General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I'm 55 years old and have never owned a gun in my life. [View all]Hell Hath No Fury
(16,327 posts)I live in San Francisco, in a working class neighborhood and across the street from a crack house. Seriously, a crack house that has been visited by the cops routinely for the past two years. On several occasions there were busts with dozens of SWAT members, all heavily armed and pointing their weapons at my neighbor. Another neighbor a few houses up the hill was the recipient of a full-fledged raid federal raid -- speed and weapons the ex-felon neighbor should not have had were found. The park a few blocks away used to be the place criminals would go to dump bodies, fire off weapons in the middle of the night, and use neighborhood pets as bait for dog fights. I've also once had my house broken into and, in fact, came face to face with the intruder. I've been caught driving in the middle of two gangs going at it, once on city streets and once on a freeway. I also was square in the middle of two Mission gangs flashing weapons while I was standing in front of a restaurant -- one guy flashing was literally right next to me.
Guess what? Despite all the very real "scary" stuff happening around me, I don't own a gun. I am not paranoid, I not not live in fear every day of my life, nor am I am convinced that the only solution to the world I live in is to arm myself to the teeth.