I wasn't aware carrying a gun meant you were literally Rambo

Rambo is badass as hell.

How many guns was he carrying?

I dont know. he had his son with him. he must be a proud young lad.

most people carry guns because of fear something might happen. so i'm arguing you cant really claim to be calm when you need a gun to even feel safe and calm..

Rambo prefers knives, arrows, and booby traps to guns. He knows the value of stealth, and would rather kill/maim silently (at least, in the earlier/better films).

"most people carry guns because of fear something might happen.."

Does wearing a seat belt mean you have an irrational fear of being in a serious car crash?

Yer right, most cars do come with common sense safety features. Same with human life. When I was born the doctor handed me an AR-15 and said keep calm son. this is your seatbelt

Tolstoy, wearing a seat belt because you want to reduce your chance of injury IF there is a crash is not "irrational".

Also being in a mass shooting in your lifetime is very much a low statistical probability. Ironically the odds of you being a shooter only go up if you have a gun.

And the odds of you "thinking" you will be in proximity to a mass shooting go up when you have a gun as well. Wheres im no more afraid than I was 10 years ago. world still sucks lol.

Finally to crush your 8th grade argument further, Irrational is not the word I use to describe car accidents. More people die on the road than in all shootings combined...

533 people died in car wrecks in missouri in 2016. 500 people died in shootings in chicago this year. guns didnt save those lives. seatbelts didnt save those drivers; werent usin em

so its a moronic false equivalency. the percent of motor vehicle deaths do happen to coincide with not wearing seatbelts. however gun deaths increase with gun ownership.

Carrying a weapon for defensive purposes is not irrational, no more so than wearing a seatbelt. Carrying a bazooka would definitely be over the top, but having adequate defense is not.

Of course the fact that "having adequate defense" in the US means a gun is rather disturbing when many other countries don't require a killing machine as adequate defense. Speaks to the culture the 2nd amendment has created.

Yeah, but if crazy wacko redneck has a 22 and is gonna use it for no plausible reason on me, I don't want a 2.5" double locking blade with a pretty handle.

I didn't say that I disagreed with your definition of adequate defense in the US. Just pointing out that it's absurd that's what the definition is here.

No argument there.

there is no proof that having a gun in your possesion "saves" anyones life at all. There is boatloads of proof beyond just "feelin safer" that a seatbelt will save your life in your lifetime

let me put it this way. Do you think a young 18 year old African American male is safer owning a gun or safer NOT owning a gun?

I'm waiting for the news report of some idiot shopping carrying his 2nd Amendment guaranteed firearm and having it taken while he or she is distracted by what they are looking at. If a preschool kid can get into a gun purse to get the gun and fire it, then an adult criminal should have no problem.

Bonus points if the thief says thank you before walking away.

A young 18 year old African American would be safer leaving the USA than staying there, armed.

Having a gun didn't help Patrice Price. Maybe if she had locked her child in his seat belt she wouldn't have died.

the problem with gun ownership leads to higher death rate by gun is a misleading statistic.

The number of intentional murders by gun within a gun holding household do rise, but they have drastically lower murder rates in comparison to poisoning and stabbings. This may sound hilarious, but when you think about it, if your spouse is trying to murder you then not having a gun doesn't mean they're going to give up

that said... it does make it easier.

another fun statistic is the demographics of gun owners:

12.3% of population is black but they own 24% of the guns in America, while hispanic population is at 12.5% and they own 25% of the guns, and white people are 63% of the country but own about 50% of the guns

[[[[[[[[[[[http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/07/15/the-demographics-and-politics-of-gun-owning-households/

population rates: see census bureau for most recent numbers]]]]]]]]

and considering the lower socioeconomic status on average of these ethnicities carrying guns, and the current murder rates (which just to clarify are statistically most likely to be black on black, same race on same race) with guns, it's no wonder owning a gun will get you more likely shot

accidental discharges that kill are form poor gun handling/storage, and those people don't have enough respect for firearms to own a weapon.


If you buy a gun, that doesn't magically increase the likelihood of you getting shot as much as some would have you believe (except in the case of accidental discharge, but once again: IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE IT DON'T BUY IT!!!)

the truth is buying a gun is generally because you are in an environment where you feel threatened and thus a gun is necessary.

check out gun murder rates ON gun owners and stratify by income qualifications: there is almost NO correlation.

Interesting how different places view things. Here in Texas, there are lots of people with guns. I am currently in my office where I have easy access to one. There are about 17 on the office floor with about 20 people total working here.

Just not a big deal.

Hi yanik, have you ever met anyone who has stopped a mass shooting? any names?

Have you ever met anyone who has stopped a small scale shooting? any names?

Have you personally ever prevented a single crime or known anyone who prevented a crime by having a gun on them? any names?

we talk so often as if guns are omniscient. We speak about them as if merely having one PREVENTS something. When in all reality it is merely the thought that it does. There have been far too few armed civilians who thwart a mass shooter, and NO it is not because of safe zones, NOT because gun ownership among the populace is at record lows - firearms are owned at record high levels right now. They can barely keep them on the shelves in some southern states.

The real reason nobody stops mass shooters is because its fucking impossible. People are always gonna find some way to commit heinous acts, and there is zero you or anyone else can do to stop it anyway. Thats why there is knife attacks, anywhere something unexpected happens, it simply happens. No amount of armed civilians is going to stop this. In fact the more armed people you have the more people will be shooting their kids by accident or on purpose. the more people will be shooting someone who is shooting someone and its a mistake. Guns create a society in which people begin to beleive they are a hero waiting in the wings to save everyone. 9 times out of 10 having a gun on you will make you more nervous and more hesitant to make a wise decision under duress.

I am against guns because I believe few reasonable and responsible human beings are capable of discerning a murderer from someone who is scared and behaving abnormally.

Imagine its 3 am, you are pulling up to a stop light. a stranger walks up to your car and taps on the window. because you have a gun, you shoot him thinking its a car jacking. He just wanted directions. Now you are a murderer.

Look the self defense argument is stupid. Owning a gun hugely increases you risk of being shot. Why kind of defense increases your risk of injury or death?