Your personal defence weapon should be on you or staged somewhere sensible though, not left lying around.
And sometimes it's more like a passive aggressive resentful jerk who hates your guts and wants to see you dead. Or is just no help at all.
Of course, I agree. If you do need it, and it's locked away, it's not much use. This is what I said before: Unfortunately, one problem happens when people are irresponsible with their guns, or leave them around where children or toddlers can get them. All right. I'm just curious: I've lived in big cities all my life. I understand that farmers need guns to protect their livestock. I also understand that soldiers and policemen need guns. But why do ordinary citizens need guns as they go through their everyday, more-or-less normal lives? *shrug* I'm just confused. I've seen people taking pistols or firearms to schools, to church, to go shopping. What for? I don't understand why someone needs an assault rifle, just to go to the supermarket. =========================== Um, sorry: what is a PDW, and where are they legally allowed to be carried? No disrespect intended, I'm just trying to understand.
A personal defense weapon is just that a weapon carried to defend yourself. Many states permit constitutional carry, which is the right to carry based of the second amendment of the US constitution. Others require a background check to get a concealed carry permit, with agreements to honor those permits issued by other states. This is a very generalized over view, for more specifics look at the USCCA website among others. With all the defund the police movements impact here in the states, and the results of it, the general level of safety has gone down dramatically to the point many feel the ability to protect themselves has become a necessity.
although that is a term that's open to misinterpretation because in military applications a personal defense weapon is also a class of submachinegun like weapons designed to fire rifle like cartridges, typically intended to be issued to tank crew, artillery, and other people who may be in a combat zone but not issued with a battle rifle... the two best known being the H&K MP7 and the FN P90
I'm British so i can't, but if you're in an environment where a lot of criminals carry guns i can see why a civilian might also want one - not a battle rifle but a small pistol designed for everyday carry. In Britain armed criminals are rarer but ive been in a couple of situations with scrotes with knives where a pistol would have been preferable to having to improvise Likewise if you live in an environment where armed home invasion is a thing, i can see why you'd want a pistol or shotgun close at hand in order to defend yourself crime aside if you live in a country where there are still top predators i could see a hiker or woodsman wanting to carry in order to be able to dissuade bears, big cats and so on
I knew a few who carried pistols to shoot themselves if they fell from a cliff but survived the fall. That seemed a little extreme.
I'd say you're merely more fortunate than confused. Certain areas are high in gun crime, perpetrated via gangs armed with smuggled weapons. If you haven't had to be around that, then... good for you? Though it's not just gun crime that warrants a firearm's response, either. Many violent crimes are committed with the assumption there's no physical equalizer. People get beaten to death, raped, etc... when the predating criminals see it as a reasonable risk/reward decision. The police are not omnipotent. On the PDW acronym, I always thought it was strictly a military term.
Yes PDW is a military term, but it describes the reason many are carrying firearms currently. With the growing vilification of the police in many cities comes the mind set of many who simply refuse to be a victim, so are turning to firearms as a way to defend themselves.
Hmm ... yes, I'm aware of the George Floyd Incident(TM) and a whole bunch of others. But it's unfair to tar the entire police force with that brush. The problem of crime is nuanced and multi-faceted, and calls to "defund the pigs" etc. are naive. Most policemen and policewomen are not corrupt or brutish, just ordinary people doing an extraordinary (and stressful) job. None of this excuses or justifies what individual policemen/policewomen did in cases like George Floyd's, of course. But defunding the police means they're able to do even less than they do now, and using a firearm to "defend yourself" (if you're not part of an organised and recognised force, like the police) sounds dangerously like vigilantism. Perhaps the solution should be something like this: 1. Everyone who wants to be armed, can be armed -- BUT ... 2. Everyone who is armed should be recognised by, and registered with, the police. 3. Being armed is a privilege and a responsibility, not an unearned right. People who are armed should practice marksmanship (to be comfortable with a gun) and working as a team (to increase mutual trust and camaraderie). 4. Once they can do that, perhaps those who live in the same neighbourhood could form a "Neighbourhood Watch"-style organisation to protect themselves and their neighbours. And they could be paid for their efforts. How does that sound? It certainly sounds better to me than people getting guns, locking their doors, and never leaving the house unarmed. That sounds like ... paranoia, I guess? But I've never owned a gun, and don't want to. So maybe I'm talking rubbish -- but I hope I'm not.
Nothing earthshaking, but in packing for our weeklong getaway I forgot to pack any spare blue jeans, shorts, or other outer covering for my lower extremities. Fortunately the agenda includes only hiking and fast foods -- or home-cooked -- and a rented condo in the north woods but still . . . .
You are missing part of the picture with incidents like Floyd. The police were trying to restrain and arrest a resisting subject. A situation that only escalates things. That resistance, raises the question of some kind of trick in the minds of the officers when he started saying he could not breathe. Constitutional carry in many states requires the weapon be visible. Many states require a permit with training, and in some states a shooting test. I have my Concealed carry for three different states. The classroom training was primarily what you could and couldn't do legally. Which basically comes down to defending your own or someone else's life. Look at what has happened in the cities that have refunded the police. Response times have risen in some cases to more than a half hour. Which does you no good when an attack that could cost your life only takes seconds. If I question the safety of an area I am in I carry. Professionally I wind up having to go into some areas I wouldn't consider going into if it wasn't for work. Every time I carry, I hope I won't be forced to use the weapon. But I go by the old quote better to have it and not need it, than the reverse.
If only we had a room for these discussions... a room where you could have debates... we could call it...ohh i dunno... a debate room?
