Originally Posted by
Pithor
All right, I'll venture another go at this. I like an argument.
I'll re-iterate my point in a slightly different way, as apparently you don’t see or want to see my point:
I assume and hope that MOST people who get guns are aware of the possible dangers, learn to handle them and store them properly. I have no problem with responsible gun ownership. I don't.
Perfect we agree,
Oh, and in the vein of the hypothetical situations, because apparently that is the right way to argue about gun-ownership and use, I came up with a nice scenario too:
While driving your 4x4 back from the city with your most favourite loved one, a little girl suddenly shoots out of a drive way on her bicycle. No way you could have seen her or hit the brake in time, you hit her, she flies across the asphalt. You and your loved one get out, worried and panicking. Her mother runs out, runs back in to phone an ambulance.
Her father runs out after seeing it happen, rushes to see her, notices she's dead. He loses it. He is going for his gun and is ready to shoot you. You happen to have a gun on you as well, going for it instinctively. You draw just before he does, he is out of his mind with anger and grief and will not hesitate to shoot you, you see it in his eyes. Do you risk the life of you and your loved one or do you also shoot the father of the girl you just hit with your truck? Or as Glen so adequately put it:
My point here is that it’s easy to come up with a hypothetical situation that can happen in real life to support your point of view. Of course you try to protect your loved ones, you’d be an idiot if you wouldn’t, you’ll shoot the intruders (or at least say you will). But another overlooked point is: what if you DIDN’T have that gun in the drawer next to you because you don’t own a gun because either you don't want it or your wife will leave you if you do? Does it mean you are a bad father/spouse/etc. because you didn’t buy a semi-automatic gun in case a mob running into your house tries to severely hurt your loved ones?
I dare you to tell someone whose had his family hurt by violence that it was his fault because he didn’t keep a gun within arms reach at all times and that he is a lousy husband/father/protector/etc. because of it. Because that is an implication of such a hypothetical situation: it's not so much a matter of choice, you’re an idiot if you don’t own a gun.