"It wont happen to me" Syndrome.

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KriegHund

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I visit another forum about maille, and in the off topic portion i suggested to someone that they get a gun for their new home, for defense.

Another person countered and we had a small argument, but it was getting OT so i just ended it with a few small stats.

The prevailing sense seems to be "It wont happen to me." More specificly, "I live in a small town of 10,000 so crime is real low here".

Here is the thread in question, all the important stuff is on page 2.
http://www.chainmailstore.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=003769;p=2

As a side note, ive decided i wont argue to muc until my english paper is done (Im doing it on pro-vs-anti gun. So far ive even managed to find Pro gun stats on, of all places, the brady center sight)

Is there any way to combat "it wont happen to me" syndrome?
 
IMO, not really, because it probably won't. Most folks, especially in a small town, haven't known anyone victimized by extreme violence, hence it doesn't exist.
Man, that wasn't much help, was it...:scrutiny:
Biker
 
Depends on the location. Many small towns where crime never happens also tend to be well armed. There are rural communities where predators are still an issue, you have hunters or sport shooters, and so forth. There dont happen to be any criminals, and if there were they wouldnt last very long.

Crime is generally alot higher in urban areas, and gun ownership tends to be lower. Theres no way to prove the stats are related, but thats just how it is.

What I'd look for is small towns with high crime rates or big cities with low rates, then check their firearms laws and the level of law enforcement.
 
worldviews

I would like to relate a story that ties in with this outlook on life, however, there is no conclusion in the ending that will convince anyone reading it that, indeed, misfortune can happen to you.

It depends, in part, on how foolish you are willing to be. And a great book of truth comments on fools: "A man and his foolishness cannot be seperated even though you would place them with wheat, in a pestle (bowl) and bray (gind) them."

I had a company commander (Captain) who would tell us men "If your time is up, then it is up. There is nothing you can do about it."
We were under fire from a heavy machine gun in an earthen bunker, and the Capt. rose up on his feet, and urged us to assault the bunker and ignore the fire! Now, I must say he had bravery (he was posthumously cited), but just as he declared; his time was up! You can even speed your time on this earth up by doing certain risky (foolish) things.

I am not implying not to take risks, for we all do that, even unknowingly, but if you step off of a curb in front of a bus, then your time will be up.

To go along blissfully in life taking no precaution, because you have not encountered danger (that you are aware of) is -foolish.
To go armed with no reloads, because the average defensive use of a gun requires 2.8 rounds, or whatever, is -foolish.
To venture out at night through known criminal active areas is -foolish.
Etc.
 
Biker

Your views and opinions are always in agreement with mine. But the small town thing dosen't always fly. I live a town with a population of 10,000.....give or take a few. I also live within 25 miles of four prisons. Tweny miles away is an even smaller town that has a large population of South American gang members. There have been large scale drug busts within a mile of my front door. A month ago there was a daylight burglery two houses away. The number of car breakins this year is approaching an all time high. I leave my house every morning at 4:00am, with my .40 S&W in my right hand, cocked and ready. My wife has a J-frame .38 in her night stand.

Rural life ain't as grand as some might think. Thank God for Corona, guns and motorcycles.

Jerry
 
jer1949...

I agree. Small towns aren't devoid of violence, but most folk in a small town tend to have that attitude. If you try to illustrate the potential for disaster to many of these people, they just look at you funny. It seems like, ya either get it or ya don't.
Biker
 
he prevailing sense seems to be "It wont happen to me." More specificly, "I live in a small town of 10,000 so crime is real low here".
Click to expand...

I spent all yesterday bringing up a system at the 911 center, next county over. Very rural. The town it's in is the county seat, with maybe 1000 inhabitants. I got to listen in on the calls -- you'd think this place was Low Life Heaven. Euuuuuu.
 
I skimmed over that other forum, and I seemd like the other main argument to "it won't happen to me" was "having a gun just escelates(sp?) the violence."

