All Hail the Second Amendment

[johan]

But that is the argument the gun nuts make.  "I've got to be ready to defend myself."  If you disable the gun you leave yourself at risk.

That is ONE of the arguments the gun nuts make. Its not the only argument. They make lots of arguments.  Thing is, some of them are valid. Not even close to all, but definitely some. 

There was a time in my life when I could not imagine why anyone would need to own a gun. But then I moved to the rural midwest and now I could not imagine living where I live without a gun or two. To give some perspective, or at least attempt to do so (the anti gun crowd tends to be pretty closed minded on the topic), I also could not imagine trying to live where I live without a good chain saw and a sharp ax and reliable tractor that has a front end loader on it. Which is to say the guns I own are tools and used as such. They serve a purpose. Raccoon in the chicken coop? I ain't going in after it armed with a butter knife. Or an ax or any other weapon other than a gun. Why? Because if I can't get it to leave on its own and therefore need to dispatch it, there is no better choice for me or it than a gun of the proper caliber. 

Yep I could beat it with an ax or a sharp stick and probably keep myself from getting bit. But the raccoon would have a very drawn out and painful death. And no, I'm not just going to let the raccoon kill my chickens. Fuck you. If I can get it out, I do. And then I fix the coop to try and prevent it from getting back in. But I don't approach it unless I'm armed because rabies don't fuck around and things can go south in a hurry in that situation. Again, if you haven't lived it, I don't expect you to understand because lord knows I didn't before I moved here.

If I moved back to suburban NJ tomorrow I'd probably sell the guns as I most likely would no longer have a use for them. But I now understand that there are people who have a legit need.

As for the home defense thing? Again, I used to not understand the need. I lived in a neighborhood where it was a relatively common thing that people would wake up to thugs in their bedroom going through their drawers. For the most part, they all lived. For the most part, but not always. Some got dead, others got raped, some got both.

Now? Knowing what I know about having the tools needed for where you live? If I had to live in a place where there was a real and present risk of waking up to thugs in my home, I would most definitely own a home defense weapon. And it would be kept loaded in a locked biosafe near my bed. 

Which is all to say yep, there are legit reasons people own weapons for home defense. Obviously lots who claim the need for home defense don't have a legit need, but there are some who do. But the bottom line is this. Regardless of how legit your need is, there is NO legit reason to keep a loaded weapon unlocked in your home. Ever. A Reliable Biosafe can be had for way less than $1000 and the life of even the most casual stranger is worth that no matter who you are.