Drive-By shooting in West Kendall

[miamidesigner]

There has been 8 shootings this year thus far, in the area.

I saw a documentary on gang violence a while back and in this documentary they were interviewing Canadians who spoke casually about the latest robberies in their community and how they decided they wouldn't be locking their doors or purchasing guns as a measure to help prevent something like that from happening again.

The main idea driving this documentary was how fear mongering effects the psyche of a society and how Americans in particular play into this fear mongering quite often. They contend that this is why the US has more issues with violence, shootings, gangs etc than many other developed countries around the world.

What do you guys think?

Drive-by shootings on the rise in West Kendall - West Kendall - MiamiHerald.com

[Carlos Miller]

Let the Canadians do what they want. We are a gun culture. Always have been.

Any idiot that purposely leaves their door unlocked deserves what he gets.

I own two guns but I don't carry them around with me. But I won't give them up either.

[croatbob]

Let the Canadians do what they want. We are a gun culture. Always have been.

Any idiot that purposely leaves their door unlocked deserves what he gets.

I own two guns but I don't carry them around with me. But I won't give them up either.

c this is what i dont understand about usa culture. when r u mostly likely to get a gun pulled on u? when u r asleep in bed? when u r walkin the streets? when disturbing an intruder? what are the chances of havin ur loaded hand gun next to u at these points? do u think that u r more like or less likely to get shot when u are armed or unarmed? unless u r a gansta or hunter i do see the point of it. u r more likely to put yourself and family at risk with a gun in the house then not. most ppl that seem to get shot are involved in illegal activities or in the wrong place at the wrong time. which means u havent have ur gun on u anyways. your child is more likely to blow there own head off by placing with it then u actually using it in self defence. correct me if i wrong...just my thoughts.

[Carlos Miller]

I bought my first gun in my early 20s because I was shot at in a case of road rage. It was a cheap .380.

I bought my second gun when I realized I wanted something with a little more size and kick. It was a Ruger .357 revolver.

I bought my third gun when I realized I wanted something a little more compact. It was a Colt .45 caliber.

I ended up selling the first two guns and keeping the Colt. Back in the day, we would go out to the Everglades and shoot bottles. We would also go to the shooting range.

I left the gun behind when I went to Europe, but had it with me when I lived in Arizona, New Mexico and California. It may even been illegal in California. Not really sure.

When I returned to Miami, I bought a Beretta 9-millimeter because I wanted something lighter and more compact than the Colt .45.

At one point a few years ago, I was going to apply for my concealed weapons permit, but then I got arrested for taking pictures of cops and my life took a whole new turn.

Even though I don't carry the guns around and I live in a secure building, I keep them around because things can get chaotic after a hurricane when it becomes every man for himself.

[Blackford Oakes]

c this is what i dont understand about usa culture. when r u mostly likely to get a gun pulled on u? when u r asleep in bed? when u r walkin the streets? when disturbing an intruder? what are the chances of havin ur loaded hand gun next to u at these points? do u think that u r more like or less likely to get shot when u are armed or unarmed? unless u r a gansta or hunter i do see the point of it. u r more likely to put yourself and family at risk with a gun in the house then not. most ppl that seem to get shot are involved in illegal activities or in the wrong place at the wrong time. which means u havent have ur gun on u anyways. your child is more likely to blow there own head off by placing with it then u actually using it in self defence. correct me if i wrong...just my thoughts.

How come I have the feeling croat, that a child from where you came from already knows how to clean and load a pistol.

Carlos, my wife also calls me an idiot for leaving the door unlocked at the same she praises me for providing a home in a community with less than .05% crime. I won't give up my Beretta though. In CFL we live in a gated community. In Miami we like to say we're surrounded by a moat. Every extra layer between us and the bad guys helps.

[GandJ]

I agree with Carlos and UTS.
Croatbob - The population of the USA is very different than that of Euope. The bad guys aren't going to turn in their guns just because of a law, but it leaves the good guys defenseless. In fact, in the USA, with a few exceptions, there is an almost inverse relationship between strcict gun laws and crime. The areas with stricter laws typically have higher crime rates. Miami might be one of the exceptions as it has relatively high crime and loose gun laws. But for the rest of the country, the areas with loose laws are generally safer.
Results may differ in Europe, which has a much different population.

