@liz£h asked Is carrying a gun a good way to stay safe? …

lol @ the guy who said open-carrying is the best way.. When I hear about robberies where the victim had a gun, I can't help but think, if only the gun had a gun.

stp · 3mo

Depends on the people you're around at the end of the day. I feel safe without guns, but if I was surrounded by a friendly bunch of armed texans I'd feel safe too.

It can be, especially if you can carry openly. People are less likely to mess with you if they know you have a gun. It might depend on where you are and who you come across. If you're in a really bad place or encounter really bad people, you could be fucked no matter what kind of protection you have. That said, I hate people's hatred of guns, hysteria about them and the irrational, knee-jerk arguments against them. Guns aren't bad. Gun are inanimate objects. They can be used for good or bad. It's about the person using them. You can kill or hurt people in many ways. Only when it comes to guns do people blame the object/weapon of choice instead of the person. But I guess that's not totally true because Britain is stupidly waging war on knives too.

AJS · 5y

No. Makes sweeping gesture at entire USA.

LaDamaX · 5y

Most of the previous answers have pretty much addressed why it's not safe effectively. Personally, no matter how armed you are, I don't think anyone is ever truly "safe" from dangerous people. Especially if you're a person with a conscience who's never fired a gun before. Without the mental training and discipline it takes to fatally wound another human being, even if it's in self-defence, it's a big challenge, and that immediately puts you at a disadvantage compared to them.

MistyRiver · 5y

I've read that there's no evidence that carrying a gun decreases likelihood of injury during a crisis. People have also self-reported feeling relatively more anxious, and even experiencing hypervigilance, when they carry guns in public. So the gun doesn't even make them feel safer.

Gun owners are more likely to use their gun on themselves than they are to use it in self-defense. You can wait 8 months for a therapist to have an opening for you here, but you can buy a gun in a weekend. That's not safe.

nefarious yeets · 5y

If you are very responsible it can help.

Wasserpistole · 5y

Carrying a gun does nothing with the exception of to frighten the harmless and make the not so harmless nosy. You need to know how to handle it and have the will to use it. The latter two are usually void, so in the end it is harmful to the owner. And in most countries all three are illegal anyway. Owning a gun, carrying it and having the training all usually require a license. Let alone using it against other people in any place is a thing not for the faint of heart.

Kate Matsuda · 5y

What Zou said.

Also the basic philosophical problem with the whole concept of guns. They're tools designed with no other purpose than to kill fellow human beings. Owning such a tool, let lone carrying one around, "just in case" you might need it takes a really fear-based and me-against-the-world mentality, or at least a high degree of toxic machismo. It's kind of like going to your family thanksgiving dinner with mace just in case your sister's kid jumps on you and tries to strangle you. Or maybe in case he tries to steal the stuffing off your plate. Also carrying a gun is a great way to let an otherwise small skirmish--say, in a bar while drunk, or experiencing road rage while driving--escalate into something deadly. If it were up to me owning guns would be illegal, even for police officers, like in the UK.

inhahe · 5y

No. There's evidence of this, people insist the reason they own a gun is to protect against home invaiders or would-be muggers. But the stats paint a different story. You're A LOT more likely to use it on a member of your household or on yourself. And chances of a successful suicide literally skyrocket once guns are thrown into the equation.

@liz£h · 10 answers · 5y