http://blip.tv/play/g4p8gYnHaZDiFw
Diapers and guns, do they belong in the same house? I have to say, I really love chatting with this particular mix of women. Everyone is so sane about how they present their arguments.
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Mighty Girl 
We do have guns (multiples!) in our house. I’m a bit amazed at the number of people who don’t (not that it’s bad). That said: we have several police officers in the family. Guns are part of our daily life, as are tasers, mace, and batons. But we don’t go running around the house with them and it’s not like I feel all warm and fuzzy when I hold one. They stay safely stowed in gun safes. I definintly wouldn’t mind having a concealed handgun license just so I would know more about how to use a gun if the need ever arose.
More people are injured in their own homes by their own weapons at the hand of an intruder than intruders are injured by homeowners with weapons. If you are going to have a weapon, no matter what it is, you better know how to use it, even if it’s just a kitchen knife.
And I find it ever amusing that people see Dana as scary. I must be the devil himself.
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I’m a little too emotionally charged to comment coherently – this is my hot button topic.
So I’ll keep it short and say thank you for speaking out. Too few women are willing to join the gun debate on the “pro” side.
I was not raised around guns, NYC laws are quite strict. The only people that had them were cops and criminals. I was terrified of them, to put it mildly.
Now? I own guns and I also have my CCW permit. No self defense classes are going to put me (at 5 foot tall and 120+ish lbs) on a level playing field with a 6 foot, 200 lb man. But my handgun? That gives me a fighting chance.
Hopefully, I’ll never have to use it in self defense. But knowing I can gives me a peace of mind that a can of pepper spray can’t.
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Another Canadian who finds household guns perplexing. Sure, have known families that hunt game out in the boonies up North but a ‘family gun’? Pretty much unheard of here and I like it that way.
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http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:e86UzAhHVdwJ:www.guncontrol.ca/English/Home/Releases/GlobalGunEpidemicRev07.pdf+canadian+vs+USA+gun+deaths&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&client=firefox-a
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We have several guns in my house now because my husband is a police officer and we live in Alaska where there are many bears that want to eat me. But I grew up shooting and having guns in my house. Always unloaded and locked up. And we always knew, and my girls know, gun safety rules and that you never point a gun at something unless you want to kill it.
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Guns terrify me and they always have. I hate the idea of anything being able to end a life so suddenly. If an intruder came into my home, I would first hide, then fight, and then die before ever even considering killing that person. I don’t even kill spiders.
And yet, I sleep every night with a gun in my bedroom because my fiancee is in law enforcement. I hate it and I hate the idea of our future children living in a home with a gun. But I can’t quite make myself leave him over it. I will just have to drill it into the heads of my children that guns are not toys and are to never, ever be touched without their father’s supervision.
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Anna – re #1 : all the car accidents are preventable deaths too. bicycle accidents are preventable as well.
Stephanie – sorry for your loss, but gun control prevents nothing. Guns are tools — powerful tools, but are not the only way to kill people. And there’s a reason the right to keep and bear arms is only the second amendment.
Bree – cars end lives quite abruptly too.
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Oh, Canadians… You need to realize there is a cultural difference between you and Americans. I should know- I’m a dual citizen myself, living in Canada, but born and raised in the states. My family has a long tradition of military service, and many have rifles and bows for hunting. Don’t fall into that comfortable Canadian habit of making sweeping generalities about “those Americans.” You know less about the culture and its subtleties than you think you do.
And, yes, Canada has its share of gun-related violence.
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I own a gun and have a concealed carry permit. I also grew up around them and have a healthy respect of them–their danger, and their power.
Getting rid of them doesn’t do anything–it just means that then the ONLY people in a country who have them are criminals. In Switzerland, where every adult male citizen has a gun and is trained on how to use it, the crime rate is about 400% less than in Great Britain, where guns are outlawed.
That being said, I DO think that in America there could be more focus on gun education, especially for people who have CC permits.
And to the people who question how often armed robberies occur in the US, I have to wonder what planet you are from. In Atlanta, where I live (in a decent neighborhood), there is at least a break-in a week (it has gotten worse since the economy tanked), and of the ones that have been recorded on camera (lots of people have surveillance because it’s becoming a bigger problem here), ALL of the robbers were armed. As a female who is home by herself often, I want to know that if someone broke in my house, I have the resources (gun) and the skill (practice and training) to eliminate the threat. And I’m sorry but a baseball bat, bow and arrow that I can’t physically shoot because the bow is too stiff, pepper spray, or self-defense courses just won’t provide that peace of mind.
Also, we have actually been broken into twice, we just thankfully were not home. And yes, we do have an alarm system.
We do not have kids yet, and when we do I’m not sure how we will then store the weapons (my husband has one too) such that they are easily reachable in emergencies but still kid-proof. That will require some thought.
A further comment: things like Columbine and Virginia Tech would still have happened–remember, even if guns are banned, criminals will still find ways to obtain them. What might have helped those situations is if schools and colleges allowed those people who HAVE cc permits to actually carry in those places, the situations would likely have been stopped before they got to that level. As an engineering student at the time that VT happened, I remember thinking that maybe I would start carrying on campus anyway, in case something like that ever happened where I was. Personally, I’d rather be kicked out of school for having a concealed weapon (with a permit, but still not allowed at most schools) than dead because I didn’t have it and some crazy asshole decided it was ok to randomly kill people.
Just my two cents. And yes, I’m southern, but no, I’m not religious nor conservative. I think that it is a CHOICE and I respect people’s decisions to choose. I do not, however, think that anyone has the right to tell me that owning a gun is no longer a choice for me.
