"Offensive Weapons" in the UK

[The Grand Nudger]

If you're gonna use non-lethal (or less than lethal...cuz theres nothing on this earth that's "non-lethal") why not just keep a taser or stungun under the mattress? I still can't imagine anything in my house being worth a violent conflict with an intruder....to me, personally, worst case sceanrio..I'd just round everybody up, lock the door to the room, and call the cops.

I don't wanna have to explain to a judge why I stabbed/shot/beat a guy to death- regardless of who he is or what he was doing. I mean, this may be a personal thing, but I know enough about myself to know that I'd be looking at jail-time if I "defended" my home....so why even put myself in that scenario? My stance on the restriction of firearms, personally, has very little to do with defense. Let's address this situation about less than lethal rounds for a moment. Say you had your firearm loaded with such. And? Does the guy breaking into your house have his firearm loaded with the same? Doubt it. People don't just go down when they get shot.....they really don't. You're still looking at a firefight with lethal rounds and thin walls. Supposing you're armed with less than lethal..but the intruder isn't packing a firearm........wtf are you doing shooting a guy who doesn't even have the ability to shoot you back? Again, why not hit him with a fucking bat if you just -have- to punish him? It's lose-lose for the home owner in either case. You either get into a firefight with some asshole over a baseball card collection...or you shoot some unarmed asshole over a baseball card collection. At least one person (and probably more than one person) is going to get seriously injured over this in the absolute best case scenario...and over what, why?

Now, about open carry in public. My state is an open carry state. I have no problem with people carrying firearms openly, I really don't. I have a problem with people commiting crimes with firearms...but carrying a gun around is hardly committing a crime. I know, I know, somebody might imagine the worst. Bubba's out drunk with a pistol on his hip, angry at the world...but if you imagine the worst the worst possible outcome shouldn't surprise you. The idea of a person carrying a firearm openly, in public...may sound strange....but just for one moment, consider whether or not that says something about the person carrying the firearm or your own suspicions of others motives or intentions. I grew up with guns, I served, people pump their gas with pistols here where I live. It doesn't intimidate me, it doesn't put me on edge, I don't expect to be held at gunpoint at the fucking Shell by the redneck with the 357. I really don't. I'm as adamant about limiting access to firearms to criminals as the most dedicated anti-gun lobbyist. A person who leverages a firearm in the commission of a crime, in my opinion, deserves the most draconian sentence available to the system. That doesn't mean I extend that sentiment to the unimaginably large number of law abiding gun owners who do not commit crimes, who won't be gunning down the store clerk at the 7-11 anytime soon. If my state banned open carry then i'd put my gun in my trunk like I did in Florida when I wanted to transport it. I wouldn't bitch and moan about that law. I can understand, but it';s a very short trip from there to Bad Ideas™- in my opinion. Legislation can be very very tricky. A bit like running at a cliff. A law may perform admirably up to the point of that cliff, but the same law, misapplied or extended too broadly leaves us in the position of being no better than whatever we hoped to stymy by passing it. If we want to limit the tyranny that a single armed asshole can impose upon another then fine...so long as we do not become the tyrants ourselves in the process.