Originally posted by Sixpence
Beetle the argument you make
I'm not making an argument. I just cited a true story which shows what can happen when guns are present. Oddly enough, it just happened to be in today's paper.
All your story proves is that, although the elderly lady had a firearm, she was not prepared to used it.
Maybe she panicked, we will never know. She was almost certainly terrified. But the point I was trying to make was that here we have an elderly and frail lady - the very type of person who is most vulnerable, and as Lazs would agree needs the most protection, but has gone about it the wrong way - with disastrous consequences. The intruder claims he thought the gun was a cap gun - which of course is BS.
Lazs said
We have gone through all this before but... more guns does equal less crime in the U.S. This story is just one of the reasons why we don't have 50% or more of our burglaries "hot" like in limeyland. Crooks can be crazy but they are seldom brave.
We have! What has to be remembered is that because of soft sentencing of burglars here, there are more and more career burglars. Not only do offenders spend little (if any) time in prison, which means that they are available to commit more burglaries sooner, but people considering burglary as a profession see no deterrent.
As to self protection - I lock my doors at night. This has always worked for me, as it has for generations in my family and, I believe, will continue to do so. My mother is 76, and lives alone. Next time I see her, I'll ask her what she feels about having a gun in her house for protection, and will post back with her reaction.
