One of the thing that annoys me is when gun advocates tell me, “Now that I have a gun, I can do X”, where X is something they wouldn’t have done without a gun. Such as go into “bad” neighborhood Y. Or approach a suspicious person in their neighborhood and ask what he’s doing there.
The problem with that mentality is that when you go looking for trouble, too often you find it. If you go into a ghetto strapped, the gang bangers will see you as a threat, and you *will* have to use the weapon. If you approach a suspicious person and start interrogating him, he might get annoyed and start pummeling you and you *will* have to use the weapon.
The problem is that these people are using a handgun as a penis substitute. It makes them a “real man”. Like on television, like all those manly real men who take down bad guys with their guns. Yeah, like television is real. You never see the aftermath on television, the life in shambles, the criminal charges that must be fought off at great expense, and so on and so forth. All you see is the hero saving the day thanks to his manly penis substitute.
The reality is that having to use a gun in self defense, having to kill in self defense, will change your life forever. You will forever have to live with the reality that you removed a life from this planet, and, depending upon the circumstances (i.e. if it’s outside of your home), you may find your own life irretrievably ruined even if you do not go to prison, because there are always those who will accuse you of being a murderer. You will be ostracized, spat upon, and threatened. People who do things when “strapped” that they wouldn’t have done without the gun are playing with fire, and one day it may well burn them, with the result being a dead person on the street and a life in shambles. Just ask George Zimmerman whether he would have approached Trayvon Martin if he hadn’t been armed. I suspect that if he’s being honest, he’ll say “no.”
Guns are not penis substitutes. Guns are not a reason to go looking for trouble. If you go looking for trouble, too often you might find it. Just sayin’.
– Badtux the Well-Armed Penguin
(* but *SANE* — I don’t go into situations where I’d need a gun, period, if it’s too dangerous to go there without a gun, it’s too dangerous to go there *with* a gun).
Those kinds of comments of “now that I have a gun, I can…” get me to think about the maxi pad advertisements.
You know the ones that state you can go horseback riding, salsa dancing, etc now that you have the right pad.
A gun or a maxi pad is a tool with a specific (proper) use.
Not a substitute for courage, skill, or (as Tux stated) a penis.
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I think you’ve said this before………….
You need to keep sayin’ it.
Bear
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Yeppers, Bearsense. Just added a Zimmerman to the general concept. Tomorrow I focus a bit more on that decision — and, specifically, the varying reactions to it from the legal profession and many liberals.
Marcus, my personal belief is that if it is unwise to do it without a gun, it’s equally unwise to do it *with* a gun. If that makes me an overcautious penguin, so be it. All I’ll note is that I’ve been a half century on this planet without any problems that would require a gun to solve despite spending some years regularly visiting homes in very rough neighborhoods, and most of that is just common sense — don’t go where you have no business being, and when you do have business there, do it politely, courteously, and respectfully. It works for me. Just sayin’.
– Badtux the Been There Done That Penguin
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You didn’t miss a beat here Penguin. I have never felt that I needed a gun to protect myself from anything. The two I have stay home where they belong.
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I was taught way back when that self defence meant “run”, and if you can’t, then lock yourself behind a door and only shoot if they try to break down the door. Nothing at all about packing a gun and confronting people on the street.
And that ‘property’ is Not a valid reason to shoot.
I really don’t understand, who changed the rules?
w3ski
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We really need to move toward a society where violence ceases to be such a fascination and where even minor bouts of violence are taboo. America’s bought into a whole mythology of guns and righteous violence. It sells movies but happens to be complete BS.
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Nobody changed the rules here in California. California is still a “Castle Doctrine” state. You have no duty to retreat in your own home as well as a right under California law to use a gun for self defense within your own home, but if you’re outside your home and encounter trouble, your first duty under law unless you are a certified law officer is to retreat and try to avoid trouble.
And our murder rate is 2/3rds that of Florida even with East L.A. and Oakland being war zones. Yeah, those guns sure have made Florida safer.
– Badtux the Snarky Penguin
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Karlo, it’s TV/movie bullshit. It sells TV shows and movies because it tells every weenie Zimmerman out there that they, too, can be a real man if they strap on a six-gun. It lets them feel powerful for the amount of time that the TV show or movie lasts. Thing is, that’s *fiction*. It’s *not real*. In real life, a gun doesn’t make you a man. It just makes you a weenie with a gun, Don Knotts in The Shakiest Gun In The West. Just sayin’.
– Badtux the FIction Penguin
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Gee, Badtux, does this mean Freud is right? If I get a gun I can finally stop being envious of the penis all you guys have got? ::::exits snerking, stage left:::
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@Marcus: The difference between a gun and a maxipad is that you can carry a gun in your purse when you enter the Texas Senate gallery.
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Those kinds of comments of “now that I have a gun, I can…” get me to think about the maxi pad advertisements. You know the ones that state you can go horseback riding, salsa dancing, etc now that you have the right pad.
That didn’t work – I had a pack of those in my pocket, and I still looked like a dweeb on the dance floor. I really don’t see the point of them.
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