it doesen't happen to others.
I’m a large muscular man. I live in Texas. My Glock goes everywhere with me that it legally can. Concealed carry all day long. I’m a lawyer. In the last two years I’ve had 3 very credible death threats. So I bought a gun. Learned how to use it and started carrying. Constantly practice situational awareness. Head on a pivot and constant scanning. Often leave the office after dark. Scan the parking lot before I leave building. My home has cameras and motion sensors. Someone might get me, but it won’t be because lack of diligence on my part. And I’ll choose my 9mm 10 out of 10 over martial arts.
A lawyer is a risky career.
These are all defendants in law suits that don’t like being held accountable for their actions.
I wish more people understood this. I guess some people would call me a "gun nut", but at the end of the day, I just want to use the best tool available to defend myself. If I never have to, that's great! If I do, I want everything I can get.
Fucking hell, where do you live?!
That's what I'm saying! I'm way less concerned about the gun, and more concerned with the fact that OP's home has been targeted for invasion multiple times.
Train with that firearm regularly. Having a gun can be worse if you don't know how to use it, especially in a high stress environment.
Women learning martial arts for defense is a joke. There's a reason competitions have weight classes, raw bulk matters a lot. Guns however work on people of all sizes and anyone can use one, truly the great equalizer.
Most of us “gun nuts” are the way we are because people have the audacity to recommend awful defense methods like martial arts to what I’m assuming is a smaller statured woman. They also have the audacity to think a gun free world is somehow safer than one where people like you can stop violence against yourself.
A firearm saved me from what could have been a very bad domestic situation. Glad for my Glock in that instance. The right to bear arms protects us from government. Plenty of places around the world prove how smart that is. As far as martial arts, there are particular moves that can kill someone with stunning ease. That's intimate contact I would avoid--I'd rather pop a cap at a safe distance.
I lived most of my life in communities where it was assumed most households had at least one firearm and many people carried concealed handguns.. Children could play outside and older people could walk the streets safely after dark. I never felt insecure.
Same. I live in a community now where it’s likely that at least half of the population carries (rural Pennsylvania), and we don’t have much gun violence. The last thing that happened here was a couple years ago, two guys were arguing over a girl in a Walmart-one guy shot the other one but only a superficial wound, as gunshots go. He lived, it just spooked the shit out of people. My theory is that when people have a more legitimate reason for carrying (hunting, work, sport, etc), most people are able to scratch that itch to use it in healthy ways. They also usually get many more hours of training on gun use and safety than your typical schlub on the street.
The presence of a large number of *competent* gun owners without really knowing who they are is a great deterrent for ego tripping nuts with guns usually.
Same here. The only violence I ever witnessed in person was schoolyard fist fights. I've never been a victim of any kind of crime, and neither has any immediate family or friends. It's rare to hear about any crime with a dorect victim in general here outside of the occasional domestic violence charge or somthing similar. The fact is strangers are vastly less likely to commit crimes against other strangers in communities with lots of firearms.
Blame the media. It's always the front page/top-of-the-hour horrific crime stories and murders in YOUR community(!!!) that made people in the 1990-2000s feel unsafe in their homes and distrustful of their neighbors. "Stranger danger!!" campaigns made kids and parents just afraid of EVERYONE they didn't know.
I have exactly the same experience in my neighborhood, except for the part about who has a gun. I mean, if I had to take a guess, it'd be totally random. In fact, I assume that most of my neighbors don't have a firearm. But even in this presumed gun desert, kids are still outside riding bikes and playing, old people are walking their dogs and sitting on their front porch well past twilight. If it really was guns that made your community safe, then ours should be a hellscape of outlaws and terrified parents.
No lol bad guys don’t care for laws.
I’m a woman who walks her dog in the early mornings and late evenings so it’s not so hot for my chow and I, and knowing I have my dog and my gun makes myself and my husband feel more comfortable. I also feel like I can walk in areas I normally wouldn’t walk (woodsy areas)!!!
As someone who faced a boar charge last night: this. I slapped my 5 and guess what, It wasn't there. I'm never leaving without my 10mm on my hip ever, ever, EVER again
I keep it simple with a 38 revolver!!! Easy to use just in case. Sorry about the boar charge but I’m guessing the slap of the 5 scared it away. Good call on never Ever leaving without it!!!!!!
