[45Auto]

The story of how a Yuppie couple discovered the value of being armed. An original story about life in Venice, California, that's 24 years old, but just as applicable today, maybe even more so. The only difference is that today its nearly impossible to get a carry permit in the urban counties of California, unless you happen to be a big contributor to the Sheriff's re-election fund.

[45Auto]

Some good stuff inthis article:

" I made up my mind that the way to handle a gun in a dangerous situation was to never let it out of my sight. "

[45Auto]

And:

"We lost more than eleven thousand dollars of what we owned, but we weren't killed. We adapted. Now the guns are a normal part of our lives. We accept them, just as we accept the seven motors of suburbia. They are a necessary convenience, like the washing machine or refrigerator or one of those devices that zaps mosquitoes with electricity."

[45Auto]

"Let me tell you how we've adapted. We dress low key, we don't flaunt anything, we keep loaded guns in the house, and we don't keep them stashed in some drawer where we can't find them if we need them. We keep them right out in the open, and we always know exactly where they are. The difference is in that exterior framework of protection and in our attitudes toward it: it is something that was not necessary when we were younger, and it is something which most of us, Adam Smith included, still carry on about. We don't even think it's too bad anymore; we're beyond that. We accept it as a fact of life and go right on. And it will stay a fact of life until our fellow countrymen get it out of their heads that they can do as they please, that there is no such thing as social responsibility, that they have a right not to behave. Because the way we see it, if they have the right to mug us, we have the right to shoot them."

[cavtrooper21]

Ping

[dyed_in_the_wool]

Moving piece.

[45Auto]

Now, about those fifty million handguns: taking them away will not automatically give us a society like England's or Holland's. We are just not like that. It would be nice if we were. That's why Americans run away to Europe.

And yet, just a quarter of century later, Europe, especially England, is no longer a "safe" haven from crime, criminals, and violence, nor is it the "polite" society it once was. In fact, it has become just like the place described in "The Clockwork Orange", dangerous beyond belief. And what is British government doing about it? The same damn thing they always do: disarm the lawabiding citizenry, make it a crime to use force in self defense, and just myopically "hope" that "everything will be O.K."

[fourdeuce82d]

I aimed the automatic at the outer edge of his left thigh and shot him.

petite chat.

(i.e "little cat")

Hope that a scumbag at least got one in the leg, but I suspect this is post facto, "if only" chest thumping.

Pansy lefities never learn.

[Hodar]

One of the best articles I've ever read...Awesome find.

[jim_trent]

I got that magazine when it first came out and still have it. It was a good article. There was also another Esquire magazine article in February 1981 that was similar. It was called "Shooting to Kill" by Peter A. Lake.

It is too long for me to type, but the blurb about it at the start said, "He wasn't paranoid. A bona fide liberal, he lived peaceably in an affluent Los Angeles suburb. Then one night, he needed fast action from the police and they came too late. That's when he decided to acquire a skill for our time --- Shooting to Kill."

It went over why he decided to change and wrote about his experiences in Col. Jeff Cooper's shooting class. He states that "The author assumes that the right of self defense exists."

[Gritty]

Excellent article!

They are a necessary convenience, like the washing machine or refrigerator or one of those devices that zaps mosquitoes with electricity.

Firearms are more than a "convenience" in a world inhabited by predators and prey!

[Humidston]

Rivoting! Another Yuppie couple finally sees the light....

[Pylot]

This was an excellent post. Thanks.

The most striking thought in it to me is this:

"The play's premise is that what we call human values are actually luxuries qualities that only emerge and exist under the best and calmest of conditions. It was a spooky production and great theater, but I did not see how it could possibly relate to America in the late Seventies."

I have always thought that the whackiest liberal values come from people who are wealthy enough to only know the best and calmest conditions. The whacky part is that they try to impose unrealistic rules on the rest of us who must deal with life like the author described it as opposed to a life of the best and calmest conditions.

[Richard Kimball]

Bump for later

[rebel85]

bump

[Bob J]

Tonight, UNSPUN with AnnaZ and Guest Hostess DIOTIMA!

10pmE/7pmP
Thursday, May 22nd, 2003

Diane Ravitch
Author of THE LANGUAGE POLICE and “LEFT BACK”
dianeravitch.com

Plus
Unspun's favorite new FR ping list!

and
Bone-headed Lie-beral Quotes

...because you just can't make this stuff up.

