in reply to Do you own a gun?

Guns are okay. I've always had a hankering to pick up more obscure weapons skills though -- longbows/crossbows, daggers and sabres, etc. Of course, not all of them lend themselves to sporting or competitions (e.g. garrottes). I'm concerned about self-defense, too. A gun trumps hand to hand combat skills, but what if everyone has a gun (inc. me)? What's the likelihood that I can get out of a situation like that unharmed? According to filmographic theory, if my heart is pure and I've done good deeds, I'd win a firefight. Realistically, I doubt this.

I've been pondering this for a while, so I'm rambling a bit. Maybe I should just go with the wrist-mount crossbows and a couple of throwing stars tucked in my evening bag. At least it would look cool.

e-mail neshura

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RE: RE: Do you own a gun?
by vroom (His Eminence) on Feb 23, 2000 at 09:35 UTC
    I hear that... so myself and a couple friends are at the bar for Tuesday night bar night. A certain guy exchanges some chit chat with us and basically tries to impress us with how much he's making a year etc... then he reminds us not to get married... he's apparently going through a messy divorce yada... yada... basically this guy is looking for a challenge but wants to prove he's superior to us in some way to validate his own existence. The situation escalates and he asks pschoonveld if he wants to take this outside. Obviously we aren't fond of partaking in fights for no apparent reason so he tries to calm the situation. We pick up and leave. Our newly made friend asks me if we want him to follow us out back. I say he's fine right where he is. We go outside to our cars... eventually this guy comes out. Apologizes for being an asshole, and thanks us for being so calm-headed... however he turns the situation around by saying that even though there are 5 of us he isn't the guy to mess with. He's being apologetic but trying to turn it into a confrontation at the same time. We basically try to keep the situation as calm as possible.

    The point being a gun gives you range and a knife increases your deadliness. However if a situation like this transpires the only time you can use a gun in so called self-defense is when he's near by... same with a knife but if there's a struggle those could end up in anyone's hands... ah Catch-22's... Note to self... look at upgrading that yellow-belt in Karate... although legally having that does make me an "expert" legally when it comes to fighting and makes me increasingly liable to be sued should I mess someone up without just cause.

    Tim Vroom | vroom | vroom@cs.hope.edu
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      lengthy missive condensed:

      what an asshole. still, sometimes it seems like there's more of them than of us. avoiding bad situations is an awfully good skill to have (even if you know you could take a guy, no prob). i've talked my way out of a potential disaster before -- i think if i had weapons, i'd be tempted to use them. case in point: somewhat recent story here in CA, nice man with family is asleep when house is broken into by burglars with guns. nice man has gun to protect himself and his family. In the firefight that follows, he kills a burglar but is killed himself, and wife is injured as well. (Worth saving his possessions from theft? I really don't think so)

      Maybe the best protection is to forgo material wealth, avoid drunken clods, and always use the buddy system.

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        buddy system: duck behind your buddy

        <sound of crickets chirpin>

        anybody still looking at this poll?

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      My view of fights are: "Somebody is going to get hurt which makes it worth avoiding."
      On upgrading your belt: Better control at higher levels. My worst injuries were from Yellow and Orange Belts
      Of course the last time anyone even thought of fighting me, I was in a VW bug and he was in a Corvette. (He had parked in front of the doors of the convience store which made my manuever to get in a real space interesting.) I got out of the bug, he saw my 6'8" frame, got back in his car and drove off. I then got my Slurpee in peace.
      Not one of my finer moments, but I had had enough crap from work that day. I like to think I'm better at defusing situations since then. (I've also gone from Orange to Green Belt since then. Need to buckle down and get my Brown, it's been too long)

      p.s. I was just checking out previous polls

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In Section Past Polls