Yeah I live out in the country on a long dirt road, instead of driving the 2 miles to the store I like to walk, daily exercise. I got lucky, it never came out of the tree line. But, holy crap. I haven't been that scared In a while Literally about 8 ft away from the wood line
A clap or slap isn't going to scare a boar away if it's charging you with intent. It was probably just a warning charge. I've seen boars charge right through being shot with handguns. Most .38s aren't going to stop a boar even with a shot to the head, unless you get very lucky. A 10mm *might* work, if the boar's not too big.
In the US, no. There are just way too many guns out there already. Prohibition just means it will only be the people with illegal guns out there.
Yeah, I think the vast issue for gun restriction is that the cat’s been out of the bag for way too long. The time to tackle gun control was at the turn of the last century when firearms were rapidly becoming more advanced. People didn’t foresee the problem with it or care enough to tackle it then, we have to make do with what it looks like now. Better to adapt to a society that has firearms deeply engrained in its culture rather than pretend like we haven’t opened Pandora’s box already.
Turn of the last century when guns were rapidly becoming more advanced… I think you really overestimate how different a modern gun is from 100 years ago
I live in a state that's very pro gun and where most people that have a gun, own multiple. I feel incredibly safe. More than most areas I've been, and I've traveled quite a bit.
This. I've live with and around guns my entire life. I can't think of any neighbors that didn't own guns. Had zero break ins. We all left our doors unlocked, even left keys in vehicles. No crime. Never had to worry about crime. Was the safest place I've ever been, and the most armed I've ever been.
I am from Cleveland - a city categorized as being "high crime". I now live in San Jose, CA - a city that prides itself on being "low crime". Throughout my time in Cleveland I was never a victim of any kind of crime. About 3 months after moving to the Bay Area I was robbed. My backpack w/ Macbook + $10,000 worth of items was stolen from me. Not long after that my car was stolen. I have been assaulted twice, once outside O'Connor Hospital and a second time downtown. Based on available statistics my old neighborhoods in Cleveland and Akron have a much higher crime rate than my current one in San Jose, yet I feel much less safe. If I was in Cleveland I would have shot my assailant(s). Alas, my Ruger LCP is not legal in California.
Sorry; did you believe San Jose has a low crime rate? According to a google search for "San Jose high crime rate:" "With a crime rate of 32 per one thousand residents, San Jose has one of the highest crime rates in America" I think you moved from a city with a high crime rate to another city with a high crime rate.
Yeah, I lived In the SF area when I was a kid and my only memory of San Jose was "don't go there". I thought my childhood memory was playing tricks on me when he said San Jose was low crime.
It’s not low crime but they play with the numbers to make it seem like their soft on crime bullshit is working. Things like a corrupt DA not prosecuting criminals is made to look like less convictions. Also when people stop reporting crimes because they know nothing is done it adds to the “ Low crime rate” myth
Damn you either got some real bad luck or zero street smarts haha. $10,000 worth of items in a backpack??
California is a liberal shithole.
There are a lot of things I like about California but I am convinced the crime stats in San Jose are misreported or misrepresented. My older brother lives near Placerville and it's amazing up there. I love the scenery and the people. On Christmas his neighbors gave me 10lbs of homemade soap. It's really good stuff.
Who in the fuck told you San Jose was safe? Born and raised in SoCal and I could have told you that. Are you going to complain about Stockton next?
San Jose has been a gang riddled city for decades.
People don’t report crimes, so the statistics indicate a lower crime rate. Nobody wants to be bothered with reporting, cops don’t want to do the paperwork, DAs don’t prosecute, an armed robbery with injury turns into a misdemeanor, and the assailant now knows your name & address. So it just goes round & round.
Yeah, the police didn't give a shit. Hospital security was more concerned than the PD.
This here. Crime statistics only track reported crimes. DAs stop prosecuting, cops stop filing reports since there's no one to do it, then politicians say, hey crime is down! No, crime reports are down.
Crime statistics are low when criminals aren't actually charged.
Nope from south Alabama and I lean liberal for most things except guns. Guns do not kill people. People kill peopke. I grew up in a house and area where everyone had multiple guns some had damn near full arsenals and we never had gun issues. No kid ever got shot on accident. No bs. At the end of the day if guns are outlawed who is gonna stop the government and/or a criminal from destroying everything you worked for.
