Have You Ever Lost Someone To Gun Violence? - Page 2

In the military I carried and used effectively.

In the civilian world I shot a man who survived. Attacked a woman with a knife, the intention had been to carjack her but she would not open her door. I witnessed this while traversing an adjacent parking lot. It was broad freakin' daylight. I drew and shot him in the back from about 150 feet (50 yards). I was unsure I could effectively stop what was happening if I had tried to close the distance. Bullet struck him in the left shoulder blade a few inches from his spine, right where I intended. To anyone else, even a cop that is a risky shot, even for me it has at least some risk. This happened in Baton Rouge Louisiana right at the bread basket/chevron station on Florida Ave coming off the I-110 interstate. The cops interviewed me for about ten minutes, reviewed the security footage and sent me on my way. I was active military at the time.



Second time and last time was a brandish. Pumping gas in Texarkana a crack head tried to get the jump on my by weaving through the gas pumps where I wouldn't see him coming. Knife versus Pistol, I told him to put the knife in the trash and run away as fast as he could. Problem solved.

Yall can say what you want about guns, for or against, like em or hate em...but the truth of the matter is the PEOPLE. I can give any one of you a gun and expect you to hit a man size target at 21 feet. People who've never fired one can do that. But if I make you do a couple laps and then fire off rounds over your head and give you 1.8 seconds to put one on the target 95% of you will miss...hell even cops miss. My point is pretty simple, leave the life saving and life taking to the just and capable. I do not and will not ever advocate the use of a firearm on a human being unless the threat exceeds the collateral damage.

How many of you would think about whats behind your target, or near it, or the possibility the target could be subdued, is the gun a gun or a painted toy? I mean yes, make the assumption that anything like that is deadly, however...this is not the wild west...as much as our testosterone might enjoy something like that. I don't ever wish something like a shooting on anyone, ever. Leave that stuff to the cops if you can. Protect your family, protect yourself and if you can do it without collateral protect others. I know guys who took the wrong life by accident, that is not something you ever live down, even if the accident was a decision you had to make based on the threat at the time.

metal that is terrible. thanks SirS. Y'all would be hard pressed to offend me. enquiring minds want to know. Thats why im here 20 times a day. LOL

Thank you very much greywolf. Thats exactly what I was looking for. Something that really justifies civilians being armed. That most likely could not happen in Canada because most of us even military would not be armed in public. Only the cops and robbers.

In a perfect world world maybe. Sadly there is no such thing and never will be. The world is not populated with perfect people.

10s of thousands have been killed in the last two decades with machetes and other home made weapons.

If every single gun in the world were to magically disappear tomorrow (including governments) I would gladly agree with you, sadly, that ain't gonna happen.

What is good for one country may not be good for another.

This is called realism, I'm a realist. There are many truths to any situation, but, the prevailing truth is always realism.

The realism in this country is that police officers no longer exist as the once were. They are law enforcers and investigators. That means they will investigate and arrest the degenerate punk that murders you,but, your still dead and your family and loved ones will still suffer the consequences of not being self protective.

I have only seen 3 murders in civilian life 2 by knife and one beaten to death. None of the three were armed.

This is by far the most "real" online conversation about gun control I have ever seen online. Everyone deserves a big pat on the back.

I honestly don't believe gun control or lack there of will change anything. After a shooting we feel the need to make sense of evil and find a simple answer. We don't want to admit that there is no quick fix. We also forget that some of the worst violence and distruction has come from Ryder trucks filled with fertilizer, airplanes, abusive parents, distracted/drunk drivers, drugs, and the list could go on and on.

Caring for each other, kindness, teaching, compassion,education, opportunity and action are some of the things that can make change, sometimes instantly.

Originally Posted by AdmiralAluminum

metal that is terrible. thanks SirS. Y'all would be hard pressed to offend me. enquiring minds want to know. Thats why im here 20 times a day. LOL

I lost my best friend about ten years ago , its a pretty sad story so I won't go into detail . But he was one of the best people I have ever met and I still think about him to this day .

