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If you've nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear

jacquesmattheij.com

281–290 of 321 posts

Re: If you've nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear

#281
post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My intention is not to preserve "human life" but the lives of my family and myself. The irony of course is that (statistically speaking) you would be vastly lowering you and your family's chances of surviving the event. The chance that the intruder is there to murder you is ridiculously minuscule. It's so small that the people that do indiscriminately enter homes to murder get special nicknames like "Zodiac Killer"…

First, your statistics are moot. As I just said, a statistic is still a risk. A risk I will not take when it comes to family. You play it your way; I'll play it mine.

> You play it your way; I'll play it mine.

Of course. I just find the idea of guns making you safe so laughably absurd (and provably false). I'm sure they make you feel safer though. Maybe that's worth something.

Here's a good comedy skit about gun ownership (NSFW)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl--YVnni0I

Re: If you've nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear

#282
post #50

"When you say I don't care about the right to privacy because I have nothing to hide, that is no different than saying I don't care about freedom of speech because I have nothing to say or freedom of the press because I have nothing to write." - Edward Snowden

Or I don't care about freedom to bear arms because I don't have a gun

I consider myself too easily distracted to own a gun, but support your right to do so. Nobody's making me not buy or not build a gun, I choose not to.

Re: If you've nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear

#283
post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First, your statistics are moot. As I just said, a statistic is still a risk. A risk I will not take when it comes to family. You play it your way; I'll play it mine.

> You play it your way; I'll play it mine. Of course. I just find the idea of guns making you safe so laughably absurd (and provably false). I'm sure they make you feel safer though. Maybe that's worth something. Here's a good comedy skit about gun ownership (NSFW) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl--YVnni0I

Guns don't make me feel safe. Being properly trained on how to use defensive force makes me feel safe.

The error in your logic is that you're imagining yourself with a weapon, which indeed, is laughable and provably unsafe.

Edit: not going to bother replying and further make this thread a gun debate. Just want to state that YouTube videos of comedic skits and accidents doesn't nullify any argument. Humans will make mistakes; that's a fact of life.

Re: If you've nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear

#284
post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You play it your way; I'll play it mine. Of course. I just find the idea of guns making you safe so laughably absurd (and provably false). I'm sure they make you feel safer though. Maybe that's worth something. Here's a good comedy skit about gun ownership (NSFW) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl--YVnni0I

Guns don't make me feel safe. Being properly trained on how to use defensive force makes me feel safe. The error in your logic is that you're imagining yourself with a weapon, which indeed, is laughable and provably unsafe. Edit: not going to bother replying and further make this thread a gun debate. Just want to state that YouTube videos of comedic skits and accidents doesn't nullify any argument. Humans will make m…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YqcvuRRggM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUonA66btgI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK_1yDAqsnM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvfbikv0gBc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WChMcDCMgGw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjCczTWqKx8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTwaROa1I0

2mins of youtubing. These examples never end! But you, your wife, your kids. You'd never make these kinds of stupid mistakes.

edit: there must be thousands of these self proclaimed gun pros out there here's another beauty

https://youtu.be/v-i8dtulUYU?t=165

love the facial reaction.

edit 2: these videos literally never end on YouTube. Here are another 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv89_3rrW8Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTGDKe-uy3E

Re: If you've nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear

#285
post #249
post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that I agree with the person you're replying to, but it makes some sense. (caveat: i'd never confront an intruder without my life or my families life in danger.) Guns have hosts of failure modes, and require specialized knowledge on their operation to ensure safety. Guns can even fire accidentally, with an accidental discharge on dropping the firearm being a possibility on any gun without a firing pin block (whic…

This comment made me get off my ass and remember my YC login. Your post parses correctly, but what you're saying doesn't really correspond with reality. > Guns can even fire accidentally, with an accidental discharge on dropping the firearm being a possibility on any gun without a firing pin block (which is practically any long gun, the kind you can buy at Walmart in some states, with no waiting period in some states…

> bringing a gun to a knife fight

I'm so glad I live in the UK where both criminals and self-defence is mostly knife based.

I think the American style of "bringing a gun to a knife fight" just escalates everything.

You think you need a gun in order to kill a would-be assailant. The OP says he used a knife to scare them off. I know which I prefer.