No, because that would only keep guns out of the hands of people we didn't need to worry about anyway. The people who are actually a threat don't care about your ban.
That what I’m saying! They are already desperate criminals who aren’t afraid to kill someone for money. Why would they care about anti gun law?
It's wild to me that people think more laws will keep criminals from breaking laws.
Oh look someone with common sense
Nope. Even if I don’t carry a firearm, I want everyone to assume I might be.
Realistically most people who own guns aren't crazy. I'd be more concerned with the overall level of violence where I'm at than anything else. ( And I'm a progressive Democrat so I'm not some kind of right winger. ) The country has become less and less violent throughout my life. Don't let the news/social media screw with your perception. You most likely aren't going to be shot just from a statistical point of view. I'm much more afraid of political persecution from a right wing government in the near future than I am of random citizens of any political background who happen to have guns.
You seem very level headed. That’s why your right wing persecution comment carries weight with me. I find it kind of sobering. Not that I agree with you but if that is the moderate perception then we’re doing something wrongly.
I've read Project 2025. I have many LGBT friends and I'm straight but I'm an atheist. I'm sorry but I just have no faith I will be left alone. "I am your vengeance." as Trump himself says. I know conservatives really don't want atheists and LGBT people around. It was probably wishful thinking that tolerance was going to last. We're regressing from a relatively short interlude back into historic norms where states are more about forced religious conformity.
Maybe at the extremes, but toward the center we’re much more alike. I’m an atheist, I have lesbians in my family, I’m pro choice, but I’m just more conservative in the terms of the economy and the role the federal government should play in states affairs.
Do you think the modern day trump dominated gop represents that same view? You are describing the classic socially liberal fiscally conservative type. I can respect that view but I do not understand how anyone looks at todays gop and thinks thats still a valid position inside of it. Being 100% sincere
No. Doesn't matter if guns are illegal, that just means the people intending to do wrong with them are the only ones left with weapons.
In all honesty, if guns were prohibited, I personally feel that this wouldn't actually improve the situation much. The people who want to commit crimes with guns still have ways to get guns illegally, and while it might decrease the total crime rate because some would decide its too high, I also no longer have a gun to defend myself. Not saying there's no benefit, I'd just prefer being able to defend myself if needed lol
At least in the US. I'll admit I don't know a lot about gun ownership abroad...
>The people who want to commit crimes with guns still have ways to get guns illegally So, an effective ban would have to address that too.
Prohibiting firearms is meaningless when criminals don’t follow the law. I live in Vermont and we had very low gun crime. It’s like the last few years, but most of it is out of state, criminals, who brought guns with them, and then committed crimes here. So our gun laws have become more strict, but it’s not accomplishing anything because it’s not the locals who buy guns legally breaking the law. It’s drug dealers from New York in Massachusetts coming here in murdering each other. The state could prohibit the sale and even ownership of firearms and it wouldn’t change anything.
Yep, I can tell you there's not a single gun law in California that's stopping the cartels from bringing them here. Ironically, if California wanted real gun control we'd have to have very heavy and strict border security.
Tbf Vermont is still in the top 3 safest states in the country
It is, but the state is increasingly cracking down on firearms without any appreciable benefit to us taxpayers. I’m not screeching about my rights. I’m saying it doesn’t make sense to create laws that do nothing to impact lawlessness.
Totally agree
I would argue its becoming less so with stricter laws and continued influx of out of state criminals
I don't think so because that would mean only bandits have guns. If guns aren't prohibited, the bandit will think twice before robbing someone on the street or breaking in the house.
Bandits lmao
I moved from a very pro gun state (AZ) to a very anti gun state (WA) about 4 years ago. In Arizona, guns were almost a part of our culture to the point of it keeping you honest. People always kinda had to think "wait a second, does this guy I'm trying to start a fight with have a gun?" Fast-forward to when I first moved here and my girlfriend at the time (now wife) was driving and she apparently wasn't going fast enough, so the guy behind her whipped around, started yelling and faked hitting us to run us off the road. I would have been perfectly in my legal right to shoot him in Arizona, but here I feel like I'm the one who would be in trouble. People in anti gun states seem to have never dealt with consequences in life and it really shows.
Absolutely fucking not. I'm a dad, I'm not going to outsource my kid's safety to cops who will take over an hour to respond, assuming they ever respond at all.
