Armed (Painfully Off Topic, no oTr)

[Sobriqet@webtv.net (So Briquet)]

This is difficult for several reasons, since it's off topic, and the
esteemed former caretaker of the online Imaginary Apple Orchard, Don
Smith deserves so much respect from all Rhinelanders.

Don Smith wrote:
"What is "safe"? In this discussion, "safe" seems to mean that stuff
won't get stolen....I'm not sure the death penalty is really merited for
tresspass and theft. And it totally sidesteps the questions of mistaken
identity and accident." 

A few months ago, I humourously suggested that people who adamantly
opposed the arming of our citizenry celebrate their lifestyle choice by
decorating their door with a sign reading, "This Is A Gun Free Home."
which, is supposed to make one consider the increased risk of a "hot
burglary," where an intruder decides that breaking and entering is worth
the risk of encountering rather hostile witnesses.

Don Smith faces this hypothetical intruder head on, and has made the
choice to face him unarmed.

"Even if the line of argument is true, I'm not convinced that this is a
good deal: the cost is too high...No amount of material stuff is worth
that high a price."  

Recently, a woman in my city awoke to find a man coming toward her bed.
In a few seconds, she became his judge, jury, and executioner, out of a
fear that he desired to kidnap, beat, rape, torture, and/or murder her.
I assume that he was bigger, stronger, and much more awake and mentally
focused, so that nothing she could have done, short of being armed, and
firing rounds into him, would have prevented his goals from being
realized.

"I think there's an innocence about the midwest that walks hand in hand
with a kind of mental illness..." Linford Detweiler 1993
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