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Guns, Privacy, and Crime

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21–30 of 149 posts

Re: Guns, Privacy, and Crime

#21
post #20

Home burglaries in general have been trending down regardless of gun ownership. Burglary just isn't as profitable anymore. Common target items like consumer electronics and small appliances have gotten so cheap that they're not worth the hassle. It seems like the burglars have moved on to stealing catalytic converters from parked cars. https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-...

The article says "burglaries increased in zip codes with fewer gun permits".

Re: Guns, Privacy, and Crime

#22
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This reminds me of one of my favorite (due to its uniqueness) local laws in the US: > In Kennesaw, Georgia, local law says that “every head of household residing in the city limits is required to maintain a firearm.” “If you're going to commit a crime in Kennesaw and you're the criminal – are you going to take a chance that that homeowner is a law-abiding citizen?” asked Kennesaw Mayor Derek Easterling https://www.cn…

Gun question not withstanding, am I the head of my household or is my wife?

Just declare it to be a joint partnership and you'll both have to have one. Problem solved!

Re: Guns, Privacy, and Crime

#23

I lived out in Berlin where basically nobody except the police and the (really) bad guys are armed. Sure, there's burglary, but much more likely was bicycle theft... I had three stolen in one calendar year. To be honest, I was more comfortable that none of my a-hole neighbors were armed, because they would have pulled a gun on you for leaving out the rubbish an hour too early or talking to loudly after 8pm.

Pointing a gun at someone is generally a crime in the US. No need for the hyperbole around gun ownership and people's behavior

Re: Guns, Privacy, and Crime

#24

> We find that burglaries ... decreased in those with more gun permits Interesting find. Although this doesn't mean guns prevent burglaries just by mere presence. And if anything it ends in bloodshed because thieves get shot at upon a breach and it's not necessarily a safer scenario.

> And if anything it ends in bloodshed because thieves get shot at upon a breach

If you break into my obviously occupied house, then you aren't doing it to steal $100 of shitty electronics.

Put another way, you saw that my dwelling was occupied and felt that made it more of a good target than any of the other houses around me.

I don't use lethal force to protect stuff. I use lethal force to protect my family.

Re: Guns, Privacy, and Crime

#25
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gun question not withstanding, am I the head of my household or is my wife?

Why does that matter? If one of you buys something, doesn't the other one of you own it too?

I think the question is which one of us needs to clean the damned thing.

Re: Guns, Privacy, and Crime

#26
post #11

> We find that burglaries ... decreased in those with more gun permits Interesting find. Although this doesn't mean guns prevent burglaries just by mere presence. And if anything it ends in bloodshed because thieves get shot at upon a breach and it's not necessarily a safer scenario.

not sure most people are put off by their community being unsafe for burglars

give this thread half an hour or so

Re: Guns, Privacy, and Crime

#27
post #20

Home burglaries in general have been trending down regardless of gun ownership. Burglary just isn't as profitable anymore. Common target items like consumer electronics and small appliances have gotten so cheap that they're not worth the hassle. It seems like the burglars have moved on to stealing catalytic converters from parked cars. https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-...

The article says "burglaries increased in zip codes with fewer gun permits".

Do you mean the abstract says?

Re: Guns, Privacy, and Crime

#28

> We find that burglaries ... decreased in those with more gun permits Interesting find. Although this doesn't mean guns prevent burglaries just by mere presence. And if anything it ends in bloodshed because thieves get shot at upon a breach and it's not necessarily a safer scenario.

Considering that about 266,000[1] people are injured by burglars per year, deaths included, I'm not seeing how the resident being able to shoot back is making anything "less safe" for anyone except for the burglar, which I'm pretty sure anyone getting burgled is usually ok with. Though as to why burglaries went down, I wonder if people got more alarm systems or took other deterrent countermeasures after the database…

There is the point of correct close combat training. Shooting in an enclosed proximity is vastly different. For instance you don't want the gun to blind, deafen or grabbed and used against you. That can be alleviated with the right training and choices.

You need more information beyond that to assess -- e.g. are people living in remote areas or next to a police officer?

Re: Guns, Privacy, and Crime

#29

I lived out in Berlin where basically nobody except the police and the (really) bad guys are armed. Sure, there's burglary, but much more likely was bicycle theft... I had three stolen in one calendar year. To be honest, I was more comfortable that none of my a-hole neighbors were armed, because they would have pulled a gun on you for leaving out the rubbish an hour too early or talking to loudly after 8pm.

If you were armed too they probably would think twice.

That sort of thinking directly brought about WW1 as well as the Cuban missile crisis.

If everyone was armed then society's short-fused lunatics are the ones most likely to misjudge a situation and start shooting first over something trivial.

Goes a long way to explaining most shootings by the police too.

Re: Guns, Privacy, and Crime

#30

I lived out in Berlin where basically nobody except the police and the (really) bad guys are armed. Sure, there's burglary, but much more likely was bicycle theft... I had three stolen in one calendar year. To be honest, I was more comfortable that none of my a-hole neighbors were armed, because they would have pulled a gun on you for leaving out the rubbish an hour too early or talking to loudly after 8pm.

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