12mp82 wrote:I don't think it will ever be the case that you can use unreasonable force to stop an attacker. Not allowed to beat someone with a bat if they come and slap you, but if you genuinely fear for your life then you can use proportional force to counteract that threat.
Often better to be tried by twelve than carried by 6
Haha love that!
Me 2 and hope that day never comes i think we live in a good country with self defense law
I think where it becomes dangerous is allowing people to carry guns around towns and cities, I believe that far too many good guys could turn bad had they a gun in their pocket, should guns become more widely available legally, then the consequences of their misuse should be severe.
I heard on one of the guns shows a quote about Sam Colt making all men equall, well to a degree maybe, but on the other hand you could say it just re-aligns the pecking order and creates not only different bullies, but makes it far too easy for disputes between otherwise harmless characters to become a deadly dual.
Another example oh how mixed feelings on firearms can be;- How do you feel walking nearby an armed policeman, soldier, etc? If I think about it as a person doing no wrong or harm it should make me feel safer from harm from bad people etc? Yet in practice I can feel nervous, I've never been abroad, but hearing how armed police at airports and other public places in (probably most) other countries are common place makes me wonder, or is it just like crossing the road in as much as you can't do it at will, it pays to have your eyes open and your whits about you, can be a bit scary yet once you get used to it just a new normallity?
I have a strategy, it's not written in stone, nor can it be, this scenario has too many variables, everything about it depends on those variables, being specific is not possible.
I agree that being ale to carry firearms around should be restricted, but their use as a tool, for sport and for defence in the home is hard to disagree with.
Our world is changing, our society has changed significantly and as modplod has rightly said, the only people with unfettered access to these things are the ones we really don't want to have them.
Our politicians putting their heads in the sand and telling the populous that everything is fine and dandy is going to be more dangerous than having properly informed discussion and debate to see how our laws and regulations need to adapt to a new societal make up.
As preppers we see the value in firearms as tools for survival and in denying and restricting our ability to responsibly own and utilise these tools they only weaken our collective ability to deal with the extremes of the things we prepare for.
denying and restricting our ability to responsibly own and utilise these tools
Do they?
We all have the right to own a shotgun, we just have to apply for a permit, and providing we can keep it secure when not in use and are mentally stable with no criminal record for violence then we can get the permit.
If we want a rifle or a pistol then we need to apply for a firearms certificate (FAC), a bit harder to get, but not impossible if you have a good reason to have one, such as a shooting club member or vermin control on your own or others land etc etc.
So if you are responsible and have a legal way to utilise these tools you can have one, it is just that most of the population don't need to have a rifle or pistol of the type needing an FAC.
I have a number of Air or gas powered rifles (and pistols), which I don't need a permit or licence to own and are capable of being used for taking small game that I am capable of storing for personal consumption and also for despatching most of the vermin that I would be likely to come across.
Of course there are ways of obtaining them now, however the purpose of the thread was in relation to home and self defense. I don't think if you put that on a FAC or SGC application you will get one.
Well you also have to look at the likelyhood of needing one for self or home-defence, in my 50+ years I have never had the need to have a firearm for either, it is very rare to zero that in the home environment that house breakers/burglars use a firearm, and very rarely to zero that you will be mugged or robbed at gunpoint in the UK.
Most, if not all illegal firearms we are meant to be scared of in the UK are gang related or organised crime related, so why would you need to say you need one for defensive purposes?
Not sure if anyone has mentioned this already but, if the average person is armed with firearms at home - say the law is relaxed and we can all buy semi-auto pistols etc. easily - won't burglars then routinely carry guns, thus making burglary a more dangerous affair?
I would be concerned with the normalisation of weapons, and a move towards to catastrophic gun culture of the US.
Not sure if anyone has mentioned this already but, if the average person is armed with firearms at home - say the law is relaxed and we can all buy semi-auto pistols etc. easily - won't burglars then routinely carry guns, thus making burglary a more dangerous affair?
I would be concerned with the normalisation of weapons, and a move towards to catastrophic gun culture of the US.
Well put and hard to argue with AWR, I was as much concerned with guns for self defence being so easy to take out of the home, it is indeed an interesting debate, I find myself on, off, then back on, and off the other side of the fence repeatedly.
I have a strategy, it's not written in stone, nor can it be, this scenario has too many variables, everything about it depends on those variables, being specific is not possible.
Attack Warning Red wrote:Not sure if anyone has mentioned this already but, if the average person is armed with firearms at home - say the law is relaxed and we can all buy semi-auto pistols etc. easily - won't burglars then routinely carry guns, thus making burglary a more dangerous affair?
I would be concerned with the normalisation of weapons, and a move towards to catastrophic gun culture of the US.
I agree 2! The easier weapons are to get for the average person the easier criminals will be able to get them 2.