My responses to these are
1. Odds are It won't happen to you, but if it does, better to be prepaired. If you don't feel comfortable owning a gun then don't, but thinking proactively about worse case scenarios keeps them from becoming worse case. Also this is a forum about chainmaille, if not a gun, how about an axe or broadsword:D

2. Yes, pulling a gun can/will increase the level of violence possible. However, if there is a stranger in my house with dishonorable intentions, I am going to increase the level of violence until he is either dead or sh$#ting bricks. The only people who can get away with not defending themselves and not being victims are the ones with nothing to lose. Since I have much to lose I am going to defend it to the utmost of my abilities.
 
prime example

I hate to type so I wasnt going to respond but I must. For the longest time I pu off getting my ccw. well, a short time ago my girlfriend was dropping me off at the river to check on my boat when I was attacked and robbed. She was still in the drivers seat when two homeless guys walked past us on the opposite side of the road. about 20 yards up they crossed and started walking back towards us. at that point I told my girlfriend to lock herself in the truck and I shut the passenger door(I was already out) one guy stopped about 15 feet away and the other walked up to about 5 or 6 feet. Here is what he said him: what are you doing down here?
me: nothing
him: you drinking?
me: no
him: then what are you doing down here?
me: its none of your f@#$%^& business
and with that I was punched in the face and we proceeded to brawl. I am ashamed to say that his first punch caught me off guard and I was knocked backward on to my back where he was immediately on top of me punching my head. luckily i'm in good shape(prior military) so I was able to hold my own and regain my ground and carry the fight to my feet. Now while all this was going on his friend was gathering up all of my belongs and everything that was falling out of my pockets. Long story short, my girlfriend had been able to keep a cool head and was on her cell with 911. now the fight was over before the cops arrived with both of us still standing and the two of them taking off down the road. The cops just happened to be at starbucks so they captured the dirtbags quickly and I got my stuff back. However the point is that a lot could have gone terribly wrong.
1. should have got in my truck and drove away as soon as they aproached
2. had they both fought me I would be dead and maybe girlfriend too
3. had they been armed I would be dead
4. dont rely on the fuzz, it was a 1 in a mil chance that they were across the street.
5. while I'm fine emotionally, my girlfriend is a wreck when we are in a dark place or around shady or homeless characters.
6. if a person steps in your personal space they are not your friend so react before they do.

These dirt bags are in prison but get released in Oct and they know our names and address. Chances are they wont retaliate but Im not taking a chance. my concealed carry class is tonight. As I type this my beretta 92fs sits on my hip. If you allow yourself to say it wont happen to me you put your life and your loved ones lives at risk.
 
You could ask my mom about "It won't happen to me" syndrome, but you'd have to ask me about it because she was murdered five years ago.

I also had a girlfriend once who was anti-gun (we weren't together for long). I had a talk with her about taking responsibility for her own safety. She thought it was better to give in to the assailant's demands, because then he won't kill you. :scrutiny:
 
The ODDS are not important. It's the STAKES that matter...

lpl/nc (don't gamble, have a firearm handy 100% of the time- unless you've learned how to schedule your emergencies)
 
Is it possible that people are reluctant to part with the "won't happen to me" syndrome because everyone who is realistic and level-headed enough to seperate themself from such notion is immediately labeled by our society as paranoid? After all, paranoia is largely just the realization that, if not certainly, then there is at least the possibility that someone may be after you or something may happen to you. While most would agree there is a difference between being prepared and being paranoid, it isn't always recognized by our society.

I live in a town of about 3000 people in a state still largely considered rural or frontier by the federal government. Even so, I try take necessary precautions to prevent bad situations from arising and to be prepared when they occur anyways. Of course, my hobby being firearms makes it easy to stay armed, but my enjoyment of the activity also makes it hard to keep ammunition around. My aunt lives in a similar sized town and was burglarized while away on vocation. I have no misconceptions that it could not occur to me.
 
