There was no reason to be armed. Statistically the odds were very low for that crime to occur. :/
Which is insignificant compared to the amount of violent crimes using the same tools. You'd have to ignore thousands of deaths to find the handful of beneficial incidents.
How many people got stabbed? Quick take knives away from Chefs they use the same tools. Pls stop with your anti-gun agenda.
Not bread, but certainly breaking and entering is more commonly committed with the intent to steal rather than to rape and murder. I'm not even going to cite a source on this. It's a trueism.
Anyway, you're foolish, OP... and the fact that you're being super steadfast and curt about it makes me want to throw an egg at your window just to bait you into shooting me or something. Idiot.
I live in LA. If you seriously feel like you need a gun for protection in California, you must be one of the following: politically indoctrinated, mentally ill, or a criminal. Pick your poison.
Guys whats the best device to wound, maim or even kill some random unprivileged youths who, out of hunger, broke into my place ? I don't want them to take my tv or my videogames
Yeah, clearly. I can't be a normal individual who wishes to protect himself or his family right?
How many people got stabbed? Quick take knives away from Chefs they use the same tools. Pls stop with your anti-gun agenda.
Cartoonish view of the world and especially the US where virtually no one is breaking into a house out of hunger.
Just a silly, naive and ignorant thing to say.
It's a small fraction that of gun shots. Even if you think its a problem it's not an argument against gun control either way.
Some of you guys here seriously think its OK to kill 10,000 people every year to save at best a few dozen people. It's totally insane reasoning and you guys need to stop.
Nope. If you feel like you need to own a shotgun in California to protect your family, you're either politically indoctrinated or mentally ill. Keep in mind those are pretty broad categories... but still. Nothing really "normal" about that outside of America (I guess?) and maybe some parts of the third world.
It's a small fraction that of gun shots. Even if you think its a problem it's not an argument against gun control either way.
Some of you guys here seriously think its OK to kill 10,000 people every year to save at best a few dozen people. It's totally insane reasoning and you guys need to stop.
Because California is a perfect utopia where no crime happens right? There are dangerous cities and dangerous parts of cities as well. If you got out of your room you would know that for a fact.
Some of you guys here seriously think every gun owner is a raving psychopath whose only reason to own a gun is to go out and massacre innocent people. It's totally insane reasoning and you guys need to stop.
At least I'm not so fucked up that I need a shotgun to feel safe in my room. Cool logic, by the way. Totally shot down my argument by calling me a nerd. Fucking idiot.
you must be one of the following: politically indoctrinated, mentally ill, or a criminal. Pick your poison.
Says the guy who said that owning a gun you are either one of the following
That's my argument. It's a bit more defensible then saying I don't know what I'm talking about because I'm a basement dweller. Come on, now. Not sure why you'd consider those first two things to be insults, by the way. Mental illness is a pretty serious issue, and so is political indoctrination when it leads to the kind of gun culture that exists in America.
No, you have no idea what you're talking about. I would like to live in your perfect little utopia.
It's closer to reality than wherever you're living. Enjoy the 12-guage. Please do me a favour and try not to hurt anybody.
Since this thread was specifically started as a question about shotguns, if you want to diddle with statistics, can you tell us how many of those "10,000" (or "70 murders since thread was created") were committed with shotguns? You may not be aware, but shotgun murders are outnumbered by knife murders by a factor of more than 4-to-1. And even if you add in rifle murders... yes, even those scary "assault rifles"... knives outnumber their combined total by 2-to-1. "Blunt object" murders also outnumber either shotguns or rifles, so I guess "statistically" I should be more scared of the people suggesting baseball bats as an alternative.
Nope. If you feel like you need to own a shotgun in California to protect your family, you're either politically indoctrinated or mentally ill. Keep in mind those are pretty broad categories... but still. Nothing really "normal" about that outside of America (I guess?) and maybe some parts of the third world.
You're purposefully being obtuse and it's not doing you or your argument any favours.
Remove the bit about hunger and he's pretty on the ball, honestly. Even in America.
Curious if you see the irony.
Actually we don't know what type of gun was used for about 1,700 deaths per year. Your claims are misleading since those numbers could easily be higher. The only meaningful point your are alluding to are the known high number of handgun deaths. Obviously, rational gun control will start with handguns, but doesn't end there. You're not going to control handguns without putting in place gun control measures for all types of guns. Nor will a law targeting a specific type of gun do much since gun manufacturers are clever enough to find loopholes in the law and make something else just as dangerous. And of course they're all pretty lethal anyways, so banning one type will just make another type more common.
So it's a fallacy to try to divide the categories of guns as if they were meaningfully different. Ultimately, you still have to keep them all out of the wrong hands.
For a European this thread feels very surreal.
Why not buy better locks, camera's or an alarm? If that doesn't make you feel safe how about a metal baseball bat?
Wow man why are you taking this so personal?It's closer to reality than wherever you're living. Enjoy the 12-guage. Please do me a favour and try not to hurt anybody.
Being that shotguns/rifles make up about 10% of murders committed using known types of firearms, it would make sense to extrapolate that only around 10% of those 1700 unknowns would be shotguns/rifles as well, in which case they would still be vastly outnumbered by knife murders.
