Break and Enter.
Tyaeda
Published
07/01/2013
So, my last blog didn't get a very good response. It's ok, I understand. Protecting your family is a touchy subject, and we'd all like to think we're doing what's best for them. I'm not here to offend, I'm just here to tell you what the NRA won't. I'm here to ask you to look at the other side of the argument. It takes more than guns and training to ensure your safety.
Like I said before, most gun owners in the US purchased a gun for one of two reasons - Hunting, and Self-Defense. There are hunting accidents, but there are also accidents that occur during acts of self defense. Here's a collection of news articles that show that using a firearm to defend yourself and family, can backfire.
"Retired detective fatally shoots son after mistaking him for intruder" http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-10-09/news/chi-cops-retired-detective-fatally-shoots-son-after-mistaking-him-for-intruder-20121009_1_michael-griffin-james-griffin-stephen-griffin
You might think that you would have to be pretty stupid to shoot your own son, in the face, nonetheless. But this retired homicide detective is what many people would consider a perfect gun owner candidate. With his life long training, he obviously knows how to shoot. And with his past as a homicide detective, he probably has a lot of enemies that have more than enough motive to come over and kill him. But no, he mistook his son for an intruder, and shot him in the face. Obviously he didn't think before he shot, he didn't even wait long enough to see if he recognized the face he was shooting at.
"Connecticut man kills suspected burglar, then learns it's his teenage son"http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/28/14134818-police-connecticut-man-kills-suspected-burglar-then-learns-its-his-teenage-son?lite
This time it was a 5th grade teacher who shot his own teenaged son. In the teacher's defense, his 15 year old boy, was wearing a mask, and wielding a knife. I don't know why he chose such attire, but I don't believe it should have cost him the rest of the life he had in front of him.
"NY Police Officer Shoots and Kills Son He Thought Was an Intruder"
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/07/22/ny-police-officer-shoots-and-kills-son-he-thought-was-an-intruder/
Another trained, member of law enforcement, shoots and kills his own son, who he thought was an intruder.
"Rochester Pastor Shoots Granddaughter, Mistaken for Intruder"http://kstp.com/article/stories/s2862578.shtml
This time it was a law AND god abiding citizen who shot his own teenaged granddaughter. After he saw her at the back door, he fired two shots. To his defense, there was a burglary in the neighborhood recently prior, so he assumed he encountering the same suspect.
"NOLA Woman Fatally Shoots Husband After Mistaking Him for Home Invader"http://gawker.com/5942414/nola-woman-fatally-shoots-husband-after-mistaking-him-for-home-invader
"Wife thought husband was intruder, shot him; man dies"http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2012/01/police_wife_thought_husband_wa.html
"Husband Kills Wife; Mistakes Her for Burglar"http://fox4kc.com/2012/02/11/husband-kills-wife-mistakes-her-for-burglar/
"Teenager Mistakes Little Brother for Intruder, Shoots Him"http://abcnews.go.com/US/florida-teen-mistakes-brother-intruder-shoots/story?id=18796777
You absolutely have the right to defend yourself against someone who is trying to harm or kill you. You have the right to use deadly force in case that happens. But unfortunately we are not the movie star actors that keep our cool while explosions go off in the background. We are human, we panic. Unlike Bruce Willis, we can be taken by surprise, and we don't have the spy training to think out every avenue within seconds of an emergency. The flight or fight response is a real thing, and you have less of a conscious choice in that than you believe you do. Just take any scare prank video for example. We all laugh as we watch full grown men scream, and run face first into walls. And you can say you would do things differently all you want, but I've shown examples of even seasoned, trained, professionals, making life-shattering mistakes. Sometimes we think our life is in danger, when it's not.
The best line of self-defense is prevention, not reaction. The nice people at the NRA might disagree, but there are other ways to keep your family safe. I looked up an Alberta health site that has a check list. I'll elaborate, cause that's what I do.
