Steve Benson by Steve Benson

Steve Benson

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  1. Ms. Ima

    Ms. Ima said, 4 months ago

    Feeling lucky, punk?

  2. Zipi

    Zipi said, 4 months ago

    Hey Steve, when someone breaks into your house and threathens your wife or children do you plan on pointing your pen at them and saying that you poke them in the eye? I guess you can call the police so that they can start putting up crime tape whenever they actually get there.

  3. cdward

    cdward said, 4 months ago

    @Zipi

    I grew up in a place more dangerous than most. Our house was broken into by thieves several times, also by drunks and crazy people (one guy looking for his wife in our walls). My parents, devout Christians, taught that facing evil with evil is wrong. Consequently, talked each one down – no harm came to anyone. Conversely, a friend of men, trying to protect his home with a gun, came within a hair’s breadth of shooting his own son who came home from work late.

  4. cdward

    cdward said, 4 months ago

    Truth s, the number of people harmed by intruders is small – most guns deaths are by people the victims know.

  5. ARodney

    ARodney said, 4 months ago

    More people shoot family members than stop intruders. It’s not wise to have a gun in your home, unless you’re in a REALLY bad neighborhood, or you’re cooking meth.

  6. Mbezdek

    Mbezdek said, 4 months ago

    For those that might be puzzled, that’s the Arizona state flag

  7. Bruce4671

    Bruce4671 said, 4 months ago

    @cdward

    You know, you manage to claim “truth” when making a bold statement and never seem to provide documentation. How about listing a study on your “fact”.

    Now as to talking down an intruder, that is a great approach. I bet your parents – being Christian and all – just let the thieves take what they wanted and then stood at the door waving saying “ya’ll come back now!” as they carted off the loot. Or maybe not. As for the drunk and crazy, yeah, I’ve done that a few times too.

    BUT, as we become more violent as a society, as the young people become more “gang banger” enthralled, do to the way our society has glorified that lifestyle, home invasions are not conducive to philosophical discussion.

    IF (and no I do not expect it to happen) a couple of ginormous thugs kick in my door (hard to do with the locks I have but..) and start swinging that pipe or bat or popping caps, I will not hide in the closet hoping they don’t find me and my wife. And since I AM old and not as fit and imposing as I once was, I have the “tools” to even things out a tad.

    Unless, of course, all you metro’s manage to disarm everyone and make us ALL victims.

  8. Bruce4671

    Bruce4671 said, 4 months ago

    @ARodney

    Dude, make believe you have the study to prove that and reference it for us please.

    Now keep in mind that if the intruders suspect that the home owners is armed and prepared to defend his domicile they are less likely to “intrude” in the first place and so you have NO IDEA how many intruders have been stopped because they knew that family had a gun and this other one did not so…..

    But I agree YOU should not have a gun in YOUR home since you evidently are scared witless about the very idea of one.

  9. David

    David said, 4 months ago

    @HOWGOZIT

    I love the conspiracy nuts, sometimes they’re even funnier than Colbert and Stewart. If their distorted vision of reality doesn’t come true it’s only because “someone” didn’t want “us” to hear about it.

  10. Nancy

    Nancy said, 4 months ago

    Yes, I heard! Very proud of him. I live in the suburbs of Atlanta and I am licensed to carry!

  11. Simon_Jester

    Simon_Jester said, 4 months ago

    @Bruce4671

    And where’s the study that proves YOUR contention, eh?

    Lemme tell you true story.

    Back when I lived in Arizona I used to work with a guy who owned guns for self-protection. He even had a sign near his door, You know the one, shows a gun pointing at the viewer, and says, Rob Someone Else!

    Did that deter thieves? Nope, just the opposite. Someone saw the sign, waited until my friend wasn’t home, then broke in and stole his guns!
    One of them was later used in a drive-by ( No one hurt, thank God. )
    -—————————————————
    THAT"S what happens when intruders think you’re armed, at least in this instance. And yes, it was the sign that did it…this. according to the detective assigned to the case.

    And what did Rodney say to prompt that last line of your post?

  12. 1opinion

    1opinion said, 4 months ago

    I have known many people, in the past 20 years, living in my neighborhood being robbed of their guns and bullets while they were gone and none who have protected their homes while they were there.
    Neighbors that virtually announced that they have multiple weapons and buy cases of ammunition.
    (almost lost one of these neighbors when another neighbor became angry and threatened with a loaded rifle.)

  13. 1opinion

    1opinion said, 4 months ago

    P.S. I lead people to believe I have a functional security surveillance system and have not been broken in to.

  14. motivemagus

    motivemagus said, 4 months ago

    Okay, you want studies?
    “A study of 626 shootings in or around a residence in three US cities revealed that, for every time a gun in the home was used in a self-defense or legally justifiable shooting, there were four unintentional shootings, seven criminal assaults or homicides, and 11 attempted or completed suicides (Kellermann et al., 1998). For those who don’t want to add, that is 22 people shot for every one defended.
    Here’s the source of that quote:
    http://library.med.utah.edu/WebPath/TUTORIAL/GUNS/GUNSTAT.html
    Furthermore, there’s this from a Johns Hopkins study:
    “Although there is little difference in the overall crime rates between the United States and other high-income countries, the homicide rate in the U. S. is seven times higher than the combined homicide rate of 22 other high-income countries. This is because the firearm homicide rate in the U. S. is twenty times greater than in these other high-income countries. The higher prevalence of gun ownership and much less restrictive gun laws are important reasons why violent crime in the U. S. is so much more lethal than in countries of similar income levels.”
    That’s Webster, et al., 2009, and you can read the whole paper, including reasonable suggestions for gun laws, here:
    http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-gun-policy-and-research/publications/WhitePaper102512_CGPR.pdf
    So here is a clear question: do you think that the NRA’s broadly defined Second Amendment (which is not historically based) is worth shooting 22 Americans for every one protected?
    Now: if there is a way to reduce that ratio, to reduce the 22 while NOT reducing the one protected, which should be entirely practical, is there any way in good conscience you can refuse?

  15. lifebyc

    lifebyc said, 4 months ago

    @Ms. Ima

    Ok, that was funny! Is he talking to an empty chair?! :)

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