<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Ten years ago, a neighbor thought me to be the depraved gun nut of the neighborhood - she was a 30 year old school teacher, gun hater to the core. When her home was broken into at 3am, she called me before the police. When the miscreant who was wrestling with her, trying to rape her, found the butt end of my 870 Remington used as a pugil stick behind his ear, followed by the muzzle in his mouth, she seemed to be happy that I had chosen to bring a bigger weapon than her assailant. Her views on guns and gun owners evolved somewhat thereafter.
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Good for you. I'm suprised she called you though, that probably saved her one hell of a rough time.
I have been attacked and had to pull my gun. I was being chased around town late at night by two carloads of guy throwing what we thought were rocks at us(we never did find out exactly what they were throwing). One of us panicked, and threw a rock at the lead car, causing them to all stop and pour out and chase us. After running two blocks and knocking several of them unconscious, two more cars full of them showed up, leading to probably 20 guys or so, there was a mob and they were all out to get us. Then this big burly jock came up and started threatening us while a couple others with baseball bats started approaching too. At that point out came the gun. Armed or not, they could have easily killed us, get punched by one person and you're hurt, get punched by 20 and you're hospitalized.
Oddly enough the gun didn't seem to scare them off instantly, but once I knocked on a nearby door they all left. I ended up going to the hospital afterwards because of all the adrenaline, I was shaking so bad I was practically in siezures.
The big thing is that most people who do stuff like this are intoxicated in some way. Take away intoxication of all sorts and crime would plumet, although outlawing it would be folly. When they are intoxicated and you are not, you have a BIG advantage.
I know a guy who was at his house and someone came to kill him. The guy had been hitting a lot of acid though, and so he put my friend in the middle of the crosshairs at 300 yards, so the bullet landed short and to the side cause he obviously hadn't zeroed it either. My friend then hopped on a motorcycle and hauled ass over to the neighbor's house. Whent he sheriff arrived they found the guy sitting in a patch of woods swearing at the rifle, saying "I had him right in my sights, why did you fail me????". See, even when the goblin has the gun, we have a big advantage in most cases, training and sobriety.
A lot of anti-gun people cite Texas AMU and the belltower incident, saying that because he had guns he could kill from total safety.
Well if someone tried that from the clocktower on our campus, they'd be recieving return fire, some in .50cal. There's really no hiding from that sort of response. That's exactly why I keep a scoped rifle ready at all times, an automatic rifle(AK-47 usually), and a handgun of some sort. Everything else stays in the safe at all times, but those three things stay in close to ready status at all times(IE they aren't loaded, but can be quickly).
Those friends that were with me that night have all learned to shoot now, and they totally understand why I have guns. Sometimes it takes being humbled by a mob of drunken jocks to understand that people aren't universally benevolent
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The Alcove
I twist the facts until they tell the truth. -Some intellectual sadist
The Bill of Rights is a document of brilliance, a document of wisdom, and it is the ultimate law, spoken or not, for the very concept of a society that holds liberty above the desire for ever greater power. -Me
Compromising the right position only makes you more wrong.