If you're trained to use guns, the why not be safe than sorry?
My co-worker's husband is trained to use guns. Two years ago he was doing something with the gun (unloading it to get it ready to clean it or something) and the gun accidentally discharged. It went through their bedroom wall and into their son's room. If their son had been standing in the wrong place . . .
Just having a gun in your home increases the likelihood that you will die--either by accident, murder, or suicide. If you think about the odds that someone will come into your home
while you are there (because most people who break into homes do so when people are not home) and compare that to the likelihood of an accidental injury due to having a gun in the home, it doesn't surprise me that some people think the gun is more of a risk than not having one around.
I'm not saying that people shouldn't be allowed to have guns for self-defense. But the reality is that a lot of people who "know how to use guns" actually don't practice basic safety and precaution, and because of that you end up with a lot of dead people (and dead children!). I live in a very rural, gun-loving area. I know of one person who used a gun for self-defense (he fired it at someone who was stealing his dog). On the other hand, I could drive ten minutes in any direction from my home and point out to you places where a woman was murdered, a child was accidentally killed by his brother, a man killed another man, a drunk pregnant woman pulled a gun on her boyfriend, etc.
There are ways to deter unwanted "guests" (motion sensor lights, alarm systems, dogs) that don't pose the same risk to the homeowner as owning a gun. I'm not saying that
you shouldn't own a gun--just explaining why I wouldn't consider having a gun in my house being more "safe". I'm glad to hear that you are taking classes, because I think that so much of the unfortunate things that happen in this country could be prevented if more people practiced basic common sense when it comes to owning and using weapons.
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