Can anyone make a coherent argument that guns are LESS dangerous than cars? i doubt it...

[Honeycombe8]

121. I live in Dallas, not an esp. crime ridden city.

It's a typical largish city. It's not even that large. But women living alone are targeted. The first incident I had was when I was living alone at age 17 or 18 in a small city of about 65,000. I was nodding off late at night, when the window near the foot of my bed...I heard the screen being slowly cut. At least that's what it sounded like. I froze. I listened intently. The slow cutting cont'd. Or was I imagining it? I reached over to the phone and called a friend and chatted a few minutes...as I told him, I thought I heard something but I was sure it my imagination and wanted to chat a bit so I could go to sleep. I didn't notice the cutting sound anymore. I got off the phone and went to sleep.

The next morning, I walked out around back (I lived in like a little bldg that was like a temporary bldg set by itself in back of someone's property). I looked at the window in the back, and to my horror, the screen was cut all across the bottom and up one side, and the screen latch had been flipped up, to take the screen off.)

It was then that I realized what danger I was in, as a girl living alone. (What's really creepy is that I was sure it was someone who knew me, since it was a secluded, off the beaten path area, and no one would've known I lived there, except people who knew me, or friends of people who knew me.)

I'm in my 50's now, so I don't think martial arts would help me much in one on one combat with a man. (Although I did take karate lessons decades ago.) But that's an interesting thought...a self defense course for women like me....healthy, spunky, but older). But of course, I'm slower now and don't have the stamina to fight that a younger male street guy would have.

I also watched a criminal defense show on PBS years ago and learned a couple of things. Here's what I learned:

1. If you are confronted by a stranger with a gun, who wants to take you to some other location, do not go. Statistics show that you will most likely be murdered, if you go. Criminals who take victims to other locations are likely to be fulfilling a sick fantasy, and statistics are good that part of that fantasy is death. You are better off making a run for it right there, or fighting. You may get killed that way, but you will most likely be murdered if you go with him. This is your best chance, as bad as it is.

2. If you are confronted by a male criminal in your home or anywhere, it's probably best to run like hell and get away. People often freeze, or try to reason with criminals.

3. If you can't run away and are cornered, it's best to drop to the floor and fight with your legs. A woman's arms are no match for a man's arms (her arms are shorter and much weaker, even if the man is small....men just have more muscle and long arms - like gorillas!). But a woman's legs are closer to a match to a man's arms...her legs are stronger than her arms, and longer than his arms. (It's no accident that karate involves major use of leg fighting.)

Tips to pass on to your women friends. Who would've thought of dropping to the ground and kicking a criminal? But I feel safe, for the most part. These incidents happened years apart. So the gun is for just in case. I don't have it sitting out, ready to use. But it is handy, and it is loaded. Just in case. (Note: If I had children around, I probably wouldn't have a gun. The danger to the kids would outweigh any possible danger from strangers.)