Just an update on school massacres. The ninth worse in world history took place in 1989 in Canada. The worst in American History was in 1927 and did not involve guns. This was the second worse in world history only behind a Russian incident.

Just wanted to point out evil is not limited to location or weapons, it is only limited by individuals.

This is in response to different threads running simultaneously.

I would feel better if we could carry handguns at all here. If you want to take your hand gun out you have to tell the police and you can go straight to the range and straight back.

I grew up in Wilmington Delaware, ( currently #9 on most dangerous city's). Lost close friends to gun violence and drugs ,this was late sixties early 70's .Many I knew back than are dead or in prison for ever.A judge who grew up with my pop gave me a choice jail or military. I decided to get paid. Joining the Marine Corps saved my life, and it taught me many things ,too many to list here. I've been hospitalized for three weeks before, if I had been carrying I would have been OK and the 4 punks who wanted my sub (hoagie) and $20 would have been locked up. Needless to say I carry and iam legal. I don't get the whole thing about guns today. But it is an issue that iam willing to go to extremes to defend "My Right " to own one. I take offense , when someone say me owning a firearm is the problem with the violence in my country. Do your research before you point your finger. There is more gun violence in the city's that have sticker gun laws than the ones that don't. Many people have died for our rights and willing to to keep them.
2nd amendment makes us citizens
Take away it makes us subjects.

Like to add that iam a firm believer in calling the police when needed. They are trained to deal with situations that the average citizen is not equipped to deal with. I have the utmost respect for law enforcement in this country. Especially the ones in the big cities.
I carry for those times that I am prevented from walking away from a situation.

Yes, beardo, I must say I figured this thread would be derailed by flames 15-20 feet high.

I understand much better now. I see why some have taken offense and that was not my intent. I don't have an issue with anyone responsibly handling a firearm. My position is that, and I know this is where we disagree, with greater restrictions on guns, ownership, availability, and right to bare/carry, the ability of a criminal to have a gun is restricted, because if they are not already in jail, they are just one us, anonymous and free to commit their crimes. If the law of the land is no guns, someone selling, moving or using one is going to attract much more attention and makes it easier for them to be apprehended. If nobody wants guns available, it's preventative. If everyone can have a gun, it's reactionary. Neither one stops crime completely. It's just 2 different approaches.

Originally Posted by Longhairboy

I would feel better if we could carry handguns at all here. If you want to take your hand gun out you have to tell the police and you can go straight to the range and straight back.

I would like to know what it is that makes you want to carry in NB, Longhairboy? Not trying to single you out but you're the only Canuck that I have noticed reply to this.

I would really like to hear some international input... hint, hint.

If someone was to kill someone with a baseball bat/knife, should we ban baseball bats/knives? Guns don't kill people, people kill people.


Sorry if this offends anyone, I'm a strong supporter of the 2nd amendment.

Nope still not offended. I prefer apples you prefer oranges.

I haven't been avoiding the question, just haven't gotten to it yet. I've already stated that many things can be used as weapons. Almost anything I suppose. My first point about guns is they are a ranged weapon. It is difficult to kill someone with a knife or bat unless you are close to them. You can kill with a gun from a distance. Someone using a bat or knife is far less likely to cause collateral damage. Everyone of you with a gun has always hit the target? If you want to perform violence on someone, I think you should be close enough to see their face.

If you are being held at gunpoint, running is not much of an option, where a knife or bat or whatever else at least allows that option. The range of the weapon puts too much power in one person's hand. As Olddude pointed out, all the guns won't just disappear, but that doesn't mean everyone should have one, in my opinion. Fertilizer was mentioned, like other substances that can be made into explosives. Is there no restrictions on these materials? Can everyone just go and get some in case they get bombed, so they can bomb back? Or have restrictions been implemented to prevent this? What's the difference between shooting someone from fifty feet or blowing them up from 5 miles away?