I've always thought Dodge should have done something like VW did with giving a bike or guitar with a car. Only buy a Magnum powered vehicle, get a .357 magnum complete with built in ez access storage. Come on Dodge or um Fiat, it's not too late.

 

Seriously? I think you have this a bit backward. Better to have one and not need it, than to need one and not have it. It's just that simple.

 

I've been a member of the NRA for about 18 years, will always be a member. I don't always agree 100% with their actions or some of their policies, but I do well over 90% of the time and their is no individual or organization doing anywhere near what they do to protect our 2nd Amendment Rights.

I've been an avid sports shooter since I was in my early teens and have been carrying for almost 20 years now...

 

Here is a scenario given to me by my uncle who is a police officer while he made his case against carrying firearms:

Pretend for a minute you are carrying a concealed firearm and are confronted by an aggressor who already has their weapon drawn and likely chambered. You are told to hand over your money and or other valuable belongings. There is no way that you can draw your weapon and chamber it without your attacker discharging their own firearm. Even if your gun is already chambered you still have to reach into a concealed (and therefore marginally inaccessible) location on your body, pull your weapon out, disengage the safety, aim it, and then fire. In this period of time your aggressive action has caused your attacker to react and fire his or her own weapon.


The United States is the only western nation that allows the carry of firearms in a concealed manner and is also the only western nation that ranks in the top 10 for gun murders per capita. In fact you are 8th behind:

South Africa
Columbia
Thailand
Zimbabwe
Mexico
Belarus
Costa Rica

You are more likely to be murdered with a gun in the US than:

Uruguay
Lithuania
Slovakia
Czech Republic
Estonia
Latvia
Macedonia
Bulgaria
Portugal
Slovenia

I dunno, maybe having a gun does not make you safer

Taking into account accidental deaths you are worse off than:

Brazil
Mexico
Estonia
Argentina
Northern Ireland
Israel
Slovenia

And wait for it...

KUWAIT

 

Sorry can"t buy this Dad was a cop, Son is a cop. Actual lifetime Scenario's and yes NRA here.

1.Stopped in Mountains by two weird dressed firemen, wreck up road. Explained a Millie was pointed at stomach,was this a hold up. His confession, YEP! Explained to them they needed to kneel on road ,center line, fingers locked over head. Drove away with my 11 year old son.

2. Stranger on complex. Me (nice guy) asked if he needed directions. NOTE STOOD 5 fT. AWAY. He pulled knife in time to stare down barrel. Cop that responded: comment, "Keep carrying, you would be in the hospital with the other three if you were not"!

Finally when in a questionable area, put your piece in pocket, holsters are slow. Shoot thru pocket, mouths are for talkin. Chamber weapon? lol that happens at home. Shooting ability of perp? A gamble Im better, better than dead.

Ya gotta be prepared. Your kids gotta eat.

 

Is the fact that violent crime is more prevalent in the US related to the fact that we are granted a right to bear arms, or is it more directly related to the fact that the US averages among the SHORTEST length of incarceration for violent crimes of any nation on the planet?

Statistics can be made to prove any point you wanna make. Just a matter of how you choose to look at 'em.

Statistically, the lowest violent crime and home invasion states in the US are the states with the highest percentage of the population who carry. The highest crime cities/states are the ones that have the lowest.

New York City, Chicago & Washington D.C., all no-carry cities and typically all three head the violent crime/murder per capita list.

I can throw out more stats:
In the US, in 2008, 19% of home burglaries occurred in occupied homes, while in the same year, 44% of burglaries in Toronto occurred in occupied homes (sorry I don't have stats for the entire country, just Toronto). In Great Britain, where severe gun control was inacted in 1982, 59% of burglaries occurred in occupied homes.

Why should American criminals display such a curious reluctance to perpetrate burglaries against occupied residences? The answer cannot be that the American criminal justice system is so much tougher than the systems in other nations, especially since the average "vacation time" in a US prison is shorter than both of those nations.

Now, I know that anybody can come up with 956 different ways to look at the same data and draw a polar opposite conclusion and I'm not looking to start a big gun debate on a truck forum.

Just some things to make you say HMMMMMMMM.....

 

Well I guess you just met your first then because I had a gun pulled on me in Ottawa Ontario Canada when I was about 17. Just because something doesn't happen to you, doesn't mean it isn't happening.

No but your chances of being beat up are higher than in Canada. That comes form people I know in London.

There have been at least 4 home invasions that I can remember being reported off the top of my head last year along with with a car jacking or two. Maybe that is not a lot, but to me it is too many considering I never heard of any before.

And as far as East Hastings goes, I had two friends who lived right on E. Hastings and used to watch gun deals going on out of the trunks of cars all the time. I don't think those guys trading those guns were complying with our multi-billion dollar gun registry. You should hear some stories about the Jane and Finch area in Toronto. I can assure you things are happening in a country you live in.

And if there were no guns, criminals would use knives, bats, cars, whatever would give them the advantage over their victim. Maybe even just shear strength and size. Don't forget, a cop was stabbed to death in Ottawa last year. Another cop was killed by a stolen snow plow just a month or two ago. Yes a stolen snow plow. Maybe we should start registering those now. At least a gun will even the odds between a (insert victim of choice here) and a 300 pound or insane criminal out to do harm.

 

That's a fantastic scenario, just as you indicated in the beginning, "pretend". In real life, owning, and especially carrying a firearm, comes with a great deal of responsibility and the ability to make rational decisions under duress. In your "pretend" scenario, an aggressor with his weapon drawn on you is not an ideal situation to try and draw your weapon in an attempt to beat him to the trigger pull. Any quick movement at that point would probably get you shot, perhaps even if you were going to reach for your wallet and give him everything he asked for. In the end he will probably get what he wants anyway. Of course it takes much longer to draw your weapon and fire than it would to have someone shoot you with their weapon already drawn and chambered. I don't need fantastic scenarios or statistics to tell me that. I choose to carry a weapon, with that comes the responsibility of making rational and sound decisions in the horrific event that I may have to consider using it. But at least I have that consideration.

 

How many variables are there to a use of force event? 1, 100, 1000, possibly infinite?

I spent 4 years as a full time Police Officer in Oklahoma as well as 17 years in Active Military Service. I can tell you no two people will respond the same to any event. In fact, the same person may not respond the same way twice. Training, experience, mindset, events of the day, etc are all factors. Visibility, distance to the suspect, reflexes, types of weapons are all contributing factors. Secret Service agents carry a handfull of keys/coins/jacks etc. So if they are caught in a situation like that they can throw them and distract the suspect long enough to pull their weapon or another agent can draw their weapon.

I carried a handgun concealed while off duty as a Police Officer. I have CCW permits in a couple of states and I'm a firm believer in it. I've had to clear leather more than once and thankful I had not just the training and experience but the actual ability to do so.

"Police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving." - Lt Col Bolgiano

 

If all of what your explaining, and trying to make it sound impossible, takes more than about 1-2 seconds TOPS, then you shouldn't be carrying a gun in the first place. Now, if our attacker already has a gun in your face, yea, its gonna be tricky. But you gotta do what you gotta do. If its my time to go, then let it be. But simple common sense will prevail....

" OK man, you can take my money, here's my wallet (gun in small of my back)... " Reach back as if reaching for your wallet, switch off the safety, and drop to the ground firing.