Glenn

[croatbob]

im actually from australia haha just croat background and we had an issue but it was stamped out real qwik with a government buy back of any high powered or small guns. u can only own shotguns etc but u need a license and its hard to get. guns r just too easy to buy in the usa which is why the streets are the way they are. i just cant see a situation where i will have a gun loaded n ready when i most need it without carrying it all the time. not like u walk around the hose with it. its generally locked and stored safely so by the time u got the thing out u would have 20 rounds into u by the bad guy anyways. also if u r carrying theres a good chance the bad guys just gana take off when he has what he wants. if u r carryin u kno u got a bullet comin ur way

[GandJ]

croatbob -

Looks like ever since the stricter gun laws in Oz, the armed robbery rate went up 45%. Other crimes went up, too.

Crime up Down Under


Washington, DC has some of the strictest gun laws in the US, but some of the highest crime rates. I live a little over the line in Fairfax Coiunty, Virginia. We have loose gun laws and some of the lowest violent crime rate in the country.

Washington, DC has about 600,000 people and murders in the hundreds per year. Fairfax County, Virginia has about 1 million people and about 15 murders per year, despite the high gun ownership by law abiding citizens in Virginia .

Glenn

[croatbob]

or is it just timing considering the huge immigration of a growing country and economic situations? u may be right but very few ppl have, own, need guns in oz. aust crime rate could go up a billion % and we still wouldnt be as bad as what we currently have in the usa in the way of shooting. most murders u hear back home are bashing murders not shottings

[GandJ]

<<....or is it just timing considering the huge immigration of a growing country and economic situations?"...>>


Bingo! You nailed it. And that's why crime in the USA differs so much from other places. Different populations., Different economics. Etc, Etc. A gun is a tool. The bad guys will get them, no matter what the law. And, the law abiding good guys dont go around capping people in the ass just because guns are legal. It's the population; not the guns themselves.

Glenn

[Blackford Oakes]

im actually from australia haha just croat background and we had an issue but it was stamped out real qwik with a government buy back of any high powered or small guns. u can only own shotguns etc but u need a license and its hard to get. guns r just too easy to buy in the usa which is why the streets are the way they are. i just cant see a situation where i will have a gun loaded n ready when i most need it without carrying it all the time. not like u walk around the hose with it. its generally locked and stored safely so by the time u got the thing out u would have 20 rounds into u by the bad guy anyways. also if u r carrying theres a good chance the bad guys just gana take off when he has what he wants. if u r carryin u kno u got a bullet comin ur way

It depends on the situation Croat. When I was single, my gun was ready to go and stored in a discreet place and within reasonable reach if I heard strange sounds at night. At the time I lived at the border of this country's largest municipal park. A lot of strange people would wander and even live in the park. Many miscreants. The Labianca murders just happened down the road a bit.

Today with a 2+, I'd really have to be responsible and think it through. If I lived in the same environment, I'd like my gun to be accessable.

[croatbob]

sad when it comes to that isnt it! id rather get shot then worry about my 2 yr old finding my loaded gun and shooting him/herself by accident or me shooting a family member or friend cause i think they are an intruder. if u lived in a bad bad area understandable i guess but i dont see the need in relitively safe environments.

[Carlos Miller]

They sell gun locks. If I had a kid, I would have one of those.

Even now that I live alone, my guns have bullets in the magazines, but not in the chamber because I have little cousins that come over - even though they will never go through my drawers.

All I have to do is cock the gun, which I can do is less than a second if it comes down to it.

[Blackford Oakes]

sad when it comes to that isnt it! id rather get shot then worry about my 2 yr old finding my loaded gun and shooting him/herself by accident or me shooting a family member or friend cause i think they are an intruder. if u lived in a bad bad area understandable i guess but i dont see the need in relitively safe environments.