My GF has that "It won't happen to me" mental block.:banghead:

Her attitude is that she's made it this long without trouble and therefore she will never have trouble. I'm trying to get her to at least learn to shoot for "fun". I keep telling her that putting bullets into a target is just as much fun as puting arrows into one. She isn't anti-gun, and she has no probelm with my CCW, but she just can't see that she could EVER be in danger.


P.S. KriegHund;
Are you in the SCA?
 
Bad things happen to good people

no matter the size of the town. Still, its a personal choice to be armed or not. I know of very few instances where one person talked another into changing their mind on the issue.
Personally, I don't bother to bring the subject up with others. If someone asks me, I am there to help, but I won't initiate the conversation.
 
I see at least one person is pretty rude over there. I'll just call him the flower loving hippy sniffer.

By chance have yall seen the discussion about a possible sword ban over on http://www.myarmoury.com/ ? Because of the author's initial comments it has some discussion of the 2nd amendment.
 
It's worth noting that many folks at THR also believe "it" won't happen to them...

The only difference is that our "it" is different than their "it".

They believe that they will never be a victim of violent crime. We tend to believe that we will never be overcome, injured or killed by a criminal because we are armed.

Take a look at the "Would You Defend?" thread. LOTS of responses about possible legal complications, lawsuits, etc. Few responses about the possibility of getting killed, maimed or severely injured.
 
She thought it was better to give in to the assailant's demands, because then he won't kill you.
Click to expand...

Oh really? what will she do if the assailant want's her life?

but she just can't see that she could EVER be in danger.
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Is she a young good looking woman? Then she is always in danger. Even if she is old and ugly, some rapist don't care or start out looking for easy prey.

-Bill
 
Small Town

Actually, the fact that they live in a small town may make it MORE likely to happen to them. The goblins and gangstas have discovered that small-town folk are pretty much in condition white because they think that...because they can leave their doors unlocked at night and their neighbors are only a shout away...they're immune to such foolishness. They don't expect it, and they're not prepared to meet it head-on. The cretins know this...and thus expect very little in the way of resistance. The classic surprise attack
while your adversary sleeps. They also kow that such areas usually have only a token police force, and they strike out of the blue.

Another thing for them to consider is that..in rural or farming communities... many times neighbors are fairly well separated, distance-wise. A house in the middle of a 50-acre farm is pretty isolated, and even gunshots are unlikely to cause much alarm, if they're even heard.
 
1911, as a home invader, the isolation can work for or against you. In some areas around here, you could be shot in the chest and laying on the ground bleeding and the guy could still stand over you, cap you twice in the head, and bury you in his backyard and no one would ever know. And if one of your neighbors found out, chances are they'd crack a beer, mutter that it served the SOB right, and that would be the end of it.
 
Lee Lapin- BINGO- I love that "it is the stakes that matter." I used to emphasise there are two criteria for potential accidents- one is the likelyhood of an accident, and the other is the possible consequences.
 
30 or so years ago, a 20 mile drive was considered fairly far. Cars required more maintenance, weren't as reliable, and the roads weren't as good.
Click to expand...

I think you would have to go back more then 30 years . I have taken 50 mile bike rides round trip with no problems.

1911, as a home invader, the isolation can work for or against you. In some areas around here, you could be shot in the chest and laying on the ground bleeding and the guy could still stand over you, cap you twice in the head, and bury you in his backyard and no one would ever know. And if one of your neighbors found out, chances are they'd crack a beer, mutter that it served the SOB right, and that would be the end of it.
Click to expand...

Too bad life can't always be that simple.

-Bill
 
Too bad life can't always be that simple.
Click to expand...

When your house is a 20'x12' cabin with a couple lodgepole trunks tied together with bale-twine and a tarp thrown over it for a garage, and you run on generator power because you're 50+ miles from anything more civilized than a bar, everything is simple.
 
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