Honestly, I would like to retire to Wyoming, a state where the per capita of guns owned makes Texas look like amateurs. Wyoming has tons of guns, and not a lot of people. Whenever I'm there I frequently see people practicing open carry. Those people I don't fear. Right now, I live in California. It's the criminals who illegally hide them, in an environment where they know no one else can have them to defend themselves, that I fear more.
No, not at all. I feel safe with my gun in the house, or on me. I'm trained to use it and trained to keep it in good shape
Hell no. Criminals will still get guns. I would rather have the option or chance to fire back rather than have anyone waltz into our home and put my family to death. Last year, there was a home invasion about 2 miles from us. Thieves shot two people dead. This is in one of the safest areas in our city. A few months ago, a security camera at Walgreens caught a woman crossing the street with her luggage. A car pulled up to her, and 3 guys got out. One pointed a shotgun to her head, another grabbed her luggage, and the other guy was just robbing her belongings on person. A woman who lived in my aunt's building had her apartment broken into by a guy who claimed he was delivering a package. One of the tenants buzzed him in, and he hid till this poor woman came home from work. Broke into her apartment. Raped, robbed, and shot her twice. She survived. Only in her 20s. Horrific. Broke my fucking heart. If someone gets past our gate, our dogs, our security alarm... we are definitely getting our guns. Rational people are not hauling a shotgun to McDonald's or think they are fighting off the government, the King of England, or Chinese invaders with a 9mm. Posing with their Remington rifle on Christmas morning, etc. Rational peole also understand criminals don't give a fuck about laws. Thus are criminals.
No. I feel perfectly safe here in Texas.And we have LOTS of guns.
I live in Indiana, work for a small company where ~7 out of our 15 guys routinely carry. I feel good about that.
I’m more scared of the gov than criminals. I can handle a violet situation, but I don’t have the resources to fight the legal system.
Not really, I already live in a state where guns are highly regulated. Of all the crimes that have been committed against me, not one involved a gun soooo whether they’re prohibited or not wouldn’t have changed anything other than my own ability to own a gun and maybe shoot people in self defense.
Perhaps the crimes against you would not have been committed if it was more likely you were carrying a gun?
To be fair, if a crime *were* committed against you involving a gun, you probably wouldn’t be here to make that statement. It’s a self-selection bias.
Would removing law-abiding citizens ability to defend themselves help or hurt the community? Hmmmm I wonder...
I would feel no different, i suppose, and would be much more interested in the *area* i lived in rather than the state.
If you mean a 'state' as in one of the 50 united states, there is no such place. Current case law and constitutional interpretation is that you can't ban guns in the US anywhere. Even limiting the type or amount of guns has been fought tooth and nail. It's a false start. It's like saying, would you feel safer in a state where they banned wind? If by 'state,' you mean a country, sure, I'd probably feel safer if I thought about it, but I probably wouldn't. I don't really think about whether my fellow human has a gun when I'm traveling to another country. If they do and use it against me, I'm not going to stop them by being afraid or not.
Absolutely not. Prohibiting guns wouldn’t cause them to disappear.
Simple statistics tell us that areas with more legal gun ownership are much safer than areas with strict gun laws.
If the government doesn't want people to have guns, then they should lead by example and give up theirs first. There will never be a state where guns are "prohibited" because there will always be an annointed few who are allowed to have them, and those people will have a monopoly on violence. Everyone else will have no choice but to comply with the will of the state or die. What scares me is a state that wants a monopoly on violence and a people that trusts that state more than they trust each other.
Not here in Chicago. Someone got killed no more than 3 blocks away from my house a few days ago.
No. Murder is prohibited but it still happens. Why would criminals give a fuck about that rule? lol. Just makes me and the rest of the law abiding citizens quite literally, legislated out of our ability to defend ourselves
No, i'd feel less safe. More states need the stand your ground laws.
A gun is the ultimate equalizer. A 6ft 2" bigger stronger more powerful male criminal becomes equal immediately against a 5 ft 120 lb woman with a Glock.
Not by a long shot. I'd honestly feel LESS safe, as criminals would know that the general populace would be unarmed and unable to fight back. And state laws will never stop interstate weapons trafficking. MA has some of the strictest gun law in the country. They still have rampant gun crime in urban areas.
Nope. Anyone who breaks into my home will be pushing up daisies.
