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Does carrying a gun increase your sense of empowerment? [W:112]

Does carrying a gun increase your sense of empowerment?

  • Total voters
    49
joko104 said:
So YOU are ANOTHER person who believes a person may only use a firearm if the other person first has displayed one - meaning you're already dead and there is no reason for you to have had a firearm in the first place.
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No not at all. If my life is being threatened I would definitely use my weapon first..
 
joko104 said:
So YOU are ANOTHER person who believes a person may only use a firearm if the other person first has displayed one - meaning you're already dead and there is no reason for you to have had a firearm in the first place.

People should TRY to grasp the reality of this video. My wife is faster and, having a laser sight, does not need to come to eye level and being a 38sp does not need both hands. You wait until the other person shows a gun to go for yours and your's dead. She proved that over and over in tests with cops in training sessions.

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Or the people who think the gun in their purse/belt is going to stop a mugger/rapist who is 10 feet away. Trained police officers have a 21-foot rule for the "gun vs knife" scenario, and some think 30 feet is more realistic. In the time it takes for a trained officer to pull a gun from a holster (a device designed for convenient gun access, incidentally, unlike a bloody purse), aim, and fire accurately, an attacker can cross 21-30 feet. A surprised civilian? Hell, I'm a freaking couch potato and I'm crossing half a football field before you get the gun out of your purse, lady. Waistband gun guy? Hell I don't even need a weapon, you'll probably shoot yourself trying to scramble the thing from underneath your jacket.

Everybody thinks they're ****in Rambo.
 
Navy Pride said:
No not at all. If my life is being threatened I would definitely use my weapon first..
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Living and working in a society where you don't fear an encounter with a stranger, especially one with a bulge in their pants, is much less stressful.
 
Manc Skipper said:
Living and working in a society where you don't fear an encounter with a stranger, especially one with a bulge in their pants, is much less stressful.
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Hey this isn't a gay marriage thread, keep it on topic.
 
Deuce said:
Or the people who think the gun in their purse/belt is going to stop a mugger/rapist who is 10 feet away. Trained police officers have a 21-foot rule for the "gun vs knife" scenario, and some think 30 feet is more realistic. In the time it takes for a trained officer to pull a gun from a holster (a device designed for convenient gun access, incidentally, unlike a bloody purse), aim, and fire accurately, an attacker can cross 21-30 feet. A surprised civilian? Hell, I'm a freaking couch potato and I'm crossing half a football field before you get the gun out of your purse, lady. Waistband gun guy? Hell I don't even need a weapon, you'll probably shoot yourself trying to scramble the thing from underneath your jacket.

Everybody thinks they're ****in Rambo.
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It doesn't happen every time but one is quite often well aware that danger is afoot well before they can definitely identify the object creating that danger. Furthermore, carrying also allows the defense of others so if I happen to see you getting dragged into a dark alley and I happen to be armed I could, conceivably, come to your aid and be effective in curtailing any violence. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't because doing so would be likely to frighten you and I don't want to upset your sensibilities but, theoretically, I could.
 
Cardinal said:
Funny thing about that though, and not saying how much it does or doesn't apply to guns. A friend of mine told me about when he was taking martial arts for a number of years. Essentially the more he trained and the more sparring experience he got, the more confident he became in most situations (I can attest to this from personal experience in karate). He walked away from such close involvement in martial arts however as he realized that he was getting into disproportionately more fights than he ever would beforehand. Of course what was happening was instead of walking away from or avoiding situations that carried increased danger, his greater confidence was allowing him to run headlong into those situations.

Getting back on track, I'm wondering if the heightened sense of empowerment (or as Goshin might put it, "adequacy to handle potential threats") that comes with a gun inaccurately increases the sense of weakness you'd have if you were suddenly left without it?
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I can't speak for everyone, only myself. I spent half my life training in martial arts and then was a cop in the pre-Tazer jump-in-and-get-im era.... so being unarmed doesn't really make me any less dangerous, just "shorter ranged". :)

But, I don't go looking for trouble and will avoid it if I can... and frankly I think that is mainly a function of age and experience, as opposed to armament or training.

Young men are more accepting of risk, and more eager to prove themselves. I no longer feel I have anything to prove and am merely interested in going on my way unmolested with minimum bother... if ignoring some A-hole and walking on is the lowest-effort way of doing so, then that is what I do.
 
Deuce said:
Or the people who think the gun in their purse/belt is going to stop a mugger/rapist who is 10 feet away. Trained police officers have a 21-foot rule for the "gun vs knife" scenario, and some think 30 feet is more realistic. In the time it takes for a trained officer to pull a gun from a holster (a device designed for convenient gun access, incidentally, unlike a bloody purse), aim, and fire accurately, an attacker can cross 21-30 feet. A surprised civilian? Hell, I'm a freaking couch potato and I'm crossing half a football field before you get the gun out of your purse, lady. Waistband gun guy? Hell I don't even need a weapon, you'll probably shoot yourself trying to scramble the thing from underneath your jacket.

Everybody thinks they're ****in Rambo.
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Um, yeah, look....


The reality of street crime is very different from what most people with limited experience think it is. Identifying the potential threat and not letting that threat get "inside your decision curve" is key.

On those occasions where I've either drawn my gun, or started to draw it, I knew a serious situation was brewing and began my draw before anyone else reached for a weapon. It is a question of recognizing threat behavior and being mentally prepared to respond in the correct manner.