Click HERE to LISTEN LIVE while you FReep!

Click HERE for the RadioFR Chat Room!

Miss a show? Click HERE for the RadioFR Archives!

[WorkingClassFilth]

I thought this passage was especially telling about the too-late conversion of a dying man:

"More to the point, let's talk about Adam Smith's friend Michael Halberstam. I did not know Halberstam, but I liked his work. He surprised a burglar in his Washington, D.C., home and was shot.

Halberstam figured all of this out in the very last seconds of his life. He didn't like being killed. He must have thought it was pretty damned unfair. He was furious. In his last few moments, rushing adrenaline and pouring blood, he got in his car and ran down his assailant.

You know what? If he had made this discovery even slightly earlier—long enough to buy a weapon and wait for the permit to go through—he would very likely be alive right now."

I vaguely recall this man's death since he was a novelist and, at the last, another martyred saint for the anti-gun press. In any event, I thought I'd do a google search and see what I could find. The results are sparse, but do a very good job of highlighting the lies and distortions that anti-gunners practice in every conceivable way. Here's two short pieces on Halberstam's death...

VERSION 1 FROM AOL:

Halberstam received his M.D. degree from Boston University in 1957. An internist practicing cardiology and medicine in Washington, D.C., he was senior medical editor of Modern Medicine, wrote newspaper articles, and one novel. Tragically, on December 5, 1980, he was surprised by an intruder in his home and shot. He helped the police apprehend the criminal, but died hours later of his wounds.

http://members.aol.com/dbryantmd/Page20.html

VERSION TWO FROM 'BAN HANDGUNS NOW':

On December 5, 1980, Dr. Michael J. Halberstam was fatally shot by a burglar in his Washington, DC, home. According to police, Halberstam and his wife returned home and found Bernard Charles Welch, 40, in their home. The doctor was shot several times in the altercation that followed. He attempted to drive himself to the hospital but had a traffic accident en route. He was pronounced dead at Sibley Hospital more than two hours after being shot.

http://www.banhandgunsnow.org/december.htm

Notice any differences in who reports what facts and what biases might lead them to do it? This story has enough versions to make me believe that the version posted by .45 Auto probably contains the facts as they occurred. I think I might look into this one a little farther...

[q_an_a]

the story says, giving up guns "will not automatically give us a society like England's or Holland's" JUst what part of the killing and rape and mugging that happens everyday in London's best neighborhoods do we want ? The population of Denmark is going through some kind of crime wave where Arab men are rping white women who dress in a way that they do not approve.

Let Europe become more like us. That is why the poor left Europe in ever century for 400 years. They wanted out.

[Nick The Freeper]

I remember reading this a few months ago, but couldn't find it again. Thanks for the post.

[two23]

I'd pack up and move before I would sit there every night waiting to defend my life against drug/gang intruders. Any thoughts on why this couple bought a house in what sounds like a drug infested ghetto in the first place?

[ReagansShinyHair]

Sadly, this guy's story of crime around him isn't all that much different from mine. His sounds like there was more crime in his neighborhood than I have in mine, though. And I never got to shoot any thugs.

We're moving out of California, to a small town in the Midwest with a low crime rate, so I hope I never get another opportunity.

What finally pushed us out of California was the economy and the fact that my husband couldn't find another tech job after he got laid off, but with the amount of crime that I've seen around where we live, I am not sad to go.

Here's my story. It's long, sorry. I can't fully convey how awful it is to have criminals around you without giving the details.

We bought our house a little over a year ago. We were burglarized first about a month after we moved in. They didn't get much, just a few hundred dollars worth of tools. I thought, "That can happen anywhere."

Then, one morning, I was going to work, and I came out and unlocked my car in the driveway. Then I noticed my husband hadn't taken the trash can out to the curb. I opened the garage and did it. As I was closing the garage door, a man, about 20, came running through my yard yelling something. I live at the bottom of a hill, around a curve, so I couldn't see him until the last second. He jumped in my car. I'm not much of a victim, so I yelled at him to get out of my car. He didn't listen, and I didn't go any closer to him. Seconds after that, four more young men came running through my yard. One had a small shotgun, and the other had a knife.

I shut my garage door, since there were many sharp objects inside, and they were all a lot bigger than I am. I wished my crappy garage door shut from the inside. I would have hidden at that point. But I'd left my purse, with my keys, inside my car. I'd grown up in a "safe" neighborhood. Who would ever think someone would jump in your car with you standing right next to it? I couldn't hide in the garage, and I'd locked the house on the way out.

