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Gary,
I find it sad that people should feel so unsafe that they feel they must carry weapons, concealed or not. Although as you point out you don't carry it all the time, it still amazes me.



I'll handle this a little bit at a time. When I lived on the east coast, outside of Philadelphia, I was assaulted three times, once at knifepoint. One of the other times was a gang of young men and a dog (German Shepard) who attempted to rob me. I have had my car broken into, my home broken into, and suffered financial loss from crimes. That was before I purchased my first gun. Living in the Pacific Northwest now, a liberal Democrat bastion of 'let people do what they want' I have not been robbed or assaulted, however, my parents home was broken into and many things stolen. I know a young man who was shot outside of a bar over a simple game of pool, where the perpetrator demanded his money back, and then went to his car, retrieved an illegal gun, and proceeded to shoot this step son of a friend of mine. In Seattle, in the area around University of Washington, there are a group of people referred to as 'Ave Rats', and they are a criminal element who often are homeless, on drugs, or otherwise criminal. They assaulted a roommate of my boss's son for NO APPARENT REASON, other than he was 'just there.'

So, within my own life, and those who touch my life, there is a definite need for some sort of protection. When asked why he carried a gun, a pro gun carry individual replied 'Because I can't carry a cop!' This is unfortunate. I live in an area where over the past five years, we are seeing an increase in all sorts of crimes. Statistics show this. Of course, statistics can be made to show anything, but it's hard to not show an increase in crime.

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In Europe this is unheard of. If as you say gun ownership is on the rise, then some questions as to how a society can spiral out of control like that are allowed. Is it a real threat or are you being bombarded with newsreels 24 hours a day in a sort of brainwashing? All one sees on TV these days is violence either real or acted. I'm not saying that TV and film are the root cause of violence, but they play a major role in spreading its acceptance. In a country of over 200 million there are bound to be some evil people around, so could it be that the threat is out of proportion?



While I will agree that in Europe, people don't carry guns, it is because of the laws that restrict it. How does the crime rate look like in the EU? Over here, two reports were released, one by the Brady Organization, which is vehemently anti gun. That report ranked the 50 states in order of their 'gun control' posture. The second report came from a law enforcement agency ranking the violent crime statistics by state. Unsurprisingly, those states that the Brady organization listed as having the most restrictive gun control also topped the list of the states with the most violent crime. In fact, the states with the lowest Brady rankings, meaning that they supported gun owners and gun rights, also had the lowest violent crime rates.

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Unfortunately in Europe the trend toward more violence is becoming apparent with the influx of immigrants from Eastern European countries. Maybe it is because they were recently at war with each other, but the level of violence in some of the Balkan and ex-Russian nationals is quite discerning. I doubt whether Europeans will arm themselves as Americans do because we don't have a tradition of carrying guns. Mind you I can't speak for the next generation. I must admit I wouldn't feel safe anywhere if I thought that the guy on the next table had a gun.
Maybe the world has gone mad.



The world went mad a long time ago. If the guy at the table next to you DID have a gun, it is doubtful that you would even know it. Gun owners and people who carry guns do not have a big neon sign over their head that says 'Gun Owner.' Nor do they look any different than any one else. They may be a little more perceptive of what is going on around them, especially in an area known for crime.

Every month I get a magazine from the National Rifle Association, and in that magazine is a section called the Armed Citizen. They detail a few situations each month where someone used a weapon to defend themselves, families or property from a criminal. Most of this is often a home break in, and often the criminal is armed in some form or another. Just simple, every day people who have decided that they would not be a victim.

One of the biggest stories over here recently was a teen who was beaten, and eventually died, by other teens. He was beaten by a baseball bat. Two things to say about that. Number one, if he had been over 21, and been carrying a pistol, he could have defended himself, and possibly the attackers would have died. Of course, if that *had* happened, then all the anti gun nuts would be going crazy that a person used a gun and killed teenagers. Since this violent and horrific killing, there has been no call or cry for a National Bat Registration, no call for people to have police checks before they can purchase a bat, no chants for Bat Control legislation, no one calling for Bats to be only on approved and controlled baseball fields.

Secondly, if there had been an armed citizen, someone there who was carrying a concealed weapon, that person could have been a hero, and saved that teens life. No one was.

Crime happens. It happens too often. It happens everywhere. People are sent to jail, but instead of paying for the crime in a manner which befits the crime, they are sentenced, and then eventually let go due to 'prison overpopulation' or 'we think he'll be okay.' or they aren't even sent to jail at all. So many of the criminals are repeat offenders who have been released from prison, or never sent to prison. If you are sent to prison, there is a very good reason for it. Even those individuals on Death Row, something that some people find 'inhumane' (tell that to the family of the victims, usually, and they'll laugh at the concept) have multiple avenues of appeal, and often are 20 or more years before sentencing is carried out, if at all.

When you mean what you say, and say what you mean, and provide the actions to follow up, people believe you. When you say something, and then don't do anything about it, it just leaves you as a wimp, and those predatory individuals eat wimps for lunch. Unfortunately, in our country, we have too many wimps in our legislature and justice systems.

Does this shed any kind of light?

Gary

I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!