I take it from this response that you're going to stick to your belief that we're nearly overrun by a massive rising tide of lethal terrorist violence?
Oh you are just being silly and you know it.
That our citizens are nearly criminally unprepared for the likelihood a violent deaths that await them?
Well given how few citizens actually carry I agree with your statement. How can someone deal with a violent attack if they haven't even taken the basic step of having a gun to defend themselves with?
Of those that do carry, how many do so on a regular basis?
Of those how many carry a serious mid/full size handgun with powerful street proven ammunition?
As a LEO/Security Professional I do a lot of threat assessment. Convenience stores are a high target for robberies especially at night. Yet how often do we see comments that the poster carries a small size, small caliber handgun when going to convenience store late at night because it is easy to slip in the pocket of the shorts/pants?
So the poster is saying 'Yeah I know the store or myself may get robbed but I really don't think it will happen to me."
I can't convince you not to be afraid of those things, if pointing to numbers like 0.7 out of 323,100,000 doesn't ease your mind at all.
The families of the people that were shot in Newton and Hesston Kansas in February, 2016 probably don't take much comfort in your numbers. I certainly won’t mention to the families and survivors of the Church shooting.
BECAUSE I carry I don't have to be afraid.
BECAUSE I carry a serious, high power, high capacity handgun I know I can give a much better accounting of myself and stay in the fight longer if I am involved in a shooting incident.
BECAUSE of the type of ammunition I carry I know I can deal with a wider variety of situations.
BECAUSE I know there a lot of evil people in our society.
BECAUSE I personally know some of these individuals and know they have no reservations about killing anyone and doing any criminal activity they want to.
BECAUSE I know that since we live in a highly mobile society violent crimes are committed everywhere regardless of the size of my community.
It's funny in a way. One of the most common refrains I hear on thr every week is how much we distrust the news media, how they lie, how they exaggerate, how they blow things completely out of proportion. And yet in this we can look at a simple comparison of numbers, do some extremely basic math, identify approximately how big a concern these things really are -- and then cast it all aside saying, "no I think I'm going to believe what was implied by that scary news story I saw on TV."
It is true that the TV and print media try to convince us of what the latest fear of the day is. It is equally true that more and more Americans do not believe or trust the media and politicians. In fact a recent Gallup poll said that;
“Majorities believe that most members of Congress are "out of touch with average Americans" (79%), "focused on the needs of special interests" rather than the needs of their constituents (69%) and corrupt (52%). Americans are less critical of their own representatives, but substantial percentages say their own member of Congress is out of touch (48%), focused on special interests (47%) and corrupt (32%).”
http://news.gallup.com/poll/185918/majority-americans-congress-touch-corrupt.aspx
Another poll shows only 4 percent of Americans have “a great deal of confidence” in the US Congress, only 15 percent have a lot of confidence in the executive branch and only 24 percent have a great deal of confidence in the Supreme Court.
http://www.thedailybell.com/news-an...ericans-confidence-in-government-has-plunged/
Trust in the media isn’t any better. According to the
Media Insight Projects May, 2017, report on public attitudes toward the media,
“…on many fronts, Americans are skeptical of “the news media” in the abstract, but generally trust the news they themselves rely on. And most people mention traditional or mainstream news sources as the ones they turn to. As an example, only 24 percent of Americans say they believe the news media in general are “moral.” But that number more than doubles, to a majority of 53 percent, when people are asked about the news media they use most often. Just 17 percent of Americans give the news media high marks for being “very accurate.” But twice as many (34 percent) say that about the news media they use.”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/do-americans-trust-the-media_us_598cdfdde4b0ed1f464c09af
On November 10th “an ISIS affiliate that threatened “more bitter and greater” attacks in New York published a poster warning the West that more attacks, aimed at children, are on the way.
The poster shows an image of the Eiffel Tower merged with a photo of an AK-47 assault rifle. Monday, Nov. 13, is the two-year anniversary of a series of deadly terrorist attacks in Paris which left 130 people dead.
The text on the poster reads, “You will pay very expensive price for your war on Islam.”
“We will take revenge for the blood of Muslims on your land, we will kill the young before the older watch this,” reports
PJ Media.
http://www.ntd.tv/2017/11/09/isis-threatens-to-kill-children-before-paris-attack-anniversary/
So do we as parents and grandparents just ignore this threat? Using math it is extremely low that it will be our children or grandchildren will be victims when a attack occurs (and yes I do believe one will occur just maybe not by this Monday. Probably a so-called “lone-wolf.”).
Some will say my belief is unreasonable but terrorist (domestic and foreign enemies) and violent crime attacks are largely outside of our control. But being as well armed and prepared as possible is not.
Just for the record I do not keep a long gun in my daily driver. It is a 20+ year old pick-up and there is not practical way to securely store a long gun in it. So instead I upgraded my edc to a Beretta 92FS with 15 round mag in the gun and a spare on my belt. I am currently evaluating whether to switch to 17 round mags. I am also evaluating my carry ammunition also.
Good discussion and viewpoints about our safety in America.