Espi said:
I really wanna know: What is so freaking great about being able to carry a gun legally? LOL Do you get off on that or something? I genuinely want to understand someone like you...if I carried around a gun, I wouldn't feel so great.
It's the principle of the thing... that if I were to live in Vermont, that the state trusts me to own and/or carry a gun. Or not own and carry one.
Or many other states, but VT is one of the least restrictive.
Why should I reward a state with my tax dollars that doesn't trust me with a right that is really guaranteed by the Constitution? (I don't really live in Oklahoma... I live in another state with ludicrously restrictive laws).
Luckily, I'm not a victim of violence, but I was once shadowed by someone at a local park. Maybe he was just drunk or high and randomly loitering, but it seemed odd that as I walked the trails, he stayed consistendly between five and ten yards away from me for a substantial amount of time. Then he disappeared, and in the parking area reappeared, and walked right toward me, passing by with only a yard or two to spare as I got into my own car. During most of this "encounter" this person could easily have closed in quickly, started a fistfight, shot me, stabbed me, or bashed me with one of the thousands of rocks that lie along the trail system.
He could have easily hurt or killed me, with no one to witness the incident, despite it being a well-used suburban park. I have no idea how skilled I am at fighting, and someone who is roughly my size could easily slay me if they have ruthlessness and desperation on my side. I don't often wish I had a firearm at my side, but that was one of the times that I did.
Sorry, I just don't want to test my running and/or fighting skills against someone who is assaulting me. A decent handgun is the only way I can realistically see to increase my odds of survival.