The guys told me they wanted the first guy. They wanted to break my car windows. I was mad. I told them if they did, they would pay for it. They didn't break them. One tossed me his cell phone and said, "Call the police." I guess he didn't realize that he was one of the bad guys. I started to dial, and the other guy told me not to call, and since he had a knife, I didn't. I guess because I wasn't very threatening looking, they didn't pay much attention to me. I walked to my neighbor's house while they yelled at the guy in my car. Thank God she was there. I called 911. At least the cops came pretty fast. The guys stashed the weapons in the bushes before they got there, though. The cops got the first guy out of my car (which he had driven up and down the block).

They never pressed any charges against anyone. I guess it's not attempted murder if you just chase someone but don't catch them. And it's not auto theft if you don't go more than a block away. One of the guys slashed my tire. I guess that was just an accident. It cost me 80 bucks, but I figure that was nothing compared to how bad it could have been.

My husband's dad got me a gun. A nice one. It was a Ruger 357 Magnum, bought for $50 from a widow who just wanted to give it away. I don't think it had ever been fired. I first shot a revolver when I was 5 or 6, so I was no stranger to guns. I'm a pretty good shot. My husband got a 45. I felt a little better. I wished I could carry it with me.

Our German Shepherd got to be a year old, so my husband put him inside with me each morning when he left for work. I felt better. He'd bark and then I could wake up and shoot someone who broke in.

Other things happened in our neighborhood. A house sat vacant for a long time. Different gangs tagged the same exterior walls over and over again. I was filling up my car at the gas station, and robbers came out, and a plainclothes cop was there, and he arrested them. Good thing he had his gun. We were at the market, and had to stay inside for a long time while a criminal robbed the bank across the parking lot and the cops tried to catch his accomplice in the parking lot.

I did not take the garbage out in the mornings. If my husband forgot, we waited until the next week when the garbage collectors come around again. I looked up and down the street each morning as I came out of my house. I hurried to and from my car, locking the doors after I got in. We got a new garage door with an opener, so I could get into the car while it was still inside. I felt a little better.

One afternoon, I came home from work. After I came in, I noticed the sliding back door was shoved open. A glance in the opposite direction and I saw a door to a downstairs sewing room was open. A door we always kept closed, since cats like to sleep on the most expensive fabric.

My well-trained shepherd was waiting outside for permission to come in. I grabbed the cordless phone on the way out the back door. In a two-story house, burglars can still be upstairs even if you don't see them in the first level. I ran to the corner of our lot and called my husband to ask if he'd come home and left the door open, or if his dad had come over. I called 911 and said there might be burglars in my house. The cops came and checked the place out. They took fingerprints. We were missing computer stuff and a video camera. And two handguns. I never even got to fire mine.

What if I had surprised them? What if I had been like that author that surprised the burglar and then was killed? Having a dog did nothing. I'm just glad they didn't hurt him. Having guns in my house was not enough to protect me, either. I should have been able to have my gun with me. My husband should have been able to have his gun with him. Then they would not have been stolen, and I would not have been terrified when I came home one afternoon to find that some criminals had been rifling through my underwear drawer along with all the rest of my house.

My neighbor's kid saw them, but did not do anything. I don't think he realized they were burglars. They haven't caught them, and I don't expect them to.

We got a burglar alarm. I set it when we're both gone and when my husband is gone, and when we're asleep. I don't forget. I won't forget.

It's not like we could afford to live in a nicer neighborhood. It's what most people would consider lower middle class. Two income families, mostly one family per house. A couple of bad streets nearby. We stretched to make it this far. We both had fairly decent jobs. Criminals are allowed to exist in my neighborhood. Why should my ability to defend my life be restricted?

The state we're now moving to has less restrictive gun laws. Even though we will be able to afford a house in a city with a better crime index, we will still be applying for a permit to carry a concealed handgun. We'll have to buy new handguns. I didn't buy more here because someone could just break in again and steal them. I will probably still get a burglar alarm in the other state. I don't know if I will ever feel safe in a driveway again.

Goodbye California. I will not miss you. You protect criminals' rights but not my right to protect my own life. Maybe if you get your act together and realize that taxpaying citizens are worth defending too, I can live with you again.