Re: [OTR] The Right to Bear Wood

[misc@miscelena.com]

>  >> 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...
>
> Your reply to Don was specifically about a "non material"
> situation; so it's not really a good rebuttal.  In defense
> of oneself or a loved one, a gun would be viable option.

Would it?

I keep waiting for someone to say that the 'man coming toward her bed' was
actually her boyfriend or son.

Even if he was a stranger to the woman, who can be sure what his
intentions were?  Suppose he were simply drunk and in the wrong house? 
It's happened, and it's not a mistake one deserves to die for.

I agree: no amount of material stuff is worth the price.  But I'll up the
ante - I don't think that any POTENTIAL risk to me is worth the POTENTIAL
price, either.

Certainly I'll defend myself as best I can if specifically attacked, but
anything less than a PROVEN need for self-defense (not just someone in my
house, not just someone coming at my bed, even) would be required for me
to feel justified --killing-- someone.

And frankly, I think it's highly unlikely that anyone's going to break
into my house with the intention to do me bodily harm.  (Call me naive if
you like, but I'm likely to call you paranoid in return.  :)

And given that, the risk inherent in my owning a gun doesn't weigh out;
the chances of me using it for the above purpose are so slim, and would
require me keeping it loaded under my pillow.   Kept there, the chances of
it being misused and injuring myself or someone else are so high, that I
don't see any logic in owning one.

It might be worth noting that the maternal instinct reduces this
requirement for defending my son; if I saw someone headed for -him-, I'd
be a lot faster to make assumptions and judgements, I think... but I still
don't think a gun is required for his safety.

No good across-the-board answers here, just another personal opinion...
Anita


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