When you live in a "nice neighborhood" it's easy to believe that violence and "bad things" all happen "over there" in some other part of town.
When I lived in Las Vegas, my wife was lobbying for a move into one of those "nicer" neighborhoods (you know, the ones whose garages and curbs host cars that most of us can't afford) around the time when Steve Wynn's kid was kidnapped. From one of those "nicer" neighborhoods.
She was confused.
I said, "look, how long does it take us to drive across town?" She responded that it might take fifteen or twenty minutes. And I replied, "so, you are never more than fifteen minutes from the nearest ghetto." The security of gated communities is largely false. The gates keep out the honest people and the lazy crooks. The more committed bad hats who are more serious about their work will simply add neighborhood security to their risk/reward formula.
I knew any number of people who drove "that car" and lived in "that neighborhood" and weren't worried, because "we live in a nice part of town." Just fifteen minutes from that part of town they mostly try to avoid.
It's amazing what a coat of paint will do for your sense of security.
Not trying to derail this thread, really.
But the idea that people have a false sense of security in a nicer, gated community is IMHO, a fallicy. Sure, violent crime can happen anywhere, but you can statistically prove that you are less likely to be a victim of violent crime in a nice neighborhood, than in the Ghetto.
Your Winn analogy is false. Steve Wynns daughter, was kidnapped from her townhome, Not the Wynn Residence, because she was targeted, by calculating, and committed (however, very stupid) criminals because of the ransom opportunity. Had you lived across town, or in the same complex as her, the probability of your wife, becoming kidnapped instead, is virtually the same, unless of course your net worth is similar to Steve Wynn's, AND public known. Astronomically low.
Living in a wealthy, gated community, with a security system, etc, reduces the sample size of criminals who believe the risk/reward is enough, have the technical know how and commitment to pull off a crime in that type of environment.
You are about 1,000% more likely to be a victim of violent crime in Camden, NJ, than Aspen, CO. It' simple staistics. The fact is, unfortunatelly, bad things DO happen more frequently "over there in that neighborhood".
Bad things can happen anywhere, but if you practice situational awareness and position yourself to not be "the wrong place at the wrong time", you have significantly decreased your exposure.
It amazes me how many people ask "what kind of gun should I have on my bedside table", instead of "how should I make my perimeter safer". If you see "that blob at the foot of the bed" your entire security plan has failed and you are in a no win situation.
To get back to the OP, if you daughter is anti-gun, regardless of the reason. I would focus less on trying to scare her into arming herself (which could turn out to be worse for her in the wrong situation), and focus more on situational awareness, common sense, and self defense.
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