I wouldn't lay down my life on that principle, why would you even suggest that? But at this point it's abstract. Would you like to get T-boned at an intersection for being a wise guy? No, of course not. But you continue to ride knowing it's a very real possibility. So don't hold me to a standard you can't hold.
Three countries:USA, Canada, England. Adjusted for population, percentage wise, there's a vast difference in gun death. Canada's in the middle. Which direction do you think we should go? If we go to England side maybe there will be an increase in the type of situation where you can't defend yourself at home against a thug. In that context I'm willing to take the risk as you are willing to risk getting T-boned on a bike. I'm speaking for myself, obviously not everybody feels that way.
Why the drama with the high horse. What a laff.
Let's pretend here that T-boning is equivalent to being shot by an intruder. You can easily avoid being T-boned by staying off the road.
However, you live in the world with the rest of the population. Be it either the 99% of relatively sane people or those 1% that have a screw loose. You can't just "get off the road" and avoid the risk. So, why not be somewhat proactive, similar to how people ride properly, wear bright gear etc.
I don't think you have the right to say I don't deserve the chance to properly defend myself.
Now as per American gun culture... It is overboard in my eyes.
And yes, I believe that with my years of experience in either hunting and having a tour where I was very much on the front line, I could easily defend myself. Considering I know where all of my keys are and that I can do it pretty much by feel quietly and quickly in the dark, by the time they beat that door down there would be a loaded shotgun coming up the stairs.
And against what you might think, I live in pretty much no fear that I will ever come across an incident in Canada OR the US where I would ever need one of my guns for defense... No tin foil hat for me thank you. But hey, I wear expensive helmets, neck protectors, buy insurance etc so why not take other precautions? My guns aren't for defense, they are for the other aspects of my life but they are a tool that fits that job just as good as the baseball bat at the door and the kitchen knives on the counter.
And now that I know you're an anti-hunter... I had 2 incidences within a week from anti-hunters. One was a woman in a cottage yelling that she is calling the cops and yelled a couple more threats as I was walking in the water down the beach on the way back in from a hunt. My gun was unloaded, trigger locked and in a case which is well above what the law require for where I was and what I was doing, my quarry was in a sack so nobody could see what was in there, so I was doing my part for the sensitive people.
Saturday I was out Coyote hunting, waiting for the other part of the group to set up so I could get out of my truck and push a bush. I was on a public road, on the property line of the property I was hunting. The other property belongs to a woman that has caused issues before. Well she sees my truck from her home (about 500M down the road behind me), got in her car and parks in front of my truck. We decide to pull up next to her to see what she wants, and without warning (she still had her right signal on and was stopped) she floors it, swerves her car over as to hit my truck as I pulled along side her, it was aggressive enough my left tires were on the opposite shoulder as I slammed the brake to avoid a collision. She than goes up the road, turns around and I wave (yes, a legit wave) as she passes me to go back to her home. We hunted the property we have permission for, and she got a visit from the MNR.
This is the BS I put up with from the anti hunting party. I've had people insult me, waste their breathe on their false preaching, I've had threats made against me etc just for the fact that I hunt. And not once have I ever done the same back.
Live your life, I'll live mine, and if people could keep to themselves without interfering with someone else's way of life then just let them do it. So long as they aren't directly harming another person in their endeavors, then just leave them to it and we will all get along.
I think what all gun and hunting people want is just to be left alone as we are. We already (at least in Canada) have enough rules to follow to keep everyone safe and secure.
Despite what you think, hunters aren't blood thirsty. We aren't cruel. We aren't all stupid yoakels. I HATE to see animals suffer, but if you could see where your chicken, beef and ham came from you would see the suffering they deal with. I make a kill as quickly as possible, and do my business as out of sight as possible to not offend the sensitive types.
