In light of the recent firearm controversies, let's take a gun self-defense poll

[krispos42]

Pick the catagory that best describes your experience in defensive gun uses.

Please do not include any military, police, or armed security work. The current controversy stems from private gun ownership.

(on edit: added "with a gun" to choice #5)

[Buzz Clik]

1. " have been armed while investigating a potential home invasion" but not with a gun.

I own firearms, but I've never felt the need to "lock and load".

I always keep a baseball bat in the bedroom closet for late night investigations.

[krispos42]

3. Hmmm... I'll fix that to "armed with a gun".

Thanks! :-)

[backscatter712]

13. Never had to deal with a home invasion myself,

but I have a loaded Glock in a fast-open pistol safe next to my bed, and I have a 4 D-cell Mag-Lite next to my bed that does a great impression of a lead pipe, and also is a decent flashlight. ;)

[Buzz Clik]

17. Note to potential thieves: Do not enter backscatter712's home.

[TomInTib]

2. How about if I simply hit them in the head with a pistol?

I actually fit in three of your categories, but it only let me respond to one.

[krispos42]

4. Do the worst case one, and feel free to elaborate in a reply

:-)

[TomInTib]

7. It's too long of a story for me to type.

Simply put, a friend and I broke up a large auto-thft ring on Super Bowl Sunday.

Forced the two guys' pickup off a country road in SE Texas, right in front of a house where thiry or so of their family and friends were busy getting drunk before the Game.

We had to hold them off, just the two of us with only a Defender and a 9mm.

It got pretty wacky before the Sheriff showed up.

[krispos42]

10. And you were acting as a private citizen?

Jeez, sounds balls-y!

[TomInTib]

12. Yeah, we were pretty fed up with it all.

We were, howeve, charged with all kinds of crap (kidnapping, holding them against their will{25 charges}, disturbing the peace, all manner of stuff).

But they had stolen over 50 cars and it was a very rural County.

I later became very good friends with one of the guys' parents after their pitbull bit me a few months later. I was out deer hunting with the Father when he died of a heart attack in deep woods.

All in all, a pretty strange string of events.

[lumberjack_jeff]

49. You've led an interesting life, Tom. n/t

[Buzz Clik]

5. Or spit the bullets at your target?

Blow gun powder in his face?

[RaleighNCDUer]

6. How about another option:

"I've had an asshole pull a gun on me during a road rage incident."

[krispos42]

8. That would be a different poll

One about being the victims of gun-related violence.


Out of curiousity, how did your case turn out?

[onehandle]

9. No option for criminal usage of a gun?

Criminals defend themselves too.

[krispos42]

11. If you're engaging in a criminal act...

...then by definition it's not a defensive gun use.

A carjacker shooting at a cop is not a defensive gun use, for example.

[onehandle]

14. Criminals use firearms to defend themselves far more often than non-criminals.

I've never know a single non-criminal outside of military, police, or armed security who have used a gun to defend themselves.

Criminals who have defended themselves with firearms are on the news every night.

[krispos42]

19. Well, what are we talking about here?

It's possible for a criminal to justifiably defend himself with a firearm, albeit the criminal will still go to jail for illegal gun possession.

I don't know anyone that's personally defended themselves outside of police, military, or armed security, either.

No, I take that back. A guy at my old job surprised an intruder in his garage. He said he grabbed his pistol, crept up to the human door of the garage, whipped it open, poked his gun through, then withdrew back behind the doorjamb, really fast. The intruder saw the gun and fled.

[onehandle]

31. Doesn't really sound like the garage owner really defended himself.

The Intruder wasn't a danger to him. I would have called the cops myself rather than walking into an unknown situation with a gun.

Good thing the intruder didn't have a readily available gun. He might have "defended himself" back.

[krispos42]

35. It was an attached garage

I'm not sure if "side door" was an appropriate description, so I used "human door", the door connecting the house to the garage.

[onehandle]

30. nt

[madokie]

15. whether true or not I'd heard all my life that the victim is more likely to be killed with his own

weapon so I'm not sure what I'd do in a home invasion but it sure wouldn't be pretty

[pbca]

16. It is 10x more likely that someone who lives in the home

will be killed or injured with a firearm than an intruder or other criminal

[krispos42]

20. That's a misleading statistic

60% of firearm deaths are suicides.

