And exactly how much credibility do you think YOU have? People who have survived life or death confrontations don't tend to talk about them in open forums. No matter how justified, a violent confrontation is a traumatic event, and casually bandying it about is not something they are prone to do; especially to someone who is going to seek to pick it apart for political debate points for their own selfish ends. I made the mistake of talking about my own experiences once and had ignorant Monday-morning quarterbacks who don't know their backside from a hole in the ground trying to tell me what I should or shouldn't have done when they didn't know jack about tactics or real world combat.
My credibility either stands or it doesn’t based on my history of posts. But, to assert that is the reason behind your question is a search of my credibility... laughable. I don’t need to convince anyone I am credible... my posts are accepted or they aren’t, are consistent or they aren’t, make sense or they don’t. You, as anyone, are free to figure my posts are credible or they aren’t... I am ok with that. I long ago stopped worrying what people thought about my credibility; means I can be honest even if my honesty isn’t accepted.
I understand that. But this thread is about avoiding violence by showing a firearm. I would really be interested in real stories in which someone scared armed criminals by showing them his own weapon. There may be such situations, but I think they are very rare.
Arguments which are not logical and backed by research are not persuasive. It doesn't matter how many Dirty Harry stories you can tell. It's impossible for me to verify such claims.
As are surveys relating either to individuals who claim to have been victimized by the use of a firearm, or to individuals who are willing to admit to owning a firearm.
You must have missed the discussion on the Chicago McDonald instance recently where such a situation was captured on video. Then too, considering many police arrests occur with drawn weapons which results in suspects surrendering without a fight, why would you think it rare civilians stopping confrontations with mere display of a weapon? Or, as some believe here, civilians carrying guns are more likely to shoot?
Personally if someone approached me claiming to be taking a survey about firearm ownership ad wanted to know how many firearms I owned my answer would be none, it's a question I will not answer to a stranger.
Funny, most of my extended family and friends have no clue that I CC most of the time; not something I share.
Or perhaps other free nations prefer to live their lives as if they weren't in a permanent armed combat zone of their own fearful creation Just a thought
That you think that taking responsibility for yourself - the very foundation upon which Freedom is built - equates to living "in a permanent armed combat zone" tells me all I need to know about you and just how thoroughly beyond help you and those other nations really are.
Or maybe we aren't savages who want to live in armed fear of each other The relative casualties bear this out
Unless there is actual evidence on the part of yourself, to prove conclusively, beyond reasonable doubt, that legal firearm owners are the ones causing the majority of problems in the united states, and indeed were causing problems in other countries, there is simply no legitimate claim being presented on the part of yourself.
Not to mention he needs to account for defensive uses by citizens and credit them against fatalities or other victimizations by criminals using firearms.
You are 80 times more likely to be shot dead than I am but perhaps more tellingly your police officers are over 200 times more likely to be shot dead than ours. That sort of math doesn't go away
If you think I'm "savage" I'll say that I'd rather be savage than a sheep. I don't live in "armed fear"; I live in armed confidence and security. I know those concepts are beyond you.
So far the security side of things doesnt seem to be working out too well for you given the numbers. !.5 million needless violent deaths in the last 50 years speaks for itself
Is there anything in the way of actual, demonstrable evidence to prove conclusively, beyond reasonable doubt, that it is legal firearm owners, and only legal firearm owners, who are committing the majority of firearm-related violence, either in the united states or in any other country, as opposed to those who illegally possess firearms for purely criminal purposes? If there is evidence, then present it. If there is not evidence, admit to such.
For every firearm used to commit murder, >10 are used in self-defense. For every firearm used to commit suicide >4 are used in self-defense. The math does not work out too well for you.
I, nor many, live life based on total aversion of risk, nor do you. If you did, you wouldn’t drive. There is 100% chance we are all going to die, and some like me, knowing that, make decisions on how we are going to live considering that inevitability and that often means we make choices of risks we are willing to take regardless of the odds and in some cases because we want to challenge the odds. Those challenges can be by bliss and denial or though acquisition of knowledge and life skill than improve our chances. The following illustrates some of the activities in which we engage and their odds of survival. https://www.besthealthdegrees.com/health-risks/ I have hundreds of skydiving jumps in my log, hundreds of hours flying small planes, nearly 300 hang gliding flights, do extreme skiing, fish annually side by side big bears in the AK, and have done solo wilderness backpacking most of my life. All risky activities many might perceive. If I wanted safe, I wouldn’t do them. I have successfully defended myself with a firearm, more than once, including in the North of Ireland (that’s the UK for some of you yanks). That I did, prevented an earlier death. Does carrying a gun daily increase my chances of dying? Maybe... but based on my experience, I have some level of say so in that equation I might not have if I went unarmed. Given my SD skill, knowledge and experience, I’d give my survival a higher potential than yours regardless of where we live. You choose how to live your life with your numbers and I will ‘live’ my life; we are headed toward the same end. As my friend remarked last night, I fated for a long life...only the good die young.
I'm an individual who is alive today because I had a gun and knew how to use it. That single interdiction is the only number that matters to me.
Of course, sacrifice for the herd is a fundamental part of their Doctrine... unless of course you can afford armed body guards.
