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Now for the big What if. What if just one Law Abiding citizen would have been carrying a concealed weapon? Is it possible the number of injured and dead would have been much less?
Oh wait a minute! on that date Texas did not have a Concealed Carry Law or even an open carry Law as a matter of fact so there would not have been an ARMED Law Abiding citizen with a firearm there. Go to YouTube and do a search for the Video of Suzanna Hupp and listen to what she has to say about Gun Control. BTW her Father and Mother both died in front of her eyes and she was a Law Abiding citizen that had a firearm in the glove box of her car.
The "what if" game can go both ways. What if there is an armed robbery, but the perpetrators aren't planning to open fire. However, when they enter the store with a gun, they are approached by a customer who draws his own gun. Firing commences, and several people are killed.
In other words, the "what if" game is useless. This sort of armchair speculation probably isn't useful in determining whether more guns in the hands of more people produces a safer society.
Your child clearly learned the irrational fear of firearms from you. A better lesson would be to point out how no one was injured and they were keeping customers safe.
Simply because there are cases where a person practicing concealed carry doesn't mean that children shouldn't believe guns are dangerous. Cliffs are only dangerous if one jumps or falls off of them, but that doesn't children shouldn't be afraid of cliffs.
However, you are obviously ignoring some important considerations here. While few people would be afraid to look at a gun in a glass display case, that is not the situation in real life. There is a person who is holding that gun, and if that person is a stranger, we don't know anything about that person's psychological makeup. Further, there is always some risk of an accident.
I was at a shooting competition(USPSA for anyone who cares) today which consisted of about 100 people. Most were strangers, I had previously shot with a couple competitors, but in my squad I knew none of them. I cannot say at any point during the day did I have any fears for my safety.
As for your previous statement. Like firearms, cars can be used for both good and bad. In the wrong hands they can be just as dangerous...maybe even more so, but I don't see children freaking out for their safety when someone pulls up to the diner for breakfast.
I was at a shooting competition(USPSA for anyone who cares) today which consisted of about 100 people. Most were strangers, I had previously shot with a couple competitors, but in my squad I knew none of them. I cannot say at any point during the day did I have any fears for my safety.
As for your previous statement. Like firearms, cars can be used for both good and bad. In the wrong hands they can be just as dangerous...maybe even more so, but I don't see children freaking out for their safety when someone pulls up to the diner for breakfast.
A shooting competition, where people are expected to have guns or other weapons is different than walking down the street or inside of a safety sensitive place like an airport and seeing someone you don't know with a firearm.
Location: Subconscious Syncope, USA (Northeastern US)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wittgenstein's Ghost
The "what if" game can go both ways. What if there is an armed robbery, but the perpetrators aren't planning to open fire. However, when they enter the store with a gun, they are approached by a customer who draws his own gun. Firing commences, and several people are killed.
In other words, the "what if" game is useless. This sort of armchair speculation probably isn't useful in determining whether more guns in the hands of more people produces a safer society.
Oh it definately does. People do very brazen things in areas that already have strict gun control, like NYC.
Where else can you attempt to mug people with screwdrivers on the Subway?
If a criminal has a good idea that most people are not armed and will not put up much of a resistance, the law-abiding citizen is just a fattened calf ripe for the taking in their eyes.
You have to be pretty hard core to not care someone is armed. Most criminals look to attack the weak and unaware in the street.
A shooting competition, where people are expected to have guns or other weapons is different than walking down the street or inside of a safety sensitive place like an airport and seeing someone you don't know with a firearm.
I think it's safer if people who want to carry pistols just holster them in plain view. A CCW is kind of a contradiction.
This is just one of those cultural differences in Georgia and the Bible Belt, they carry those things everywhere including into churches and fast-food joints. It's sorta like eating hominy and grits for breakfast, or wearing a hat everywhere in Texas, outsiders just don't get it.
If that were actually the case, it would not have made the news this time.
However, you are obviously ignoring some important considerations here. While few people would be afraid to look at a gun in a glass display case, that is not the situation in real life. There is a person who is holding that gun, and if that person is a stranger, we don't know anything about that person's psychological makeup. Further, there is always some risk of an accident.
It is not irrational for a child to be afraid of a gun.
You're talking about the person, not the gun.
The little girl should not be any more frightened--or less--of a man other than her father whether he wears a gun or not.
But if he's wearing a gun in Texas, at least, the great odds are that he's definitely not been convicted of any felonies or serious misdemeanors.
I was at a shooting competition(USPSA for anyone who cares) today which consisted of about 100 people. Most were strangers, I had previously shot with a couple competitors, but in my squad I knew none of them. I cannot say at any point during the day did I have any fears for my safety.
I'm not sure what that has to do with whether a child should be afraid when he or she sees a stranger with a gun in restaurant. These two situations are very different.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rs1200xl
As for your previous statement. Like firearms, cars can be used for both good and bad. In the wrong hands they can be just as dangerous...maybe even more so, but I don't see children freaking out for their safety when someone pulls up to the diner for breakfast.
Put a child on the side of a busy highway and that likely changes. The nature of being killed by a gun and being killed by a car is very different. Most car accidents are accidental, whereas most gun deaths are intentional. Most children are likely not aware of the likelihood of being killed in a car accident. They are very aware of the possibility of being killed by a gun.
I'm not sure what your fascination is with the rationality of children. I don't see the relevance of whether it is rational for a child to be afraid of a gun to anything involving the actual issue of gun control. Why did you bring this up?
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