From: DENNIS_@ncsu.edu (DGA)
Newsgroups: rec.guns
Subject: Re: To buy or not to buy ?
Date: 22 Jan 93 04:00:19 GMT
Organization: NCSU

In article <1993Jan17.054445.7875@StarConn.com> jpp@StarConn.com (John Pettitt) writes:
#From: jpp@StarConn.com (John Pettitt)
#Subject: To buy or not to buy ?
#Date: 17 Jan 93 14:49:43 GMT
#Background:  I am a confirmed gun control supporter (being English where
#there is *STRICT* gun control accounts for this).  I am now living in
#Los Altos, California  a community with a very low crime rate.
#
#However:  Just down the road is East Palo Alto, the city with the
#highest murder rate in the nation (twice DC).  Ordinarily this does not
#worry me since I never go there.   But as this is California at some
#time there is going to be a big earthquake.  When that happens I suspect
#rule of law is going to vanish for some time (cite Florida, LA).
#
#So the question is should I buy a gun to add to our earthquake supplies
#kit ?  If so waht is the best sort to buy.  The options as I see them
#are:
#
#Don't buy one (see note below)
#
#Buy a hand gun of some sort, advantage it's small and easy to store.
#Disadvantage lack of effective range.
#
#Buy a shotgun,  advantage - easy to use and good deterence value,
#disadvantage range and size.
#
#Buy a rifle, advantage range, disadvantage size, overpenetration.
#(a plus here is that I could get to enjoy using it on a range - I used
#to win prizes with an airgun as a kid).
#
#Note: My wife is strongly anti any type of gun, she says that if it gets
#that bad then me with one gun won't help and that she does not want a
#gun in the house with our daughter (age 2).  All talk of safes etc goes
#down to female logic :-).
#
#So what to do and how to sell the choice to my SO ?
#
  
John,
First, let me give this advice:

If you are not going to spend the time, effort, and money to learn to use 
whatever you purchase, don't buy anything.

I don't think you will find a credible poster here who does not recognize 
the responsibility of firearm ownership.  When you contemplate purchasing 
and using a firearm for protection then please realize, as most of us do, 
that if you are ever called upon to use the weapon, it will be in a deadly 
force situation.  If you harbor any doubt that you are up to killing in 
defense of yourself or your loved ones then there is a very real possibility 
that you will be better off unarmed and letting the bad guys do as they will 
with you and yours. (Maybe they will just rob you, beat you up, and rape 
your wife, but leave your daughter alone.)

My point is that you can't just buy a weapon and put it in your survival 
kit.  You must develop the skill and mindset necessary to effectively use it 
if required.  This also means knowing how to handle any weapon you own in a 
safe manner, and how to teach the rest of your family how to handle whatever 
you get in a safe manner.

I would assume that there are "Safe Gun" courses offered in your area.  
Check with the NRA and make use of what is offered.  Since you noted that 
you have been a supporter of gun control you may find it hard to believe, 
but before we were forced to defend the 2nd, one of the most notable task of 
the NRA was to teach and promote gun safety.

Keep an eye on this forum for more information on home defense and the 
reasons for it. 

With regard to your wife: I have known many, many, people who found life to 
be a happier place if they just denied the possibility of being in mortal 
danger.  For many years my wife tolerated my "paranoia", but didn't really 
believe that she was ever in danger.  With the increase in crime that we 
have experienced in this area in recent years, she has since become a 
believer that there is danger from a large criminal population that has 
learned that most non-criminals are unarmed and passive in the face of 
attack and that the punishment usually falls far short of fitting the 
crime.  My "paranoia" is now viewed as necessary caution, as unhappy as the 
necessity for such makes us both.

I don't know how to make your wife realize that being able to defend 
yourself and yours is the lesser of evils.  I grant that in an ideal or 
even a reasonable world, this entire discussion would be silly.  I think we 
would all like it very much if we didn't feel the need to provide our own 
protection from criminals.  If she is ever attacked and survives, she will 
understand fully the consequences of not dealing with the reality of the 
current threat.  I hope neither of you ever have to learn first 
hand about either being able to defend yourselves, or worse, not being able 
to defend yourselves.  

Last word:  If you decide to buy a gun please, please learn how to use and 
            keep it safely, and continue to read this newsgroup.

DGA