If only there had been more good guys with guns

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(05-27-2017, 12:05 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: They generally won't get reported because nothing happened.  The vast majority of defensive gun uses won't make the news because the armed citizen prevented a crime.  As for events that have been publicized, there have been stories mentioned on this very board; the AR armed homeowner's son who killed three home invasion suspects.  I will freely admit that compiling a solid database of defensive gun uses is a difficult, if not an impossible, task due to the fact that the media has no interest in them.  I say they have no interest not because they actively choose not to promote stories that show gun owners using their gun to protect themselves (although there may be some bias in this regard) but because there is no story to promote in most instances.  You heard about the AR armed homeowner's son because three people died, in most defensive gun uses the suspect flees without shots being fired, i.e. no story for the media to promote or even to become aware of.

I personally had a defensive gun use when I was twenty.  I was watching my parent's pets, and home, and was awoken by someone trying to get in the bedroom window, the bedroom I was sleeping in.  I grabbed my father's Smith and Wesson model 39, pulled the blinds with it pointed at the window and saw the guy see me and run across the yard and over the wall in less than a second.  You are more than welcome to dismiss this an anecdotal, that would be fair.  You are also more than welcome to dismiss my explanation of why the number of defensive gun uses are hard to compile, but my explanation is logical.

You are correct, that is a logical explanation. (And anecdotal evidence, but thanks for sharing it.)

It is also logical that merely raising the blind, raising the blind with a club in your hand, or merely turning on a light may have chased away would be home invader. Of course, the advantages of those three choices is they all include no chance of accidentally shooting yourself, one of your parents pets, your buddy who knew you were there and wanted to see if you wanted to do whatever (this is a hypothetical scenario, while you and the pets were real possibilities in your anecdote and not hypothetical), or you wounding or killing the guy and having to stand trial even though you were well within your rights to protect your folks property.

I am sure you have heard the old sayings about if you shot him and he made it to the wall drag him inside. Make sure there is an entry wound on the front... yada yada. Yeah, I know, those sorts of statements are the ramblings of goofy old men but honestly...

I am happy 20 year old you did not discharge the weapon and have to live through whatever investigation in the aftermath not to mention the anguish of having taken a life had the shot been lethal. Anyone I have ever talked to who took a life no matter how justified they were says it is something they would never wish on someone else.

I am sure you are not the only one who ever chased off a burglar/assailant with a gun. But, there are likewise many incidents of family members, friends, pets, and gun owners who were wounded or killed by their own weapon which they had so counted on in similar circumstances.