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According to my dictionary, “defenseless” means unprotected–lacking any form of protection and therefore vulnerable. And that is what I mean when I use the word “defenseless.”

The police try to protect us generally speaking. Unfortunately, they sometimes don’t arrive in time. When that happens, self-defense would be our only defense assuming that we have the means.

There can be circumstances where police protection isn’t available. For example, I own a small business and frequently work late. My car would be the only one in the parking lot. If I call the police requesting an escort to my car, they would probably laugh at me and explain that they are not security guards.

I actually started carrying a handgun after a fellow working one block over was robbed and killed while simply walking to his car. He was reported missing that night and they found his body in the trash bin the following day. Fortunately, in the years that followed the murder of that poor fellow, I have only had one occasion where I had to “persuade” a criminal to seek an easier victim. That was on my own parking lot. As soon as he saw that I was armed, he lost interest in me.

I would certainly call the police and reserve my own use of deadly force as a last resort. The fact that I have a means with which to defend myself may be a threat to a criminal but it isn’t a threat to my fellow honest citizens.

I would much rather have the means defend myself and my loved ones and hope that I don’t have to use it than to need the means and not have it i.e. be defenseless.

What do you think that the word “defenseless” means by the way?

You do realize that any ban on firearms would impact mostly honest citizens? Criminals will get their guns one way or another. They are criminals, they don’t obey laws. Washington DC has a horrendous violent crime rate. When they totally banned handguns, the violent crime went up rather than down.

I don’t believe that anyone should have a weapon that doesn’t want one. If someone chooses to be defenseless, that is their right. I do object to anyone thinking that they might have the right to require that I be as defenseless as they are. In my opinion, being defenseless is not the best defense against violent criminals.

Sure, you can kill someone with a hammer or a knife. But a gun is a lot easier to kill someone with, taking less physical effort, and there is more psychological distance between the person weilding the gun and the person being shot, which I think contributes to it being as dangerous as it is. That is another reason I don’t like the idea of one in the house - it is a hell of a lot easier to use a gun impulsively and catastrophically than it is to weild a knife or hammer in the same way, just due to the physical properties.

Now, do I know for sure the science behind this analysis, and the numbers of people killed by various weapons? No. But of course you have to take into account the base rate of the different weapons available, as well as the deaths by various means, in order to figure out which is most deadly and risky to have in the house. Hammers and knives have a lot of non-deadly, functional uses too, like cars.

I meant to agree earlier, in case it wasn’t clear.

If you are not certain you can pull the trigger when you need to, don’t own one.

If you won’t train to use it properly, again don’t try to use one.

My point was that I think some experience with one if good for everyone. Once a person knows their capabilities and have appropriate respect for them (but not fear) they generally understand why guns are not the great evil many would have us believe.

Case in point, I’ve never heard of a gun killing someone and more than a hammer or a knife. But the zealots make liken animals, waiting to kill someone at any moment.

I’ve never met anyone who knew how to use them properly that favored bans or restrictions.

But a handgun in the house is designed to protect yourself from other people, i.e. to shoot them.

And I honestly don’t know what I would do in a self-defense, kill or be killed situation. Given that I have no training to deal with that kind of a situation, and that I’m a woman and have some inherent strength disadvantages that would only compound the effect of having no training, I kind of figure that if I fought I would lose. Possibly even with a weapon involved (I’d really hate to have a gun and have it taken from me in some kind of encounter, for example). Also, I’m not a pacifist, but I haven’t had the desire to put the effort into the training I’d need, and I also just plain disagree that arming everyone is the way to make society safer.

Luckily, I live in a pretty safe small town and try to be smart about where I go and who I’m around and take simple precautions.

My father told me that when he was a child (I’m 61 years old so it was a few years ago) his family drove to Pikes Peak. As they were preparing to leave, they couldn’t even find a key to the house. So they closed the doors and departed without locking them. Of course, when they returned, they found everything as they left it.

I own several handguns. My brother and I enjoyed target shooting years ago. We even did reloading.

I needed a more concealable handgun for a border watch last year. I purchased a Glock 19. The organization tries to have at least one person with a concealed carry permit at each position. But all firearms must remain concealed at all times which is required by the Texas law. My other handguns were larger and heavier even though the Glock has similar capabilities. The Glock doesn’t have as many moving parts. It is easier to maintain which I like. And it has a reputation for dependability.

Where’s the edit button when I need it…