Alvin Lee Message & Discussion Board
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I hear ya about being a defender, Freddy. Defense itself by whatever means *is* a sacred right. Though I hate guns, and have no desire whatsoever to own one, I'd use one without any hesitation in defense of myself or my loved ones, or any innocent parties in my immediate vicinity, if in mortal jeopardy, and a gun were for some reason at hand. I'd do anything that I had to do. Much as I'd love it if all guns suddenly disappeared from the world, I know that's not going to happen. Neither can all planes be grounded, obviously, although various security (or, if necessary, emergency) measures can be taken. There are many more murders by gun than plane hijackings, it must be said. While I'm no expert about all the ins and outs of gun control laws and issues, there are those whose judgement I trust who *are* extremely knowledgeable in this area, and who consistently call for tougher laws and stricter controls. For example, we DON'T need to be selling or buying high-level combat-type guns capable of blowing away a lot of people quickly. It's nobody's sacred right to own THOSE in a civilian setting, by Great Athena's Shield and Spear! There's no way to prevent all gun violence that I can see, sadly. But when I say the safety of the group trumps individual "rights", one of the things I'm thinking about most is the hardcore hardware. Those with a drive to own those kinds of guns to begin with already have me lookin' askance at some bigtime red flags sproutin' outta their cold, live fingers. It just should not be so easy for lunatics, or anybody, to buy that stuff. I don't pretend to know what the ultimate solution to all this is. Just: "Let there be Peace on Earth, and let it begin with me". Unless someone tries to harm or kill me or mine, that is. Then I'll find a way to fight back, gun or no gun.
Hi again, Freddy! :-) My kitty-cat alarm clock woke me up for his breakfast, and I got online to check the forecast, then peeked on the board and saw you'd just posted. Unfortunately I dozed off again before I could get very far in my reply. ;-) The thing is, I don't feel threatened by violence in my day to day life, which is one reason I don't own a gun. This doesn't mean I've never had crime happen to me. I have. I was the victim of domestic assault on one occasion as a young woman, followed by a public assault by the same guy when we encountered each other on the street. Both incidents were so unexpected and happened so fast (this ex was a champion martial artist), I wouldn't have had time to pull out a gun even if I'd had one. I foiled a gang of 3 or 4 wannabe purse-snatchers on one occasion, and a sneaky attempt to filch my billfold out of my purse behind my back while bending forward briefly to tend my daughter in her stroller on a bus ride years ago. Neither of these incidents, however bothersome, required a gun. Home invasion has been non-existent in my neighborhood, knock wood. There are a few old hunting shotguns at my mom's family farm I now co-own, but there's never been any threat of crime around there, either. "Be prepared" was my Girl Scout motto, but Girl Scouts live by their wits, not by the gun. If I lived in the oldtime colonies or Wild, Wild West or in a "bad" neighborhood, I'd undoubtedly own one. As it stands now, though, I don't really need a gun. Knock wood.