@iron_bug criminals will always have the advantage regardless. The question is do want them to threaten you with a knife to rob you or do you want them to shoot you in the back of your head to rob you out of the fear for their lives? The question is are you ready to be like them and fight them like they fight you? Are you ready for a gang war? Crime is not going to magically stop, there exist people who are not afraid of gunfights, because they understand their advantage. You will be giving more power to these people and nobody else, and you will be requiring from yourself and your peers to be more like these people, more cruel.

@iron_bug @namark criminals ALREADY have guns. so citizens have no variants unless they're weaponized as well.

@iron_bug @namark we have gang wars, always had. the only people that don't shoot and that cannot defend themselves are commoners.

@iron_bug I never said there are not gang wars, I simply asked whether you are cruel enough or willing to be cruel enough to participate in them in any meaningful way when it comes to the power struggle. I asked if your peers are cruel enough or willing to be cruel enough, to maybe form the good gang, to fight the bad gangs, cause that's the equal fight. You gunning them all down like a rambo the second they pop up from random windows is not the equal fight, it's your power fantasy.

I'll happily buy you a gun myself, when you stop saying that it gives you power, as it gives power to the cruel. When you buy a car you don't think "oh yes, so much power to fight all the bad guys I hate".

This whole discussion is a continuation of this thread,
https://qoto.org/web/statuses/104880774979090253
there is more there to illustrate my point if you are interested.

@iron_bug @namark it's useless to argue with you. you don't understand a point. you definitely never lived in a city where 20 people die criminal death daily. this is not about stupid "fight all bad guys", it's plain self-defense.

@iron_bug you are not arguing my points you are just stating the opposite. Now form what you said I understand that I'm so unbelievably thick, that I'm not worth another second of your consideration, but in case others reading need some clarification, can you please enlighten me, how exactly is any gun going to protect you from getting shot by a criminal? I guess it's the fear, that after shooting you in the back of the head, you're going to turn around, draw a gun and shoot back at them 3 times. Or the terror, that if they drive by and riddle you with bullets, you are going to spin around, pull a rocket launcher out of your ass and blow them to smithereens.

@iron_bug @namark I will have a chance to shoot in answer. without weapons there's NO variants. and who is 'thick' here.
knowing that a citizen may be holding a gun in his pocket makes the wish to attack him much less. less homes robbery, less criminal in the streets. this is evident, I thought.

@iron_bug sure, the pro gunners keep arguing how they need better stopping power and automatic weapons, and how non/less-lethal can't work, and you are here going "I'll have a chance to shoot back AFTER being shot".

Knowing that the victim has a gun will only stop a criminal that doesn't have a gun. Otherwise they have a clear advantage as the aggressor. They are not some robin hood who just steals and doesn't kill, they will shoot you without a second thought, just like they would have cut you even if you had a knife, which is even more dangerous for them. Guns only escalate this, so they will need to make absolutely sure you are dead, cause they can't run from a gun.

But no, of course, what am I saying, crime is just a hobby, people don't do it out of fear or desperation, they just do it for fun. A little bit of fear will stop them. Yesterday you were living in a gang war zone, and today you are saying all these terrible gangsters will turn into absolute pussies at a sight of gun.

TIL guns cure crime by merely existing.