ohsocynical wrote:rebeccariots2 wrote:ohsocynical wrote:The above has made me really, really angry.
Edited to add With ref to Palin to save confusion.
The man who was attacked at Leytonstone tube station - Lyle Zimmerman - spoke about it and about his feelings about it now on Radio 4 this morning. It was a really thoughtful and hope inspiring interview. One of the things he said was that he has thought how if the attacker had had a gun he may well have been dead - and that on looking at the CCTV footage - it would have done him no good to have had a gun - and that if any of the passers by and fellow passengers had been carrying guns they would most likely have killed or injured him and other people if they had tried to take out the attacker. In short - guns could only have made it worse. He's a Canadian and came over as very reflective, human and trying to find the best rather than condemning out of hand.
A wise man.
I read that some of the deaths in the Orlando nightclub were actually by Police.
I don't expect there'll be a lot about it if true, because the NRA are always pushing the idea that if everyone is armed they can take out a gunman before he does too much harm and the Police aren't well regarded in a lot of States.
Interestingly when the American senator was shot in a parking lot, someone who was there said he was carrying a gun, but didn't/couldn't use it because there was a real danger he'd hit innocent people.
Even if you carry a gun it's likely to be useless unless you can draw it long before the threat to you arises. Quick-draw gunfights are an absolute lottery, which is why outside the movies no famous Wild West gunslingers would get into one if they could possibly avoid it. Men like the Earps, and their equivalents on the other side of the law, much preferred to let their (over-egged) reputations act as a deterrent.
Many town lawmen enforced a "no guns to be carried on the streets, and certainly none in the bars and saloons" policy because they knew what hot tempers, alcohol and local rivalries could lead to and didn't fancy risking their lives every time a bunch of local tearaways got drunk or into an argument. Second Amendment rights be damned.
And if the mugger has their gun drawn before they approach you, then it's wisest to hand over your valuables on demand.
Guns generally are an effective means of self-defence when the other person hasn't got a gun or you take no chances, shoot first and only later wonder if they really were about to threaten you.
I'm getting tired of calming down....
