My wife has been robbed at gunpoint 3 times.

[Philosoraptor]

My dad often let me shoot his guns when I was a kid, but I didn't become a gun owner till I moved to the city and my kid's friend who had just moved into an apartment was stabbed to death by her neighbor. She was only 19, and it affected my kids deeply, me too.

I bought one because my wife worked at a thrift store in a bad part of town, the store was frequently robbed, and sure enough one night when I was waiting for her to check out and close up, a guy walked up to her and stuck a 38. in her side right in front of me and several customers. My whole life flashed in front of my eyes, and I started slowly reaching for my gun.

But the guy grabbed the money out of the register and was gone in seconds flat, no one was hurt, but that was my dearest one looking at me with a loaded gun in her side, and I am just so glad I didn't have to pull the trigger.

We both I.D.'d the guy in a video line up, he'd been on a robbery rampage for weeks, he was called the brown bag robber cause he always had it in a lunch bag till he brandished it.

My wife was the first to point out that my gun was useless. But I told her if things had gone in another direction, she might have been shot, or worse. I told her to get a gun, but she never did.

Twice after that she was robbed in banks, as a teller, no one hurt either time, but the one robber pointed an assault rifle at her and all the other tellers.

She no longer works around money. She never did get a gun. I still wish she would, cause a lady was shot getting in her car just 3 months ago right in front of our apt.

I do not live under the illusion that packing a rod will make you safer, you never know how you'll react when attacked by a mugger or robber. You never know till it happens if you can even pull your pistol. Or if you'll have the nerve to shoot while panicked.

Although my gun is always handy, I never let my guard down, even though any crack head can sneak up behind you and get the jump as it were. Having one on you doesn't make you any safer unless YOU have the jump.

I have no opinion on gun control, except that they are way too easy to get. I've been offered hot guns, but I chose the legal way, registered with the county. I understand the sentiment of wanting all guns to go away, I hate guns, deep down, although I like to shoot for sport, I truly hate guns, and wish gun powder had never been invented.

Guns scare me, and they should, everyone should be afraid of guns, they are dangerous as hell. I know of old ladies who have them, housewives, truckers and doctors who are gun owners, none of them are maniacs.

But there are hot heads everywhere, people who see guns as an extension of themselves, as a crutch, as an equalizer, and hot headed people should avoid guns. My wife says that's why she won't get one, her temper. She says she might go on a rampage with her annoying co-workers, and I tend to believe her.

When I was a frustrated teenager in high school, I confess that I had sick daydreams about bringing my dad's 44. mag to school and blowing away first Mr. Lorentzen, then several assholes who always fucked with me, but, I didn't do it. I'm not a maniac or a hot head. But I did have those weird revenge/rampage daydreams.

When primitive man first committed homicide with a leg bone of a buffalo I'm sure their was an effort to control buffalo leg bones. Then some asshole discovered the knife, and the big rock, and the jaw bone of an ass, then spears, arrows, siege towers, and finally atomic weaponry, but it all goes back to the buffalo leg bone. A weapon is a weapon, and a weapon is a tool, and even a monkey wrench can kill a man when used properly.

I don't trust my fellow human beings, they are dangerous, and they are armed. And then there's bush and cheney, heavily armed and extremely hot headed, and they are at the helm of state.

And the moral of all this is? Hell, I don't have one. I just really, really hate guns, and there are just too, too fucking many of them.

[slackmaster]

1. If I were in your situation I think I'd conclude that I hate criminals

Eliminate the criminal, the problem goes away.

Try to eliminate the guns, and you end up with a sitation in which the criminal still has access to all kinds of weapons, including illegal guns and fake guns (which you have to assume are real).

[Philosoraptor]

2. Realistic toy guns should be banned.

Criminals don't bother with legal guns for the most part.

[slackmaster]

8. It's the exact problem they are having in the UK now that handguns are practically banned

You can outlaw the manufacture of realistic toy guns, but you can't outlaw scraps of wood, bars of soap, black paint, and cans of shoe polish.

[Xenotime]

18. How the hell do you eliminate all "criminals"

Maybe these people need help. Rather than worring about Sanjhi lets worry about these people who are suffering.

[slackmaster]

19. The first time they commit a violent crime, you put them in jail until they are old and gray

Problem solved.

[Xenotime]

22. What if that crime was a mass gun murders?

Then the guy kills himself. Then what? What did you solve? How would you have stopped this criminal?

[slackmaster]

25. No conceivable system can prevent every murder or mass murder

Even elimination of all firearms would leave the possibility of a bombing, arson, gas attack, etc.

ETA a word of caution: If you aim for a fully compresensive solution, you will end up with nothing. The harder you push, the more people you affect and the bigger the backlash you create.

[FloridaJudy]

30. I don't know if that would work

A few years ago there were a large number of giant billboards all around Florida saying "Use a gun to commit a crime and it's twenty-five to life".

It didn't seem to make a dent in the armed robbery rate. In fact, it made robbers more likely to kill potential witnesses. Armed robbers aren't rocket scientists, so most eventually get caught, but it always seems to surprise them when it happens. And they still manage to traumatize a lot of people before it happens.

[Irreverend IX]

31. About 85% of violent crimes are linked to the drug trade...

And I can think of an easy solution to that problem.