"For the majority of people, a feeling of security is found in the safety of their homes. However, many Canadians fail to take even fundamental precautions to secure their homes against robbery. (I wonder why?)There are a number of precautions you can take that will reduce the opportunities for burglary.
Prevention tips - Conduct a security check of your home to determine possible entry points and any weaknesses it may have. - Keep all entrances and garages well-lit at night. (Motion sensor porch light costs like 40 bucks.)- Do not leave telltale signs that you are away. (Get your neighbor to collect your mail while you're on vacation, maybe bite the cost and leave a light on all the time)- Install good locks and always use them. - Install a wide-angle door viewer that permits you to see callers before you open the door. - Never open a door to strangers without credentials. (Or with credentials you don't like.)- Change your routine often. Burglars can operate on your routine! (Stalkers too)- Do not keep large amounts of money in your home. (Yeah, you drug dealers)- Mark valuable items for identification. The Operation Identification Program has been developed by police to assist people in marking their property. (We take photographs nowadays)- Keep valuables in a safety deposit box at your bank. If this is not possible, keep them locked up in a reasonable hiding place in your home. Note: A few inexpensive but rich-looking pieces kept in a jewellery box as a decoy may deter unnecessary ransacking of your home in search of valuables. (Give them some shit, so they'll just leave and not mess up your house... you wouldn't want them to mess up your house would you?)"
I guess you can say that's how Canadians do it, but like the article said, most Canadians do not take precautions. I would assume it's because, there's not as much fear. Not like what I've heard coming from a lot of Americans. We don't go around thinking that %30 - %40 of our countrymen are packing heat. And my easy feeling is only comforted further by statistics issued by the government, that state that robbery, and homicide (especially ones involving firearms) is on the decline. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/100325/dq100325b-eng.htm and http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2008002/article/10518-eng.htm It's not a coincedence that developed countries with more gun control have less gun crime, and accidents, per capita. Strict gun control is not a solution, but it's a hell of a lot better than doing nothing. There's a lot of people out there that say "this is exactly what the government wants", and I think those people missing the point. The government cannot just keep ignoring the gun issue, especially when we're asking them what they're going to do about all of the school shootings that keep on happening. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school_shootings_in_the_United_States) compared to (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_shooting#Canada)
Like I said before, most gun owners in the US purchased a gun for one of two reasons - Hunting, and Self-Defense. There are hunting accidents, but there are also accidents that occur during acts of self defense. Here's a collection of news articles that show that using a firearm to defend yourself and family, can backfire.
"Retired detective fatally shoots son after mistaking him for intruder" http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-10-09/news/chi-cops-retired-detective-fatally-shoots-son-after-mistaking-him-for-intruder-20121009_1_michael-griffin-james-griffin-stephen-griffin
You might think that you would have to be pretty stupid to shoot your own son, in the face, nonetheless. But this retired homicide detective is what many people would consider a perfect gun owner candidate. With his life long training, he obviously knows how to shoot. And with his past as a homicide detective, he probably has a lot of enemies that have more than enough motive to come over and kill him. But no, he mistook his son for an intruder, and shot him in the face. Obviously he didn't think before he shot, he didn't even wait long enough to see if he recognized the face he was shooting at.
"Connecticut man kills suspected burglar, then learns it's his teenage son"http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/28/14134818-police-connecticut-man-kills-suspected-burglar-then-learns-its-his-teenage-son?lite
This time it was a 5th grade teacher who shot his own teenaged son. In the teacher's defense, his 15 year old boy, was wearing a mask, and wielding a knife. I don't know why he chose such attire, but I don't believe it should have cost him the rest of the life he had in front of him.
"NY Police Officer Shoots and Kills Son He Thought Was an Intruder"
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/07/22/ny-police-officer-shoots-and-kills-son-he-thought-was-an-intruder/
Another trained, member of law enforcement, shoots and kills his own son, who he thought was an intruder.
