In a country with more guns than people (there were some 393 million firearms in civilian hands alone in 2017, according to the Small Arms Survey), it’s easy to see why your husband might feel that owning one himself could give him some control, some shield against chaos. But your instincts are sound. As you’re aware, bringing a gun into our homes doesn’t seem to tip the odds in our favor. Studies show little evidence that guns protect against injury or loss during a crime. Instead, they raise the risk of harm within the household, through accidents, impulsive actions or suicide.
You’re imagining your regret were civic life to unravel, and you had failed to prepare. Maybe there’s a “Last of Us” scenario flickering in your heads, where bandoliered bad guys roam a collapsed society, but even then, I doubt that whatever firearm your husband is contemplating would help. In a world where some are armed to the teeth, being armed to your toes seems unlikely to do anything but escalate the dangers for you. What’s more to the point is that you feel safe in your city. Your recognition that guns bring more harm than good isn’t naïve. Real control lies in holding fast to your reasoned beliefs, not in giving way to fear.
— Kwame Anthony Appiah in My Husband Fears Political Violence. Should We Buy a Gun?
Why is it fearful to own a gun “just in case” but not fearful to refuse to own a gun “just in case”?
The Boy Scout motto must have changed from “Be Prepared” to be prepared only if your feelings permit.
Why? The mentality: Because giving into one fear is right wing which is inherently evil. Giving into the other fear is left wing, and therefore, virtuous.
The ethicists has failed at addressing an irrational fear of firearms and assigning evil to an inanimate object. He gives support to the flawed premise with flawed “facts”.
This just an example of how far we have advanced as a species. We no longer have to hunt, gather, tend to flocks and fields to survive. We have too much idle time to contemplate how much freedom we should give away and what rights we want to take from others.
“Studies show little evidence that guns protect against injury or loss during a crime. Instead, they raise the risk of harm within the household, through accidents, impulsive actions or suicide.”
False.
99.9% of firearms in legal private ownership are never involved in such risk of ‘household’ ‘accidents’ or suicide.
A person is 1,500 times more likely to be injured or killed or suffer loss as a result of being on or near a road/street with vehicle traffic than they are to be accidently injurered or have a suicide in the home with a gun.
Over 98% of firearms in legal private ownership that are used for defense incidents to protect against injury/loss, in or outside the home, are successfully used with no injury/loss to the victim defender, or other victims or bystanders, and are used in defensive gun use to successfully stop or deter the violent crime.
On the other hand…over 95% of crime victims without a firearm suffer injury/loss, some are killed outright or later die (over 82%), as a result of the violent crime.
Appiah evidently is relying on the antigun backed studies, which are full of incorrect and intentionally biased data. He even relied on old data and got the number of guns wrong. So apparently he didn’t do much research, or did his research in a confirmation biased manner, because he is flat out wrong.
and to add ….
To whom ever this NY Times ‘Ethicist’ is responding to – do not listen to this idiot who calls their self an ‘Ethicist’
LAWYER: You MUST carry in THIS PLACE Everyday! 78% of Self Defense Cases happen here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q0ydqi10Wc
Whats funny about all this is this person (whom this supposed ‘Ethicist’ is addressing) is a left winger, worried about ideological and political violence – when its the left wing doing the ideological and political violence, and the left wing preaches and encourages ideological and political violence all the time. This is aside from the crime which is up because the left-wing progressives turned criminals into ‘justice impacted individual’ ‘victims’ and adopted plans and policy to keep them out of jail or to lessen the punishment for their crimes, and not to forget importing millions of illegal aliens and providing them ‘sanctuary’ and payimg them with tax payer dollars and among those are thousands of violent criminals and their very way of life breeds even more criminals and crime. Anyway…. left-wingers are buying guns in increasing numbers citing fear of the very thing they helped create by voting left wing, voting into office the very people who wanted to create this and the left-wingers still don’t see its a problem they created yet indirectly admit the ideological and political violence and crime is a problem they fear and guns will help protect them when and if that time happens yet they still go ‘ohhh guns bad’ with their made up anti-gun crap. The left wing is one big withering mass of mental health issues, self-generated anxiety, TDS, false-narrative, hypocrisy, delusion, and confirmation bias when the reality is staring them right in the face they choose confirmation bias to support their own false-narrative of ‘guns bad’ to make their self feel ‘justified’ while they go out to purchase guns and the so called ‘‘Ethicist’ steps in to dissuade them citing everything that feeds their confirmation bias when the ideological and political violence and crime is real and that ‘wolf’ is ‘figuratively’ at the door.
