It's time to call 911 when...

[IMAUDIGGER]

Digger, Excellent story! I was hit by shotgun pellets quite a few times when I ignored "no trespassing" signs (Signs, signs, everywhere a sign...) and hollers to vacate. If the field was irresistable to me for arrowhead hunting after a rain, and if there was no chance for getting permission, well, I just kept at it and stayed out of shotgun range until the pellets actually sang.

My trespassing started early. Last month, my mom was buried within sight of our first house - a rental adjacent to a pig farm, long gone now. When i was 3, I took advantage of whenever my mother would be occupied with my little brother and would escape to visit my friends the pigs. I would stand among them and talk to them. The farmer added barbed wire, not to keep the pigs in, but to keep me out. I was caught once and snagged my left knee on the barbed wire. Those were my first stitches 61 years ago and I still have the scar. I remember leaving the hospital with p'o'd parents who would not let me linger to admire the most beautiful rhinocerus beetle on the hospital steps. We moved shortly after that.

We lived up a Gulch. Every family had kids about the same age. Wasn't unusual to take off on a sat. Morning with the pellet guns and cross a half dozen different properties. If someone saw us we would just wave and they would wave back. There were people to avoid, but pretty much free range. Had to be back before dinner. Usually a 5-10 mile day. Well usually 5 miles if we were on foot. Bicycles was a different story.

 

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[MAILITY]

“During the gold rush its a good time to be in the pick and shovel business.” Mark Twain

Get out there in tan coveralls with a white hanky hangingxender discord omegle out the back pocket, make hand antlers on your head, and do some buck snorts.

Don't worry they will know antlers without velvet is not in season.

 

[IN DA HOLE]

Its just way too easy for any idiot to buy weapons in the USA. I never feel safe while visiting your country and always on edge. Not suggesting gun control just idiot control.

 

[smokeythecat]

In da hole, you have a better chance getting hit by a truck than shot by a gun. Almost any idiot can get a driver's license.

 

[RGINN]

About LEO response, up here one New Year's Eve, a local wag fired a pistol into the air at midnight. Response was immediate. They did a reverse 911 call telling people to shelter in place in that area. And the actually got the guy and took him to jail. And of course all this happened, because there was a good chance that bullet could come down and damage some rich persons' million dollar second home, haha!

 

[smokeythecat]

Yeah, only a moron shoots live ammunition in the air. It does come down.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Its just way too easy for any idiot to buy weapons in the USA. I never feel safe while visiting your country and always on edge. Not suggesting gun control just idiot control.

Probably depends on what zip code your visiting.
Chicago for instance would make me a little scared.

So the criminals/gangs/cartels in your country don't have access to firearms via the black market?
Having just the criminals armed would make me uneasy.
Having an unarmed police force would be even more scary.

It's the criminals and insane people with guns/knives/baseball bats/vehicles/chains/shovels/bricks...ect. that bother me.
Everyone else is on my side.

People from overseas have a misconception that Americans act like a bunch of Wild West cowboys and settle all our fights with guns. Only the gangs do this.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Yeah, only a moron shoots live ammunition in the air. It does come down.

I ONLY shoot live ammo in the air and it ALWAYS comes down.
Who you calling a moron??

 

[IN DA HOLE]

Probably depends on what zip code your visiting.
Chicago for instance would make me a little scared.

So the criminals/gangs/cartels in your country don't have access to firearms via the black market?
Having just the criminals armed would make me uneasy.
Having an unarmed police force would be even more scary.

It's the criminals and insane people with guns/knives/baseball bats/vehicles/chains/shovels/bricks...ect. that bother me.
Everyone else is on my side.

People from overseas have a misconception that Americans act like a bunch of Wild West cowboys and settle all our fights with guns. Only the gangs do this.

I have traveled to many of the larger American cities like Chicago,LA,Boston, NYC, Miami and many more and yes most people are fantastic, but all it takes is one road rage hothead with a handgun hidden in his belt and you just never know. Here are cops are as well armed as yours. Handguns and assault rifles are not easy to get without being a police officer and not for the general public. Long guns require registration and courses and licensing with wait times.

I am by no means a NON gun person and in fact I own a couple rifles, but have never seen the need for an AK47 or a handgun and if you need one for self protection either you are in a place you shouldn't be living in or you have serious issues with as you say gangs/criminals/cartels being nearby. When I see all the school/mall/Church shootings I often wonder where all the good guys are who are packing?

I am not looking to start an issue here.

Most people on the planet know America's love of guns and I am fine with it. I just don't like the feeling of having people with little or no training carrying concealed weapons around me. And Smokey getting hit by a truck is an accident that can happen anywhere, getting shot in the head is MURDER.

 

[smokeythecat]

In da hole, it depends where you go. There hasn't been a murder in my community for 200 years. Downtown Baltimore, some 45 miles hence, not so good a record.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

I have traveled to many of the larger American cities like Chicago,LA,Boston, NYC, Miami and many more and yes most people are fantastic, but all it takes is one road rage hothead with a handgun hidden in his belt and you just never know. Here are cops are as well armed as yours. Handguns and assault rifles are not easy to get without being a police officer and not for the general public. Long guns require registration and courses and licensing with wait times.

I am by no means a NON gun person and in fact I own a couple rifles, but have never seen the need for an AK47 or a handgun and if you need one for self protection either you are in a place you shouldn't be living in or you have serious issues with as you say gangs/criminals/cartels being nearby. When I see all the school/mall/Church shootings I often wonder where all the good guys are who are packing?

I am not looking to start an issue here.

Most people on the planet know America's love of guns and I am fine with it. I just don't like the feeling of having people with little or no training carrying concealed weapons around me. And Smokey getting hit by a truck is an accident that can happen anywhere, getting shot in the head is MURDER.

I wouldn't want to debate your beliefs.

Even the best neighborhoods experience crime.

I won't list all of the various reasons a person could find themselves with a higher risk of being victim of violence, but it's a long list and more common than you think.
A long gun is very limited as a self defense weapon. Just isn't practical.

In order to buy a handgun I had to have a background check and take a safety course.
To conceal carry a handgun, I had to have 8 hours of training.
Every 2 years I have to do it again. Gun owners generally spend a lot of time training.
Hundreds of not thousands of dollars is spent practicing

Schools/malls/churches are "gun free zones".
Easy targets.

Of course the real problem is the fact that we have children growing up evil enough to do these things.

I don't know what the police response time is where you live, but for me it's 15 minutes to 2 hours. That simply means I cannot rely on them to protect me if I find myself in a bad situation.

 

[IN DA HOLE]

In da hole, it depends where you go. There hasn't been a murder in my community for 200 years. Downtown Baltimore, some 45 miles hence, not so good a record.

I have driven through Baltimore several times while going on vacation to Deerfield Beach FLA and across lots of small town America along the way maybe possibly right past your place. It is an amazing country and I prefer taking the side highways like the 81 until we get below DC, rather than all the big cities along the northern 95 if time permits. It just feels safer but crime is everywhere. Not being a citizen of the US I can say it can be unnerving for travellers in unknown areas especially with children along. Maybe it is the fact of not legally being able to also be armed and just not knowing what areas are safe or not. This is just a different perspective of a foreigner I guess.