The world needs more guns

[Cappytaino]

Coming from a completely bipartisan point of view, I was having trouble with bullies at school picking on me because of my race and the fact I tend to keep to myself. The school didn't do jack stuff about it, as I had posted earlier, and still have taken no action. Since I figured I couldn't rely on the school to defend me, I figured I had to defend myself. I come from a boxing background, but I was never really formally trained, just learned some basic punches and evasion/deflection and footwork from my father and grandfather. Here's the problem I have with the whole "guns to defend me" idea. Since the last posting of the thread, there were two more incidences of physical bullying. The first wasn't too bad, just a shoving match on the way home from school, but after that, since my school was useless at fixing the problem, I took up Muay Thai at my gym. I've been getting better at it, I had a better start than most because I knew a little boxing. I think this is what people SHOULD do. Able bodied people concerned about their safety should learn a martial art before purchasing a gun imo.

I've got no problem with people owning guns, but the idea of using them for self defense sounds pretty dumb to me unless the dangerous individual is also armed. I think that in most cases of unarmed assault/battery, assuming the assailant has no martial arts training (which they probably dont) most any martial art will probably stop them from doing much harm. Judo, Krav Maga, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, even straight up wrestling or boxing are all good choices. They all involve some form of grappling/clinching for control and one of the first things they teach you is how to counter the strikes and kicks that untrained fighters will throw at you and you should be able to walk away with little to no damage to yourself. It's fascinating to me that the ones most vocal about the rights to bear arms in self defense won't use the perfectly good weapons their body gives them and instead want to resort to deadly force using a firearm to stop something like an unarmed assault. Seriously, Krav Maga and BJJ aren't that difficult to pick up and 9 times out of 10 will stop any meathead dead in their tracks. I just think using a gun for all purpose self defense is a copout and is unnecessarily deadly in most cases.

[Ad Bot]

[Zloff]

if by 'also armed' you mean a knife or worse then I completely agree-- no one ends up dead and you'd never have to worry about being completely defenseless, on top of all other benefits there are to taking up a martial art. Although, to many, including myself, the idea of relying on one's body to protect their family and property when an unknown threat is breaking into their home at night wouldn't be preferable

I myself have received formal training in taekwondo but have studied and trained more extensively in thai and krav on my own and occasionally with other friends with martial arts backgrounds. Because of that and how crime is where I live and where I work, I don't ever plan to get a ccw permit like other family members

[Cappytaino]

if by 'also armed' you mean a knife or worse then I completely agree-- no one ends up dead and you'd never have to worry about being completely defenseless, on top of all other benefits there are to taking up a martial art. Although, to many, including myself, the idea of relying on one's body to protect their family and property when an unknown threat is breaking into their home at night wouldn't be preferable

I myself have received formal training in taekwondo but have studied and trained more extensively in thai and krav on my own and occasionally with other friends with martial arts backgrounds. Because of that and how crime is where I live and where I work, I don't ever plan to get a ccw permit like other family members

Agreed. I was just making the point that people who think that guns are the one size fits all solution to self defense are just wrong and should invest in learning a fighting technique before purchasing a gun.

[The Resonte!]

fighting techniques won't do much against someone with a gun, and there are lots of people with guns (which isn't, by itself, a bad thing)



plus guns are easy to use as opposed to learning a fighting technique
although learning a fighting technique is always helpful

[Zloff]

and fun

i know the real solution

let's have a holocaust of firearms & ordnance and turn the world into something like "into the badlands"

[Tayasaurus]

I've got no problem with people owning guns, but the idea of using them for self defense sounds pretty dumb to me unless the dangerous individual is also armed. I think that in most cases of unarmed assault/battery, assuming the assailant has no martial arts training (which they probably dont) most any martial art will probably stop them from doing much harm. Judo, Krav Maga, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, even straight up wrestling or boxing are all good choices. They all involve some form of grappling/clinching for control and one of the first things they teach you is how to counter the strikes and kicks that untrained fighters will throw at you and you should be able to walk away with little to no damage to yourself. It's fascinating to me that the ones most vocal about the rights to bear arms in self defense won't use the perfectly good weapons their body gives them and instead want to resort to deadly force using a firearm to stop something like an unarmed assault. Seriously, Krav Maga and BJJ aren't that difficult to pick up and 9 times out of 10 will stop any meathead dead in their tracks. I just think using a gun for all purpose self defense is a copout and is unnecessarily deadly in most cases.

