When I'm at the range!

Lucky you.

The pig who shot Michal Brown said he had to shoot because Brown could have taken his piece away. If you accept that, then you agree that, at least in this situation, the public and the police would be safer without guns.

It used to be: I had to shoot him judge, he had a gun

Then it was: I had to shoot him judge, I thought he had a gun

Now it's: I had to shoot him judge, I had a gun.

Not so fun fact: Gun suicides are far more common than any other type of gun related death. Having a gun in the house is a big risk factor for suicide.

Clearly you’ve never spent time in the desert near Ship Rock at night. Never heard the stories told by the natives and the rangers and the soldiers. Never saw twisted shapes on four legs run backwards into the brush, living rot retreating from your headlights. Never heard the desert go completely silent, not the sound of coyotes or insects or wind, while you see shadows move in the starlight. Never seen things that look like deer but aren’t run as fast as your car on highway 191, taunting you, staring at you, trying to fool you into slowing down or stopping.

Not that a gun would do much good against them, but if your car breaks down just south of the state lines near four corners, some who know the area would say shooting yourself is a better death than the alternative…

Well someone doesn’t have depression and likes to flaunt it

I've faced many attempts to severely harm me but I usually escaped. I failed to escape twice: got kneecapped with a bat once (leaving me with a permanent injury), and stabbed once miraculously missing anything vital.

My crime: having to work late, growing up in a poor neighbourhood.

I'd feel a lot safer if I could be armed. I don't want to die.

It happened to me once. I was sitting on the back porch on a farm in Tennessee, and there were cans on the ground about 100yds away. Things would have been better if I could have put some holes in those cans

When I took a class to get my Concealed Carry Permit, on the very first day the instructor made a very interesting statement.

"If you are somewhere where you feel you need a gun to feel safe... Why are you there in the first place?"

While I did go on to get my permit I never once carried. I never went anywhere where I felt I needed it. If I became uncomfortable at a location, I left.

Lucky you!

I have. Luckily I didn't have to pull it though, I just put my hand on it and the guy holding the knife at me decided "I'll catch the next one" and walked away.

You should be more grateful to the universe for that.

Here's one my conceal carry instructor taught about, and I've seen it play in my own life:

If you have a machine in your pocket or pants that is capable of taking a human life, you think and act differently. You're more situationally aware, because you don't want to stumble into a situation where you have to use the fucking thing. A concrete and steel box may be the next place you find yourself. Forever.

I lack the words to put the reader in that emotional state, but it's real. Not like you're paranoid, constantly on the lookout, but you are more aware. Used to put myself into crazy situations when I was younger, got stories all night long, but now I'm way more chill.

In the past, I have been threatened with violence, many times, from the homeless downtown.

Unarmed me: "FUCK YOU!"

Armed me: I'm out, not a word. More to the point, I wouldn't be anywhere near that situation in the first place.

"But you can peace out without a gun!"

Very true, I'll grant that. But having one makes me more aware of what's going on around me, makes me less threatening. The vast majority of us are exactly like this. If you watch GunTubers, you will find none of them talking the way we're made out in social media, drooling for violence. Most of the "give me an excuse" people are already in jail or dead. It's a Darwinian thing.

The stories you hear on the news are outliers, or they wouldn't be news. (That applies to everything else in life.)

I'll only add this: Almost everyone in America is woefully ignorant of self-defense laws. Cops are the only shooters that can kill with impunity. You cannot, almost no matter how justified you think you are. Concrete and steel box.

Anyway, I'm sure a European from a healthy society will be right along to lecture me on how nuts I am.

I've been at the range and had to rent a gun, not having to do the rental would have saved me something like 1/3 the cost of the bullets.

Other than that, yeah pretty much. I've been scared as shit but never thought "oh I wish I had a gun here", much more like "how do I get OUT"?

As a lawyer and a as a normal citizen (mind you I'm not American) I've been to couple of situations where it made it better. Once was against a home invasion attempt as a citizen. Other was when someone threatened to kill me in my office as lawyer. There are some more but I'll keep them to myself.

Really the only times I've been in a situation where I both didn't have a gun and would like one is when I'm out on the farm and I see a rabbit. Or a magpie.

Edit: to clarify, this is in nz. Both rabbits and magpies are invasive.

I have lived in Oakland. I have lived in some of the seediest areas in Northern California. I have known gang members that wore colors. I have seen bikers with patches all over the place.

Not once have I been in a situation where a gun outweighs treating people like they are people.

I live in a country that does not have a "gun culture". I can't imagine even having a thought like that.

I’ve been held at gun point and been shot at. I feel like me having a gun in either of those situations would’ve made them worse, because you will never have the draw on somebody unless you shoot before there is a situation

I have, it's not fun

Same here. I have had a knife pulled on me in a dark stairwell, have had several dangerous situations and at no point did I wish for a gun, it would have escalated those situations and made them worse. I have been able to deescalate, shock guys into being nice way more often than I would ever have imagined possible.

I'm not saying NO situation is better with a gun but not nearly as many as you think. Hopefully most people with guns never need to use them. People who sell guns sell fear, it's becomes the "if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" problem.

Figure if I have made it half a century without needing one, it isn't likely I will need one now.

You gotta be in a fairly high risk area for a gun to improve the situation. But tons of people are in those scenarios.

It's tough to get the 3rd t.

I was once at a kids birthday party and they couldn't get the piñata broken so I shot it open and everyone clapped then the kids took the candy and all the moms put out and I found a crisp $50 bill in the couch.

You don't get moments like that without a lady derringer in your fanny pack, friendo.