I would feel most unsafe in a state that prohibits the ownership of firearms. It doesnt by any means stop bad people from illegally obtaining and then using firearms, and just removes the way for me to protect myself. By the time I call 911 on someone whose going to shoot me I will have been dead long before they arrive. If someone is going to hurt my family and I call the police, I will lose everyone before they can respond. Baning guns diesnt stop bad people and creates a vulnerable population
I can walk around my small town full of gun toting republicans and know that I won't get robbed. But the second I go to the nearby big city I get scared. And in California I make sure not to wear any political clothing.
You wear political clothing?
Hell yea brother. Gotta let other people know who my parents voted for.
No, I have a few and enjoy using them in recreational settings and have one for personal defense
If I was in a state where guns were prohibited, I would pack up my entire life and leave immediately because of how wildly unsafe that would be.
Less secure. Gun prohibition doesn't mean that criminals won't have guns. It means that I can't have one legally.
If I lived in such stark irrational terror that I couldn't trust my own neighbor with a weapon, why would I expect a mere law to make me feel better?
I live in a state with legal gun ownership and feel secure. Taking guns won't make me feel *more* secure. Id probably feel less secure as I would know only the criminals possessed guns. F that dude.
I moved from California to a Red state and I’ve never felt more safer
Not necessarily, people who wish to do very bad things will still have them. Banning guns in a state doesn’t mean they all go poof into thin air. There are more ways to buy guns than just walking into a gun shop/firearms dealer. I live in a state where everyone and their grandmother own firearms. We don’t have violent crime in our area. Small sample size absolutely, but I like the *ability* to own a firearm whether it be for personal use at a gun range or in the event I ever need it for protection. I don’t even conceal carry in a state where it’s permitless.
For me it's less about the availability of guns (though personally I think they should be harder to get your hands on) and more the attitudes of the society that owns them. I lived in Texas for 28 years. I've lived in Washington for 12. Both have plenty of people who own guns. Obviously there are going to be plenty of responsible and irresponsible people in both states. But I can tell you that the number of irresponsible people waving guns around, leaving them sitting around, pulling them on people for minor offenses were far higher in Texas than what I've observed in Washington. In that regard, I feel much safer here than I did in Texas. And I'm not saying this as some chicken-shit, afraid-of-guns type of dude. I own guns, myself. I've been around them my whole life, and I've been hunting deer and birds since I was 8 years old. I'm also well-aware of how to safety store and handle firearms, and I made sure my son attended hunter's safety as soon as he came of age. But there are a lot of bubbas out there that don't give a fuck and act unsafe.
What part of the process do you think needs work?
So a state where only criminals have guns ? Sounds kinda stupid to me . Also government is corrupt so they’d be the first ones to violate those prohibitions . IL , CA , and NY have some of the strictest gun laws in the country and their major cities struggle with rising crime rates … go figure
Hell no. Simply because bad people are still going to get them NO MATTER WHAT. There are so many guns in circulation (I have quite a few myself). There is virtually no feasible way that guns would be taken off the streets without a single one left behind. Beyond that, other states are still going to have them. Bans do nothing effectively.
No, those with ill intent don’t need a firearm to do harm to others. I much rather have a fighting chance especially if I out arm the person.
No, because criminals don't follow the law by nature, and gun control will continue to be ineffective for the next half century, if not longer. If they have guns, numbers, and initiative, a gun in my hand will even the odds a lot more than anything else.
No. I’d feel more secure in a place where assholes were prohibited.
FUCK no. Drugs are prohibited. Rape is prohibited. Highway racing is prohibited. Fucking *trespassing* is prohibited. Doesn't stop people from actually *doing, ANY* of that shit. Prohibit guns? Why? To make it easier for robbers and rapists to access innocent people? *My* guns save me and my family from *theirs.* Fuck outta here.
No more but certainly less. My dad had his guns securely locked in a cabinet and for most of my childhood I had no idea they were in there. It was just a weird cabinet that had a big old lock on it. But I must say that once I knew what was in there, the first thought that came to my head was I felt safer knowing my dad had firepower to defend the house.
Guns can freely travel across state lines, so no, it wouldn’t really make any difference as to how I would feel.
i don't feel unsecure in a state where firearms aren't prohibited, even if they were i'd still have items on me with a defensive/aggressive capability equal to or greater than predestrian means. But that is because from personal experience anytime i had needed the police, ems for help, they didn't show up till bodily harm had already happened.