I love the part where they say, basically, “I live in the city and feel safe’ but ‘my husband wants to get a gun’ and ‘I fear ideological and political violence’. Duh! well your husband probably senses something you don’t, he (or is it a she, never can tell these days), maybe somewhere in the dim recesses of the left wing mind, that there is a ‘threat’ to be prepared against.
They live in a large city, the person says they feel safe – I got a little fact for you who ever you are: You are not safe in that large city. In large cities a person is selected as a potential target of a violent crime at least 12 times for every 6 hours they spend in public view (i.e shopping, eating in a restaurant, to and from work, in the work place, various other things that place you in public view) – and the potential target person doesn’t even know it. Its only a matter of if the criminal chooses to enact that crime against you or not and they get to choose the how and when and where and why and what. There may be various reasons why they do not enact the crime, just as there can be various reasons they do enact the crime. All you can do is be prepared for when and if it happens, and the police will not be there to save you in that imminent moment so you saving you or family from serious harm or death is gonna be up to you. Do you feel safe now in that large city you live in?
We gun owners on the right accept that it can happen. We don’t create self-generated ‘anxiety’ or hypocrisy, we simply be prepared for the reality as its obvious its a reality that can be in an eye blink moment in time. So, who ever you are, you need to stop this self-generated BS ‘anxiety’ and hypocrisy and stop listening to this left wing ‘Ethicist’ who lives in their own delusional bubble of confirmation bias while they regurgitate false anti-gun information to feed your confirmation bias – as people like this ‘Ethicist’ will get you killed and not care one little bit.
Gun & Ammo Sales Set EXPLODE As “Trump Slump 2.0” Is CANCELLED…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBTePMjBaKs
yes. yes, i do.
I used to teach ethics at a local university (adjunct faculty). It is not unethical to own tools.
By the way, I was astounded when each time I introduced what I called the “Due Diligence Method of Ethical Decision Making” most of the students reacted with skepticism and even hostility because they had never heard of due diligence. They said it was not in their textbook so I must be making it up.
How dare you not be a cookie-cutter teacher that just recites from the program and collects a check.
From the original article:
My husband and I are Democrats, and we live in a large left-leaning city. Considering the current political climate in the United States and deepening concerns that it will only get worse, my husband wants to purchase a gun for safety reasons. To be clear, we don’t have general safety concerns. We live in the heart of the city, and I feel safe. He is concerned about political or ideologically motivated violence.
The thought process, probably:
“The MAGAs are coming! The MAGAs are coming! They’ll take our tranz son and force our daughter to have babies! They’ll confiscate our beloved maps that say Gulf of Mexico! They’ll say Merry Christmas! The Tangerine Tyrant wants to stop elections and install himself as king! My husband wants to protect us.”
Meanwhile: “we live in a large left-leaning city.”“I think guns are evil, and I believe that the world would be a better place without weapons.”
These people are hopeless.
But they’ve opened an interesting logical wedge.
If it is okay for a left-leaner to buy guns to feel safe, is it okay for a right-winger to buy guns to feel safe? Is there an inherent RIGHT to own a gun, or is it entirely predicated on one’s political leanings?
And if there’s an inherent right to own a gun, does that mean the 2A is NOT just about hunting?
Good observation. They don’t want to go down that road so they don’t have to admit that. Likewise, they didn’t just want to end Trump since Nov. 2016 because they had ideological differences. They had/have to end him so that people wouldn’t know that things could be done differently.
They want people to stay ignorant and complacent.
I have never taken a liberal gun owner seriously. At least a new conservative gun owner wants to learn and take training.
“As you’re aware, bringing a gun into our homes doesn’t seem to tip the odds in our favor.”
Tell that to the homeowner here in Los Angeles who was killed in the middle of the night this past week by three burglars who broke into his home and bashed his head in. Pronounced dead at the scene upon arrival of EMS. Bet that homeowner would’ve liked to have had a gun in his hand as those thugs ran towards him within his own home…and those invaders are believed to have entered the country under Joetato’s watch.
h t t p s://w w w.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/05/horror-three-illegal-aliens-bash-victims-skull-during/
*******
In other L.A. related news, our former Sheriff Alex Villanueva (who reversed decades of “no issue” CCW policy and began accepting applications even before Bruen, which is how I got mine) has just publicly denounced the Dem Party and stated he’s switching to become Republican. He’s publicly dunked on Gov Newsom, Mayor Bass, current Sheriff Luna, and the L.A. Board of Supervisors (all females) who coordinated in 2022 to get him out and get Leftist Luna in.
h t t p s://w w w.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/05/im-leaving-party-paid-protests-purple-hair-pronouns/
*******
(crosses fingers, hopes the site’s moderation goblins let this get posted)
IHAQ?