That was ages ago Croat when I was single and lived in a big city. I think everyone had a gun in that neighborhood. Even Laffit Pincay Jr a few houses up from me. Unfortunately, his wife got hold of his loaded gun and ended her life.

I have no need for a gun today other than for sport. It's right now dormant in a locked gun case. If my living conditions and surroundings change, Id have to be reunited with my little friend, but mindfull of all possibilites now that I'm responsible for two more beings under my roof.

[miamidesigner]

Good point croatbob, most people that are involved in shootings etc are those who are dealing in illegal activities or in the wrong place at the wrong time. Gun control is a serious issue in this country and I believe it's because practically anyone can have access to it. Like you mentioned, someone's child is much more likely to hurt themselves than the actually gun owner using the gun to defend themselves and their family. Guns don't kill people; people kill people.

[croatbob]

if u r at home relaxin and a theif comes in with a gun. what chance have u got of gettin to ur gun b4 he shoots u anyways? thats my main arguement. even if u sleep with it under ur pillow. by the time u snap out of it, unlock it, point n shoot he would have put 20 rounds into u if he wanted. unless u r like a police officer and have it strapped to u 24-7 its useless. more likely to shoot a loved one then a bad guy. americas obsession with guns is crazy. its an ego thing not a practical thing. also whats one of the 1st thing that a buglar steels in a home invasion anways? your gun. means ur gun is runnin round in the hands of a bad guy. domestic voilences end up murders because of easy access to guns. kids steal there parents guns. no way known am i eva goin to put my family at risk with guns around the house

[miamidesigner]

The way I see it, it's the same as the Nuclear Proliferation theory - the more Weapons of Mass Destruction we acquire the LESS safe we actually are. First, it was these two super powers the US and the USSR, racing to see who can build up their weapon base trying to become the ultimate super power. Along the way, Hiroshima was bombed which killed anywhere between 150,000 to 246,000 and that was just from the immediate attack and not including deaths related to the bombing months afterward. Once one of these super powers fell, a black market arose and the spread of nuclear weapons and technology has spread (i.e. China and Iran) and now we have a situation where these weapons are in the hands of just about anyone.

That is the connection with guns now, it started with the country's militia and army members having access to them, then we gained the right to bear arms and now private individuals can have them in their homes where there are little children who can come across them. The problem compounds since inevitably the black market emerges and criminals have access to them, they smuggle it to other countries and supplies them to more criminals and countries who don't even have the resources to protect their people from these criminals (Columbia, Africa, Mexico etc) and we just keep producing and producing more guns, more nuclear weapons, all these individuals gaining access more and more and then you have to ask yourself, with all these weapons available the way they are:

How can we possibly be more safe now with these weapons than when we didn't have them? Anyone now, can grab a gun and shoot up a high school or a mall, or even bomb a country.

[wpns4l]

Or parents with guns could take the time to teach their kids proper gun use and handling instead of hiding them from them. I was given my first .22 when i was 8 years old and taught by my dad, uncles and hell even the boy scouts the proper way to handle it and that its a tool not a toy.

You can bet when my friends came over i wasnt like "hey, lets go find my dads guns and play with them" cause i knew better and was taught better.

[croatbob]

u would leave an 8 yr old to make mature and educated decisions about gun use? fuk me what happened to playin with toys? why the hell does n 8 yr old need to kno anything about guns? curiosity killed the cat wonder what it would do with a 8 yr old boy?

[wpns4l]

u would leave an 8 yr old to make mature and educated decisions about gun use? fuk me what happened to playin with toys? why the hell does n 8 yr old need to kno anything about guns? curiosity killed the cat wonder what it would do with a 8 yr old boy?

So instead you rather not teach an 8 year old anything about guns that way when he finds one he doesn't know how to properly handle it or what it is for thus making him much more likely to accidentally shoot it off and hurt himself or someone else.

Or my way where you teach your kid about guns and how they are not toys and not ment to be played with and how to use them responsibly so when he does come across one he knows better than to play around with it.