"Rochester Pastor Shoots Granddaughter, Mistaken for Intruder"http://kstp.com/article/stories/s2862578.shtml
This time it was a law AND god abiding citizen who shot his own teenaged granddaughter. After he saw her at the back door, he fired two shots. To his defense, there was a burglary in the neighborhood recently prior, so he assumed he encountering the same suspect.
"NOLA Woman Fatally Shoots Husband After Mistaking Him for Home Invader"http://gawker.com/5942414/nola-woman-fatally-shoots-husband-after-mistaking-him-for-home-invader
"Wife thought husband was intruder, shot him; man dies"http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2012/01/police_wife_thought_husband_wa.html
"Husband Kills Wife; Mistakes Her for Burglar"http://fox4kc.com/2012/02/11/husband-kills-wife-mistakes-her-for-burglar/
"Teenager Mistakes Little Brother for Intruder, Shoots Him"http://abcnews.go.com/US/florida-teen-mistakes-brother-intruder-shoots/story?id=18796777
You absolutely have the right to defend yourself against someone who is trying to harm or kill you. You have the right to use deadly force in case that happens. But unfortunately we are not the movie star actors that keep our cool while explosions go off in the background. We are human, we panic. Unlike Bruce Willis, we can be taken by surprise, and we don't have the spy training to think out every avenue within seconds of an emergency. The flight or fight response is a real thing, and you have less of a conscious choice in that than you believe you do. Just take any scare prank video for example. We all laugh as we watch full grown men scream, and run face first into walls. And you can say you would do things differently all you want, but I've shown examples of even seasoned, trained, professionals, making life-shattering mistakes. Sometimes we think our life is in danger, when it's not.
The best line of self-defense is prevention, not reaction. The nice people at the NRA might disagree, but there are other ways to keep your family safe. I looked up an Alberta health site that has a check list. I'll elaborate, cause that's what I do.
"For the majority of people, a feeling of security is found in the safety of their homes. However, many Canadians fail to take even fundamental precautions to secure their homes against robbery. (I wonder why?)There are a number of precautions you can take that will reduce the opportunities for burglary.
Prevention tips - Conduct a security check of your home to determine possible entry points and any weaknesses it may have. - Keep all entrances and garages well-lit at night. (Motion sensor porch light costs like 40 bucks.)- Do not leave telltale signs that you are away. (Get your neighbor to collect your mail while you're on vacation, maybe bite the cost and leave a light on all the time)- Install good locks and always use them. - Install a wide-angle door viewer that permits you to see callers before you open the door. - Never open a door to strangers without credentials. (Or with credentials you don't like.)- Change your routine often. Burglars can operate on your routine! (Stalkers too)- Do not keep large amounts of money in your home. (Yeah, you drug dealers)- Mark valuable items for identification. The Operation Identification Program has been developed by police to assist people in marking their property. (We take photographs nowadays)- Keep valuables in a safety deposit box at your bank. If this is not possible, keep them locked up in a reasonable hiding place in your home. Note: A few inexpensive but rich-looking pieces kept in a jewellery box as a decoy may deter unnecessary ransacking of your home in search of valuables. (Give them some shit, so they'll just leave and not mess up your house... you wouldn't want them to mess up your house would you?)"
I guess you can say that's how Canadians do it, but like the article said, most Canadians do not take precautions. I would assume it's because, there's not as much fear. Not like what I've heard coming from a lot of Americans. We don't go around thinking that %30 - %40 of our countrymen are packing heat. And my easy feeling is only comforted further by statistics issued by the government, that state that robbery, and homicide (especially ones involving firearms) is on the decline. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/100325/dq100325b-eng.htm and http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2008002/article/10518-eng.htm It's not a coincedence that developed countries with more gun control have less gun crime, and accidents, per capita. Strict gun control is not a solution, but it's a hell of a lot better than doing nothing. There's a lot of people out there that say "this is exactly what the government wants", and I think those people missing the point. The government cannot just keep ignoring the gun issue, especially when we're asking them what they're going to do about all of the school shootings that keep on happening. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school_shootings_in_the_United_States) compared to (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_shooting#Canada)
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