"money isn't everything" "Why don't you take vacations more?" Money "Why don't you have kids?" Money "Why don't you get your PhD?" Money "Your job isn't everything you know" I know, but MONEY is.... (ever since I moved out on my own, my treat to myself was putting $50 out of each paycheck aside so that one day, I can go traveling. I was able to use that money to go on my first cruise last year. I don't touch that account... its a "just for me" account. I'm upset right now because I have to sacrifice that account. Not only am I still paying back my student loans, my mom asked me to start "pulling your weight" on the parents portion of the student loans. The money I have saved in that account is now going to my mom. My student loans have now doubled... and yet I'm asked the above questions) slightly tangential, I didn't take out a single loan for my masters. i paid out of pocket while working. I lived at home for a year. mom asked me why I was always so tired and why I didn't do anything at home. I said I was exhausted from working, school, and I had no money to do anything. she says "when I was your age, I was working 3 jobs and going to night school, but I still had money left over to have a social life AND help out financially around the house." I honestly wanted to rip my face off at that point. (I still do)
Ask her when she was your age what she paid for healthcare, what percentage of her income went to housing, how much debt service she carried, what the national interest rates were, what her grocery bill was as a portion of income, and what the average return of investment on an IRA was. None of those answers might pan out depending on how old your mother is, but it could be worth a zinger. My dad and I recently did this (he's 75) and we figured it cost me 3 times the percentage of my income for the same things as it did his. Plus he has multiple pensions and started investing before the Reagan heyday. So, yeah. #fucked.
What a nice person you are. I'd have wanted to rip off hers. I suspect your mom's memory has evolved in her favor over the years. I'm old enough to be your grandmother, maybe even your great-grandmother, and my college experience was more like yours than hers. I also worked while I went to school and at the end of any given day, I had little extra money or energy. The big thrill of my college career may have come the spring semester that I had only fourteen hours of classes and forty hours of work and could spend an occasional evening reading a (GASP!) novel instead of a textbook. The novel was from the library, of course, since I could rarely afford the $1.25 for paperback novels from the bookstore. Did you ever see The Aviator with Leonardo di Caprio? In one scene, Katherine Hepburn's mother airily tells Howard Hughes, "We don't care about money here." Hughes replies, "That's because you've always had it." My unsolicited and probably unwanted advice (ignore it) is send half the $50 to mom and keep the other half for your travel account.
It's the debt service that will kill you. Specifically, the interest rate of accrued debts vs potential investment. For example, I got lucky when I bought my house during COVID and got locked in at a 3% mortgage rate. With the average rate of return on a basic, conservative ROTH IRA being around 6%, it makes no sense to pay off my mortgage early. In fact, my mortgage debt actually works in my favor. If I have $10K extra the worst thing I can do is throw it on my mortgage. That same $10K at 6% earns me double what I would save carrying a debt at 3%, if that makes sense. Now most mortgage rates are at 7-8% last I heard, meaning it costs you more money to invest in your future rather than to reconcile your past. Have you talked to a financial adviser @J.T. Woody at all? I don't know your situation--whether you own a house or not, what your household income is, what your student loan interest rate is, etc--but you may have options to evade student loan payments or defer them. Oftentimes, there are other loans at lower interest rates available for a cash infusion that can pay down a student loan at a higher rate. Even some bank-issued credit cards allow for cash advances at lower rates than what you're paying now. I would look into it if I were you. I don't know all the specifics, but I know there is limited remunerative action student debt holders can take. It's definitely worth a look-see.
i havent talked to a financial advisor, but there is a public service loan forgiveness thing for anyone who has loans and works with the public and in educations (librarians, teachers, etc.). I've applied twice. apparently, I only meet their requirements halfway (working for X amount of years as a librarian). the other requirement is making X amount of "qualifying payments".... which is a trap because, while I was in grad school, I deferred my undergrad payments. and because of that, I NOW don't qualify for loan forgiveness because I don't meet the minimum of student loan payments.... i don't meet the requirements either for student loan assistance. i can continue making my payments (I even mapped out my plan of action to be officially done in 4-5 years.... even if that means forgoing a lot of comfort things). I've budgeted for this. its now the added payment on the parent's loan that is killing me. which means I have to go back to paying the bare minimum on MY loans just so I can afford to pay the other portion of the loan (which will drag out my "pay off" date)
Hmm. Sorry to hear it. Reason #456 why college enrollment is plummeting nationwide. I live in a college town and they're begging kids to enroll, laying of professors left and right. Tenure? Forget about it.
Hmmm ... and yet for decades, colleges have been trying to attract overseas students to do the courses, because colleges get paid a lot more for overseas students. It's simple economics. The above brief scene from "Yes Minister" was shot in 1981, when Oxford was touting for foreign students because they got "4,000 a head" (in comparison to only 500 GBP per year for every British student). But, obviously, that was over 40 years ago. With inflation, that becomes almost £100,000 per year, per foreign student, in today's terms (including tuition and living expenses). Yikes!
Don't you hate it? Especially when you think you've got your packing list under control. I overpacked for my current holiday, but there’s still stuff I forgot. Like book promo cards to hand out.
What is this "list" thing you mention? Sounds like it might be a good idea, better than packing by the seat of one's pants, especially if it's pants one forgets.
Only a minor annoyance. My lovebird friend has developed an obsession with the smaller keys in the top row of my laptop keyboard. If he's out and unsupervised, he will find his way to the keyboard and start trying to (and occasionally succeeding in) prying them off and dropping them. I rarely if ever use those keys, but someday I might, and they don't fit back on easily.
you should get him his own keyboard lol. I do that with the little children who accompany their parents to the library. the parents let them bang on the keyboards... so i give them an old broken one to bang on instead
