Again, 'Murrica. How Many More

[Thumpalumpacus]

I've never really bought the notion I-need-a-gun-to-protect-myself-and-my-family.

If you're a safety conscious gun person, your guns are going to be unloaded and/or (hopefully) locked away, so they aren't going to do you the tiniest bit of good when someone kicks open your door and starts shooting.

For a firearm to have any value at all when it comes to protection, it needs to be available.  If you're so nervous that you feel the need to carry your pistol around the house with you, you drastically increase the chance that you're going to hurt yourself or an innocent bystander, like your teen trying to sneak in after curfew, or your husband coming in quietly so as not to wake you.

Is the tiny likelihood of a home invasion worth the risk of keeping a loaded firearm within easy reach?

Boru

Where I live, protecting myself means from animals, not people. My son is and adult an no longer lives with me. I don't worry about anyone "kicking in the door and shooting", but both cougars and packs of coyotes live out here, and I'd just as soon be able to address any situation arising from their presence.

This was at the head of my driveway last year, killed by a vehicle. Had he been rabid, those of us who live out here might have had a problem on our hands.