Haz?
Yeah, I’ve had posts ghosted, and *never* re-appear, you’re lucky yours ‘made it through the rain’.
About your ‘permission slip’ : Isn’t it only valid a few short years, cost over $1,000, and have to go through the ENTIRE process again in those few years, just to carry?
Nope…
My lengthy post was ghosted entirely. Not even a courtesy “held for moderation” tag. Geez. I had hopes for this site when Dan launched it. Maybe it was a mistake to come out of vacation to try posting again…
Ahh…this one above ^^ posted immediately. So yet again, Dan has banned my second moniker, forcing me to try this third one. My original one I had for several years on his old site and for the launch of this one, and then my second one that worked for a short while. I have *never* posted anything inflammatory, so I just don’t understand why the banning…
Haz, my below post did the same thing. I modified one word (b-e-t-t-e-r) and it posted. Yes, it is frustrating. You aren’t being singled out.
Here is the list of forbidden words and phrases. It’s probably very outdated because Dan removed many of them. For instance, you can now post trans. I began compiling it at TTAG after wordpress stepped up the censorship game. If you have a long comment, then type it on a wordpad, or at least copy before posting. Check your comment for any of these words and phrases:
SOME MODERATED WORDS AND PHRASES
t-r-a-n-n-i
t-r-a-n-z (included in any word)
s-e-cks (included in any word)
g-a-e
yet (plus) another
someone (plus) else
article (plus) content
always (plus) to
c-a-s-i-n-o
d-r-i-n-k-i-n-g
s-o-c-i-a-l (ist, ism)
v-a-c-c-i-n-a-t-i-o-n
h-o-m-o (etc.)
l-i-t-t-l-e
b-o-y-c-o-t-t
d-e-m-o-r-a-l-i-z-a-t-i-o-n
s-u-r-v-e-y
a-r-e very fine people
n-a-t-u-r-a-l-i-z-a-t-i-o-n
d-r-u-g-s
b-e-t-t-e-r
J-u-s-t g-r-e-a-t. S-o n-o-w w-e h-a-v-e t-o r-e-s-o-r-t t-o t-h-i-s? F-o-r-g-e-t i-t…
Tried the above under my classic username. Still banned. It does indeed to be flagged to the username/email in my case. Frustrating.
S-o-m-e o-f m-i-n-e a-r-e q-ui-ck to po-st, o-th-ers n-ot s-o.
Haz, check comment here:
https://www.shootingnewsweekly.com/crime-and-punishment/ignoring-gun-control-laws-to-save-lives-or-the-tale-of-a-chicago-defensive-gun-use/comment-page-1/#comment-37263
” So yet again, Dan has banned my second moniker, forcing me to try this third one.”
Dan isn’t doing the banning, it’s the back-end code doing this…
No idea what you’re talking about. I haven’t banned anyone at this site. Ever.
“So yet again, Dan has banned my second moniker, forcing me to try this third one“
Of course, you can’t expect folks to exchange ideas freely in an open debate.
I mean really, do you think this is America?
From the original article:
My husband and I are Democrats, and we live in a large left-leaning city. Considering the current political climate in the United States and deepening concerns that it will only get worse, my husband wants to purchase a gun for safety reasons. To be clear, we don’t have general safety concerns. We live in the heart of the city, and I feel safe. He is concerned about political or ideologically motivated violence.
The thought process, probably:
“The MAGAs are coming! The MAGAs are coming! They’ll take our trans son and force our daughter to have babies! They’ll confiscate our beloved maps that say Gulf of Mexico! They’ll say Merry Christmas! The Tangerine Tyrant wants to stop elections and install himself as king! My husband wants to protect us.”
Meanwhile: “we live in a large left-leaning city.”“I think guns are evil, and I believe that the world would be a b-e-t-t-e-r* place without weapons.”
These people are hopeless.
*this word won’t post
Amazing, my post at 1:28 posted immediately. User names must be the clue as to what gets posted.