... that if someone breaks into your house, they're more likely to steal from you than to maim, rape, or kill you?
Not sure if my point got through. I might've been unclear. Also, my house has been broken into as well. Cops thought the guy was trying to steal my car. He fled as he heard me getting up (took a jar of coins with him, lol). Scary incident, and the guy was certainly a criminal, but he wasn't there to kill me.
In any case, sure-fire way to turn the vastly more common type of property-theft home invasion into a bloody crime scene: scare the guy by pulling a gun on him.
The irony is that you said someone who wants a gun is either mentally ill or politically indoctrinated.
Then you turned around and said people only steal because they are under privileged.
I'm no gun lover but shit happens dude.
Yeah, as an Irish guy, this makes me feel very uncomfortable. Some of the posters have scenarios in their heads that wouldn't look out of place in a movie. Reading between the lines, I'm getting a very NRA indoctrination vibe. I wouldn't want to live or visit anywhere where I felt like I needed to have a firearm on me. 'I don't feel I need one', or 'it's just in case'- yeah, you've become a victim of scaremongering and NRA propaganda as far as I'm concerned.
As a European I'm jealous of culture that puts safety of normal people first instead of focusing on well being of criminals. In Europe it's usually better to get killed because if you defend yourself you will spend next 10 years in courts trying to prove you really had to use that gun.
The Daily Show: John Oliver Investigates Gun Control in Australia
Everytime I see Americans talking about needing guns, I think about how good we have it in Australia.
Whenever an American brings up guns in my country if feels like your talking to a semi retarded person.
Or you have a desire to be prepared for a contingency despite the low probability of it happening. Same as having a spare tire in the trunk. If you live in a high crime area then your risk is higher, so for some people it makes more sense to have a firearm at home. There were about ten times more home invasions than house fires in recent years, but are you going to berate the OP for buying a fire extinguisher?Not bread, but certainly breaking and entering is more commonly committed with the intent to steal rather than to rape and murder. I'm not even going to cite a source on this. It's a trueism.
Anyway, you're foolish, OP... and the fact that you're being super steadfast and curt about it makes me want to throw an egg at your window just to bait you into shooting me or something. Idiot.
I live in LA. If you seriously feel like you need a gun for protection in California, you must be one of the following: politically indoctrinated, mentally ill, or a criminal. Pick your poison.
If every American household had a firearm safely stored in an easily accessible place, and they knew how to use it, then home invasions would be too risky for even the most desperate of criminals to attempt. They are emboldened by complacency.
Or you have a desire to be prepared for a contingency despite the low probability of it happening. Same as having a spare tire in the trunk. If you live in a high crime area then your risk is higher, so for some people it makes more sense to have a firearm at home. There were about ten times more home invasions than house fires in recent years, but are you going to berate the OP for buying a fire extinguisher?
If every American household had a firearm safely stored in an easily accessible place, and they knew how to use it, then home invasions would be too risky for even the most desperate of criminals to attempt. They are emboldened by complacency.
Would home invasions stop completely? Of course not. Would there still be millions a year if most of the burglars ended up being shot? Probably not.Do you also believe school shootings would stop if every teacher had a gun?
As a European I'm jealous of culture that puts safety of normal people first instead of focusing on well being of criminals. In Europe it's usually better to get killed because if you defend yourself you will spend next 10 years in courts trying to prove you really had to use that gun.
Inglewood clearly.Read the first six pages and the thing that bugged me the most is that OP never said what part of California he is in.
Since you repeating that sentence. Move away from that war zone you live. Seriously.No, you have no idea what you're talking about. I would like to live in your perfect little utopia.
It's important to remember that pro-gun positions are so common in the US, that it is hard for many to recognize just how crazy it is in general. People hear the pro-gun arguments regularly, so they don't critically analyze them and just accept as credible since it is so widespread.
If every American household had a firearm safely stored in an easily accessible place, and they knew how to use it, then home invasions would be too risky for even the most desperate of criminals to attempt. They are emboldened by complacency.
Have you ever genuinely feared an armed home invasion?As a European I'm jealous of culture that puts safety of normal people first instead of focusing on well being of criminals. In Europe it's usually better to get killed because if you defend yourself you will spend next 10 years in courts trying to prove you really had to use that gun.
Criminals can only be lucky for so long. Which is part of the reason why crime is declining. But they're being imprisoned rather than shot.Sorry, but that line of thinking dosen't apply in reality.
Criminals almost always think that they're too good, or too lucky, to have it happening to them. It's the others that get caught, not them. They'll think you're not home, or that they can do it without waking you up, or that they can secure your gun before you hold it. But if he expect you to be armed, he'll also be more likely to bring a gun, too.
That's why an alarm and a dog are much better protection than a weapon. They will convince nine thieves out of ten to choose another house. There was an attempt on my house a few years ago. The thieves ran as soon as they heard the dog barking.
You seem to be saying that a pro-gun position is so obviously wrong that the only reason people would support it is if they lack critical analysis.
It's this kind of attitude that makes enlightened debate practically impossible.