Is a weapon really required for self protection in India?

[aadhaulya]

You really may wish to rephrase/rewrite your entire reply.- Moderator

[StampMaster]

Hi

1. Yes
2. A few, 3/10 people i know.
3. Concealed.

Your questions actually depends on individuals needs and their state of mind.. if they feel secure with a gun and willing to go through the trouble to get a license.

Last week in Hyderabad, there was a burglary in my apartment building around 130pm. 2 days later I was on weekend vacation there and I came to know as soon about the incident. And I was home late on friday night around 11 pm and I found 3 fellow sitting in front of the apartment building, certinly they are not the residents from near by buildings too.. I do not know who they are. And they were walking around till 1230 am. I just kept a vigil now to check if they were present.

However, I kept my home locked and had my gun handy. Just in case..

[Commonwealth_of_PA]

ask the vips etc, since they go fully loaded

VIP security may or probably is over rated at our cost. However, they have a reason to be protected and I feel there is nothing wrong in being protected if a threat exists. Assassination of two Prime Ministers and some ministers and VIP's of India is an embarrassing situation for India.
Though, unlike the PM who does not seem to have any armed personnel around him, is the most heavily protected VIP in India. Whereas, in some stated the status of the VIP is judged (or perceived to be judged) by the number of automatic weapons carried by the PSO's of that VIP, this as per my thinking is that we are unnecessarily paying for the additional security that may not be required.

However, my question was aimed towards the lowly common man like me. Do I need protection living in Urban India??

Regards

I guarantee you that for every VIP that may or may NOT be threatened, there are 1000 commoners that are in far more danger every day. Your status in society does not dictate your need to protect yourself or your entitlement to any right or consideration. Some of the most impoverished are the ones under constant daily threat.

Not disagreeing with you, adding a corollary.

[Commonwealth_of_PA]

You have a fire extinguisher at home?
Are you expecting a fire?

It is up to every individual to decide if he or she needs to carry a weapon.
In my case, I'd rather have it than not. No one know that I have one on me anyway.

I have two smoke alarms and I have spent enough money on 9V batteries over the past 20 years to buy a new 1911. And they have never done me a bit of good except remind me what a bad cook I am

Yet I will keep putting the batteries in them.

[aadhaulya]

You really may wish to rephrase/rewrite your entire reply.- Moderator

I am not aware if I said something wrong, my basic points were as follows.

1. I have never felt the need to lock my house at night.
2. I never move out of the house without my gun 'unconcealed'.
3. I am not enforcing my ideas on any one. I am just trying to find out if there are other people like me out there, who always carry a weapon.

However, if I have said something wrong or offending I sincerely apologize, with a request to send me a PM so that I do not repeat it.

Regards

Atul

[kshitij]

I have never really felt the need to really carry a weapon of any kind in the city. When i am travelling alone in and around the city, i feel secure enough to handle most eventualities better while being unarmed. That is not to say i havent had my share of minor scuffles but they have always been what i could settle with my mouth and in the worst cases with my hands. Have always felt secure even when i have been out till late in the night with my wife and other female friends. This is also a partly due to me pre planning and avoiding any unwanted situation even before there is a slim chance that it could happen.
That said, i am of the opinion that the average law abiding citizens should be able to bear arms to ensure their own well being, especially the senior citizens and women. Also though i am fairly confident about my own safety while moving around in my city, i firmly believe in ensuring the safety of my family and property should a riot like or chaotic situation arise in the city. And yes, the right "instruments" are required to do that.

[timmy]

Tim,

By me I meant the normal common man. Off course each individual knows his own requirement. My idea was to get an idea of members and the people they know, if they have any reason to carry a weapon.
Also, if they carry a weapon for an off chance that something may happen some day. Like I mentioned that none of the people I know carries any sort of weapon.

