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RatBastid: I don't do real rants... at least not political ones. I've got a lukewarm IQ at best and that doesn't really lend to such activities. Oh well.
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Childish retort: "Statistics are great until you turn out to be that .0001%." Kinda like my buddy Sgt. Bob.
Sgt. Bob was just another guy in Afghanistan. Had gone on dozens of patrols, been in a fair amount of action. Had his truck shot up, had been RPG'd half a dozen times, etc. Made it through his first deployment in Iraq without a scratch and nine months of Afghanistan without a single bandaid. One day near the end of the deployment, he walked out his tent to go to the shower point and a mortar rounded landed right on his foot and turned it into some hot loose Hamburger Helper halfway up to the knee.
What were the odds? Absolutely tiny. Had greater odds of winning the lottery or being mugged in NYC. Infinitesimal chance. Didn't matter, it happened. Whenever I talk to him... I get the feeling that statistics don't really comfort anybody who's been the impossible minority.
All about logic and moderation and being aware of contingencies and Murphy's Law and all that MacGyver stuff:
Living your life based on statistics or turning to statistics for comfort is a little like worshiping a 2000 year old dead Jewish guy ya read about in a book.
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I carry a fully stocked first aid kit everywhere I go. It has a lot of crazy stuff. Splints, IV bags, emergency blankets, bandages designed for gunshot wounds, tourniquets for last resort situations. It's behind the driver's seat of my car. I have it available far more often than a firearm. Ever few months I check the supplies for age and replace them as needed. Is that silly, too? I mean, I'm not a paramedic or a doctor... and I've never had to use the bag... not once... since I put it in my car in 2001, but I still carry it everywhere anyway. I figure if I use it once in 40 years... it'll have been worth the annoyance of carrying it and checking it periodically. Potentially saving somebody's life will have made it worth it.
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And with that, I feel things that can be prevented should be prevented. Self defense shouldn't be a "well, that's tough shit" situation. The OP's questions for discussion in this thread are exactly what I'm talking about. He wonders when carrying would make sense. I do, too. If you've read what I've posted above, yeah... I'm slackin' in the paranoia department. My guns don't do a whole lot of travelin' in comparison to some of the folks here on TFP. Some weeks they just sit and gather dust. I'm a busy guy with school and being a playboy millionaire. I've never really felt that my life was in danger at any point since I've been back in the US (despite the statistics). I've never been the victim of a personal crime, never had a family member or friend robbed or assaulted...
But I keep a gun around anyway, though... statistics have shown that there is a small chance I may need one sometime in my life.
Last edited by Plan9; 05-04-2009 at 06:30 AM..
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