Honestly if you're being attacked by a lunatic who isn't armed a gun doesn't need to be fired to get the point across. They aren't just for shooting but also making a statement to those who would seek to harm you. I'm not going to waste my time trying to use martial arts on someone dumb enough to go after me. Also martial arts wouldn't do me much good because i'm a small framed woman-thing. I'm just not designed to put out nearly as much power as a male is, even if i'm physically fit. I'm no Rhonda Rousey (Or the woman who kicked her ass likewise)

I obtained my first firearms with target shooting in mind. The idea of defense never occurred to me back then.

[Ipquarx]

Mexico tried banning guns. Really worked out for them.

Why on earth would you compare Mexico, which has one of the most corrupt law systems in the world, where the police practically work FOR the cartels, to the US? Sure the US has a lot of corruption, but compared to Mexico, the US police are saints.

[Cappytaino]

Honestly if you're being attacked by a lunatic who isn't armed a gun doesn't need to be fired to get the point across. They aren't just for shooting but also making a statement to those who would seek to harm you. I'm not going to waste my time trying to use martial arts on someone dumb enough to go after me. Also martial arts wouldn't do me much good because i'm a small framed woman-thing. I'm just not designed to put out nearly as much power as a male is, even if i'm physically fit. I'm no Rhonda Rousey (Or the woman who kicked her ass likewise)

I obtained my first firearms with target shooting in mind. The idea of defense never occurred to me back then.

Martial arts isn't quite all about strength. Technique is very important as well. I made the mistake of sparring with a welterweight friend (I'm a Heavyweight) who was fairly experienced in Judo and Tae Kwon Do and got flipped. That's a huge size difference and he was able to beat me because his technique was more honed. Your average wannabe boxer moron is susceptible to basically every play in your book and as long as you've got more training and experience, you should come out on top.

I agree with the point about guns being used as a negotiating tool moreso than a weapon, but there are just too many incidents of trigger happy wannabe heroes killing people when deadly force isn't always necessary. Of course it is sometimes if it's the only way to stop someone from being badly hurt, but in most situations, a good ol' well placed jab-hook-teep-round kick combo is sufficient to put down most idiots, considering they have absolutely atrocious stances and footwork. At my gym, dumb guys who think they're strong sometimes try to challenge the people doing bag work or pad work to spar with them. Spoiler alert, even the huge body builders get forgeted nearly every time because most of them have no formal training in fighting and don't train every facet needed to box. I'm basing my assumption of the typical no-good meathead on the sparring I've participated in and watched, and mostly they make a few mistakes that are pretty glaring.

The first is their footwork and stance. I use an orthodox stance (non-dominant leg forward) because it lets me get more torque on my kicks and right hand strikes and protects my dominant leg and arm a little more. The challengers usually have some weird kind-of-boxing stance but not really where their feet are completely next to each other, spread about 1.5 shoulder widths, almost to the point of doing a split. They're overly aggressive and always try to run in on you and throw haymakers. I don't think it occurs to them that kicks are a thing. A quick teep (front kick that's half push half kick, creates distance between you and opponent) will keep them away. they also hold their hands either at their chin or chest level (both of which are handicapped when going against high kicks) and if they're the super aggressive haymaker blind throwing kind of fighter, a quick teep into round high kick to the helmet should put it away.

The point I'm making is that strength is only a secondary factor imo, I think that technique is way more important. A skilled small fighter will beat a big stuffty fighter almost every time. Literally everything about my techniques are so far from perfect but I still manage to beat some challengers just because their technique sucks and they're so easy to counter. In other words, if muay thai was an mmo, I've just finished the tutorial and left the first quest zone and I'm still beating higher level players in pvp because I've spec'd better than them.

[Goku®]

I much rather be stabbed by a knife then shot with a gun.
Plus, what kind of handicap thinks Mexico is the best thing to compare to anything at this point?

