Gun Control: Good or Bad?

Off-topic
1

So, Tonight is Halloween:). I was unicycling at dusk, practicing some street tricks and flatland at a torn down house that has a nice flat concrete foundation that’s good for practicing on. This abandoned property is 3 blocks away from my house about but less than a half block from a very bad neighborhood(bordering on ghetto). It’s getting late and I’m trying to land a clean fifthflip.

After bailing on a try:(, I see over 20 black kids (most likely a small gang) walking down out of this neighborhood toward my adjacent neighborhood where I’m practicing :astonished: . I knew these kids(all about my age) were up to no good. I had a camera and shinpads and a few other things scattered around. I quickly threw all my stuff into my back pack and unicycled(on my trials) down the block away from them and in the direction of my house.

About 3 of the kids see me and start running after me :astonished: . I’m unicycling calmly, looking back trying to be inconspicuous, as 1 runs ahead of the others right up to me. Less than 5 feet away, he throws an egg as hard as he can, and it splatters on my backpack and shirt and runs down on my jeans:(.

A guy (black also) is coming out of his house to go to his car to go somewhere. He sees them coming, and all of the rest following behind. He starts cursing at them telling them to get out of the neighborhood and challenging them. Meanwhile, they all come up and start surrounding him, not paying so much attention to me anymore, because hes ready to fight them, and I’m standing there, ready to start swinging my unicycle if necessary.

Over 20 of them have surrounded him while I’m just standing there. A lady comes out (I think his wife or sister) and starts yelling at them too. The whole gang starts yelling at each other trying to hype each other up to attack saying stuff like "YOU GUYS READY!!! about to attack the guy.

By this time the kids are looking out the door and window of the house, and a neighbor or two has come out to see whats going on. The lady yells to the kids, “Go get grandpa!!!” and they run away into the house.

The grandpa runs out a few seconds later. As soon as he opens the front door, all the kids start bolting, half down one way of the block, half down the other. I didn’t know why they did, until I see he has a gun(some type of older pistol) is his hand. He fires 2 or 3 shots in the air and then is pointing the gun at them as they all run away as fast as they can. The original dude runs after them, chasing them and the grandpa also runs halfway down the block :angry: . He’s really mad, and hes cursing at them. He said some stuff like, “I’m gonna kill one of these Motha F***ers one day, IM NOT PLAYIN.”

So I’m just sorta chillin there, really happy that he came out and pulled out the gun. By this time all the neighbors are out and the grandpa is openly walking down the block with the gun, but then he goes back inside the house. I talk to some people for a few minutes then I go home, just a few blocks away and tell my parents, that I almost got jumped.

So was the guy right to pull out the gun? What if he didn’t have it? The police in this part of the neigborhood would have taken like 10mins to get there, by then I don’t know what would have happened especially with stuff like this happening around Chicago: http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/video_derrion_albert

Discuss. I’m happy he had the gun.

-Zach

2

Good thing he had the gun, but he shouldn’t have pointed it at them (against the law I think). I personally think that the law should be changed so that one could point a firearm at another for the purpose of self defence.

3

Well guns are legal in chicago, if you have a FOID card, just not handguns. I don’t know about the rules about pointing and what not. He might have not even pointed directly at one of them.

4

I’m happy he had the gun too. I wish you had a gun. Firearms are frequently used to prevent crimes with no one getting shot. There are a few threads in which firearms and laws restricting their legal use are discussed here. Search around and you’ll more than likely find a couple.

I conduct a running poll. Whenever I go to another city and see a cop who is not busy I ask them what they think about citizen possession of firearms. I have yet to find one in favor of gun control. They realize that when they are called in firearms related emergencies or crimes in progress, by the time they get there they are most likely to be taking statements from survivors rather than protecting potential victims. Policemen uniformly believe in the rights of citizens to defend themselves. Police chiefs and mayors on the other hand, elected officials who in theory supervise policemen, take a different stand based on the direction of the political wind at the time.

What you’ve done is opened up a can of worms in another firearms thread. I haven’t seen this surface in a while so it will be interesting to see what kind of direction (and tangents) that it takes. But think about taking some training and buying a firearm for self protection. Maybe it’s even legal in an enlightened place like Chicago.

5

Don’t members of gangs typically carry guns? I wonder what would have happened if they pulled out guns.

I also wonder what is going to happen to the guy who brought the gun out. Those 20 guys now knows where he lives.

