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Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS
Good example.  When do you suppose that you will "need them the most?" That's where the issue of fear can irrationally fuel the discussion. And would the government ever really be knocking down doors or is that not literal?
I think you and I have discussed this before. Aren't you (or macallan?) the one who said you keep a gun under your pillow because you think it's a deterrent? You now know that pillow guns aren't deterrents because criminals don't know you have a pillow gun or the probability that anyone would have a pillow gun. But I'm all for your right to have a pillow gun as long as you are well-informed and realistic in what it is intended to accomplish and what it is most likely to accomplish. Most people aren't. Let's also pray that you never have to startedly fumble with your pillow to actually defend your home. |
We have, and I've made statements about deterrence, but I don't keep a gun under my pillow. Must be Mac or a combination of statements made by us both.
I believe collective gun ownership in an area can be a deterrent, and there is some evidence to support that argument. Further, I can deter criminals by possessing a weapon (pulling my gun from under my pillow can certainly deter a criminal from committing a violent act).
I brought up the Katrina example because it was a realization of many people's fears. When authority comes to your door and by force, takes your weapons, that it rightfully frightening. To many people, the time when one will most need a weapon to defend themselves and their families is during periods of societal collapse. Arguably, that is what happened in New Orleans.
I think fear can certainly be irrational, but we have to be careful when dismissing those fears as illegitimate. Anti slippery-slope arguments can be just as dangerous as the slope itself, IMO.