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Old November 14, 2009, 08:16 PM   #18
sakeneko
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Join Date: May 23, 2009
Location: Nevada
Posts: 644
Quote:
I think that everyone on this forum believes that people, regardless of their gender, orientation, whatever, should shoulder the responsibility of defending themselves when/where/if possible. This means purchasing an appropriate weapon, training, ammo, etc.

The rest of this is merely hyperbole.
Not "merely", but I would agree that most things that can be said beyond what you just said is extrapolation from that central responsibility. My quibble is with the idea that each individual whatsoever has this responsibility. IMHO some individuals don't because they are not capable, for various reasons, of learning to use a gun safely or of being safe around it.

A friend of mine with severe cyclical depression is a good example -- he knows how to shoot and most of the time would be fine with a gun, but when depression hits him it's deep and dark. He won't own a gun or live in a house where he has access to one because he can't trust himself with it when he's depressed. I think he's being a responsible adult by recognizing his limits.

That said, though, I agree with you that defense of yourself and innocent others isn't a "gay rights" or "gendered rights" issue, but the right *and* responsibility of every adult. A person's gender (however you define that term), race, and sexual orientation have nothing to do with it. Neither do any number of other personal characteristics that have nothing to do with an adult's intelligence, good sense, or physical and mental ability to use guns or other self-defense technologies safely.

Unfortunately there really are people out there who feel entitled to attack, harm and even kill other people whose behavior offends them for some reason. Common targets of this kind of attack are gay and transgendered men and women. I don't think Erin is wrong to concentrate on only part of the problem of predatory violence and how to deal with it, as long as she keeps in mind that violence against gays, lesbians, and transgendered people is just part of a larger problem and any solution to it is likely to be at least part of the solution to the larger problem. (And I'm pretty sure she knows this already.) :-)
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