Amazing, my post at 1:28 posted immediately. User names must be the clue as to what gets posted.
In other words, “Be a good slave and rely on the nanny state to protect you” even though they often cannot or will not do so.
And these people are completely ignoring what happens when the drones are activated. (See BLM summer of 2020 in large left-leaning cities.)
Armed Donut Store Employees Stop Robbery In Houston.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpDesWE-5tY
The Hypocrisy of the Civilian Disarmament Movement. Exhibit A.
Washington Gun Law President, William Kirk, discusses the hypocrisy that is exhibited, on a daily basis by the modern progressive movement and this time uses a real life example of a Washington state legislator who wants to make rules for others, but not have them apply to her. Meet Rep. Tarra Simmons, who has not only voted to restrict magazine capacity in this state, but has also determined what firearms are appropriate for you to use in self defense. But when she decides it’s time to learn to defend her life, check out what she does. So learn more today and arm yourself with education.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAyM2_y96Hw
BREAKING NEWS: FEDERAL APPEALS COURT RULES AGAINST 1ST AMENDMENT IN 2A HAT CASE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulwuRRodx9Q
Meet The NEW 2A Quarterback of the Department of Justice | She Is A Gun Owner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OaacKNscxY
Dear Democrats, We the People Have Had Enough of Your Illegal Immigrants’ Violence.
https://pjmedia.com/kevindowneyjr/2025/05/05/the-morning-briefing-dear-democrats-we-the-people-have-had-enough-of-your-illegal-immigrants-violence-n4939467
The Demorcrats will eat their own: The Coup Against Sen. Fetterman Is Officially Underway.
https://pjmedia.com/scott-pinsker/2025/05/03/the-coup-against-sen-fetterman-is-officially-underway-n4939461
Another Day, Another Attack by Illegal Immigrant Gangbangers.
https://pjmedia.com/kevindowneyjr/2025/05/03/another-day-another-attack-by-illegal-immigrant-gang-bangers-n4939465
Colorado Democrats Push Trans Bill That Was Too Radical For California.
“A bill facilitates the state taking kids from their parents if they resist a child’s desire to ‘socially’ or ‘medically transition.’
…”
https://thefederalist.com/2025/05/02/colorado-democrats-push-trans-bill-that-was-too-radical-for-california/
Great idea! Thanks.
I’ll be taking your food, water, tools + transportation!
If you or your husband do get a gun, be sure to get training in it. The NY Times worries about accidents can be resolved by getting training. Train together, and it can be a source of confidence and joy in shared experience. Suicide has many other modalities than guns, and if you have problems where that is seriously considered, get help.
‘Don’t wear a seatbelt’, Don’t use a safety reflective vest when changing a tire beside the interstate’ ‘Don’t put new batteries in the CO detector’…..
Just rest in comfort that real control lies in knowing that the world is a safe place based on your reasoned beliefs, where no danger exists and tools the can enhance your abilities are not necessary. ‘You go girl’.
As a Native American I can assure you that had my ancestors met Columbus with an AR-15, or at least a historically accurate matchlock, history would have been much different. Most of human civilization has been forged through violence and those unprepared to defend themselves and their lives will fall to aggression. Feel good platitudes and moralistic hand wringing will be the death of the naive.
DataRepublican strikes AGAIN: George Soros’s Evil AF PLAYBOOK.
https://twitchy.com/samj/2025/05/02/george-soros-thread-datarepublican-n2412277
So when the comment disappears and the page refreshes, the comment still apparently goes to moderation even though it no longer says awaiting moderation. Okay. It’s like the rules keep changing.
I always look askance at anyone who is a so-called “ethicist”. I find that they are really just apologists for leftist sophistry that advocates things such as euthanasia, full term abortion, pedophilia, acepptance for transgenderism, etc.
And drop your car and homeowners’ insurance, too!!!
Aleksandre Modebadze is apparently unavailable for comment, perhaps he should have owned a firearm?
I’ve got news for you, toots. You’re in a hell of a lot more danger from The Diversity in your “large liberal city” than from any Maga Mob in you and hubby’s fevered dreams. We don’t do riots or mob violence, they do.
it’s not even that, while those statements are not innaccurate- it’s easy enough to avoid mobs.
they’re only just now starting to reign in individuals that should not be roaming free.
time to fill the jails again.
Sure, don’t get a gun. It’ll be easier for the bad guys to take your stuff when they finally decide to. Just ask for mercy and you’ll be fine.