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I really appreciate this smart, thoughtful and cool headed conversation over such a hot topic (and packed into such a short period of time, too). The hosts on The View should study these videos. Thanks for offering some middle ground.
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Not in our city locale. It’s against the law and I hate the idea of handguns. They scare the bejeezus outta me. But my husband’s family owns a place out in the country and it’s generally assumed to be a good idea to have a shotgun on hand. Well locked up, of course. We have not followed through on the suggestion as of yet, but ever since we had our son a year and a half ago, my husband’s trigger finger has been getting mighty itchy. I suppose it is only a matter of time. The thought of it gives me something of a fever, but if it was secured, a la Fort Dix, I might be less likely to break out into a sweat.
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I think there are really good arguments on both sides of this issue, but I have to point out a few bad arguments that are really bugging me.
1. “Cars kill more people than guns” or “cars are weapons” is a bankrupt argument, and I’m actually really surprised that adults are using this argument. Cars aren’t for killing people, they are for driving around. Any mechanical object has a plus/minus like that: its danger vs its utility. Cars are clearly extremely useful, and in many places 100% necessary. The usefulness of cars clearly outweighs their danger. The only useful purpose of a concealed handgun is to kill someone or threaten to kill someone. Their danger IS their utility. Obviously they are extremely dangerous, and the more useful they are, i.e. the more available in an emergency, the more dangerous they become.
Second silly argument: “Guns kill fewer people than Thing A, therefore guns are less dangerous than Thing A.” Come on, people. You can’t compare dangers that way: all of these factors (illness, car accidents, etc) have varying degrees of preventability, and it doesn’t make sense to compare them. Statistically, very few people die from falling off balconies, but that doesn’t mean I’ll neglect to put a railing on my deck.
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If we are going to toss around statistical and/or empirical data, I will add this:
In the last thirty years in the city I am employed to protect and serve (Pop. 20,000) There has been three firearm related deaths that were not suicides (one a homicide, one an accidental shooting by a family member, and one a defensive act by a peace officer [me]. In that same period of time there have been six fatal stabbings and 31 deaths related to unarmed fights.
Most common of the causes of these “fisticuffs” related deaths was the head injury resulting from a fall after being struck. The morbid adage, “It was a two hit fight, he hit him, and he hit the floor” says it all.
So guns were least deadly. A fist most deadly. Death was no less sudden or less horrible than a gun shot injury.
As to the concept of self-defense being helpful, I would only state that despite my training a minimum of 6 hours a week for the last 28 years, I sometimes get hurt when I have to break up fights, arrest resisting criminals, and deal with violent criminals. I cannot begin to relate to anyone but another cop what a truly frightening experience it is to go in to a home that is the scene of an on-going domestic violence situation.
We cannot assume we are invincible because we carry a gun or study a martial art. What keeps us safest is keeping our wits, being sensible about who we interact with, where we go, and what we do. If you carry a gun, practice ju-jitsu, kung fu, kenpo, whatever keep up and improve your proficiency. If not then be more cautious.
Oh I am tired of this. Maggie, please bring on more happy mom stuff.
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Just…why did they freeze her face like that in the still? Doesn’t seem fair.
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The gun question operates on a couple of different levels. The question about personal gun ownership seems to be the place where the gun question gets bottlenecked because, really, the greater concern than law abiding citizens owning guns is both urban gun crime and the illegal but quite easy exportation of guns (semi and kit autos)to Mexico which has in turned been a major fuel on the fire of drug crime.
The personal question is one we all have to answer (duh) personally, but there is a trade off between less guns in society and less gun options for the individual. A waiting period, no semis, no easy conversion kits for full auto at guns shows, no gun show loopholes, stricter control on handguns, a ban on assault weapons (really? why is this controversial?), etc.
Just like cigarettes, alcohol, and other potential social ills, guns should be regulated (in my opinion) to ameliorate these larger social issues. Or something.
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People, if you’re going to site statistics please make note of the PER CAPITA number. Almost every child has easy access to a bike but very few have similiar access to a gun. Comparing bicycle-related deaths to gun-related deaths does not work in favor of a gun’s safety and it is completely disingenuous. “Susie, I know you asked for bike for your birthday but they’re too dangerous so I bought you this cute little handgun instead!”
For the record, I was raised in one of the reddest counties in California, with shotguns and ammo is the garage. I owned a BB gun which I played with, a lot, and enjoyed it. I only “killed” cans, bottle, telephone wire insulators and fence posts with it.
And a few closing points:
– If you keep a gun on your person, in your car or in your house, please let me know if I come in proximity to it. Like an STD, I need to protect myself from you.
– Oh, Canadians, I love you and agree with you, for the most part, regarding Dana. I think she’s intelligent, witty and articulate but her views paint her as paranoid, an “us against them” sort which I find emotionally unhealthy. Whether it’s her encouraging her boys to duke it out on the playground, keeping them from public school (so supportive of the constitution’s right to bear arms but does not support public education which is a cornerstone of democracy?), forcing them to clean their plate or they’ll be facing it every day until it rots … her view seems anything but nuanced. I think her gray areas cover a very small percentage of the spectrum in comparison to her blacks and whites. Having said all that … like she, herself, says, I’m judging her by these three minute videos. But, they do add up.
– Can we at least have longer waiting periods prior to purchase and a complete ban on assault weapons?
– Maggie, I hope you’re enjoying this fantastic weather we’ve been having here in SF!
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