HIGH SCHOOL --1959 vs. 2009

You are of course, joking about being armed. Now, if you lived in York or Harrisburg, being armed would do you no good. You'd be outnumbered

 

100% true.

 

Absolutely not.

I have a PA LTCF issued by my sheriff. My wife, a former Federal LEO, has been threatened recently by someone she put away some years ago, who found her in our local downtown shopping district. This is not the first time this has happened.

I take self defense and the defense of my family very seriously. I train regularly, and am proficient with the handgun that I carry legally. My neighbors have no idea, as I carry concealed. We keep the garage door closed, cars and house locked, etc, at all times.

Being able to carry concealed in PA is a recent event. The laws were changed, making PA a shall issue state as it pertains to a License To Carry a Firearm. Open carry has been legal for some time, but only if you're not in a vehicle. Once you get in the car, you need a license to carry.

DM

 

You've just reinforced that I live in "Mayberry", a small pocket of a major city. I have to wave kids across the street at the intersections as I leave my neigborhood, and there's a crossing guard at another. You can't believe all the kids walking/scootering/biking to school every morning. There's even a quaint covered pedestrian bridge and a house with a white picket fence on the way to school.

Sadly, I drive my kid. We got an exemption to get him in the school and it's too far to walk. And once he leaves elementary school, now way he's walking. A major 6 lane road sits between our house and the Jr. High. The good news is he plays football and basketball to get his exercise.

 

Ok. Now, it is clear. Thanks. What I said about York and Harrisburg is very true.

 

100% on it.

This week is sex ed week in health class, and they're basically just covering STDs.

 

Not at all for me either. I either am armed or have OC spray with me when I take the dogs out at night. I've had incidents several times, and we live in a quiet city. There is just "stuff" that happens--and where would you rather go to rob someone: to the bad part of a city, or to a nice, quiet town that's close to the city?

 

Mike, good one!!!

I needed a smile on my face today.

Thanks,
UZY

 

Your point is salient. "Stuff," as you say, happens. Spray is preferred. We have it. We do not walk the dogs at night. We like early morning. There are few ramifications in using spray and most thugs will run. Stray shots from ricochets can have lasting effects unwanted by anyone. The neighborhood is for enjoyment.

 

I used to walk to school on the other side of town ...

... carrying a baritone sax, too.

 

The right ammunition, and an awareness of where you are and the situation reduce that risk significantly, As I'm sure you know, pepper spray won't deter someone who has a gun and a few feet on you.

DM

 

Very true Mike...my how time's have changed.

 

Sure. I'll forward your post to the house down the street that had 10 guys staying there and one of them got drunk at 11 in the morning and walked across the street in front of the grade school with an Ak-47. Nice neighborhood except for 3 houses...

 

When I went to school (Kindygarten) in Minnesota they made us practice tornado drills, nothing as scary as atomic bombs, but I'm sure places still practice stuff like that if natural disasters can happen.

 

Unless you have one of those city rug rats (the "dogs" small enough to use a cat box), when you're out walking the dog, you're not alone. Even the friendliest dogs are fiercely loyal to their meal ticket.

Back in the "before" scenario days, I was working (alone) in a gas station at a lonely intersection (back when stations had attendants). A guy pulled in and asked what I would do if someone were to hold me up. I just whistled.

And Max, a german shepherd the size of a pony, came trotting over.

The man just said, "Oh.", paid for his gas, and left.

 

I'm not so sure.

Back in the '90s, I'd read in a LEO journal, that unarmed burglars would often head first for the kitchen and arm themselves with a carving knife. I mentioned this on an online forum, and suggested that the counter-top knife racks weren't such a good idea -- better to keep the knives in one of several drawers.

The reaction was amazing. People screamed "paranoia" and denounced planning for, or even talking about, possible troubles.

As if thinking about "bad things" was what made them happen.

I suspect that disaster planning, like self defense, has become politically incorrect --- something to be left to Big Brother to worry about.

They also show Al Gore films.

And they also teach that the Civil War was about slavery, rather than about the economic disparity. (I went to school in the north, but they gave us enough background that the alert student could work that one out for himself).

How long before they start teaching "pyramid power" instead of physics?

The more we pretend that it's a "kinder, gentler world", the less of both it becomes.

After thinking about this one, a bit, I realize that "too far to walk" is less a matter of distance than of changing environment.

The neighborhoods aren't as safe for kids as they were. Crossing the street is far more dangerous when drivers are gabbing on cell phones, encased in a two ton SUV marketed to isolate you from the road.

-----

We can denounce the '50s for its open racism, but racism was coming under fire, even then. And it's the places that kept the discussion open, that let people proclaim their biases ... and then try to defend them ... where the greater progress was made in reducing racial bigotry.
The places were "political correctness" simply drove bigotry under cover left people with no need to evaluate ... or correct ... their prejudices.
If you look at a demographic map of Massachusetts, today, you might be surprised to find that it's more segregated than, say, North Carolina.
In my experience, I tend to find more "closet" bigotry in liberal cities than in conservative neighborhoods. Whether that's a city/town thing or a lib/cons thing, ....

And take the inattentive drivers. People aren't willing to take responsibility for their actions. The more we teach that Big Brother will keep bad things far away, the more they're convinced that it's not their actions that brought the disaster on themselves.


Political correctness doesn't really reshape people's thinking. It just puts a mask on it, and makes falsehood a way of life.

To paraphrase "Sin City", Once you get people agreeing with things they know in their hearts ain't so, ...
... it's a fast track downhill from there.

 

My dogs re for sure, not rug rats. Still, I'm certain I' not interested in sacrificing one of my dogs because some numb nutz can't control himself.

Here's a snapshot of Bijou. She's about 175 lbs.
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You misunderstood. I just don't walk the dog while armed. Not in this neighborhood. On the otherhand it would be a very bad idea to come into my house uninvited. Further, if we had three houses like that here, we would be elsewhere. If you or anyone else wishes to be armed, I have no objection whatsoever. The Constitution places the right to self defense directly after the right to free speech for a reason.

BTW. Frau and I have a well practiced home invasion plan.

 

Ah, gotcha. I did misunderstand. Most of the time, things are quiet. We live in a condo building at the end of a street where "most" of the houses are businesses. It's the edge of the urban/residential area.

The three houses we have trouble with are all rentals, waiting to be turned into apartments or condos. Luckily my friend is a cop, and he and his buddies sit on our street many nights.

 

Understood. Rentals are always a problem. Fringe areas require special consideration. Your choice is well understood.

 

Gorgeous animal, Dave. Sweety at home, I'm guessing.