Hands up, neighbor... (renting, home, purchase)

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by arjay57

People may be forgetting how this situation would have had a different outcome if the new homeowners had taken the time to arm themselves. With proper training and situational awareness, they might well have turned the tables on the Vanoles. Instead of being helpless victims they could have wound up holding their assailants captive.

Or shot them and given a Zimmerman defense.

The problem isn't the guns per se. The problem is the vigilantism of the neighbors and the bad judgment of the cops.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by jpatlanta

If the new residents had the good sense to have "carry permits" then they could have also pulled out their guns resulting in a firefight and all sides could have shot each other to death. Good old Newton County justice.

The more law-abiding citizens we have who armed the safer we all are.

How likely is it the Canoles would have approached this couple with AR-15s if they had known Mr. and Mrs. Kalonjie possessed superior firepower? I doubt that the deputies would have come strolling up so casually either.

You don't need a firefight under those conditions. Everyone simply recognizes that they're all on an equal footing and everyone stands down.

[jpatlanta]

Originally Posted by arjay57

The more law-abiding citizens we have who armed the safer we all are.

How likely is it the Canoles would have approached this couple with AR-15s if they had known Mr. and Mrs. Kalonjie possessed superior firepower? I doubt that the deputies would have come strolling up so casually either.

You don't need a firefight under those conditions. Everyone simply recognizes that they're all on an equal footing and everyone stands down.

I guess but what if the Canoles had called up some more neighbors who have AK47's? Anyway I thought it was all about who is quicker on the draw not the firepower.

Your right though we need more and bigger guns in Newton County to make it a safer place for law abiding citizens.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by jpatlanta

I guess but what if the Canoles had called up some more neighbors who have AK47's? Anyway I thought it was all about who is quicker on the draw not the firepower.

Your right though we need more and bigger guns in Newton County to make it a safer place for law abiding citizens.

Well, we have to assume equal tactical skills and situational awareness. If the Kalonjies had reason to expect that the Canoles would be calling in neighbors then they should have either taken a more defensible position and/or had their own reinforcements immediately available.

When either side chooses to leave itself vulnerable to a superior force I don't know who else they have to blame.

[T. Damon]

Are we describing a neighborhood or an armed conflict?

Wow!

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by T. Damon

Are we describing a neighborhood or an armed conflict?

Quite the contrary. The more law-abiding citizens we have who fully armed the safer we all are. It just stands to reason: Wouldn't you be less inclined to point an automatic weapon at your new neighbors if you know they were capable of instantly retaliating with lethal force?

[T. Damon]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Quite the contrary. The more law-abiding citizens we have who fully armed the safer we all are. It just stands to reason: Wouldn't you be less inclined to point an automatic weapon at your new neighbors if you know they were capable of instantly retaliating with lethal force?

I would never be inclined to point an automatic weapon at my new neighbors. I would never live in an area where that would even be a consideration.

This is the most bizarre, paranoid way of thinking I could ever imagine.

I bring over Lemon Bars.

[Adric]

Knowing how inherently paranoid a lot of gun owners are, if everyone had a gun, people would just start buying grenades, then once everyone had grenades, they would start stocking up on RPG's in order to maintain their superior "defensive" firepower. Next thing you know, we're living in Syria with neighbors planting claymore mines in their front lawns.

More guns aren't the answer to making this country safer. Keeping people from having to resort to crime in the first place with a better educational system is a good start.

And who in their right mind would even want to leave their house knowing that everyone out there was packing heat. Even if I too had a gun, I wouldn't want to. Anyone not in my direct line of sight could potentially end my life.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by T. Damon

I would never be inclined to point an automatic weapon at my new neighbors. I would never live in an area where that would even be a consideration.

This is the most bizarre, paranoid way of thinking I could ever imagine.

I bring over Lemon Bars.

^This.

[RoslynHolcomb]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

^This.

This again, only with pound cake and coffee.