GUNS: The Untold Truth

Originally posted by guppy


on average police takes 5 minutes to 2 hours to respond, depending on your area

That's not an average.

reply to post by pacific_waters


The point is there is no way of knowing. The time it takes for someone to make it from your front door to your bed room are orders of magnitude lower than it takes you to make a phone call to the police, get a human on the phone, not be put on hold, report the problem, have the information relayed to a patrol, have the patrol officer drive to and find your home, make his way to the front door and enter the home and save you while at the same time protecting himself.

Compare that to the time it takes to pick up a loaded shotgun, point and shoot. Regardless of whether it lands, 99% of criminals want no part of a gun fight and will leave. The truth is that most families in the past had loaded weapons, most kids knew how to use them. The number of accidents dwarfed the actual usage. The accidental deaths from overdoses of sleeping pills are probably higher.

reply to post by ararisq


Well said, ararisq. What does my misuse of the word "average" have to do with the topic?

What matters is knowing that firearms is the great equalizer. During most altercations, any person, from a toddler to an elderly person, can level the playing field with a firearm. Criminals are by nature cowards.

Remember, when firearms are displayed against a criminal, 90% of the time it was never fired. Why? Because the victim's show of force is enough to deter the attack from a criminal and that "rat" runs away.

The primary use of a firearm in self defense is: To Stop The Attack. This means you do NOT have to fire the gun. Just showing it may give you the victory you want.

But what happens when displaying your firearm does not deter the attack and the criminal is still coming. Well, you are in a world of pain and in the minority. You are faced with a "dedicated attacker". This usually happens because any of the following:

- criminal is on drugs
- loss of reality
- you have something the criminal wants and willing to die for it (like $$$, heirlooms, or a person)
- emotionally invested in taking your life (i.e., revenge)
- wearing body armor

When this happens, you have a decision to make. Pull that trigger or not?

Good points..

Just for the record, I was not, nor was any negative commentary directed toward police officers, at least intentionally. There are only so many LEOs avaliable. and I personally, have never had a bad time with any of them, even when I've had them come for me for small things.. like traiffic stops and the like.

If you think about it, someone breaking into your home, or about to grab you and drag you into an ally, has already tossed rational thought out the window.

Most people receieve an adrenalin rush when doing certain things. either out of fear, or excitement.

Now.. if I've broken into your home, and am searching through stuff, and or am looking for inhabitants to render them harmless, how open am I going to be to talking or pleading.. prolbably not at all.

Now.. hearing the cocking of a shotgun, or the slide of a pistol... MIGHT catch my attention. Both of those soudns are very distinct. If you have not heard one, head over to your local gun-store, and ask the man or woman behind the counter to demonstrate the sound for you.

as someone stated earlier in the thread "A gun is like insurance, an inhaler, or other life-saving device.. better to have them, and not need them; then to need them and not have them"

I do believe that proper training and reguler practice make guns safer.

I do not believe my exhibiting universal love, and peace and all the other lovely sentiments will keep you safe and free of harm. Desperate people are hard to reason with, and often take desperate measures.. When those desperate measures involve harming or taking something from someone else.. well.. thats not right and needs to be prevented.

Since no one has a personal police-officer in their pocket 24/7, a gun makes a good backup.

Peace and Saftey to all, and when needed, quick steady aim!

Great job! One of the best threads and best articles in years. The key point to me is that your 5 times more likely to be shot by a cop than a "Civilian". Why would this be true?
1. Cops come to any situation, first and foremost, to protect the welfare of one person above all else. That is themselves. Their fears and survival instincts out-way all else.
2. The circumstances are usually not familiar to them. The people are not familiar or known to be antagonistic to them. That means they are guaranteed to be looking at everyone as a possible threat to themselves.
3. They are afraid and that can mean they're not thinking clearly. That's one reason they bluff as the tough guy. It hides the reality of their being afraid. It's natural they are afraid.
4. An ordinary citizen in a situation when they must draw a fire arm, are usually pretty clear who the opposition is relative to themselves and their family.
5. An ordinary citizen, in a more domestic situation are more likely to know the natures of the people involved and better judge the risks.

In my opinion, The Right to Bear Arms Is a Fundamental Must. Civilians With Guns Is a much better way to defend one's self, family, And Community. If Civilians Had no access to firearms..... This world would be much harder to get through.

The only thing I disagree about is police response time. Police respond very quickly, usually under 5 minutes

Originally posted by Truther45
The only thing I disagree about is police response time. Police respond very quickly, usually under 5 minutes

Usually under 5 minutes? Wow, you must live in high-class neighborhoods. Or your house is blocks from a police station. Or you live in a small town with a sizeable police force. Even then, a lot can happen in 5 minutes. Professional criminals normally plan their crime within a few minutes just so they can get away before police can arrive on scene.

Check stats on other communities around the US. Better yet, talk to people in other communities. In many metropolitan areas, I've talked to people where police response times range a lot according to the neighborhood.

Two people who's house were broken into had to wait 1 to 2 hours. Most people were in the range between 5 to 45 minutes. One person said it took police 45 minutes to respond to a call and the police station was just across the street.

Here's one advice, I may or may not use. When you dial 911, you tell the operator that an intruder is in your home, you believe a loved one is in danger, and your are ARMED. Bet you the police will arrive faster than if you said otherwise.

The fastest way to get the cops to respond is not to call them and tell them you have a burglar breaking in.

The best way is to tell them not to hurry because you have already shot the burglar just send a ambulance.

The cops will then be there in 1/10 the normal time.

It is interesting tho, how between the anti-gun and the pro-gun arguments go about their ways.

The pro-gun, seem confident in their safety, security, and able-ness to do what is needed to protect their own and them-selves.

The anti-gun never give an answer on how they would try and deal with an intruder. They just bash on the "gun nuts" and say their are breeding violence.

I am intrigued.

Originally posted by midnightbrigade
I wouldn't go attacking the police on this one. First we can't pre legislate. You can't arrest someone for "looking like they COULD break the law". That's crap. Secondly, with their limited numbers they can't be everywhere at every time. But guess what can.... and armed gun owner.

WE are responsible for our safety. Police are responsible for finding out what happened should we fail in that role.

You're absolutely right but when the police and the legislatures outlaw our ability to defend ourselves where do e turn? Seems to me that what is being said is "that's tough".