And since only about 1 defensive gun use in 6,000 results in a justifiable homicide, a lot of crime is prevented. Crimes such as robbery, assault, burglary, rape, and murder.

[lumberjack_jeff]

48. Suicide doesn't count? n/t

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

56. Suicides would happen with or without guns..

Wanna ban pills, knives, automobiles...

[madokie]

23. case closed

I don't know if I could ever live with myself if I didn't and don't have a weapon to protect my family and someone was killed. I pretty much made a pac with myself when I came home from Vietnam that guns would not be a part of my life anymore if I can help it. I gave in and purchased as pellet pistol and rifle but hardly anything one would want to drag out in a home invasion type situation unless the intent was to use it as a club, otherwise it would just piss someone off amd that someone was already being stupid to start with. fuck that

I have no problem with others owning guns, thats their right as its my right to be unarmed. A choice I made for me

[LWolf]

18. No, I've never owned a gun,

and the only person I've ever needed to defend myself from was my first husband.

There was a gun in our home once; a shotgun stuck in the closet by one of his friends who'd driven into town for a visit. They hid the gun in the closet, went out to a bar until 2 am, came home stinking drunk and let me know that they'd partied that weeks grocery money away. I told them what I thought of that; perhaps it could have waited until a sober morning. The husband pulled the gun out of the closet, loaded it, and pointed it at me. His friend told me that I knew better than to get "uppity." I shut up. The gun stayed out until they passed out. I didn't know how to unload it, but I hid it away.

I've never known anyone who needed a gun to defend him or herself, but I do know someone whose gun went off while he was cleaning it. I attended his funeral.

[Mugu]

21. As a child,

I looked on as my mother armed with a Walther P-38, with the family dog at her side, prepared to ambush a man trying to enter our home in the middle of the night. However, the door was locked and he left without ever knowing just how close he came to being killed.

30 years ago, armed with a short side-by-side 12ga. I confronted a fellow in my apartment. He pissed himself and ran, I locked the door and went back to bed.

2 years ago, armed with a Thompson 1927 A-1 w/"C" drum I confronted some guys buzzing my home on snowmobiles in the middle of the night. They departed as quickly as possible and have never returned.

Never needed to hurt anybody, never called the police.

Regards, Mugu

[EstimatedProphet]

22. Never had to defend myself, and I hope I never have to

[michreject]

24. Yes. I displayed my gun to my attacker(s)

Was in the process of escalating it further but the three got out of Dodge in 2 seconds flat.

No police were notified. Not on record as a defensive firearm usage.

[krispos42]

27. That is the usual result, I think

Why didn't you report it to the police, if I may inquire?

[michreject]

33. Didn't see the need

Attempted mugging. Generic description of the assailants. 4 AM and on my way to work.

Variety of reasons.

[ThomWV]

25. Just because you have not used your gun to defend yourself does not mean you don't have a right to.

I have not used my car to drive to Nebraska and noboday I know has used their car to drive to Nebraska, but every single American has the right to drive their car to Nebraska, if they want to. They can also take their car and lock it up and their garage just to admire if they want, or just take it out for a fun drive now and then. No difference. What they do not have the right to do is run over anyone with their car. If they don't do that then they are free to use it as appropriate.

[krispos42]

26. I'm a little surprised by this

According to a poll taken a few months ago, about 49% of DUers did not own guns, yet that is not reflected here.

I'm also surprised there have been no wounding incidents.

[Individualist]

28. I answered no

I own a gun but have never had to defend myself with it. I have homeowners' insurance but have never had to file a claim.

[Indenturedebtor]

29. You forgot to add a question

Have you ever been robbed at gun point?

Yes

Have you ever been shot at by random thugs when you were a child?

Yes

Do you have friends who have been raped at gun point?

Yes

Do you have friends who have died through random gun violence?

Yes


Nice one sided post though. I think that the ratio of fucknut whackjobs who kill and brutalize people every day with guns to the ratio of normal people who stop said whackjobs with their guns is rediculously unfavorable to the gun lobby.

[krispos42]

34. Start your own poll

I'm not stopping you.

If you want to debate your last paragraph, you're welcome to start one in the Gungeon. I'd rather not do it here because I'm interested in the "general" population, not the gun-owning population.

