The self defense myth.
I spent some time today near Santa Monica pier with my family glancing around on a busy, cold, cloudy, Cali day. Not fearfully, i thought about mass shootings as I had throughout the day. I considered what would happen if a shooting started? What would people do? What if there was a "defender" with a concealed weapon? Worse yet what if there were several? In a populated area a firearm has much less of a defensive advantage then in a lightly populated, controlled scenario. It's hard to keep calm amidst a throng of panicking people. Which one is the shooter? Is that guy with the gun my friend or my enemy?
I live in the city but grew up in the country but not in an especially conservative area. I grew up with several rifles and a shotgun unlocked in my parents bedroom. Yes, this was foolish, but hardly unusual. My parents didn't lock their house until we moved out; it was just not considered necessary.
I now live in Portland OR, a relatively safe city. I have never once felt that my life was threatened in any situation. Even after a shooting left two dead a half block from our first home in a drug shooting, we didn't feel threatened. A dog gave us a relative assurance of an escape if someone broke in. And that was and is the plan: escape. The only experience I have had in Portland with a handgun is with a friend who decided to carry his handgun with him around the city. I was never quite sure what his reasoning was. As it ended his roommate accidentally shot him in the leg near his groin.
We are lucky. Their are of course cities with much higher violent crime rates and indeed these city's have likely more guns than my relatively safe little neighborhood. Many gun homicides are related to drugs and gangs.
And yet despite these circumstances I cannot imagine that a gun is a practical tool to carry around with you especially in the city. For example on that pier, escape is the best course of action. In the city and other areas woman and men carry mace for protection. I'm not suggesting that there are fee guns in cities for personal protection but it is just not something that is open or discussed for obvious reasons.
Now juxtapose the reality of the rural dweller. With much lower crime rates across the board where does the need for a concealed weapon come in much less a stock of assault rifles or a concealed weapon. In a dire situation couldn't you carry mace. Are you really safer with that loaded gun in your bedroom or less so? Consider that the FBI counted an average of 213 legitimate self defense homicides per year from 2005-10.
It all has it's root in authority. A gun is much more likely to be used against an acquaintance than a stranger. Why? The guy with the gun has the authority in a dispute. People who feel the need for a ccw are in essence self deputizing. A gun makes you lord over your domain, king of your castle, sheriff in these here parts. No one can tell you what to do. You are free to "stand your ground". If the govt comes to "take away your freedoms" your guns will be blazing. Carrying a hand gun is not about self defense but about belief defense and ego protection.
Consider this in another way, on a broader scale consider: the idea of protection from a tyrannical government. If proponents of this idea really considered the reality in the highly unlikely scenario that the government takes over, guns are not very effective against helicopters and jets. In fact if these people were really serious they would aim for SAMs, antitank weaponry, and automatic weaponry none of which is possibly and practical to get. The idea of any firearm owned today used against the military is like a child claiming his BB gun is an effective tool against bad guys. Perhaps I should say toy gun because at least a BB gun can take out an eye. These same people support the unending expansion of our military and bow to authorities such as police. The imaginary antagonist at the end of the barrel is not a police officer or a member of the military.
The real question here is WHO is the authority. Is he or she a republican or a democrat, a liberal or a conservative, black or white, good or bad. Do your BELIEFS need to be protected or not. It's not a rational thought process. We are not dealing with well thought out scenarios and countermeasures. We are dealing with fear and how we regain authority over it. And there you have it. At the very bottom of this you have the f word. Who do you Fear?
I'm not suggesting that a weapon is never about defense in a rural area and guns are never a practical tool for urban dwellers but we should consider that the firearm debate is not about self defense really. It's about authority and fear.
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