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Originally Posted by knox
My perspective is from living in one of the most violent cities on earth, having had guns pointed at me in more than one occasion. I have a perception of THAT real world - the one you're not interested in. There is more to consider than white people paranoia.
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OK first, I know just as many black people... responsible people, that own firearms for protection as I do white, including half of my neighborhood. You just keep going on with the broad stereotyping.
I've lived in very violent places. One place I lived in Baton Rouge was very dangerous and is the time I certified to carry a concealed handgun. There was frequently gunshots going on up and down my street, in and around my apartment complex. Contrary to how you might imagine things, I stayed clear of danger, it's not that hard if you try. Many cases, I actually called the police. However, if the danger came to me (as in breaking windows or doors), I was armed and more prepared to retaliate than an intruder could account for.
One instance before, I was staying in a jetski warehouse that was broken into by meth addicts. My brother woke me up telling me it was being broken into and we locked our door to the small finished room we stayed in. I called the police and was on the phone with them the whole time. I directed them on everything. Through a small window overlooking the warehouse, I kept them posted. I asked them to not come w/ sirens so they could catch them and they did, even sneaking in through all exits catching them with their guns and flashlights blazing. However, during the probably 10-15 minutes before they arrived, one of the guys came up to the door and was surprised it was locked. He started trying to pry it open. They all had crowbars. My brother started making noise and banging back to hope to scare him away, if not just alert him that people were there. He started telling his partners about it and they were kinda debating on how to get in and so on when the police started to come in. Fortunately, everything happened in our favor. I will tell you though, it would have been a completely different situation had I had even a small handgun by my side. I never forget that feeling of helplessness and shouldn't deserve to be put in that kind of compromise at the mercy of wacked out criminals. I think they would have attacked us with the crowbars had they broke into the door, or chose to go there sooner, which till today, we can't believe they didn't do.
I wouldn't have taken the offensive at all and wouldn't have done anything any different, with the exception of warning them I had a gun and insisting that they stop had they broke into the room. If they advanced, I would have shot, no question about it.... but it'd have been warranted to save myself from a situation that I shouldn't have been in and that no amount of laws and stats could have prevented me from being in.
It's interesting that you refer to guns as a false sense of security yet completely commend something like house alarms. In many's point of view, reality is the complete opposite. Nothing wrong with alarms, but they don't physically protect you.
I agree with the majority of the sentiment in here that it's really varying factors based on where you live, but the one thing I can refrain from doing is speaking strongly against foreign and unfamiliar places because I have outlooks based on my tiny corner of the planet. The only reason you're getting flack, is because, you make it an insistence that the world should adhere to your outlook based on your traumatized (and seemingly over dramatized) existence.