Re: If you've nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear

#286
Unrelated, but in the light of all recent data leaks, I was thinking that privacy is just another advantage (business, political, relationship, etc.) If somehow all people's lives, businesses, politicians were completely transparent, there were no need to have privacy to begin with. This is utopical of course, but just a thought.

Re: If you've nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear

#287
post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it is possible to imagine situations in which a gun makes you safer. The point is that in the real world, you are more likely to end up in a situation where it makes you less safe. More specifically, women are far more likely to be killed by their abusive partners than they are to face a life-threatening home invasion.

So don't buy a gun if you have an abusive intimate partner, and do buy one if you are single or have a non-abusive partner. Pretty simple. Also, upon rereading, your article doesn't even really support your claim that a gun makes women less safe. Note the comparisons made: "More than twice as many women are killed with a gun used by their husbands or intimate acquaintances than are murdered by strangers..." "A very s…

It's not "my" article.

> the percentage of women in households without a gun who successfully defended themselves

Irrelevant, since the whole point is that lethal home invasions are very rare. In other words, even if having a gun provided 100% protection against a murderous home invader, and even if lacking a gun made it 100% certain that he would kill you, owning the gun would still have a negligible effect on you overall safety.

> P(murder|abusive husband && gun) vs P(murder|abusive husband && !gun)

You can't have it both ways. Either guns make it easier to kill people or they don't. If they don't, then they're no good for self defense. If they do, then you're more likely to be killed by your partner if he has access to a gun than if he doesn't.

Re: If you've nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear

#288
post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You play it your way; I'll play it mine. Of course. I just find the idea of guns making you safe so laughably absurd (and provably false). I'm sure they make you feel safer though. Maybe that's worth something. Here's a good comedy skit about gun ownership (NSFW) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl--YVnni0I

Guns don't make me feel safe. Being properly trained on how to use defensive force makes me feel safe. The error in your logic is that you're imagining yourself with a weapon, which indeed, is laughable and provably unsafe. Edit: not going to bother replying and further make this thread a gun debate. Just want to state that YouTube videos of comedic skits and accidents doesn't nullify any argument. Humans will make m…

> Humans will make mistakes; that's a fact of life.

I agree. This is a fact of life. This combined with the utterly vanishingly tiny chance that you will be the victim of a serial killer make gun ownership for the purpose of safety absurd.

Own a gun all you want. But at least realize that you and your family are actually less safe because of it!

Re: If you've nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear

#289
post #278
post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And this is persecution (in the meaningful sense) because ... why? Or are you changing the topic to complain about NJ gun laws? I mean, I'm from Florida. Moonshine is illegal in Florida. Even owning part of a still is illegal. Here's a report of someone charged with "among other counts, possession of more than a gallon of illegal liquor and possession of a still", which are "third-degree felonies, which carry a maxim…

Yes, this is persecution because possessing firearms is protected under the second amendment and moonshine production isn't. I have no idea what point you're trying to make.

Your view, if I take it correctly, is that any restriction on firearms is an infringement of a protected civil right and thus a should be treated as persecution? Because my point is only valid if one accepts that some restrictive laws are allowed.

The question is still, what does "persecution" mean?

As another civil justice issue, free speech is protected under the first amendment. But we also accept that there are time, place, and manner restrictions on the right to free speech. Someone who violates those restrictions may be jailed.

Do you consider these people to be persecuted? If so, then I again suggest that your definition of 'persecuted' is so broad as to be unusable.

If you do not consider them to be persecuted, then why is it okay to sometimes stifle free expression, but never okay to stifle gun ownership? Both are equally constitutionally protected, no? Why does one have limits and the other not?

Re: If you've nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear

#290
post #279
post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, and I grew up in Florida where shooting off fireworks more exciting than sparklers and snakes, without a license, was illegal. As a loyal firework-American, I lived under the threat that my bootleg North Carolina bottlerockets could land me in jail. Many Americans have no legal way to practice the traditional craft of moonshine. There are penalties for getting caught with even a part of a still. In Florida it's…

This reply is just inane drivel.

Yes, it is. I'm sorry about that. It was a partial start, I realized it was silly, then I thought I threw it away for the other response I made. A couple of hours later I saw that I had somehow submitted it, and it was too late to delete.
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