Originally Posted By: Art_in_FL
There is probably more than one side to that story. There is a chance the guy was so afraid of being Zerged that he pulled a Goetz. Fear often makes people see threats that don't actually exist. Either way I'm glad nobody died. Toss a gun into the mix and things might have ended up much uglier.

Look up the Universalist congregation and how they handled it when a guy threatened them with a shotgun. Completely unarmed a half dozen men rushed him. One died when he took one to the chest but the rest of them wrestled him to the ground and took away the gun. Breaking his arm in the process. Hard to imagine it turning out any better if someone had pulled out a pistol. A shootout with the congregation and a choir full of kids in the middle is an invitation to a bloodbath. One dead, one wounded and a lunatic hyped up on talk radio being led away in handcuffs may be as good as it gets.

The point I'm trying to make here is that firearms aren't magical. Yes, sometimes, they may deter a crime, limit harm and lower the body count. But they are easy to misuse even when the person is trained and operating in good faith. Near everything in movies or on TV about guns, self defense and crime is wrong. When guns are misused because the person misread the situation or was operating from media stereotypes or popular mythology, jingoism, or bumper sticker philosophy they make things worse.


You know, I just agree with every single word here.

Yes, firearms ARE a deterrent. At the same time, guns don't solve ANYTHING by themselves. Guns don't stop crime. An armed scoiety is not necessarily a safe and polite society. There are simply to many other factors out there.

I very much support the idea that every sane, law-abiding honest citizen should be allowed to own a firearm without any major restricitons. That said, I don't believe increasing the rate of gun ownership would ultimately lead to a safe society where crime doesn't happen.

A gun is just a gun. It's a TOOL, no more, no less. In the hands of a trained and prepared invididual, a great means of offense as well as defense. But what worries me is that way too many people believe they're safe just because they own or carry a firearm. Nowadays, most of the good guys, average Joes and Janes, have very little time and will to become proficient with a firearm. They don't even have the mental and physical attributes. If you don't have what it takes to fight back (with weapons or bare hands if need be) no amount of gunpower in your hands will do any good.