Do you own a firearm?

January said:
Interesting how you are trying to convince me Australia is so dangerous :unsure:

I live in a very ordinary area of an industrial town. not somewhere particularly good or safe - just very average.

lots of people go out at night in Australia, including me, both in my home town and when I am in our capital city

There are not violent gangs in my town, to my knowledge - and even if there were, they would not be armed and the chances of them or anyone randomly busting down my locked front door during the night and coming after me are miniscule

if you feel the need you own a gun for self defence where you live - good for you. I guess you have good reason. I'm not arguing with that or telling you what conditions are like in your country

I simply answered the question about Australia - where people do not feel such need. Also with good reason. Despite yo u thinking you know more about the country than we who live here do.🤷‍♀️
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That was lovely.
 

GP44 said:
They don’t list murder rates as much as they do violent assaults.
Sounds like when the mayor of Chicago is acting like the crime rate is less this time than last year they just juggle the books.
Seems like they advise people to not go out at night in a lot of cities in Australia because of the dangerous youths that prowl the streets.
Most people wouldn’t go to Alice Springs if their life depended on it.
Murder rate is up in Fairfield of Sydney.
How about your violent gangs over there are they any different than the ones around here?
Shop keepers in one city are scared after one was stabbed to death.
Yes! I feel reasonably safe too because I don’t live in a bad area either.
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II thought your answer was very responsible, especially the last sentence.

Edited to add this:
However, I liked your post 82 better.
 
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GP44 said:
They don’t list murder rates as much as they do violent assaults.
Sounds like when the mayor of Chicago is acting like the crime rate is less this time than last year they just juggle the books.
Seems like they advise people to not go out at night in a lot of cities in Australia because of the dangerous youths that prowl the streets.
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There was a time when dangerous youths were rampaging in the city. They would run up behind some random young man, out for a night in Kings Cross and very drunk, and sucker punch him in the head. Several of them fell down and received serious injuries. Several died.
Liquor licensing laws were made tougher and I haven't heard of this happening in decades.
GP44 said:
Most people wouldn’t go to Alice Springs if their life depended on it.
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Ha! Alice Springs is a tourist destination. Lots of people visit. I was there, long time passing, with a busload of junior high school girls. I saw the Aboriginees camped on the bank of the Todd River, and it was obvious that many were drinking heavily. They posed no threat to us in the caravan park but we were advised not to hang out towels to dry on the wire mesh boundary fence or they would not be there in the morning.
Violent crime is a problem in the Northern Territory, but the chief victims are the Aboriginees themselves.
GP44 said:
Murder rate is up in Fairfield of Sydney.
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Fairfield is just a suburb. Hardly proof that murder by firearm is out of control. There are gangs in Australia, and they have illegal guns, but mostly they murder members of rival gangs. Drive by shootings flare up from time to time. Still nothing that I should worry about.
GP44 said:
How about your violent gangs over there are they any different than the ones around here?
Shop keepers in one city are scared after one was stabbed to death.
Yes! I feel reasonably safe too because I don’t live in a bad area either.
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I couldn't compare them. We have bikie gangs that are active in illegally importing firearms. They also smuggle in narcotics as do middle eastern gangs, however the police have a pretty good record of dealing with them.

I found the article about gang killings in Fairfield. It refers to events in July, 2016. Very alarming, but not everyday happenings.

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/r...b/news-story/b5df1aa69cf2f4d1d2c884760e315745
 

Also if one google searched to try to prove a point and the best you could come up with is an article from 9 years ago - that shows how rare such events are.
 
