I don't typically watch Leno, but...

[PortraitOfSanity]

Bill Maher has a brain. Jay Leno's typical audience does not. Hilarity ensues.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/bill-mahe...disagree-with/

[vindicatedxjin]

I fucking love Bill Maher.

[Versus]

The average response time for police to a reported break in at my city is over 45 minutes.

Ask yourselves: If I was an armed man, and assuming that the residents of the home I just entered called the police, what would I be able to manage to do in 45 minutes and still have a reasonable chance to escape with?

It is not a fantasy of mine to shoot someone and save the day. It is a realistic precaution to own a firearm where I live in order to protect the life of myself as well as my family.

Granted, I do not own anything larger then a handgun. The reason being that I live in an urban enviroment, and carbine and rifle caliber ammunition are designed to travel longer distances then handguns, so they have a higher muzzle velocity. I do not feel comfortable in shooting at something within the confines of my home with a weapon that could potentially go through my target, the wall behind it, and come to a stop in my neighbor's daughter's chest.

However, if I lived in a farm in a rural area as well as had a similar average response time from my local police, you can fucking bet I will own a higher performance firearm. That is also not unreasonable. I've seen men doped up on drugs shrug off a 5.56 millimeter bullet from 50 meters away and the last thing I want to do is make assumptions about a person or people I know nothing about other then they are willing to break into my home without permission.

I sleep in the same room as military grade body armor as well as a full size 1911. But that's just me.

In the scenario I painted: With my training, taking less then 10 seconds to have my vitals organs in my body protected as well as being armed with 9 large caliber rounds that can knock someone on their ass ready without needing to take 3-5 seconds to reload I feel safe and secure.

It bothers me that this man, who mostly makes sense, thinks he can judge me or anyone else who owns a gun as being a fucking fanatic.

The second amendment simply says "The right to bare arms." It does not specify what kind, but the only thing I would need a .50 cal or Mk 19 for is military level targets that I will never be confronted with in my own home, so I can understand gun laws to an extent... but Bill Maher has no idea what he's talking about in that video.

[JCC]

Maher was talking about concealed carry.

[PortraitOfSanity]

Originally Posted by JCC

Maher was talking about concealed carry.

^

And also, if I remember correctly Versus, you're ex (or current?) military. Kinda makes you the minority exception to his point on lack of training.

[Versus]

The training bit is extremely subjective. I would hope that if someone feels responsible enough to possess and use a firearm, especially in public (be it concealed or open carry), that they would practice and train with it. I don't think it makes me the minority because he grossly exaggerates my training because, guess what? He doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about. I train for 2-3 weeks every 2-3 months or so, and out of those couple of weeks, only a few days of it is spent on training that I can actually apply to what Mr. Maher was talking about. I'm sure keeping up on the skills can be difficult with a full-time job and a family, but it's really not hard. But that again comes to personal responsibility. The only reason I would be more proficient then anyone else is because I happen to have practical experience from actually have done that shit before and have learned a few thing from those experiences.

A lot of the points they tried to make are kind of moot, but I don't think anyone cares for me to dissect every ignorant thing someone says about guns. It's kind of annoying and makes me look like an asshole. I just think it's that people feel differently about firearms in general.

Generally, people that don't know anything about guns are inclined to be scared whenever they see one. They might label me as a maniac when I just have it on the dashboard in my car because I happen to not have a concealed carry permit and want to go shoot it at the many ranges in my area. Nothing illegal or threatening, but I have gotten some reactions that made me consider getting a concealed carry permit.

As I said, it's irritating when people like Bill Maher label people who own firearms as fanatics. It just perpetuates that fear and misunderstanding.

Kind of like republicans comparing democrats to nazis might perpetuate aggression...

[PortraitOfSanity]

The point, Versus, is if the normal American is out and about with a .45 magnum shoved down his pants, and happens to see some shit going down, the guy's more likely to do more harm than good when he whips the thing out and starts blasting, than he is to actually stop the crime in progress.

[Versus]

How is that?

[Versus]

Originally Posted by PortraitOfSanity

The point, Versus, is if the normal American is out and about with a .45 magnum shoved down his pants, and happens to see some shit going down, the guy's more likely to do more harm than good when he whips the thing out and starts blasting, than he is to actually stop the crime in progress.

I think you're making a straw man out of people who conceal carry. They are not irresponsible thugs or a wanna be hero.

A shooting at New Life Church occurred when Matthew J. Murray opened fire in the foyer of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, on Sunday, December 9, 2007. Three people were wounded and two people were killed before Murray was shot by Jeanne Assam, a church member acting as security, which stopped his attack.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Co...Life_shootings

Lenny Skutnik is generally known for an act of heroism following the crash of Air Florida Flight 90 on January 13, 1982 in the Potomac River, Washington, DC. At the time, Skutnik was a US government office assistant. During the rescue operation of passengers from the crashed plane, one passenger, Priscilla Tirado, was too weak to grab the line dropped from a helicopter. Hundreds of people were watching, including emergency services personnel. Skutnik saw the situation, and stripped off his coat and boots and, in short sleeves, dove into the icy water and swam out to assist her. He succeeded in getting Tirado to the river shore, from where Tirado was subsequently taken to hospital, saving her life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenny_Skutnik

During Operation Gothic Serpent, Durant was the pilot of Super Six Four, the second MH-60L Black Hawk helicopter to crash during the Battle of Mogadishu on October 3, 1993. The helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in the tail which led to its crash about a mile southwest of the operation's target.

Durant and his crew of three, Bill Cleveland, Ray Frank, and Tommy Field, survived the crash, though they were badly injured. Durant suffered a broken leg and a badly injured back.[2] Two Delta Force snipers, MSG Gary Gordon and SFC Randy Shughart, had been providing suppressive fire from the air at hostile Somalis who were converging on the area. Both volunteered for insertion and fought off the advancing Somalis, killing an undetermined number, until they ran out of ammunition and were overwhelmed and killed, along with Cleveland, Frank, and Field. Both Gordon and Shughart received the Medal of Honor posthumously for this action.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Durant

These are examples of people who both:

1) Could not morally abide by other people's suffering and misery

2) Were either or both mentally prepared/materially prepared to take action when hundreds of others could not or would not.

This is an example of what happens when most people don't do anything.

The September 11 attacks (often referred to as September 11th or 9/11) were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners.[2][3] The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings. Both buildings collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C. There were no survivors from any of the flights.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9/11

What Bill Maher, as well as you, need to understand is that bad things will happen. Be they a gunman, car accidents, people trapped in burning buildings, ect. While we cannot prevent such horrific things from occurring, we can and should do something to help if we are able... but so many people either do not take it upon themselves to learn about what they can do in an emergency or simply stand and watch as other people die in front of them.

I know a little bit of first aid, though I'm sure Kontan or E_E possess a much more extensive knowledge of it. If you were seriously injured in a car accident that happened right in front of us and suffered an amputation that we know how to help with: Would you expect us to just watch or drive on by?

If a gunman opened up on me, and I knew nothing about how to defend myself, and you had a conceal carry subcompact handgun: I would really hope that you wouldn't just watch, or drive away.

So I carry a first aid kit in my car. Not for me, but for you.