Would you rather feel safe or be safe?

[spin]

When it comes to self defense, you have three options. Jump at every noise because you never feel safe, bury your head in the sand and pretend nothing bad is going on so that you feel safe, or prepare to defend yourself so that you are better prepared to be safe.

I find it interesting that a lot of the same people who claim that those who choose to carry a firearm for personal protection are paranoid are the same ones who oppose concealed carry because they claim gun owners are primed and ready to blow someone away for any perceived slight. Which segment is the paranoid ones? I know a substantial number of armed citizens, and not one sees every dark shadow as a reason to draw their gun. They're no more paranoid about crime than is a person who has a fire extinguisher under the kitchen cabinet in case of fire.

Millions of people carry guns in their daily lives in this country, and the only time anyone ever knows is when one of them has the misfortune of losing the crime selection lottery. Every day we prove that law abiding gun owners stay that way, and yet every time a new piece of pro-gun legislation is introduced, the gun grabbers raise the alarm of impending gloom and doom. Again I ask, which ones are paranoid?

Yesterday, the Cleveland Plain Dealer ran an article entitled "Residents, workers believe Downtown Cleveland is safe." In it, they talk about how residents are taking back the city, are less afraid to walk the streets, and that while crime does exist, the overall crime rate is down.

For those paying attention, this is after concealed carry passed in Ohio, after Castle Doctrine returned the presumption of innocence to those who use deadly force to protect themselves from violent criminal attacks in their homes and vehicles, and after the Ohioans For Concealed Carry v City of Clyde Ohio Supreme Court case upheld statewide preemption of local gun laws. Cleveland is suing the State of Ohio over preemption, claiming they need to be able to ban guns in parks, have gun registration, and pass an "assault weapons" ban in order to protect their residents. Who is really being paranoid?
http://www.examiner.com/x-2206-Cleveland-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m3d2-Would-you-rather-feel-safe-or-be-safe

[rfranklin]

1. Once a "law-abiding" gun owner uses a gun inappropriately...

they cease being a law-abiding gun owner so no law abiding gun owner can commit a crime, thus, that line of argument is specious.

[benEzra]

4. Murder or armed robbery are rarely the first crime a gun-using criminal commits.

They are the ones played up by the media, to be sure, but the majority of gun crimes are committed by people who are already legally barred from so much as touching a gun or a round of ammunition.

Conversely, those who have reached their mid-20's without every having any trouble with the law are statistically unlikely to become violent criminals, and adults with carry licenses are statistically less likely to commit violent crimes than even the police.

[jody]

2. Gun-grabbers who stick their heads in the sand far enough see them self from a different perspective...

[Furyataurus]

3. I like that pic jody!!!! +1

[rrneck]

5. The question in my mind

is not whether or not I would feel safe, but whether I could tell somebody I have never met and who lives in a place I have never seen if they don't have the right to feel safe.

Firearms deaths, either accidental or intentional, are a tragedy. But I don't think I could look anyone in the eye and tell them that I supported a law that denied them the right to access to any reasonable technology they could use to defend themselves. When we can figure out a way to collectively keep people safe from those who are larger, stronger, and more aggressive they are, from the common mugger to a hostile government, then we can outlaw firearms.

It seems simple to me. If my government, in response to my will as a voter and a taxpayer, can't protect people when they need it, then I have no right to tell them they have no right to try themselves.

[spin]

6. Great post. (n/t)