For all its foibles and peculiarities, the US’ apparently almost fetishistic relationship with guns is far and away the hardest for me to understand as an outside observer.
Trust me, I live here and I don’t get it either. And when you ask people they’ll tell you they have guns because other people have guns so they need it for protection. So you guys all have guns because you’re scared other people have guns?? Great recipe.
If only the crazies have guns, they’re going to start acting a lot crazier. Does it magically make everything safer to have your own? Obviously not. Statistically you’re more likely to shoot yourself.
But until we pass actual gun control, it’s hard to judge someone for having a gun.
Why not buy a bulletproof vest instead? Fighting fire with fire is not always the most efficient…
I remember seeing some sort of huge bulletproof blanket used by Japanese police to apprehend armed peoples. They hide behind that blanket and run towards the gunner to wrap them in it. The good side is that the gunner can be arrested alive for trial.
I don’t know if it was just a concept or of its really in use…
I have an honest question for you. Have you ever seen a bulletproof vest?
Also, the person you’re replying to gave a very frightening scenario: being hunted down at your own home. If you’re not shooting back, what do you think the enemy is going to do? Give up and go away? Molotov cocktails are an easy, low-tech solution to a barricaded enemy you don’t care about taking alive.
Now, if we assume you’re in public, there are still issues with a bulletproof vest. They’re not really all that great at being concealed. If you truly have a bulletproof vest that can fit underneath clothing, it’s not going to stop many bullets. You can look through the wikipedia page on different levels of body armor, and do a quick search to see how bulky the different types are. Police armor is rated for most handguns, and is super bulky already. Military armor can hopefully stand up to a rifle bullet, but they’re often ceramic plates, which don’t last against multiple rounds, and are very obvious and stand out. Your slim-fit vest may be able to handle a very small subset of rounds. If you go the route of more protection, you’re going to find yourself targeted by the gunman due to your visibility and because your potential as a threat is large compared to others. Even a very high quality, military vest/suit is not going to cover you well enough to make a difference if a single person is shooting at you and A) you don’t have buddies to give you cover fire and make them put their head down and B) space because you knew the shooter was an enemy before he pulled out a gun and started shooting at you.
I was once advised never to discuss this topic with Americans because it’s impossible to have a normal logic discussion… But I’m a bit dumb so I’ll do it anyway! (Assuming you’re American, sorry if I’m mistaken!)
A couple of points:
You’re right, I’ve never actually seen a bulletproof vest in real life. Notice that your laser focus on the technicality of some vests is very interesting and explains why they are not very common. Yet it doesn’t really implies that it couldn’t work. For example, the slim-fit c’est you’re taking about would be an excellent solution to give a chance to run away. In a similar vein, ABS brakes on a car do not perfectly prevent collisions but still help reduce the severity of accidents.
Regarding your imaginary scenario, please re-read the thread… It seems to me that you’re the first one mentioning the “very frightening scenario”. I’ll skip this one for now since it’s a different topic.
In public, would a concealable vest be good enough against concealable guns? Would a concealable gun be effective against a non-concealable big gun? It seems to me that all your arguments against vests also applies to guns…
Replacing guns by non-lethal tools would probably be just as effective to disable an attacker, while at the same time being a good first step to detox from this gun addiction, hopefully leading to a reduced number of gun accidents.
For all its foibles and peculiarities, the US’ apparently almost fetishistic relationship with guns is far and away the hardest for me to understand as an outside observer.
Trust me, I live here and I don’t get it either. And when you ask people they’ll tell you they have guns because other people have guns so they need it for protection. So you guys all have guns because you’re scared other people have guns?? Great recipe.
Play by the rules of the game you’re playing.
Not the rules of the game you want to play.
If only the crazies have guns, they’re going to start acting a lot crazier. Does it magically make everything safer to have your own? Obviously not. Statistically you’re more likely to shoot yourself.
But until we pass actual gun control, it’s hard to judge someone for having a gun.
Why not buy a bulletproof vest instead? Fighting fire with fire is not always the most efficient…
I remember seeing some sort of huge bulletproof blanket used by Japanese police to apprehend armed peoples. They hide behind that blanket and run towards the gunner to wrap them in it. The good side is that the gunner can be arrested alive for trial.
I don’t know if it was just a concept or of its really in use…
I have an honest question for you. Have you ever seen a bulletproof vest?
Also, the person you’re replying to gave a very frightening scenario: being hunted down at your own home. If you’re not shooting back, what do you think the enemy is going to do? Give up and go away? Molotov cocktails are an easy, low-tech solution to a barricaded enemy you don’t care about taking alive.
Now, if we assume you’re in public, there are still issues with a bulletproof vest. They’re not really all that great at being concealed. If you truly have a bulletproof vest that can fit underneath clothing, it’s not going to stop many bullets. You can look through the wikipedia page on different levels of body armor, and do a quick search to see how bulky the different types are. Police armor is rated for most handguns, and is super bulky already. Military armor can hopefully stand up to a rifle bullet, but they’re often ceramic plates, which don’t last against multiple rounds, and are very obvious and stand out. Your slim-fit vest may be able to handle a very small subset of rounds. If you go the route of more protection, you’re going to find yourself targeted by the gunman due to your visibility and because your potential as a threat is large compared to others. Even a very high quality, military vest/suit is not going to cover you well enough to make a difference if a single person is shooting at you and A) you don’t have buddies to give you cover fire and make them put their head down and B) space because you knew the shooter was an enemy before he pulled out a gun and started shooting at you.
I was once advised never to discuss this topic with Americans because it’s impossible to have a normal logic discussion… But I’m a bit dumb so I’ll do it anyway! (Assuming you’re American, sorry if I’m mistaken!)
A couple of points:
You’re right, I’ve never actually seen a bulletproof vest in real life. Notice that your laser focus on the technicality of some vests is very interesting and explains why they are not very common. Yet it doesn’t really implies that it couldn’t work. For example, the slim-fit c’est you’re taking about would be an excellent solution to give a chance to run away. In a similar vein, ABS brakes on a car do not perfectly prevent collisions but still help reduce the severity of accidents.
Regarding your imaginary scenario, please re-read the thread… It seems to me that you’re the first one mentioning the “very frightening scenario”. I’ll skip this one for now since it’s a different topic.
In public, would a concealable vest be good enough against concealable guns? Would a concealable gun be effective against a non-concealable big gun? It seems to me that all your arguments against vests also applies to guns…
Replacing guns by non-lethal tools would probably be just as effective to disable an attacker, while at the same time being a good first step to detox from this gun addiction, hopefully leading to a reduced number of gun accidents.