Subj : Gun Control? To : Jeff Smith From : Flavio Bessa Date : Tue Oct 31 2017 16:34:09 Hello Jeff. 26 Jul 17 23:58, you wrote to me: >> Do you have any stories to share (or know someone) about a situation >> where owning a gun saved you or your family? JS> Yes, I have a friend who has several long guns as well as several JS> handguns. He was home when at about 11:00 pm a couple guys broke into JS> his house. In the house were him, his wife, and their two kids. JS> Hearing noises he got up and went to investigate carrying his 9m. He JS> confronted the intruders aiming his gun at them. He said that they JS> broke several things in trying to leave the house. He also told me JS> that he would have only fired if it was the only option left to JS> protect himself or his family. That's a good reason. JS> I remember being in my car driving with my girlfriend some years ago JS> in Minneapolis, MN. A 20ish year old guy asked if he could get a JS> ride. I decided to give him a lift against the opinion of my JS> girlfriend (Based on the look she gave me). About 5-10 minutes JS> later he pulled a knife and stuck it to my neck. He was sitting in JS> the back seat behind me. He asked for my money. I at the time was not JS> carrying any weapon. I can't tell you how helpless I felt. Needless to JS> say I gave him the $45 that I had on me. But, at the time, if you had a gun with you, how could you defend yourself? He had your back, with a knife stuck to your neck. JS> Would I have felt different if he had had a gun? Not really. IMHO, if JS> people have a criminal intent to rob or attack. They will acquire and JS> use what ever they think they need. Be it a knife, club, or gun. They JS> are not likely to care if having, carrying, or using a gun is JS> illegal. Again IMHO gun laws preventing people from owning or carrying JS> a gun does little if anything to keep the gun out of the hands of the JS> criminals. I couldn't agree with you more. I live in Brazil, and here, to own a gun, you need to undergo a Kafkianesque bureaucracy that would raise a few eyebrows of communist-time Russians. Nevertheless, the drug dealers and all sorts of bad guys have access to the state of the art on weaponry. JS> I realize that some from other countries might say that "We don't have JS> that problem here". And that might be somewhat true. But then again we JS> are not talking about life in other countries. I am not inferring JS> that we here do things better or worse than elsewhere. Guns here have JS> been major part of US history. A large percentage of gun owners here JS> grew up in homes that had guns. Many homes that have guns have JS> multiple guns in the home. In talking to gun owners over the years. JS> They say that the primary reason for having a gun is protection of JS> their home and family with hunting and sport shooting being JS> considerably less important. Many have stated that they couldn't see JS> themselves without owning or carrying a gun. But I tell you... We do have this problem here. I can remember of two recent school shootings: One was on 2013, when a crazy guy bought a .38 Special handgun from a friend for 20 USD and went to his old high school. He killed around 10 people before a police officer shot him. The other was about one month ago. The 16-year old was the son of a police officer and managed to grab the mother's pistol without her knowledge and took it to the school vowing for revenge from bullies. 8 dead. On the other hand, we have HUGE violence numbers here, despite all the gun control laws we have. Chances of a person to die by weapons fire in Brazil are higher than in Syria or Iraq. My father is a shooting sportsman and I've grown with weapons all around, I learned the responsability that carrying a gun brings with you. And also I can tell you that, in the city of Rio alone, from January until today, 121 police officers were killed here. Of these, around 20% were in the line of duty, but the other 80% died while they weren't working, trying to defend themselves while being robbed or so. Here the biggest problem is not house break-ins, but armed robbery, carjacking, kidnapping... Into all of these felonies the bad guy has the surprise factor on its favor. >> I am asking this because I live in Brazil, and here the laws >> concerning the possession of firearms are extremely restrictive, to >> the extent that is almost impossible to the average person to own a >> gun, and it's 100% impossible to carry a gun outside the home >> without being a police officer. JS> Do the gun ownership restrictions there keep someone from getting a JS> gun if they decide to use one? There's the right for self-defense, but it will be a long court battle. Recently a very famous model/actress was surprised by a fan in a hotel room with a gun. The guy was crazy and wanted to kill her like that guy that killed John Lennon. Her brother was at the room and struggle with the attacker, managed to take his handgun and shot him three times. Now he is facing murder charges. Of course he is appealing for self-defense, but years will take until this is settled. Even if I have a gun at home to protect my family, if someone breaks into my house and I eventually shoot and kill the guy, I'll be in deep trouble. >> Nevertheless, the crime rate has reached an all-time high here. It's >> so high that if you leave your home for a walk in the block the >> chances of someon robbing you at gunpoint are like 3 into 10. JS> I guess you have just answered my last question. My attitude is that JS> if gun laws prevent private ownership and/or possession of guns. Then JS> the only people that will carry guns are the criminals. With the JS> exception of the police of course. Am I in favor of stricter gun laws? JS> Yes I am. I think that people should have the right to own and carry a JS> gun. Provided that they are mentally capable of being properly JS> responsible for it's safe operation and use. Also known criminals JS> should be prevented from ownership or possession. But that is really JS> an unenforceable restriction. I also think that gun ownership and JS> possession should require proper and verified gun safety training. I JS> help provide gun safety training at several local locations. Training JS> that the state currently requires. The majority of the students are JS> children ranging in ages from 9 to 20 years old. It is important that JS> a society that has, and owns gun knows how to safely use, store, and JS> operate a firearm. And to properly respect it. You are absolutely right. My problem is that my society haven't evolved to such a level, and I believe that, if the gun laws here would be softer, we would be back into the Old West times. But that's a Brazilian issue. >> That being said, what would be the value of having a gun in such an >> environment? The attacker has always the element of surprise, and if >> they find > out that you have a gun, you won't come back home alive >> to tell a story... JS> Hypothetically, if you were intent on burglarizing a home. And if you JS> were reasonably certain that that household had a gun inside. Would JS> you be less inclined to approach that home? Logic dictates that the offender would choose a house that did not have a gun inside, but here the bad guys are so well-armed that they simply won't care. Can a 9mm be a match for 5-6 guys with AK-47s, military training and surprise factor? Flavio .... "Self-estima" - Reptile Shaman --- MacFidoIP 1.0 (OSX) * Origin: Hyperion's Orbit - Resisting since 1995! (4:801/189.1) .