Dean Peters, of blogs4god comments:
Thanks for the link. And thanks for your discussion on a topic I’ve been agonizing over. For some time now, the thought of my wife and daughter at home without a reasonable means of defense was on the back of my mind from time to time.
Now it is an obsession. I think to myself, “what if the murder[s] need a house to hole up?” I mean he/they had to drive by MY HOUSE 2 to 3 TIMES to get to or away from a couple of the slaughters.
Yeah, I know, raging paranoia, but 40 years in a safe neighborhood instantly turned into shooting gallery makes me think … what if I saw the muzzle of a gun out of the back of a step-van … what could I do, throw my keys at his eyes across the parking lot?
Yeah, I know, we don’t want vigilantes. Trust me, I’m not one of them.
Its like a friend said to me when discussing whether or not to arm the pilots. “It’s a shame that the most well armed individual is someone who’s smuggled onto a plane a pair of nail clippers …” My friend also lives here in the middle of the danger zone.
Thanks for the link. And the discussion.
I’m putting in for my 7 days this afternoon.
— Dean Peters
Dean, not to focus unduly on you, but this is my chance to give a small (inflexible and hence Nazi-like) safety rant about gun ownership.
Simply put, simply owning a gun will not make you safe, but it will bring on a while new world of responsibilities. On the first point, Col. Cooper (not Professor Cooper) said: “Owning a handgun doesn’t make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician.” On the second point, you need to think carefully how you will deal with this new responsibility in the context of the responsibilities you apparently already have
your wife and children.
I cannot stress enough the importance of training
training for you in how to use the gun, and training for you, your wife, and children on how to be safe in the presence of guns.
I devote two weeks a year to firearms training, and probably spend another week a year with my sons and SO reviewing firearms safety issues.
Ill suggest visiting the firearms links on the left, just to get a sense of the and two excellent books by Mas Ayoob as starting points: In the Gravest Extreme The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection and The Truth About Self Protection, Mas is excellent at talking about the context of the use of firearms by citizens.
Find a local instructor, or email me at the address at the upper left and I can help you find on in your area.
A gun is not a talisman that automatically banishes evil. It is a tool that can help good people defeat it, though.
I’m on the road. See everyone Monday. Try not to kill anyone or blow anything up while I’m gone.
Date: 10/07/2002 00:00:00 AM
There is a concealed carry law in Maryland, but it sounds like it there aren’t a lot of legal carriers, at least of handguns ; rifles and shotguns are a different matter and I’d assume there’s probably quite a few people carrying long guns around there these days.
Date: 10/08/2002 00:00:00 AM
Mr Hartin, today’s paper has a story of husband, wife, and two children wiped out in an apparent murder-suicide with a gun. Now, I’m not going to say gun control would have prevented it; Andrea Yates didn’t need a gun. On the other hand, maybe those kids from the story you told me would have been just as dead without gun control (knives?). I;ll remember your story if you remember mine.
Date: 10/08/2002 00:00:00 AM
>> I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of stupid gun owners who allowed children access to loaded weapons without proper supervision more often.The total number of accidental with-gun deaths in the US is under 1,500/year. (I think that it’s actually under 1k, but let’s be conservative.)The majority are while hunting. Most of the remainder involve adults.Kleck has some data suggesting that at least some of the “kid found the gun and accidentally killed himself/playmate” incidents are actually covered-up murders.The adult numbers are probably also too high – we know that some are suicides that the police intentionally misclassified. (The family usually needs the insurance and rarely needs the stigma.)Feel free to compare this to the number of accidental drownings, falls, or even sports injuries. (High school football alone has around 50 deaths/year.)
Date: 10/06/2002 00:00:00 AM
I don’t know if stranger intrusions where they splatter the children’s brains on the wall are at a historic low, but I do know I haven’t heard of one in a very long time. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of stupid gun owners who allowed children access to loaded weapons without proper supervision more often. Maybe that’s media bias, maybe not. And this is one thing that worries me very much: if a gun owner is so stupid–and we’re all agreed here that it’s stupid–to permit such access, why should I think he won’t do something just as stupid carrying his gun on the street?
Date: 10/07/2002 00:00:00 AM
As always, Mr. Lazarus, we must balance the costs of having guns in the house against their benefits. Certainly there is a very small (and declining) chance that a gun in the house will be involved in an accident with a child. That, however, is merely the beginning of the discussion, not the end.I find it interesting how you attempt to balance the risks of having a gun for protection only against the danger of being attacked with a gun, when the gun will protect you against all weapons. Need I remind you of the California case where two kids were killed with an axe because the guns were locked up? And yes, the media reports every gun accident vociferously, but most gun defenses are not reported.As to why you shouldn’t be too worried about “stupid” concealed carry holders – just look at the facts. They are not involved, in any nontrivial numbers, in accidental or wrongful shootings. You are safer, on the whole, because they carry, because crime tends to go down when they carry and they do not just go popping off at people.There are many greater dangers to you, when you are out in public, and to children, in the home, than guns in either location. Toren Smith at the Safety Valve just pointed out that more kids die playing football than in school shootings. These same guns deliver very significant societal benefits to you and those children.
Date: 10/06/2002 00:00:00 AM
Anyone owning a firearm in a house that contains a child should be comfortable with the notion that one day that child’s brains could be spattered on some wall because of an accidental gunshot to the head.
Date: 10/04/2002 00:00:00 AM
I entirely agree with you on your emphasis about training. I am under no impression that a firearm is a ‘magic talismen.’I have been in contact with a Montgomery County Police officer who is a lifetime friend (since age 6). An FBI agent and an ATF agent whom I have been friends with for close to 10 years.I have discussed this issue with each of them because just as they would talk to a pro like me about computers and websites, I defer issues of gun ownership and operation to them.That said, I have in my past had firearms training. Most of which deals the safety issues – and rightfully so. Of course I need practice and refreshing and such and will do so.Point is, I agree and would encourage anyone else thinking along these lines to talk to professionals in law enforcement and to seek training. And if you’re lucky, you’ll get an ATF agent to go to the gun store with you to help you select the correct weapon.
Date: 10/05/2002 00:00:00 AM
In many circumstances, arming yourself can definitely make you safer. But the guy in Maryland apparently is a sniper, possibly quite a skilled sniper, who fires from hiding. There’s really no defense against snipers — you’re hit shortly after you see the flash (if you see it) and before you get a chance to hear the report, and if they guy’s any good, you’re dead very shortly afterward.
Date: 10/05/2002 00:00:00 AM
Good advice… I think we should seriously think about requiring this kind of training for gun ownership. I don’t want to restrict ownership, but I do think there should be a barrier of entry that requires training and some kind of certification.
Anyone know where I can read up on more info on this
Was about to read your piece on The War on Terror, but then I scrolled down your site and noticed the ‘Cool Stuff’: Buy an Israeli Soldier a Pizza…
And there you lost your credibility without even reading a single line.
Murdering, volatile, unrepentant, soulless scum. I’ve watched the IDF ‘incursions’ into Raffah and Beit Hanoun, I’ve watched teenage snipers in merchova tanks snipe children throwing stones…
And you want me to buy one of those scumbag tyrants a pizza? Sure, lace it with stricnine and extra warfarin please.
Get real mate.