Regards

Understood. But, I really wonder what the replies can tell you. I can't presume to know what you will find meaningful or upon what you will base your conclusions, but I'm especially thinking about the second of your questions above: You first asked about who it is that carries a gun. Given the notoriously difficult process of obtaining a license and the uneven application of the law to the licensing process, does the question of who carries a gun have more to do with the choice to carry, or does it say more about how many people cannot choose whether or not to carry a firearm for self protection?

Secondly, however, what can asking "fi they have any reason to carry a weapon" provide as meaningful answers? We don't have a single woman participating here, and they constitute half of the population. I think a valid case can be made that they are the most vulnerable half and most in need of an effective means of personal protection. I also think that a valid point would be that women simply are not educated about firearms sufficiently, due to a number of factors, to make a good decision regarding carrying a means of self protection. What would be the most likely response, for instance, if the average 18 year old woman in India went to her father and said that she needed to carry a gun for protection? That would be an explosive discussion, even in most households in the USA.

It is this last point, that of education, and especially the education of women about firearms, that I believe is at the center of our task here.

[Commonwealth_of_PA]

Women are the fastest growing group of carriers in the USA and they do not ask their fathers for permission

[aadhaulya]

I have never really felt the need to really carry a weapon of any kind in the city. When i am travelling alone in and around the city, i feel secure enough to handle most eventualities better while being unarmed. That is not to say i havent had my share of minor scuffles but they have always been what i could settle with my mouth and in the worst cases with my hands. Have always felt secure even when i have been out till late in the night with my wife and other female friends. This is also a partly due to me pre planning and avoiding any unwanted situation even before there is a slim chance that it could happen.
That said, i am of the opinion that the average law abiding citizens should be able to bear arms to ensure their own well being, especially the senior citizens and women. Also though i am fairly confident about my own safety while moving around in my city, i firmly believe in ensuring the safety of my family and property should a riot like or chaotic situation arise in the city. And yes, the right "instruments" are required to do that.

kshitij, This is exactly what I also feel even though I always carry a gun. And I wanted to know if there are people who really believe that being armed at all times is important in Indian Metro cities.

Understood. But, I really wonder what the replies can tell you. I can't presume to know what you will find meaningful or upon what you will base your conclusions, but I'm especially thinking about the second of your questions above: You first asked about who it is that carries a gun. Given the notoriously difficult process of obtaining a license and the uneven application of the law to the licensing process, does the question of who carries a gun have more to do with the choice to carry, or does it say more about how many people cannot choose whether or not to carry a firearm for self protection?
Secondly, however, what can asking "fi they have any reason to carry a weapon" provide as meaningful answers? We don't have a single woman participating here, and they constitute half of the population. I think a valid case can be made that they are the most vulnerable half and most in need of an effective means of personal protection. I also think that a valid point would be that women simply are not educated about firearms sufficiently, due to a number of factors, to make a good decision regarding carrying a means of self protection. What would be the most likely response, for instance, if the average 18 year old woman in India went to her father and said that she needed to carry a gun for protection? That would be an explosive discussion, even in most households in the USA.
It is this last point, that of education, and especially the education of women about firearms, that I believe is at the center of our task here.

Tim, as per my understanding specially on this forum that most of the people in the USA carry a gun, even though the 'law and order' situation there is much better than in India. It is probably due to the fact that it is very easy to acquire a weapon there.

Also considering the talk about fire extinguishers and CCTV's at home, no body would be carrying a gas mask, oxygen cylinders, emergency ration, satellite phone etc. and other emergency equipment before moving out of the house, just for an off chance that a chemical or any other sort of war breaks out suddenly and they are fully prepared for that eventuality.

I think people carry a gun just because they like the feel of the gun, the destruction it can cause and the gun is totally in their control.

This is the basic idea that I was trying to gather.

Regards

Atul

[aadhaulya]

Tim, like you mention, I totally agree with you that women need to carry a gun for self protection more than a man. I am also going to do whatever it takes to get my elder daughter a gun as she has just turned 21.

