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Originally posted by Nizzle
I'm not at all comfortable with civilian vigilantes. We have police that are extensively trained to do this job and are officially accountable for their actions. We have a justice system designed to determine the guilt or innocence of the perpetrator. To promote vigilantism is to mock our very concept of Justice. If we find we do not have enough police to combat rising crime rates, should we not be investing in crime prevention and perhaps more (or a more effective) police force?
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Don't confuse vigilantism with allowing someone to defend themselves. As stated on other threads, police are
not legally obligated to help you. If you want to put your life and the lives of your loved ones in the hands of local authorities, you can feel free to do so -- just don't tell me that I have to, as well. You are in no way forced to own or carry a firearm, so if you feel that they are nasty dirty tools of Satan, don't get one.
Quote:
Originally posted by Nizzle
In fact, I bet I could find more stories of someone without a gun being a hero than someone doing so with a gun. That's just a guess, but my instincts tell me it's true.
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Well, I'd hate to be the one to shoot down what your instincts tell you is true, but..
Quote:
Survey research during the early 1990s by criminologist Gary Kleck found as many as 2.5 million protective uses of firearms each year in the U.S. "(T)he best available evidence indicates that guns were used about three to five times as often for defensive purposes as for criminal purposes," Kleck writes. Analyzing National Crime Victimization Survey data, he found "robbery and assault victims who used a gun to resist were less likely to be attacked or to suffer an injury than those who used any other methods of self-protection or those who did not resist at all." (Targeting Guns, Aldine de Gruyter, 1997)
Most protective firearm uses do not involve discharge of a firearm. In only 1% of protective uses are criminals wounded and in only 0.1% are criminals killed.
A Dept. of Justice survey found that 40% of felons chose not to commit at least some crimes for fear their victims were armed, and 34% admitted having been scared off or shot at by armed victims. (James D. Wright and Peter H. Rossi, Armed and Considered Dangerous, Aldine de Gruyter, 1986)
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