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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumsi always imagine the Gun Nut types to be like Zimmerman , losers, cowards etc
he seems just like the type i think of when i think of the gun nuts. bunch of cowardly wannabe tough guys.
how much of a coward loser you have to be always feeling the need to be armed as if we are living in some place like Syria or SOmalia.
i think it makes these people feel tough and more "manly".
flvegan
(64,414 posts)it would seem that you'd find anyone to be a "coward loser" if they had a CCW? "Tough and manly" are an issue for you on this?
Imagine. Keep doing it.
JI7
(89,264 posts)but i think the large majority are like Zimmerman.
William769
(55,147 posts)Three reasons I have a Concealed weapons permit & carry a firearm.
1. Gay
2. Liberal
3. Democrat
Add that to the fact I live in a part of "redneck country" in Florida, I carry a weapon. Has nothing to do with being "manly", it has to do with self preservation.
JI7
(89,264 posts)would you carry a gun if you were in los angeles california ?
William769
(55,147 posts)JI7
(89,264 posts)than a gay person using it to defend themselves.
similar to Trayvon case.
William769
(55,147 posts)I can only give you the reason I carry one.
Jim__
(14,083 posts)home?
I'm curious whether the actions of the police in the Trayvon Martin case are the norm in Florida. Or, is it likely that race played a role in how the police acted?
PDJane
(10,103 posts)Who protects himself and his family and posesssions against the 'bad guys'.
These guys see themselves as heroes. They aren't. I believe they live in the Republican bubble, fed propaganda from childhood.
JI7
(89,264 posts)do they know the weapons the Govt has ? the ones we use in war in Iraq, AFghanistan etc.
PDJane
(10,103 posts)They also believe themselves invincible because their heart is pure, and all that........it's just another part of the myth, and has left me amazed for years.
It's totally ridiculous, but there you have it.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)"The Army has flamethrowers. We don't. Looks like we're fucked if we ever have to fight the Army..."
PavePusher
(15,374 posts)and it shows.
DrDan
(20,411 posts)bluedigger
(17,087 posts)Do tell!
JI7
(89,264 posts)guitar man
(15,996 posts)25 years ago, in 1987, I was shot by an armed criminal while I was not carrying a gun. I was not carrying a gun then because at the time and place it was not legal for me to do so. I was obeying the law. The asshole that shot me was not, he had no regard for the law, none at all.
These days I pack a pistol, legally, when I think it's prudent to do so. Should I ever run across another asshole like the one that shot me before, at least I won't be standing there "naked".
Now you can "imagine" me to be anything you want, I don't care. All I know is there is nothing left for me to imagine about what it's like to be face to face with someone who intends to kill me. I'm reminded of it every day, and it's worse when the weather gets cold and damp. Sometimes I walk with a limp, sometimes I have to use a cane....
JI7
(89,264 posts)held a gun to my mom and demanded money.
the thing is with these cases including yours , how do you know when a person will shoot ? i don't always want a weapon on me and worried about whether someone is going to attack me or not.
maybe i might feel different if i actually did get shot . i'm sorry what happened to you. and i see there are a few cases like this and above which aren't Zimmerman types.
but i still think the majority are Zimmerman types.
guitar man
(15,996 posts)I know plenty of people who carry guns for protection and none of them are like that asshole Zimmerman. But as they say, that's "anecdotal".
The fact is, you don't know. It's not a perfect world and there are no perfect solutions. What I do know is how it turned out last time. Should it ever happen again, I know there's no guarantee that having a pistol would keep me from getting shot again, but damn I'd like to have the chance to better defend myself if god forbid I ever find myself in that situation again.
I play guitar with a classic rock/blues/variety band. We carry a lot of expensive equipment and instruments to outlying towns to do shows. About 15 years ago some good friends of mine were in rural Arkansas doing a gig. They left the club after packing up their gear. Some thugs followed them, waited for them to stop at a stop sign in the middle of nowhere, blew them away and took the van full of gear.
Such possibilities and wanting to make it home alive to my family weigh heavily in my decision to arm myself.
COLGATE4
(14,732 posts)nature which has left you with physical consequences. But I would suggest to you that the shooting has probably left you with emotional consequences as well. Most of us have never fired a weapon at another human being. It's nowhere as easy as you suppose it is. Most of us do not have the psychopathic personality many criminals have, which is what permits them to shoot others with ease. My guess is that if you were confronted again by a felon with a gun your reaction might be quite different from what you are imagining it would be.
X_Digger
(18,585 posts)By best guess, there are about 10,000,000 adults with concealed carry licenses. (Last I looked up all the various state stats I could find, they totaled up to something like 8.5m, and that's been a couple years.)
If you had 10 million people as blatantly racist and confrontational as Zimmerman, we'd be ankle deep in bodies.
I can't speak to the conviction rate for states other than Texas and Florida, but assuming some similarity, they (CCW/CHL holders) are multiple times less likely to be convicted of a crime than the rest of the 21+ year old public. Even if you cut the public in *half* for some kind of disqualification to carry, you're still leagues above CHL holders in crime conviction rates.
Derived from TX DPS stats
Response to X_Digger (Reply #15)
Tunkamerica This message was self-deleted by its author.
NutmegYankee
(16,201 posts)So I have a CCW to practice a sport (target shooting). The club I am a member of has many pistol competitions, which are fun to participate in. Competitions like knocking down bowling pins in the fastest time.
I fail to see what's cowardly.
Atman
(31,464 posts)I suppose that's one way to deal with a pesky 7-10 split.
Son of Gob
(1,502 posts)dmr
(28,349 posts)Calling people nuts, cowards, wannabe tough guys - what's that all about? What do you or anyone else know about people? I do think there are people like you describe, but I would never be so arrogant about generalizing groups of people, including DUers.
Decent, hard working people own guns, they certainly don't fit your last sentence - that's what Sarah Palin does when she wants to taunt & belittle men.
And for full disclosure: I hate guns, but have no problem with responsible ownership.
Quantess
(27,630 posts)Stereotyping is a shortcut to thinking. It's also an unattractive trait, to judge people before you get to know them, to make assumptions, stereotype, etc.
I bet there are things about you (directed at the OP) that don't fit neatly into a stereotype. I know for certain there are a lot of things about me that don't match a stereotype. And then when someone assumes wrong, it just makes the person look like an ass.
Stereotyping is a laziness to be avoided.
JHB
(37,162 posts)How thoroughly do you check how well reality matches up with what you imagine?
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)Well, acceptable to some, anyway...