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I'm an Army brat, so I spent most of the first 22 years of my life near military bases and around guys with guns.

My takeaways:

1) Handguns serve a different purpose than rifles or similar. Conflating the two is common, in America, to confuse the conversation.

2) The most protective soldiers I knew usually refused to keep firearms in homes with young children in them.

3) Men shouldn't generally be arming women, particularly with handguns or military-style weapons. Women shouldn't be martial and no woman should ever be housed in a place so dangerous that she needs to be strapped to go the grocery store. (My opinion is more split on women hunting or shooting for sport.)

4) If I'm physically attacked, I'm more likely to be aided by a German guy riding by on his bicycle, than an Ami macho in a gigantic truck with a rifle rack. You are free to guess why I think this is.

5) I feel extremely safe in Bavaria and have extensive freedom of movement, even at night in urban places. Because Bavaria men do their damn job and don't tell me to buy a taser or stay home and hide.

I'm not buying a pistol, bitch. You're the pistol.

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Discussion

Michael S Wildcard ✨ 😶‍🌫️🗽⚡ 1y ago

A gun is like a spare tire or fire extinguisher... It's not needed, until it is. Best of luck in Bavaria, beautiful part of the country.

Fabiano 1y ago

I love Bavaria.

During my nearly 30 days traveling across Germany, Bavaria is my chosen place to move to.

It is where I think German resistance will blossom.

I would like to know what it will take to Germans take the streets against this draconic government.

The outcome for brazilians was mass lawsuits and arrestments for citizens who stood against supreme court.

Laeserin 1y ago

The German government just collapsed. Election after Christmas.

Fabiano 1y ago

I am looking forward to the new government, because it seems, according to the last row of votes cast by German citizens, that the change is on the way.

db 1y ago

I can’t agree with this. I don’t want to rely on someone else protecting me and mine. Also if anything, women in particular should train and carry a gun to level the playing field against physically stronger men. Just my 2 sats.

Laeserin 1y ago

You think a gun makes a woman the physical equal of a man? 🤔

And what if he also has a gun?

nami 1y ago

Then guns are fairly equal 😀

What about a pepper spray or a personal sound alarm? Yes it is safe, since you say so, but why not have something just in case?

Laeserin 1y ago

Women are prone to being disarmed. Any weapon you bring to a fight can be used against you, so they should be chosen with care.

It also destroys womens' feminine psyche, to think of themselves as warriors.

nami 1y ago

That's why i talk about a pepper spray or a personal sound alarm. These will not make you a warrior or something. Better have something just in case.

Laeserin 1y ago

Alarms, especially, are great. As they lean into womens' best defense: high-pitched screaming.

Not joking.

db 1y ago

A woman’s best defense is a high pitched scream? Wow!

db 1y ago

Possessing a gun is only half of it, training is necessary. I agree if you have a gun and are not trained and comfortable using it, it could be more dangerous than not having a firearm in the first place.

Laeserin 1y ago

Also think it erodes society's natural protections for women, in war and peacetime, if it's assumed they are all potential combatants.

Women are increasingly seen as gun-slingers, martial artists, boxers, and infantry fighters, now, and that's a step away from civilization.

ynniv 1y ago

I'm not a strong proponent of gender norms, but I agree with your core argument: once someone wields a gun, they have put their life at stake. They have joined the game, become a dangerous threat, and must be disabled. As terrifying as it might be, you have a better chance of survival without one, forcing the attacker to make the personal decision to injure a noncombatant.

db 1y ago

A better chance of survival without a gun? This is a delusional take.

ynniv 1y ago

Gun advocates certainly think so. Funny that service members don't.

The Beave 1y ago

I'm a former service member. I am armed everywhere I'm legally allowed to be and sometimes even where I'm not.

Blanket statements are dumb. Please stop.

Laeserin 1y ago

I said the most protective soldiers, not all soldiers.

ynniv 1y ago

Would you advocate for arming non-combatants though? Picking up a gun doesn't make anyone safer unless you of the right mindset and have trained appropriately. To make a frivolous parallel, an amateur in a Ferrari will never win a real race against a professional in a Mazda 3. The only way to not lose is to be the professional, or not pick up the gun.

db 1y ago

The guys in the Ferrari and the Mazda will beat the guy with no car in a race. The car less guy could call an uber (law enforcement) but it would be too little too late.

