• GooseFinger@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Small thing I want to point out.

    I don’t feel like I need a fire extinguisher in my kitchen to make some pancakes. Is it a good idea? Sure. The chances are really small that I’ll need it, but I’ll be very happy to have it in case the worst case scenario comes up.

    I don’t carry a gun to the grocery store because I’m afraid I’ll need it, I carry because I acknowledge that violent crime happens randomly to normal people like me and I’d rather be prepared for it than not. Modern guns retained in concealed holsters are actually very safe. They don’t just “go off” on their own, and the only reason someone would draw theirs is if their life or a loved one’s was in immediate danger.

    I don’t get up in the morning thinking “I better make sure I’m ready to kill people in case it comes up at the grocery store.” That’s way too reductive and gung ho.

    • ricecake
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      11 months ago

      Do you take your fire extinguisher with you to the store also?
      When you drive there, do you make sure to buckle your five point harness and put on your full visor helmet?
      Do you carry you basic EMS kit with you at all times? What about a couple doses of narcan? EpiPen?

      My point is, the gun is a big piece of equipment for a very niche contingency. There are significantly more likely threats that you can take care of with less burden to your daily life than even the modest inconvenience of carrying a weapon.

      Don’t pretend that you need to carry a gun to the grocery store.
      You want to carry a gun, for whatever reason.

      No one thinks the gun is just gonna magic itself out of the holster and shoot someone.
      The point is the gun doesn’t make anyone else feel more safe. No one thinks to themselves “oh good, a stranger with a gun has arrived. That’s just what this Baskin Robbins needed”.

      • GooseFinger@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Do you take your fire extinguisher with you to the store also?
        When you drive there, do you make sure to buckle your five point harness and put on your full visor helmet?
        Do you carry you basic EMS kit with you at all times? What about a couple doses of narcan? EpiPen?

        I was highlighting the convenience/safety tradeoff in taking basic precautions against low probability but high risk events. You were incorrectly stating that people feel like they need to carry a gun just to grocery shop, and I explained how that was false. Not sure how that went over your head, but it clearly did.

        My point is, the gun is a big piece of equipment for a very niche contingency. There are significantly more likely threats that you can take care of with less burden to your daily life than even the modest inconvenience of carrying a weapon.

        Ok, name a few? How else would someone mitigate risk of human threats against their life? I’m not sure I understand what you’re getting at, but you don’t have to forgo carrying a weapon for self defense in order to eat healthy and exercise to mitigate risk of heart failure. Carrying a gun everyday also isn’t a burden, and I enjoy range time and training. People should be allowed means to self defense if they want it. If they abuse it, they get their rights taken away. It’s really quite simple.

        Don’t pretend that you need to carry a gun to the grocery store.
        You want to carry a gun, for whatever reason.

        If the goal is having means for self defense against people, concealed carry is the only effective way to achieve it. Pepper spray, taser, knife, or anything else is objectively ineffective. I don’t need a gun to grocery shop, but I do need a gun if I want adequate self defense.

        No one thinks the gun is just gonna magic itself out of the holster and shoot someone.
        The point is the gun doesn’t make anyone else feel more safe. No one thinks to themselves “oh good, a stranger with a gun has arrived. That’s just what this Baskin Robbins needed”.

        The goal isn’t to make other people feel safe, the goal is to help myself and my loved ones. Other people will never know that I have a gun on me, so whether I actually have one or don’t doesn’t change anything from their point of view.

        • ricecake
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          11 months ago

          So in the beginning, you explain how I was wrong to think that it’s people feeling they need a gun just to go grocery shopping, then you end by explaining how you need a gun to feel safe when you go grocery shopping.
          I’m not sure you’ve really thought your position through all the way.

          I’m not sure what you’re looking for when you ask me to name a few larger risks and mitigations to you and your families personal safety. I literally opened with a list of precautions you could, but almost certainly aren’t, taking. Wearing a helmet while in a motor vehicle, or refitting your car with a five point harness will do a lot to prevent injury or death in a vehicle accident, which is stupendously more likely than dealing with a dangerous armed person.
          If you’re not taking those options, but you are carrying a gun, I find it hard to believe that it’s just a simple risk mitigation analysis, because your probabilities are grossly out of line.

          Also, who said anything about denying people weapons or even the ability to carry them?
          I said some people don’t like being around guns, and you should be able to say “you can’t bring a weapon into my house or business without my permission”.
          If that sounds like denying people their right to self defense to you… I’m not sure you’re worth talking to.