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Originally posted by MaggieL
That could be a stretch, since you both make the unwarrented leap from "feel safer when armed" to "can't feel safe unless armed" without even blinking. Casting armed citizens as paranoid is a classic hoplophobe maneuver, of course.
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This was not the intention of my response, and I apologize for my poor choice of words. The better question to have asked jag would have been, "You understand that not everyone has a desire to buy a gun in this country, right?"
I do not believe that most gun-owners are paranoid. Now, if they were, THEN I think we'd be in a hell of a lot of trouble.
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Syc, do you suppose it's possible that one reason that your neighborhood is so safe is that a number of your neighbors *are* armed themselves? Including (but not limited to) the 3% that hold concealed carry permits?
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I suspect that your interpretation of my question to jag may have colored the rest of your response.
My point to jag was actually two-fold:
1) I can walk around my neighborhood, or in most places for that matter, without a gun, because I personally feel safe without one. Hence illustrating to jag that not everyone wants a gun...in this case, me.
2) I would suspect it likely that people in my area DO have CCW permits, yet I don't fear being shot if I "look at someone funny" strolling through my neighborhood. I try not to live in fear, and generally pull it off quite well. Random criminal behavior can occur, but as a whole, I don't think I have to worry much about a law-abiding citizen that may be armed. Especially since I'm law-abiding myself.
As to whether those armed help make the neighborhood safer, it's certainly possible, and I'd suspect likely. Although, there could be several factors involved in that, including SES of the residents, the police station being in our neighborhood, etc.
As I also mentioned to jag, I'd argue that most people don't think twice about the fact that some folks might have concealed weapons, b/c it's just not a big deal. We don't seem to have a problem with it in the Philadelphia area, or the Commonwealth for that matter. Hopefully this will clear up any lack of clarity or misunderstanding.
Now, is that 3% the statewide rate of those with CCW permits? The city? The 5-county metro area? Just asking.