Arm and train!

ynniv 1y ago

You're making the common presumption of a situation where violence is inevitable. Almost all of the time it can be avoided, unless you escalate it.

db 1y ago

I agree, violence is extremely rare. I’m a very peaceful person and would never take the first step to escalate violence. But on the rare occasion that violence may arise, I’ll be prepared. I don’t leave home without it.

ynniv 1y ago

Capability is already a form of escalation. If there was a potential fight, now there is a potential gun fight, and you'll be in it because you are a threat. I understand where you're coming from, but I don't agree that you'll be prepared.

db 1y ago

Capability is a form of escalation? I couldn’t disagree more. I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. We are so far apart on our views that we will just have to agree to disagree.

ynniv 1y ago

Opinions seem divided based on a complex set of expectations

db 1y ago

Thank you for your service.

And kicking the hornets nest in this thread again 😂

Liberty Gal 1y ago

I like practicing shooting in my personal shooting range wearing a dress and pearls. Using a gun doesn't mean you have to give up your femininity.

I want to have manly men there to protect me, but I also want to have the ability to protect myself and my kids should the need arise. It is better to have a gun and know how to use it even though you never do than need a gun and not have one.

nami 1y ago

I hate it when women demand protection from me when i think they don't deserve it. Being a man doesn't mean i have to protect women. I am not a stupid knight and i don't even have a white horse 😀. You do well to practice to have the ability to protect yourself

Laeserin 1y ago

There's just nothing feminine about killing other people. War is a man's game.

nami 1y ago

Women are more barbarus in war they say. Life can come to this. War is a shitty situation that can affect everyone nearby.

Liberty Gal 1y ago

Hopefully it will never come to that, but I'd rather have to kill someone than have someone kill my family members. I don't know if I would be able to kill to protect myself, but to save my kids, yes.

Liberty Gal 1y ago

I don't think women should be in war, but being a momma bear guarding her young is a different thing altogether.

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴍʟᴇᴋᴜ 1y ago

Boudica would disagree

nami 1y ago

😀

ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴍʟᴇᴋᴜ 1y ago

when the men fall, who is left to protect the children... and they should also know how to use weapons before they are into their teens as well

🐢 1y ago

A man would never be threatening a woman in the first place.

In a situation where a woman feels to need to draw her firearm, she should do so without hesitation and defend herself unequivocally.

It should be so decisive and swift a the thug in question wouldn’t know what happened.

A women has much more leeway with this decision and action then a man, and thugs whom decide to attack women should be mindful of this reality.

Laeserin 1y ago

Women are noticeably slow.

🐢 1y ago

Slow is a function of awareness and distance.

Women can learn to be mindful of their surroundings and maintain appropriate defensive distances.

Women deserve sovereignty as a fundamental right.

db 1y ago

The gun is an equalizer to make for physical strength.

AU9913 1y ago

2 people with guns are equals, regardless of their genitals.

Exodia38 1y ago

I personally think taking weapons away from people is a wrong, violent move. For me, the appropriate move is just developing lightweight kuratas, ironman suits.

And letting the private law societies emerge, let the free market speak

Daniel Wigton 1y ago

My trouble with guns is that they propose that conflict can be avoided by making every interaction potentially deadly. This does actually make a kind of sense, it is how the natural world works when it gave everyone fangs and claws.

But it is a low local maximum, Christianity proposes safety through sacrifice and love. It doesn't guarantee individual safety like violence claims, but it does, very slowly, create a world where violence is non-existent. Train your sons and daughters in love of God and neighbor and trust that better ideas will spread.

We've lost that trust that Christian ideals are better. It is the stupidest proposal to claim that they need to be protected through force. That only undermines the message.

db 1y ago

Bitcoin is the gun. Being proficiently trained in the use of that gun is like holding your own keys, putting the responsibility of protection up to you and you alone. Don’t leave that responsibility to a third party. I will self custody my own coins, property and life.

Using this gun/bitcoin analogy would make pepper spray and whistles shit coins.

Daniel Shays 1y ago

Protect against the monopoly of violence and the monopoly of money 👌

Hexaduvo 1y ago

There are plenty of security camera videos of how the attacks we’re talking about actually take place on the Internet. I’m curious if you’ve got exposure to a good sample size of them? What you’re saying sounds to my ears more like the common, romanticized version of how these attacks happen that I hear from people who haven’t seen how they actually play out.

I would say these videos show that the helpful man we are imagining is unlikely to be there when needed.

Of course none of this means anyone actually /needs/ to prepare themselves to be able to deal with such an event. This is a low probability event after all.