[DutchLiberal]

32. Since I'm not a cowboy living in the Wild West, I do not own a gun.

[krispos42]

36. Can you own a gun in the Netherlands? n/t

[DutchLiberal]

37. I honestly don't know. It's just not an issue among the Dutch.

I guess *some* people own a gun, maybe under very strict conditions, with a special license or certificate? I'm just guessing here. There are no gun stores, like you have in the US. You can't walk into a WalMart and buy bullets, like in the US (I saw that in 'Bowling for Columbine'). I know you can own a gun in Belgium. There are gun stores there, but there's no indication as far as I know that they own guns on that big a scale as they do in the US.

[CTyankee]

38. Just curious. What is your rate of gun fatalities in the Netherlands compared to the U.S.?

Might be interesting for folks on this thread....

[DutchLiberal]

42. You would have to Google this; I don't know.

The only time we hear about gun fatalities in the news, it involves criminal organizations etc. That's all I can say.

(Too bad I can't be more helpful. My input in this thread has been pretty useless thus far.)

[Sancho]

39. You forgot, "I shot my lawyer in the face while bird hunting."

:rofl:

[IsItJustMe]

40. I almost shot a guy who I thought was trying to break into my house. Come to find out, he was

playing a prank on my next door neighbors. The guy thought it was their house.

I had just been broken into two weeks before that, so I went out and bought me a 45 caliber semi-automatic pistol. I was laying in bed one night, and someone started to pry at the bedroom window next to me. I got my gun and went around to the side where the guy was. Pistol pulled and ready to go, I asked him, WTF are you doing? He explained it to me, I believed him, and told him that he was one hair from death.

A few months later I sold the gun. I figured I was more likely to hurt someone, who was innocent, than to actualy hurt someone who wasn't.

True story

[GoneOffShore]

41. Glad you didn't shoot

Also glad you sold the pistol.

[dysfunctional press]

43. one of the best things about a heavy-gauge pump-action shotgun for home-protection...

if/when an intruder hears you chamber the shell, they're likely to decide not to stay.

[CTyankee]

44. That sounds like a scene in a movie...

you have a flair for the cinematic "moment"...

[dysfunctional press]

45. i've had cops tell me the same thing...

there aren't any really accurate numbers for the home invasions/burglaries that have been thwarted merely by the brandishing of a firearm, because most of them probably go un-reported.

my parents had someone try to break into their bedroom window one night- my father tapped on the window from the inside with his pistol, and the would-be intruder took off running. it didn't get reported to the police, however- as my father didn't want the hassle that he felt would have been involved.

[CTyankee]

51. I'm sure your scenario, as you write it, is compelling, but I don't know about real life.

Who among us is hovering in the middle of the night, ready and alert to all sounds, fully functional with gun in hand, in order to enact that powerful movie scene we all know so well from the screen dramas?

Great drama stuff, in real life, well...as you said, no real data, so we can't evaluate, can we?

[dysfunctional press]

54. my father has always kept a gun in his nightstand...

to my knowledge, that was the only time it was ever "used", other than his occasional trip to the target range.

and why would you think that he was "hovering in the middle of the night, ready and alert to all sounds, fully functional with gun in hand, in order to enact that powerful movie scene we all know so well from the screen dramas..." ? :shrug:

just to let you know- the bedroom window was right behind their headboard, and the noise of someone trying to jimmy open it woke them up.

[CTyankee]

57. He kept a "heavy gauge pump action shotgun" on his nightstand?

And the would be robber heard the gun being loaded through the glass? Just wondering....

[dysfunctional press]

58. you have a serious problem with comprehension, don't you?

dad had/has a pistol. i never said he had a shotgun. although he does. just not in the nightstand.

:eyes:

[CTyankee]

59. My comprehension is fine. My exchange with you started over your

giving an example of the deterrant quality of having the shotgun. All of a sudden, you switched to an example with a handgun. That is all I was pointing out...

[dysfunctional press]

60. how well did you comprehend this part of a sentence, then...?

"my father tapped on the window from the inside with his pistol..."