Scary stuff. Glad you made it out ok.

6

I do know how to operate most guns and I’ve taken a firearms safety class by a licensed instructor. My dad and I have do both have a foid card. I can’t buy firearms until a certain age, but I think I can own one if my dad signs off on it. My dad does have some guns, and we go to shooting ranges sometimes for target practice. We’re are thinking about going hunting this thanksgiving.

7

I don’t think it was a very organized gang. Most likely it was a big group of friends going out in a cowardly group to go vandalize someplace or beat someone up. This happens every Halloween around here.

I doubt they would go to his house again now that they know he has a gun and that he’s willing to fire it.

8

Members of gangs typically carry guns on TV shows and hyped news reports.

And you wonder what’s going to happen to the guy who brought the gun out? Did you read the part of the original post that said, “The grandpa runs out a few seconds later. As soon as he opens the front door, all the kids start bolting, half down one way of the block, half down the other. I didn’t know why they did, until I see he has a gun (some type of older pistol) is his hand.”

This doesn’t surprise me at all. They know he has a gun and so they get out of there right away. Those kids are going to be much more interested in grandpa’s unarmed neighbors than in revenge against grandpa.

9

Go buy grandpa a crate of beer for saving your ass.

10

good idea:D I’ll have to get someone old enough to do it for me.

11

+1. If the gang members pulled out guns and start shooting at grandpa, then grandpa ends up dead, and possibly taking a few gang members with him. If no one has guns, no one is dead. (It’s assuming a lot, but still…)

+1

12

Or by him a box of ammo. It’s getting expensive.

13

did you watch the link to that video, I posted? Someone might have ended up dead or severely beaten. In these big groups, they aren’t afraid to attack people, because the chances of getting caught are less, and it’s hard to recognize them. I honestly couldn’t pick out any one of them, If I ever saw them again. It’s just kinda scary and happens really fast, when you see a small mob coming towards and surrounding you.

14

This is not a thread for invisible writing.

One more example of armed citizens being a good thing.

15

Grandpa is the hero here, and the people who live in his house are setting a better example by not just accepting what those kids were doing. If they had neighbors on their own street(s) that wouldn’t take any crap, they probably wouldn’t be doing what they were doing.

Sounds like grandpa fired shots after the kids were already running? Sounds a bit excessive. On the other hand, if they all live within walking distance I can understand wanting to leave the impression that he’s serious.

Also I take it that you are some color other than black, and that this apparently matters to you.

16

Yea, firing the shots was probably a bit excessive. But I can bet they all live within 2 miles of his house.

As for the race issue, I’m definately not racist and I’m white, but I did think it is interesting. The block I was on doesn’t have any white residents (99% sure) but I think it goes back to what you said “the people who live in his house are setting a better example by not just accepting what those kids were doing. If they had neighbors on their own street(s) that wouldn’t take any crap, they probably wouldn’t be doing what they were doing.”

17

glad you got out of what sounds like a really nasty situation.

Personally i’m really happy i live in a society that limits handguns to police, security staff and licensed sports shooters. Producing a deadly weapon in self defense raises the stakes to a life death situation for everyone involved (especially if the person you are defending against is also armed).

I don’t think i could live with myself if i fatally shot someone even if it was in self defense. They could take all my money, possessions and even beat the hell out me before i would willingly take that choice. For example, if i was disturbed in the night by an intruder and i had the choice between a tennis racket and a pistol to confront them with i would take the tennis racket. I believe the likelihood of someone being killed in that scenario is smaller than if you were to turn up wielding a deadly weapon.

Gun control also has lots of other upsides too!- no more school, workplace random mass shootings, firearms accidents involving children or members of your own family.

I think the argument is pretty stupid in the US context though. No government is going to be able to change the power of the gun lobby or the national obsession of gun ownership. Its just sad that so many people have, and will continue to die because of gun related crime and accidents.

mark

18

As long as there is a way to track who has guns and who doesn’t I think it’s cool. I just don’t want people to anonymously be able to own guns. It’s scary stuff.

19

Theres an uncountable amount of guns in the U.S.

20

But the problem is not the uncluntable-ness, it’s the fact that even if a bunch of legislation were passed for gun control, a large percentage of those uncounted guns would be unaffected. Law-abiding citizens would be compelled to obey the rules, but lawless people would still have easy access to illegal guns.