🚀 go-pugleaf

<snip>
>If I am facing an intruder, I don't want him to have
>a sporting chance.  I want the upper hand.  If he's got a gun and I don't,
>that's not very sporting either.  

Ok - there's a can of worms.  Any real stats on how many guns are
*actually* used in legit self-defense??  I would especially like to
stack that number up next to how many accidental deaths attributed to
guns (I would both include and exclude deaths caused intentionally for 
other comparisons).  For my purposes I would like to consider handguns 
only (so people protecting themselves or livestock against wild
animals don't count here - unless they are doing it with a handgun).

The reason I am curious is that I seriously suspect some people who 
claim to have guns 'for self defense' would be more honest if they 
just said 'I like them, I feel good owning one, I like to use it'.  
I am not saying these latter reasons for owning a gun are invalid.  
And this is just my guess - maybe I am seriously deluded in that I 
have never had the need to defend myself with a gun (and I do get 
out of the house even! :-).   

And yes, I am aware 'stats mean nothing if an incident happens to *you*'.
Whenever I get embroiled in a debate of this type I am reluctantly 
drawn to drone on about about populations, ego, survival instinct, 
'is life fair', 'is God fair', 'is there a God', theories on what 
one would do if they had to kill in order to save their own life etc. 
so suffice to say yes I know but thats not an issue to be resolved here.

Melanie.
-- 
Melanie Arabsky, Zadall Systems Group - Burnaby, BC      mel@zadall.com
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"Always just be yourself, you can never go wrong -- well unless you are 
a serial killer or something." - K.H.