:eyes:

it doesn't get much clearer than that, does it? :shrug:

(btw- that was from my first reply to you)

[CTyankee]

61. LOL, fine! Well then, why the switch from shotgun to pistol?

I started out commenting on the dramatic effect you used with the shotgun example. I immediately thought of all movies where such scenes are used to dramatize a showdown between the good guy and the bad guy. It makes for a very effective film scene. I have no doubt you have that film scene playing in your mind and why not? Lots of people have dramatic cinematic moments in their heads. I don't call you names for it because I think it is natural.

Where you get into a problem is real life. Now your father was able to reach around that headboard and frighten away the bad guy. I'm glad he wasn't hurt. Other scenarios with loaded handguns beside beds are not so rosy. I will not go into it, but this scenario played out in a grim, blood spattered way in my own family. No one has made a HOllwood movie of my family's tragedy.

[dysfunctional press]

63. possibly because my father used a pistol, and not a shotgun?

:shrug:

and no, i don't go around with scenes from movies "playing in my mind"...

is that how you view life...? seriously?

[CTyankee]

64. No, but what you wrote is a common movie scene and I do like to do

analyses of movies I've seen. It's my arts background...

[dysfunctional press]

65. list some movies that it's appeared in...

seeing as it's so common, and all.

[CTyankee]

66. Well, I have been around so long it's hard for me to remember.

But when you wrote about it, a cinematic image sprang to mind. I thought, "I've seen that scene in movies..." But they are fleeting moments...not ones that are centerpieces of the story. It's interesting. You don't have to agree with me. I tend to remember dramatic devices used in films -- my undergraduate degree is in Fine Arts and Communications, so I tend to spot such things.

[dysfunctional press]

67. exactly what i expected...thank-you.

:eyes:

[Greyskye]

53. remember slide projectors?

Not the carousel type, but the ones with a straight, spring loaded 'tube' that held the slides? Kind of (but not exactly) like this:

I knew a guy that kept this spring loaded slide holder under the seat of his car. He was into 'cruising' (car cruising, which meant driving slowly up and down the street and through the mall parking lot, trying to pick up on the opposite sex), which, about 20 years ago, was becoming a dangerous activity in this area - gang activity and such. While cruising at the mall, some young tough started hassling him and trying to start a fight - taunting him to come out of his car and 'get it on'. He reached under his seat, grabbed the slide holder and worked the action. "snick-click". Amazing how much that sounds like a shotgun round being chambered! :rofl:

He had no more problems that night. :evilgrin:

[ecstatic]

46. Why isn't pistol whipped my attacker an option?

:shrug:

Something tells me this poll won't be very conclusive. Just a hunch hehe

[lumberjack_jeff]

47. What if I scared off an attacker by saying: "Say hello to my leeetle friend?"

Whilst holding my finger out, all threatening like, in my jacket pocket?


Just askin' since we're all into fantasy mode.

[sendero]

50. I don't feel the need...

... to justify my ownership of firearms with the "self defense" argument.

I have teenagers in my house so my guns are under lock and key. My ability to get to one in a home invasion situation is hampered because of that fact, but certainly not impossible.

Nonetheless, I believe in gun ownership, I own many firearms - handguns, rifles and shotguns. It is my right, as well as a responsibility, that I take seriously.

And whether it is likely I would ever use one in a self defense situation or not, I plan on keeping them.

[fascisthunter]

52. I Don't Feel the Need Either

even living in the city of Boston has never made me feel the need to buy a gun. I already pay law enforcement for the guns, and have a nice bat in handy, just in case.

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

55. Ive never owned a gun

but people have the right to own a firearm and to defend themselves and their home...

[TankLV]

62. Never owned a gun - never will.

Violence attracts violence.

I feel no need to posess a gun. Ever.

[pokerfan]

68. I voted no but I've had two friends defend themselves

One friend was confronted on the street by someone with a knife. He drew a revolver and the dude ran away.

The other friend was awakened by a noise. He grabbed a pistol from one of those quick safes (he had children) and confronted a guy forcing his way in through the front door with a crowbar. Meanwhile, his wife was calling 911. He pointed the pistol at the dude and the dude raised the crowbar and started advancing. My friend fired a round into the floor in front of the dude who then fled. My friend than sat down on the floor and waited for the cops to show up twenty minutes later. Even with a fairly good description the intruder was never never caught.