Armed robbery - Page 3

A burglar is one of the most dangerous people you will meet. You have no idea who they are or what they are capable of doing, but one thing is certain - they have no sense of right or wrong. The most dangerous person you will meet is someone with no shame, no conscience, no feeling of guilt, and no remorse. They will feel free to do anything they want and feel no sense of wrong-doing, including killing someone for their possessions. I automatically deduce that someone breaking into your house in the middle of the night fits into the above category. What other kind of person would do such a thing? You have to assume the worst (that they have a gun and are planning to use it) in order to protect yourself.

It's ingrained in our culture and in our Constitution. It isn't going to change anytime soon.

It happens in any large city. You don't have to live in a bad area to have problems. My campus is located in the wealthiest part of the city. Three blocks East are multi-million dollar homes, yet if you go 9 blocks west you are in a horrible area - one of the worst. Maybe I'm over-reacting by saying that I want to purchase a gun. I just think that it would be good to have in case the worst happens. The area I grew up in is a suburb of the city I live in. No crime. No murders for the past 50 years. I feel very safe there. I'm just saying that you never know what happens. Most of the crimes I talked about happen in the worst areas, yet you do read about crimes taking place in wealthy areas - obviously criminals have cars and are willing to drive a few miles to pull off a better robbery. I'm not scared for my life, and I'm not planning on having to ever use a gun for defense. I just feel that it's better to own a gun and know you can defend yourself in a time of need than be unarmed and face death, knowing that you can't do anything but plead with a man who will probably end up killing you.

I don't really see the connection between committing burglary and not having a conscience. Have you ever read Les Miserables? Also: I think there's something a bit perverse about believing that every burglar is not only armed, but armed and bloodthirsty. I suppose it accords with your belief that all burglars lack a conscience, but I don't think either belief accords with reality, in your city or elsewhere.

This is a scary thread. If there was a robber in my home, I wouldn't wait around to figure out whether he was armed or unarmed. I would grab my cell, and get the hell out of there before calling 911. Dammit if I'm gonna risk my life for a crappy t.v. and a bunch of sneakers. And if he was going to shoot me before robbing me anyway, I don't see how the gun (and remember, ammo should be kept stored separately for safety reasons) is going to help me in any way.

Really, where are you from?

Yes, I have read Les Mis. I think the only difference is that society during that time was much more civil (perhaps not the right word) and much less aggressive (perhaps also not the correct word). You're giving modern-day criminals way too much credit. My point was that someone who is committing robbery (not theft) in an occupied house clearly has no morals or conscience. Someone who could do such an act is clearly a dangerous person. My point was that once a person breaks into your house when you are home, you need to assume the worst. If I were to break into someone's house in the middle of the night, I would fully expect to be shot if that person did own a gun.

i'm from l.a. it so says so under my avatar, location: los angeles

Rich relative to Whites or other minorities?

This is why I'm glad I don't live in the states. Here in Sweden ppl get so much free money from the govt no one bothers to commit crime, except for some random junkies or immigrants. Why go out and "work" at nights when they can sit at home and collect govt cheques =)

That sounds great. What is the general attitude that Swedish people have towards Americans, or more specifically, someone who would move to Sweden from the States?

The people here are generally very accepting of other cultures, during the eighties and nineties Sweden was well known for its liberal immigration policies. The immigration laws are much tougher now but the people here are still cool so it's not like there is any issues with discrimination, racism and stuff like that. Sure we have some random neo-nazis who sit around and drink beer in groups, and that's about as far as they can go cuz there there are very strict laws about making slightest racial comments in public, hell they can't even wear a t-shirt with Hitlers picture on it that would be a violation of a law protecting minorities and different ethnic groups. So if you wanna escape violent crime, be sure to to visit Sweden just the girls here should be motivation enough. But keep in mind it's mad expensive here, we pay one of the highest taxes in the world for the privilege of not having to worry about being robbed by some random dudes with a shotgun..

Well, I'd rather have the random dudes with shotguns than the quite systematic politicians with onerous taxing authority.

Spoken like a true idiot. What exactly is a systematic politician, by the way? And is it the authority to tax that's onerous (and if so, onerous to whom - the systematic politicians?) or the taxes that are imposed by way of that authority?