(no subject)

[geekchick]

Fuck. Another shooting, in Manassas, at a place I drive past every day on my commute. Not all that far from where I live.

I hate that now I'm terrified to go put gas in my car.

Comments

Some Perspective

[telnar.livejournal.com]

Since traffic deaths don't get the banner headlines that killings by the sniper do, I'm going to average national statistics to make my point, which is that you're in more danger in your car than from filling the tank.

In 2001, 42,116 (http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/3818546.htm) people died in traffic collisions on US roads. That is 115.38 per day. The DC Metro Area's 1999 population was (http://eire.census.gov/popest/archives/metro/ma99-02.txt) 4,739,999, or 1.66% of the July 2001 US population of 284,796,887 (http://eire.census.gov/popest/data/national/populartables/table01.php). Thus, we should expect to see 1.92 traffic fatalities in the DC metro area each day.

I'm not trying to minimize the sniper threat. These numbers suggest that it's about half the size of the greatest everyday danger that most of us face: driving. On the other hand, I doubt that most people who are being cautious about the sniper(s) are putting in twice as much effort to avoid the danger of traffic accidents.

Now that I've seen the numbers, I suppose that I will start taking the sniper more seriously -- perhaps not quite half as seriously as traffic because of the much lower risk of injury, but close.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Fuck. FUCK!

Yes, I read Telnar's comment re: more likely to get in a car accident than get shot, and that is absolutely correct - I have to think that way or I'll never leave my house - but this has happened so many times that it just seems more and more likely with each one.

It is affecting what people do - only 4 people showed up at my 10 person drawing class on Tuesday. Fencing will be thin tonight, if it happens at all. I'll be there, if only because it offends the crap out of me to let this guy stop me from doing what I want.

Dammit, dammit dammit...

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

Aieee! Watch out, dear! But don't give in to this guy... be careful, but don't cancel your life. If everyone huddles at home, this guy wins...

[geekchick]

Oh no, I'm not putting anything on hold, I'm just really spooked. I also don't think anything's likely to happen again in this area, not right away at least.

[geekchick]

*nod* I'm not paralyzed by fear and I'm not avoiding doing anything I'd normally be doing anyway, I'm just a bit more nervous about it.

[greendalek.livejournal.com]

Solution: arm yourself. Don't sit around waiting for the police or the A to come to your rescue or protect you, because they aren't interested. Get a firearm, learn to use it, keep it loaded, and carry it around. Persuade everyone you love to do the same. Screw the laws; this is your life we're talking about now.

Hate to sound like some kind of extremist gun nut here (I claim no membership in the NRA or any of its equally neanderthal imitators), but I've just spent a semester studying the American Revolution and the Bill of Rights, and I have come to cherish the Second Amendment every bit as dearly as the other nine. This is the best solution I can offer as a resident of the state with the most gun owners and the lowest crime rate in the country.

Peace,
Peter

That sounds dangerous and ineffective to me

[telnar.livejournal.com]

I strongly disagree with your perception of the benefits of a loaded gun. Let's start by looking at the actual example. You're proposing carrying a pistol (the only size gun you can reasonably "carry around") for defense against a concealed attacker using a sniper rifle. There is no plausible way that you are going to get to fire first, and even if you are missed and manage to instantly spot the sniper, a pistol isn't accurate to the necessary range for you to do anything. All you've done by carrying a weapon with you is made it more likely that an accident will occur.

I life a fairly safe life. The most likely reason that someone would threaten me with a gun is to take my wallet. In that situation, I would rather yield my wallet than get into a gunfight even if I thought I were the favorite. My wallet isn't worth a 10% chance of taking a bullet (and at my actual level of skill, the odds aren't nearly 90-10 in my favor). If I lived in very different surroundings -- say in Mogadishu -- I'd choose differently (and shoot a lot of target practice), but for most people who live in fairly safe areas, carrying a gun causes more danger than it avoids.

Incidentally, when I went to a NRA run pistol class, I found the curriculum much more focused on safety than on the "neanderthal" aspects of gun ownership. You may be judging them unfairly. While I have no desire to own a gun myself, I'm glad that I took the time to better understand the difficulties of using one. If you need several seconds to aim accurately at 30 feet (which almost all inexperienced gun owners will), then you shouldn't be carrying a gun since you won't be able to fire it on target in the time you have available to use it (think about how long it would take someone to run those 30 feet and reach you).