quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
I recently had a conversation with a 40 year old. The subject of self-defense came up, and he said he would not use deadly force under any circumstances, including self-defense or the defense of his family. I have a name for people like that. I call them "victims."

Doesn't someone around here have the tagline, "If a man is incapable of inflicting violence to protect himself and loved ones, that doesn't make him peaceful. It makes him harmless."

As Q & others posted, it's one thing if you won't own a gun. It's another thing if you are incapable of using force for self-protection - assuming fleeing isn't an option, of course.

I don’t trust anyone…period.

In the USA, we're only at most a few generations removed from a time when there when if you sucked at whatever you did-- farming, ranching, fishing, trades, whatever-- you died. You died in a work accident (including minor injuries that quickly went septic) or from exposure or weakened resistance because of poor diet, and if you were a family man, then your family or a good chunk of them probably weren't long for the world either becaue they depended on YOU. The only "safety nets" were family, close community, and churches, and none of THOSE nets cared much about your problem if you hadn't already given 100% to fixing it yourself. If you were incapable of protecting yourself and your family from the elements or from predators of any sort, you died. Help wasn't coming, and if it did, it wasn't coming soon.

Nobody thought much about this. It was a given.

These days, defending against all of the hazards that killed our ancestors has been subcontracted out to "someone else." Government, mostly. Government will protect you from bad things, take care of you if you're unable or too lazy to work, will provide for literally EVERY material need if you don't feel like putting in the effort. The "I don't need to be prepared to protect my family" syndrome is a product of that, but it's part of a bigger stew. How many of you have friends/family/acquaintances who've seen you making even the barest preparations for something bad happening (interruption of power / water / food supplies, civil unrest, bad weather, etc) and their immediate reaction was "Boy... I know where to go when <whatever that thing happens>." They just assume that someone else will take care of them.

My wife-- a city girl at heart, but she still gets it-- will look at those people, shake her head, and say "Food." As in "They'll be food when a predator shows up."

Everybody has to die sometime; those that are armed prefer more choices.

I seldom go to a public range, but today I mixed it up with the type of folks I seem to get along with. Decent shooting struck up a conversation with a guy from a nearby state, and I think I wasn't smart enough to figure out that maybe I was getting invited to hog hunt. Got to be ready and open to more possibilities.

Some of my friends don't own guns. They have no concept of needing one, or of home invasion or robbery.
Hard to understand, and even harder to appreciate.

I studied under Massad Ayoub and adhere to his teachings.

My firearm is for the gravest extreme - when my life or well-being, or that of an innocent is being threatened!

All of my marksmanship and training are designed to meet such threats.