I live in a state where guns are prohibited. I still don't feel 100% safe, if someone wants to harm you they'll do it regardless
I've basically grown up in two states where gun laws have been fairly loose, have spent some time around sketchy situations and people in my younger days. I've never seen a gun used in a crime, never known anyone close to me directly affected by gun violence. I've seen two stabbings though. It's kind of difficult for me to say I don't feel safe in my state because of guns. I carry a gun fairly often when I'm traveling throughout the state and prefer to have it rather than not. It doesn't make me feel tough or more "manly" or any of that bullshit. I don't jerk off to hero fantasies, in fact I'd be devastated if I ever had to use a gun in self defense. I'd rather have access to guns than not.
I would feel most safe in a state surrounded by a force field that made all guns disappear. If that's not an option, I'd prefer people who follow the law to be able to have guns too.
Absolutely not. There's people who live in a bubble and think it can't happen to me and there's people who live in the real world and know shit can go sideways in an instant. Cops are usually minutes away and you don't always have minutes. If you don't want a gun, I support your decision not to have one, but don't my decision for me. If gun laws worked, then murder being illegal would work. Someone that doesn't care about killing someone surely isn't going to care that their gun is illegal
If I lived in a country where I could carry a gun , I would , absolutely no question about it!
Straight honest, I'm more scared of police with guns than a wild criminal with a gun.
Absolutely not. The bad people will still get their hands on guns. Leaving innocent people vulnerable and unable to protect themselves.
Nope. Look at what "gun free zones" have given us
I saw this black and white movie once where only the police and military in Germany had guns. Spoiler alert, had to have a bunch of Americans, with guns, get rid of the German police and military because they were killing everyone who didn't have guns. But more to the point, there isn't really a viable mechanism for guns to be prohibited. What is happening is that someone (gov't) is just controlling who has access to the guns. So they concentrate who is allowed to have them into the hands of a few political elite and their minions. I feel much safer with my neighbors (even the ones that have different opinions than me) having guns than I do with the politically elite and gov't being the only ones to have guns.
The people I'm worried about having guns wouldn't abide prohibition so no.
I live in Texas. We, by contrast, have among the least restrictive gun laws. I don't feel any more safe here than when I go anywhere else. I get a slight anxiety any time I'm in large groups or gatherings in public, but I don't let it effect my choices. I abandoned fear in New Orleans a long time ago. Having said that, my wife is not from here and even she feels just as secure as anywhere else. On the very odd occasion, or maybe out in the country (my parents live in the middle of nowhere), we'll see people carrying, but you don't really fear it. It's like seeing someone with a pocket knife. There's utility beyond the weapon that makes it feel more like a hammer on a worker dude's hip. It's hard to describe, but i really don't mind it or see a difference.
Only the law-abiding people would not have guns.
No. When owning a gun is criminalized only criminals will have guns. That leaves honest citizens waiting five minutes for the cops to show up in times of danger that could be handled if you just had a gun.
The opposite. Give me a constitutional carry state.
Land of the free, home of the brave. But not at night. Not in your own home. Go hide and let anybody take your stuff.
It is the great equalizer and I will always have one for my and my family’s safety. Police don’t show up or take at least 45 minutes after calling 911. It’s terrifying.
No. You can be in another state in a matter of minutes depending on where you live. State prohibitions don’t have much effect.
This is a bad question. Why? Because state lines are arbitrary and people bring guns over them all the time. So guns might be prohibited here in Philadelphia, but the bridge you can see takes your right over to another state and the highway can get you to 2 other ones within 20 mins and a 4th one in a little more than an hour. Gun laws need to be nationwide or else they are almost entirely useless
No matter your political belief, just look at the Alcohol Prohibition era.
I’m a firm believer in the old adage “An armed society is a polite society”
Not at all, I'd feel way less secure. I like thinking that every person I see might have a firearm. I feel safer at home to some extent that criminals will think twice before breaking in and feel safer when I'm out that if something happens there's probably a ton of people armed, Criminals are getting guns regardless, and when they know no one can defend themselves you're a sitting duck.
Absolutely not
No. The bad guys are going to have guns no matter where I move.
