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Originally Posted by wvaherp
Either way, it seems a bit underhanded to bring that situation up as an example of responsible citizens being armed not preventing someone from being harmed.
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I wasn't trying to be underhanded at all; I was trying to point out that sometimes the 'good guy/bad guy' understanding of a firearm-related situation isn't very useful.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WebSlave
Do you think things might have turned out differently had she had one on her at that time?
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Yes, differently and almost certainly better in most ways.
I was listening to a podcast today ('Invisibilia') that contained a story about a guy who was a hostage negotiator. He recounted a case in which a crazy ex-husband took his ex wife and his seven year old son hostage. Anyway, tense buildup to the end where the guy had the woman by the hair with a gun to her head and his son somehow strapped to him and a SWAT sharpshooter shot the guy in the head, and the son and the ex wife were unharmed, physically.
I thought about that kid. Scary to think myself into his shoes. SWAT saved his life, and that's good, but here's my thought: focusing on gun control isn't going to help that boy (maybe if the wife had a gun, sure, but still -- that poor kid i that incredibly hellish family). Yes, a gun saved his life, but to lose a parent that way...
I'm not trying to say law-abiding stable people shouldn't have as many guns as they want. They should, and the Constitution guarantees it. I've made the point here that banning things doesn't work, and usually makes the problem worse.
I just think that all parties to the political discussion have an interest into figuring out what our problems are (our problem isn't guns) and fixing them. I lean left (pretty far, really), and I think think the left's gun control fetish is bound to fail, and while it is failing it will damage a lot of people through creating resentment, and through omitting to address the real (psychosocial) problems that a certain percentage of people have. The gun rights vs gun control debate is a smokescreen that is blinding us from doing real good.
I think gun owners would like the crazies to stop getting in the news with their irresponsible use of guns as much as anyone, so I think I'm on your side. Guns are like reptiles, I think: the more bad stories about them stay out of the news, the better off the owners of them are.