The face-off fast-draw is a very rare situation in the real world. If you ever find yourself in a face-off fast-draw situation... you already screwed up by failing to recognize the developing threat, and you're now playing catch-up and damage-control.

Tactics.
 
Manc Skipper said:
Living and working in a society where you don't fear an encounter with a stranger, especially one with a bulge in their pants, is much less stressful.
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Way over my head Marc...Sorry
 
Goshin said:
I can't speak for everyone, only myself. I spent half my life training in martial arts and then was a cop in the pre-Tazer jump-in-and-get-im era.... so being unarmed doesn't really make me any less dangerous, just "shorter ranged". :)

But, I don't go looking for trouble and will avoid it if I can... and frankly I think that is mainly a function of age and experience, as opposed to armament or training.

Young men are more accepting of risk, and more eager to prove themselves. I no longer feel I have anything to prove and am merely interested in going on my way unmolested with minimum bother... if ignoring some A-hole and walking on is the lowest-effort way of doing so, then that is what I do.
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My question wouldn't apply to someone with daily, real-world experience, since the level of protection a gun brings him has been thoroughly measured and understood. I was thinking of people who are not in law enforcement or the military.
 
"Sense of empowerment"? - no. Living in a safe neighborhood, I rarely carry. When I do (going on a trip to the mountains, for example), I consider it a chore that needs to be done. Like filling my tank with gas or having a first aid kit handy.

I am not what you would call a "gun enthusiast": I view owning guns and knowing how to use them as a civic obligation, like jury duty
 
I carry a handgun on a regular basis and have done so for more than a dozen years. I carry in places and situations as varied as you could ever imagine from dinners in four star restaurants to walks in the park. I have to say that carrying a firearm most definitely does NOT increase my sense of empowerment. The fact that I am carrying a firearm. with the capability to end someone's life in an instant serves as a constant reminder of the responsibility I have to avoid and/or deescalate a confrontation rather than escalating it. It provides a focus for me to do everything possible to never need to use it rather than as a focus to want to use it.
 
I dont carry guns but if the sense of protection is the same when i have my sharp keys then yes it probally would enhance my level of emporement , you know after I stop fretting over the thought of acidentily shoting myself
 
spud_meister said:
No, my enormous penis makes me feel empowered. So I don't carry a gun.
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I bet that would be really useful when a half dozen gang-bangers show up and kick your door in. ;-)
 
Un biased said:
I dont carry guns but if the sense of protection is the same when i have my sharp keys then yes it probally would enhance my level of emporement , you know after I stop fretting over the thought of acidentily shoting myself
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I carry a gun on a regular basis and have for more than a dozen years. I have never worried about shooting myself during that entire time. Then again, I actually know what I'm doing; unlike the gangsters and morons like Plaxico Burress. Oops, I'm being redundant there, aren't I?
 
Tigger said:
I carry a gun on a regular basis and have for more than a dozen years. I have never worried about shooting myself during that entire time. Then again, I actually know what I'm doing; unlike the gangsters and morons like Plaxico Burress. Oops, I'm being redundant there, aren't I?
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Thats verry redundant statement im verry sure the gangsters have also always carried weapons as well and had a lot of prcatice shooting at eah other. Hey acidents happen
 
Un biased said:
Thats verry redundant statement im verry sure the gangsters have also always carried weapons as well and had a lot of prcatice shooting at eah other. Hey acidents happen
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They've got plenty of practice shooting at each other. What they don't have is very much practice utilizing tactics, aimed fire, or proper safe carry techniques to keep themselves (and others) safe.

Yes, accidents do happen; however, they are greatly reduced when one uses proper equipment in the manner in which it was intended to be used rather than stuffing that piece down the front/rear of your pants like some hollywood action hero.
 
Tigger said:
I bet that would be really useful when a half dozen gang-bangers show up and kick your door in. ;-)
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It can be used as a bludgeoning weapon at short notice. And if you give me 5 minutes and a small pony, I'm a fairly decent jouster.
 
Tigger said:
They've got plenty of practice shooting at each other. What they don't have is very much practice utilizing tactics, aimed fire, or proper safe carry techniques to keep themselves (and others) safe.

Yes, accidents do happen; however, they are greatly reduced when one uses proper equipment in the manner in which it was intended to be used rather than stuffing that piece down the front/rear of your pants like some hollywood action hero.
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still accedents happen. Never have never will use a gun in the matter hollywood would use it. Beside its not like im going against guns so dont be so deffensive
 
spud_meister said:
It can be used as a bludgeoning weapon at short notice. And if you give me 5 minutes and a small pony, I'm a fairly decent jouster.
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Sorry but I don't intend to get close enough to someone to use a melee weapon. If I'm that close, I've already made major mistakes.

Un biased said:
still accedents happen. Never have never will use a gun in the matter hollywood would use it. Beside its not like im going against guns so dont be so deffensive
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Yes, accidents happen, and as a Range Safety Officer I've seen more of them than I really want to think about. You would likely be very unpleasantly shocked to see the number of gun owners and shooters who get as much of their "training" from "Southland" as they do from accredited shooting academies. This is especially true of those individuals whose possession of the firearm is at best less than fully legitimate.
 
Carrying simply increases my sense of responsiblity.
 
Tigger said:
Sorry but I don't intend to get close enough to someone to use a melee weapon. If I'm that close, I've already made major mistakes.
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It also works as a pump-action "shot gun". 33 seconds to load and I'm accurate to a distance of 25 meters.

See, this is what makes me think you could be a poe. You're feeding me straight lines.
 
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