Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I disagree. Americans have had more access to guns in generations past and they weren't nearly as stupid and paranoid then as they are today.
I blame the mass media. If you watch the news every day, or American movies and TV shows, all you'll see are negative representations of American society. That's bound to affect you and make you suspicious of your own neighbors.
People need to unplug from the TV and internet and reconnect with real live human beings face to face instead of living their life through social media chat rooms.
40 years ago, used to think Charles Manson was the scariest thing that ever walked the planet. Now, the Boston bombers, hijacked planes dropping the world trade centers, Ted kazinski, timothy mcveigh, etc....
Christ, Manson is hardly a threat and today, he would be dismissed as a laid off office worker at worst. Think about it. It's not the media, it IS getting that bad. People are paranoid for a reason and the media is really not that good. Someone's kid appearing on a milk carton with the caption, "have you seen me?"....however, is.
So many now see anyone on their property as a potential killer and they shoot them. I am afraid for all our children, our elderly ourselves with this sick, pervasive attitude growing.
I remember a slogan from a crime prevention seminar "Never turn a crime of property into a crime of violence."
So please if you are cowering in your house-do this. Stay inside, hide, call the Police.
You seem to have a tendency to conflate reality with a conceptualized movie script. Life isn't simply a movie.
I may not have a phone handy when the break in occurs. My phone service might not be working. I may not have time to call before he sees me and attacks me. Maybe he cut the phone line. And there may not be a cop driving by my house at the precise moment 911 alerts him to come.
Fortunately, I don't need to worry. I can shoot the SOB if I want to. It's my legal right to defend myself.
You seem to be mixing terms. When a trespasser breaks into my house, it's not ME turning a burglary into shooting. It's HIM committing a crime of aggression. It's not up to me to determine his motive for breaking in. It's his responsibility not to commit a crime. The law does NOT require me to cower in my house. The law allows me to defend my home on reasonable grounds.
My suspicion is that people are growing paranoid because media reports give them the idea that crime is out of control and the police cannot or will not help them in time.
So many now see anyone on their property as a potential killer and they shoot them. I am afraid for all our children, our elderly ourselves with this sick, pervasive attitude growing.
I remember a slogan from a crime prevention seminar "Never turn a crime of property into a crime of violence."
So please if you are cowering in your house-do this. Stay inside, hide, call the Police.
call the police?
On a good day, the police are going to take 30 - 45 minutes to get to my house. By then I could be very, very dead.
No thanks, I'll take care of myself.
Alzheimers is a terrible, terrible disease. He did the guy a favor.
Getting into a a pro-gun, anti-gun discussion was not my focus here-it was to try and not talk of that now and focus on what we could perhaps all agree on.
I don't believe that for a moment. Your entire first post and title were biased and inflammatory, hardly the way someone who has an open mind on the topic.
Our media culture has made many of us stupid and paranoid who equate an uncommon incident with wide spread violence. Firearm violence is at a 20 year low, but you'd never guess it from watching the news. If every day the news reported a story about an armed citizen stopping a crime or saving an innocent victim and never reported accidental deaths would you think there was a problem with gun violence? Of course not. The media is skewing public perception by blowing every incident totally out of proportion.
There are 15 bank robberies every single day in the US, are you worried about your money in the bank?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caleb Longstreet
40 years ago, used to think Charles Manson was the scariest thing that ever walked the planet. Now, the Boston bombers, hijacked planes dropping the world trade centers, Ted kazinski, timothy mcveigh, etc....
Christ, Manson is hardly a threat and today, he would be dismissed as a laid off office worker at worst. Think about it. It's not the media, it IS getting that bad. People are paranoid for a reason and the media is really not that good. Someone's kid appearing on a milk carton with the caption, "have you seen me?"....however, is.
The media has certainly been successful with you. 3 incidents many years apart thousands of miles away isn't something I spend anytime worrying about other than how some people used them as an excuse to infringe on the peoples rights.
The Manson family was convicted of killing 9 people and suspected of killing many more and you think he'd be dismissed as a disgruntled office worker? You're worried about the Unibomber and OK City? You do realize that Kazinski and McVeigh were almost 20 years ago right? The fact that they worry you today seems paranoid and not for a realistic reason.
In the US nearly 1,000 people a day are hospitalized for food poisoning, 14 per day die from it, are you afraid of food poisoning? You're FAR more likely to die from that than any kind of terrorist attack or serial killer.
So many now see anyone on their property as a potential killer and they shoot them. I am afraid for all our children, our elderly ourselves with this sick, pervasive attitude growing.
I remember a slogan from a crime prevention seminar "Never turn a crime of property into a crime of violence."
So please if you are cowering in your house-do this. Stay inside, hide, call the Police.
There is about 2200 deaths from firearms that are not gang or sucide related. Lets assume 500 innocents get killed each year by walking onto someone else property.
It is fascinating to that way the initial post is misinterpreted by several. They will not address the main question to try and find some common ground and move a positive direction-they must instead focus on their being pro gun.
Haikon said "Your entire first post and title were biased and inflammatory, hardly the way someone who has an open mind on the topic." Sorry you are wrong.
The topic was not pro and anti-gun please re-read and see it the way it was intended if you are so capable. From your take on it-probably not. Your goal seems to seek out things and right them wherever you imagine they are lurking.
So, since I did not want to go there and you keep bringing me there folks how about back to the main question or should say who cares about the guy being shot? Is he so unimportant because your "cause" is more important?
It was easier to get guns in the past from my experience. There were no Brady checks 20-30 years ago. When I was real young you could buy guns through the mail (60s). We were less of a populated country back then. Not so much urban sprawl and big cities. I remember looking in gun catalogs in my high school years and seeing mostly what would be considered hunting/sporting firearms. Military type rifles were not the norm, neither were large capacity semi-auto handguns(and NO, I am NOT anti-gun). Of course when I was young there were no video games, PCs, cell phones, 100-channel cable/satellite providers or all-night, 24 hour tv stations. More families got together at night over dinner and parents took a distinct interest in what their children were doing. I know, the stone-age to a lot of you younger people. But something has changed in our society since then. And not for the better. I don't blame it on any one factor. I see it more evolving into something, especially since the "Greatest Generation" is almost gone.
This is tragic. I feel sorry for both sides in this. I am sure that if the shooter could do it over again he would have "locked down" and called the police. I never plan to go outdoors if someone is prowling around the outside of my house. I feel sorry for the victim's family. I had a mother with Alzheimer's that wandered and ended up at strangers' houses until she was institutionalized. This is so sad.
I appreciate Dauntless Dan for answering some of my main question.
I do see I made one mistake, I should have posted this under "crime prevention" rather than great controversies" that may has misled some.
I do not, will not, discuss the same ole debate over and over of guns. No one listens, only speaks. That was why I had hoped to discuss some solutions.
I really dislike waste. Wasteful discussion, wasting lives, wasting time.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