I haven't research "bikie gangs" in Australia, but I did look for recent statistics on home break-ins, and found this, posted 3 months ago by The Australian Bureau of Statistics:: "William Milne, ABS head of crime statistics, said: ‘The proportion of households that were broken into rose from 1.8 per cent in 2022-23 to 2.1 per cent in 2023-24." -> Here's the link

I asked AI if 2% is considered a high rate and this is what came up:
2%high.jpg
 
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1.8 to 2.1 doesnt seem much of a rise to me - but at any rate, as was stated before, the vast majority of burglaries occur whilst occupants are out - hence all the advice i n articles about not leaving valuables like cash and jewellery lying around or 'advertising' that you are away on holiday - occupant owning a gun would make absolutely no difference in such scenarios

Situation remains: the chances of somebody randomly somehow busting down my locked front door in middle of night and coming down hallway after me are miniscule
 
I"m in the UK, so like the vast majority, no. When I lived in the US, also no. Not only did I never feel a need to own one, but coming from the UK as I do, I never felt the desire or had the interest. But more important than that - my wife would have divorced me if I'd brought a gun home.
 
January said:
1.8 to 2.1 doesnt seem much of a rise to me - but at any rate, as was stated before, the vast majority of burglaries occur whilst occupants are out - hence all the advice i n articles about not leaving valuables like cash and jewellery lying around or 'advertising' that you are away on holiday - occupant owning a gun would make absolutely no difference in such scenarios

Situation remains: the chances of somebody randomly somehow busting down my locked front door in middle of night and coming down hallway after me are miniscule
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Let me know if you want a refund.
 
The most frequent cause of gun deaths is SUICIDE. Thus, owning a gun makes one a candidate for SUICIDE! If one really wants to die, one could go to Switzerland, Vermont or Oregon and get doctor assisted SUICIDE!
 
Mitch86 said:
The most frequent cause of gun deaths is SUICIDE. Thus, owning a gun makes one a candidate for SUICIDE! If one really wants to die, one could go to Switzerland, Vermont or Oregon and get doctor assisted SUICIDE!
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Uh sorry, that doesn't quite follow, logically. But to be sure, a firearm does present an easy,convenient, efficient & foolproof tool with which to commit suicide. Someone who is predisposed to committing suicide could be or become a gun owner, but just because someone owns a gun doesn't automatically make them a subset of suicide candidates.
 
Nathan said:
Uh sorry, that doesn't quite follow, logically. But to be sure, a firearm does present an easy,convenient, efficient & foolproof tool with which to commit suicide. Someone who is predisposed to committing suicide could be or become a gun owner, but just because someone owns a gun doesn't automatically make them a subset of suicide candidates.
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Otherwise, people who are prescribed certain drugs would fall under that category.
 
Violence and intense acts are everywhere.
Stay aware of your surroundings.
Driving a car, weaving thru traffic, on Motorcycles and Dodges.
A Cell phone in heavy traffic, all happened today.
There are not a one of us who shouldn't carry self-protection in these times.
It's not going to get safe out there in crowds, on highways, going to movies.

We all met up at the park for the Birthday party. A guy playing pickle ball,
a couple playing Tennis, a girl chasing her dog off a leash and a couple walking
by on the path by the Creek.. The rest was us 27 family members. Safe?
The family didn't get into an argument.

I wonder about that guy playing pickle ball alone.

An LEO once told me, "I haven't any explanations for how the Human mind will work.
I deal with what it did.
 
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Mitch86 said:
The most frequent cause of gun deaths is SUICIDE. Thus, owning a gun makes one a candidate for SUICIDE! If one really wants to die, one could go to Switzerland, Vermont or Oregon and get doctor assisted SUICIDE!
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The gun owner is not only the person at risk of suicide. Other family members undergoing depression are also likely to use the gun on themselves.
 
papa tiger said:
^^^ 1 - At a time, on your person when not hunting, inside City Limits? ^^^ ... :coffee: ....
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Calif will only issue a CWC license for certain types and caliber of firearms. Hunting rifles don't require a CWC but, inside city limits, they do have to be in a zipped rifle bag, and vehicle rifle racks aren't strictly prohibited but there are certain restrictions.
 
outlander said:
When seconds count the police are minutes away.

And yes, I have firearms.
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I'm a supporter of police but unless there's a heavy police presence they can't do much to prevent crime, they show up after the fact. My rual community doesn't have a police force so its up to us residents to prevent crime as well as we can.
 

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