[aadhaulya]

Women are the fastest growing group of carriers in the USA and they do not ask their fathers for permission

[Commonwealth_of_PA]

My back of the envelope numbers are only about 5% of people in the US carry guns. Far more own guns, or course.

In my state, The Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the number is about 12% and climbing. That is actually fairly high. In a few states 25% of people carry guns. But in most states it is far less. I don't think there is a state where most people carry guns.

Keep in mind there is New Jersey (~ 9 million), Hawaii (1.4 million), Maryland (6 million), and New York City (9 million) where almost nobody is allowed to carry. Then there are New York State (20 million) and California (40 million) that are mixed bags by county.

[timmy]

Tim, as per my understanding specially on this forum that most of the people in the USA carry a gun

This is certainly a misunderstanding. The two most recent states that I've lived in, Maryland and New Jersey, along with others, such as New Mexico (my home state), Texas, Colorado, and Montana, taken all together, there was only one person, in Montana, who I knew carried a firearm, besides myself. For myself, I generally have carried when I take long trips, but never in everyday life.

Judging from my Indian friends here in the USA, only one has been keen on firearms of any kind, and most are horrified even by the idea of seeing a gun in private posession, much less touching one. Because of the differences in attitudes between India and the USA concerning guns, a lot that goes on here isn't very useful when discussing the Indian situation (although some is, which is why a limited amount of USA-centric discussion goes on here, along with the discussion of conditions in other countries).

I think people carry a gun just because they like the feel of the gun, the destruction it can cause and the gun is totally in their control.

This is the basic idea that I was trying to gather.

Atul, the vagueness of your original post might as well have had a neon sign above it, indicating that you already had an opinion on the subject you were addressing and that you were looking for data that supported your views. Such posts are not uncommon here!

While I'm sure that your statement might apply to a few, it seems to me to me that it is impossible to accurately know what other people think without collecting data on a specific topic in a scientific way. Even highly trained and highly skilled scientists have great trouble knowing what people think -- just look at the polls of the recent election in the UK. The few people who have a knack for understanding what mass numbers of people are thinking are generally filthy rich. Steve Jobs was a good example of such a type.

As a general observation, I do believe that if people can be trusted with such inherently dangerous things as free speech, voting, driving automobiles, and raising children, they are certainly able to handle the responsibility of owning, carrying, using, and protecting themselves with firearms. I will grant that this is not an expert opinion about what people think. Rather, I think it is a right that belongs to every law-abiding citizen.

[Commonwealth_of_PA]

This is certainly a misunderstanding. The two most recent states that I've lived in, Maryland and New Jersey, along with others, such as New Mexico (my home state), Texas, Colorado, and Montana, taken all together, there was only one person, in Montana, who I knew carried a firearm, besides myself. For myself, I generally have carried when I take long trips, but never in everyday life.

Timmy, I've got news for you. You've known way more than 1 person that carried a gun in many of those states you lived in

[timmy]

This is certainly a misunderstanding. The two most recent states that I've lived in, Maryland and New Jersey, along with others, such as New Mexico (my home state), Texas, Colorado, and Montana, taken all together, there was only one person, in Montana, who I knew carried a firearm, besides myself. For myself, I generally have carried when I take long trips, but never in everyday life.

Timmy, I've got news for you. You've known way more than 1 person that carried a gun in many of those states you lived in

Thanks for the news tip,but you are not addressing the same thing that I said. I said "people that I knew who carried guns," (which was the question) not "people that I knew who might or might not carry guns." I feel reasonably secure in the knowledge of the places I've lived. Undoubtedly, I came across someone somewhere who was carrying a gun that I didn't know about -- just like people who encountered me while I was carrying and didn't know that I was carrying.

If I do not know of my own personal knowledge that someone is carrying, is it not speculation on my part to say that they are, or are not? Not only do I not claim to read minds, I don't have X-ray vision!