[Bewolf]

Originally Posted by Sternjaeger II

Beo, my friend, I suppose the point of disagreement is that you see only the negative aspects of gun ownership, whilst I'm trying to demonstrate that there are indeed positive aspects to it, and often they're the one that can solve a situation against all odds (or be useful for other things like hunting).

In reply to the question whether an elderly woman could defend herself:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/very...ome-intruder/#

and there are many other cases of old men too. A .38 is an ideal gun with little recoil and extremely portable, and I believe that yes, some societies are rotten and decaying enough to justify the carry of a firearm.

I am lucky enough to have an alternative, and I'm always avoiding confrontation, it's not in my nature and I only snap when I'm attacked, but this is me, other people might not have the skills or simply the capacity to physically or semantically defend themselves, this doesn't mean that they don't have less of a right to defend themselves by means of an object that can balance things in their favour if need be.

Again the solution is to be found in the education and values of society, but you'll be waiting a loooong time before this is sorted out.

I have legally carried concealed weapons whilst still in Italy because of my job and it didn't make me less worried or more confident, it was just a necessity to respond to a threat in an adequate manner, but it didn't change the fact that carrying a Glock in my jacket didn't make me bulletproof.

I agree, there are a lot of people that should stay well far from firearms, because they're a VERY serious thing to deal with, but it's also true that there should be some sort of balance and adequate ways to allow everybody to defend themselves. Maybe Tasers or similar devices could offer an adequate non-lethal alternative (because in the end of the day nobody really likes to kill someone, no matter how good or bad that person is).
So don't get me wrong, I'm not for the "a gun for all" policy, but I'm not gonna sit down and watch our government disarm us so they can control us better, whilst they cannot provide us all with adequate protection from crime..

Sometimes it is frustrating to argue with you, Stern. It is as if you intentionally misunderstand me.

What I am argueing about is not the individual situation. I actually agree, in many ways a gun, in the modern world, helps out in certain situations. Though I think it is quite obvious even here that people overestimate their ability to actually use a gun when it "really" counts. It is much more about "feeling" safe, not about actually being so.

However, my big problem here really is that those situations arise in the first place.
And all immidiate situation solutions you laid down are counter productive to longterm solutions.
You prefer the quick fix over the, argueably more beneficial, long term perspective.
I am not so sure that this has proven a good course of action in any category over history.