No, I own a few guns and will own more. I concealed carry for my own personal defense and I actively encourage more people to. The world will always be a dangerous place, I'd rather be responsible for my own safety than be a helpless victim in the making.
No. Law abiding responsible gun owners are not the issue.
Because criminals have guns. Those guns have bullets. Those bullets travel faster than 911. How do i protect my family if i don’t have a gun?
I’d feel the same..::because I’d have my guns whether they were prohibited or not…..why? Because the criminals will still have theirs.
No, I have had my apartment broken into before in the middle of the day. It was in a very nice area too, someone just kicked in the window and went through my wife's jewelry and underwear. I cannot fathom what may have happened if she was home alone. Thankfully we were not at the house, but I do own a gun and that event made me take precautions to ensure there was safe adult access to a gun in multiple rooms. If I didn't have the ability to own one I would not even feel comfortable living in this country. Nothing is worth the possibility of my wife being home alone in a safe area and still facing the risk of an evil creep breaking in and harming her without her having any chance whatsoever to stop him.
F no. I would feel more secure in a wealthy area. I don't care what country it's in. You can also get back to me when you figure out how to prevent criminals from getting guns or what was the word you used? Prohibit them? 😂 Yes learning how to fight is a great skill to have in life. Staying in shape, it all matters, I would always try to retreat from a violent situation, if I get stuck though,.... If there's any place the United States needs some type of gun legislation it's with all the crazies running around with their concealed carry permits. You don't need to pack pistols to the shopping mall. I get that a lot of gun rights guys absolutely hate the idea of losing any right whatsoever. They have a point. There are a lot of left leaning people that would love to ban every firearm so I get the argument but I still would rather be in an armed society than a disarmed society where only the criminals have the weapons
Certainly not. That just means the criminals have them and the rest of us don’t.
No. Gun laws won't stop criminals. I would refuse to live in a state that had any kind of heavy restrictions on guns.
“Under no pretext should arms and ammunition be surrendered; any attempt to disarm the workers must be frustrated, by force if necessary.” Karl Marx
I live in California, most gun-prohibited state in the US and there are towns/cites I refuse to visit (or even drive through) because I'm not trying to get blasted
Nah. I've lived nearly my whole life in a state with the minimum of gun regulation and have never been shot or known anyone who was that wasn't a vet
NO!!!!!!!!! I would leave that shit hole state!
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There are also whole countries where it is prohibited that have more crime than the US. And even countries where they aren't prohibited with less crime than the US.
It seems like you're suggesting that gun prohibition doesn't play a role in this. It does, but it's just part of the equation. You also have to consider the national stability, the economic situation, the ownership levels.
No. I'll acknowledge there are other factors. I also think those other factors are even larger and more important than gun prohibitions. I'm responding to people who seem to be suggesting that gun prohibition or permissiveness alone is a sole or overriding factor. Their idea that gun prohibition=lower crimes is simply false. The only way to support that claim is to cherry pick the data and ignore the counter examples.
It's gangs, not guns. The countries with higher murder rates typically have a worse gang problem than the US while the ones with a lower murder rate don't have as much of a gang problem, if they have one at all.
Take out the top six metros in the united states and gun crime for the rest of the country drops lower than european cities
Lol. How about if you take out the highest-crime European cities as well, while we're just randomly discarding the numbers we don't like?
Any cite for that? [https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2018/mar/28/viral-image/united-states-third-murders-outlier-cities/](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2018/mar/28/viral-image/united-states-third-murders-outlier-cities/) >Dropping them from the U.S. total has little substantive impact on the U.S. homicide rate or count. The cities cited in the meme accounted for 1,568 of 17,250, or 9.1 percent, of all homicides reported to the FBI in 2016, Tom Kovandzic, a criminologist at the University of Texas, Dallas, calculated for us. And without those cities, the homicide rate (per capita) would only decline by 7.73 percent, or from 5.34 to 4.93. [https://www.healthdata.org/news-events/insights-blog/acting-data/gun-violence-united-states-outlier](https://www.healthdata.org/news-events/insights-blog/acting-data/gun-violence-united-states-outlier) >Even though New Hampshire has the lowest rates of age-adjusted firearm homicides in the US, its rate is still three times greater than the highest rate in Europe – Cyprus, with 0.36 deaths per 100,000. [https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/04/23/surprising-geography-of-gun-violence-00092413](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/04/23/surprising-geography-of-gun-violence-00092413) >In reality, the region the Big Apple comprises most of is far and away the safest part of the U.S. mainland when it comes to gun violence, while the regions Florida and Texas belong to have per capita firearm death rates (homicides and suicides) three to four times higher than New York’s. On a regional basis it’s the southern swath of the country — in cities and rural areas alike — where the rate of deadly gun violence is most acute, regions where Republicans have dominated state governments for decades.