[BlueEyedSon]

21. And eliminate assholes and hotheads and conflict of any sort, and so on

[renie408]

3. We need to stop focusing on the guns as either the cause or the solution.

I am going to keep saying that. We need to figure out what is wrong with American society that leads people to feel like they either need guns for protection or to get what they want.

[Poll_Blind]

20. Renie, your one-sentence comment contains THE solution in my opinion.

  I agree with you heartily and I wish I could somehow highlight your post in this thread, because what you're speaking about is the real heart of the matter. One can take your point and expound on it almost indefinitely but that simple sentence contains all one needs to understand what the real problem is. The real problem.

  Thank you.

PB

[annabanana]

4. Jeez! What the hell kind of city did you MOVE to?

I lived in Manhattan & Brooklyn (Hell's Kitchen AND lower East Side, West Village AND Yorkville AND BedSty)

I lived there for 15 years.. Walked and subway'd AND drove a cab. . all around town, ALL hours of the day and night. .

And I never ONCE had a gun pulled on me.

[Philosoraptor]

5. Quiet little Kansas City, Mo.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. And I drive into the hood in KC every day

and have never once been victimized - in 30 years.

Just shows you never know and it always pays to be cautious.

[Stuckinthebush]

6. I hate them too

Don't want one, and I don't think it will help me in a dangerous situation.

I read somewhere that if you own a gun, it is much more likely that it will be used to shoot you or someone you know/care about than an assailant. No thanks.

I tell my kids that if they are at a friends house and they see a gun, then run. There is no reason to have them around kids in a house and should be locked up.

But, that's just my opinion, and you know what they say about opinions!

[BlooInBloo]

7. Then your wife may wish to re-evaluate her shopping habits...

Getting rid of guns wouldn't be a bad thing either, I acknowledge.

[Mabus]

23. She wasn't shopping, she was working

at least that's my understanding of what happened.

[Virginia Dare]

9. Agreed, even if guns aren't the problem..

they sure aren't the solution either.

[yurbud]

10. get her a taser--she'll be less reluctant to use it.

[Philosoraptor]

12. I got her mace for her birthday, a fresh one every year.

[yurbud]

26. the ball with spikes on it on a stick? good choice.

[mudesi]

11. You need to ask yourself why 'the bad part of town' even exists

It's unfortunate that Americans live in a society where crime is so out of control that their ordinary citizens need to protect themselves with guns. I wonder why so many Americans choose to ignore the social and economic factors that lead to these violent crimes, and then I remember the kind of media you have.

[Warpy]

13. I once came home and was going into the lobby of

my building when I saw a couple of guys running up the steps after me, reflected in the glass.

I decided if I was going to get mugged, it was going to be out in front of as many witnesses as possible, so I whipped around and faced them with a disarming grin and started back down the steps, noting as many details about their appearances as I could. They looked at each other and ran off.

I found out later they'd been on a spree, too, and both were armed.

If I'd pulled a weapon, they'd have shot me. If I'd gone into the lobby and tried to open the inner door, they'd likely have caught me and beaten me because I only had a couple of dollars on me.

I just did something unpredictable, instead. That was enough to get rid of them. I'm sure it doesn't always work, but my thinking was sound: stay in the most public place possible and get a really, really good look at them.

Don't let THEM choose the place.

Being threatened by muggers or robbers or gunnies of any type is unnerving. The best plan is to give them what they want. If they're still threatening, RUN AWAY. Most of them are lousy shots. They might get lucky and hit you but they're unlikely to kill you.

(I won't get a gun because I'm still pretty blind. I'd be a menace, mostly to myself.)

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. I am sure that these experiences give you a different perspective

on this issue. Thanks for sharing.

[mtnsnake]

16. Glad to recommend

Awesome account of what happened in your case and your views in light of everything. Thanks for sharing.

PS: I'm glad your wife didn't get hurt in those incidents.

[NNN0LHI]

17. The best weapon is ones mind

As you have pointed out here so eloquently.

Don

[Mabus]

24. I was sexually assaulted at gun point

it was an attempted rape by an acquaintance. We'd known each other for about a year, we had mutual friends and ran in the same crowd. He invited me over for dinner than tried to rape me. It's been almost twenty years but I still remember the taste and the feel of the barrel of his gun in my mouth. Obviously I got away. For the hours he held the gun on me and threatened me with it, I didn't think I was going to make it out alive.

I didn't know that he owned several hand guns. No one did. He never mentioned it and none of us asked. I don't believe it ever occurred to us to ask. If I had know he had guns at his house before he invited me over I would have still gone. I currently own one gun. I used to have several of rifles but they went with the ex when we split.

I've never thought of using any of them on a human being. Most gun owners don't. It's just hard to figure out which ones are which. I had guns because we lived on a farm and would hunt for deer and rabbits. Not so much for recreation but because we were really, really broke. We hunted primarily for food.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

27. Getting robbed at knifepoint isn't much fun either

When someone has a blade to your stomach, it'll scare the hell out of you too.

[Captain Hilts]

29. Fewer people would have died yesterday if he'd a knife instead of a gun. nt

[smoogatz]

28. "I have no opinion on gun control, except that they are way too easy to get."

That's the pro gun control opinion: "guns are way too easy to get." Fewer, harder-to-get guns equals fewer gun crimes.