[Zloff]

knives as a weapon scare me more than guns personally, not gonna lie

Spoiler alert, even the huge body builders get forgeted nearly every time

mfw guys say they could wreck a martial artist because they're huge and lift a lot


Taya, while I do agree with all your points, he is right about a martial art's potential for anyone(technique >>> speed > mass >= build) and also imo on how many incidents, while they are majorly justifiable, end with an unnecessary death

I'd rather break someone's arm than put a round in their center mass or worse if it came to it

[Ipquarx]

knives as a weapon scare me more than guns personally, not gonna lie

Honestly yeah I agree with this. Dying by gun would probably be a lot less horrible than by stabbing.

[Cappytaino]

Honestly yeah I agree with this. Dying by gun would probably be a lot less horrible than by stabbing.

In a knife fight, the loser dies at the scene and the winner dies in the ambulance. Knives are some scary stuff. I'm legitimately more scared of knives than guns.

[Tayasaurus]

In a knife fight, the loser dies at the scene and the winner dies in the ambulance. Knives are some scary stuff. I'm legitimately more scared of knives than guns.

Then carry a gun  

No more scary knife. Just silly man who brought knife to a gun fight. The only thing about a knife at that point you'd have to worry about is the guy jumping you up close. It's true though, knives inflict massive amounts of pain by comparison to a gun. I've had plenty of experience with knives (stabbed in the throat before) and i've had a distaste for them since then.

Martial arts on the other hand will always turn into a scuffle 99% of the time that ends up on the ground. Even with training i'm not interested in tussling and i believe that whether or not you choose to carry a gun is at the discretion of the person and that "martial arts" is not an argument for more gun control. (But i'm having serious doubts that's what you're getting at at all so correct me if i'm wrong.)

(Also i've achieved black belt in one martial art (karate, i know, haha what a mall-ninja thing to learn) and i'm glad that i know how to use myself to defend myself but i also know what my limit is. I'm more interested however in NOT putting any risks on the table for myself so i don't see firearm carry as a cop-out, thats just downright insulting to some people.  IT would be incredibly awesome though if self defense training was kind of a mandatory thing people had to do in the states though.)

[Cappytaino]

Then carry a gun  

No more scary knife. Just silly man who brought knife to a gun fight. The only thing about a knife at that point you'd have to worry about is the guy jumping you up close. It's true though, knives inflict massive amounts of pain by comparison to a gun. I've had plenty of experience with knives (stabbed in the throat before) and i've had a distaste for them since then.

Martial arts on the other hand will always turn into a scuffle 99% of the time that ends up on the ground. Even with training i'm not interested in tussling and i believe that whether or not you choose to carry a gun is at the discretion of the person and that "martial arts" is not an argument for more gun control. (But i'm having serious doubts that's what you're getting at at all so correct me if i'm wrong.)

(Also i've achieved black belt in one martial art (karate, i know, haha what a mall-ninja thing to learn) and i'm glad that i know how to use myself to defend myself but i also know what my limit is. I'm more interested however in NOT putting any risks on the table for myself so i don't see firearm carry as a cop-out, thats just downright insulting to some people.  IT would be incredibly awesome though if self defense training was kind of a mandatory thing people had to do in the states though.)

Oh, of course. Excuse me if I misstated my point. Guns do have their place in self defense, but I think that it would be better for everybody if more people knew non-lethal methods of defusing volatile situations as well. Whether they carry pepper spray or learn Judo, doesn't matter to me. I just don't like hearing about the over-eager wannabe heroes who shoot someone when they could've resolved the conflict without a fatality. Granted, this is a very small fraction of gun owners who have the shoot-first mentality, but I don't think the responsible majority matter as much in this case, as they cause far fewer fatalities for obvious reasons.

[Tayasaurus]

Glad to see we are on the same page i 100% agree. I'm in that group of people who desires to not have to use their carry-gun at all if possible. The sad truth is that the gun enthusiast community is saturated with wannabe-heroes as you've stated. A lot of confused undisciplined youth (My term is punk-teenagers) have become victims to firearms because the person wielding it overreacts to the situation.