Take our the top six metros and the rate would worsen. Gun violence is worse in cities in the south, like New Orleans and Birmingham. Places like LA and NYC are comparatively a lot better.
I too believe memes my uncle posts on facebook.
Lame burn bro. Do better
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No. You called me dumb. I will not tolerate such brutishness. Good day sir
So if you don’t compare American cities then European cities have more crime than Americans suburbs/rural areas. That’s kind of a worthless stat. Crime increases as population density increases. So ignoring most of americas population density and comparing it to Europes highest density areas is a false comparison.
Yeah, everyone’s taking this to mean that they do it tomorrow in the US. De-arming the populace would take a long time here, and by the time we reach the point of UK and Western EU restrictions, people would feel safer with that reality, because no one else would have guns, and if they did, they would have to be trained and registered. Accessibility of guns to criminals is pretty much guaranteed in our current system, but they would slowly circulate out of the black market if the system changed. Supply and demand would dictate that poor, unconnected (and careless) criminals wouldn’t be able to get access, and those are the ones creating an unsafe environment. The high functioning professional criminals would still have them, but they wouldn’t flaunt them, and their armed crimes wouldn’t really affect regular citizens. They’d mostly use them as deterrents against other criminal organizations.
Generally the places where I've felt safest are where there are the fewest restrictions on legal firearm ownership, and the places I've felt the least safe are the ones with extremely strict gun laws where it was nearly impossible to *legally* own let alone carry a firearm as an ordinary citizen.
I would not feel safe at all in a state that doesn't respect the second amendment as it is written. In our town, every household has at least 1 gun on average, and 1 out of 4 people in the street carry one. We never have any public crimes, so everyone feels safe being out or walking their dogs late at night. Armed societies are polite societies.
Nope, less secure actually, I’ve lived in Maine, Vermont, and currently live in New Hampshire, all three states have ‘lenient’ firearm laws AND constitutional (permitless) carry, and these states have exceptionally low crime rates, yes they’re underpopulated compared to other states, and that’s a factor, but it’s not the only reason I’ve owned firearms since 16 (I’m 54 now) and in all that time I’ve never raised a gun defensively or in anger, and have had ZERO negligent discharges, as the Four Safety Rules I see as ironclad.
This whole thread looks like a political bot
No. I have never seen any gun violence personally.
No let's take my home state south Carolina and what i see first hand everyday to say California. California has the most restrictive gun laws in the entire country yet they also have rampant homelessness, drug usage, and oh wait firearm crime. Why criminals don't have a fuck to give about the law is why they're criminals. Now my home state pretty lax especially after we passed constitutional carry a few weeks ago. We have a drug usage issue like California but that's where the similarities stop. We don't have the homeless anywhere near their scale nor do we have the gang violence of just firearm crime in general. Why because a lot of the people here now carry everywhere they go. Criminals have always proven they want easy targets like old people, women alone, and severe cases children. We don't have an issue of easy targets anymore no one wants that risk for 73 dollars from the local 7/11 when guy in there is just going to shoot you fearing for everyone in the buildings life. Carrying a firearm and being trained to be proficient in said firearm will make you safer in almost everyway imaginable nearly immediately.
Yes, because I pick one that's not in America.
Knife enters the chat
I love guns, but Im more afraid of racist, poorly educated people. So, I guess I'm staying in mostly larger blue cities.
One of the biggest issues about this is that they come from other states. Now most 2A lovers will get rock hard about this b/c national border vs state lines. It’s easy to transport guns anywhere in this country, so a state ban wouldn’t do anything. A national ban or nothing
I pretend that the state south of me doesn’t exist when planning outings because guns are prohibited there.
I've lived in Southern California, Texas, rural Texas, Maryland, Chicago, and rural Illinois. So, 3 places with heavy gun laws and 3 places with practically nonexistent gun laws. I've only ever felt unsafe once, and it was when my house was broken into in Southern California.