The Right to Life

[murdock]

we had 2 hijackings in our area..the second one resulted in the death of 2 hijackers...both shot dead while attempting to hijack a vehicle in the driveway...if they were shot with a stun gun...chances are we would still be having hijackings in our area....

now we have a problem...because they are stealing a vehicle a night...the problem they wear boxer shorts and no shirt so it is difficult to shoot someone if they are dressed in this manner armed with an allen key and a small weigh to break the locks...the last ones were shot with 200 rounds from a paint ball gun...both suspected thieves (caught in the act) were floored...and the thefts continue...and to add now we are having house breaking during the day....there are 6 occupants driving around in a white toyota stallion....last seen cruising the area on sunday morning at 3.30 am...now just think if just 2 or better still all six were shot dead...problem solved...message to other wanna be thieves...dont f^&*k around in that area otherwise you will end up dead...saving the tax payer lots of money...saving the insurance comapnies...allowing us to sleep between 2 and 5 am without having to worry about your car being stolen...house being broken into...wife and child being attacked...etc etc...you have to make the punsihment work...otherwise you might as well keep putting higher fences...more security gates...bullet proof windows on your car...you wanna live in a cage...I DONT.

you send out the right message...they can go rob other people who want to worry about kissing and making up...feeling sorry for the poor crimminal......i can assure you it has nothing to do with putting food on the table....like they say with drugs it starts off with a little weed then grows...hence the ban on drugs...same thing with crimminlas...it starts off with petty crimes...by the first lot of rehab in prison they are ready to move to the next level...been gang raped by tiny...tattoed and beads inserted in their dicks and ready for action...and so the problem grows.

[tec0]

If a knife if founded in your car or on your person it counts as a concealed weapon thus you are considered to be armed. Thus if someone shoots you "with a legal firearm" he/she can claim you where armed with something most of us consider to be a basic tool. I am not saying they will get away with it. I am saying you will be considered to be armed.

So if the law stays the same regardless of the weapon why must the weapon be none lethal? See the laws are the problem not the weapon. Fact is criminals obtain there firearms illegally and in most cases it is weapons designed for war not self defence.

So if you truly believe that a paper-ball will stop an armed attacker with weaponry designed to be both powerful lethal and capable to shoot trough a car like a hot knife through butter, it becomes clear that carrying just a handgun, paintball gun or knife is no longer efficient.

You need to be able to respond with the same lethal intend meaning a weapon that is fully automatic and able to suppress, harm and or if necessary eliminate your attacker. Add proper training in the mix and you may stand a chance to fight back against the growing crime.

The laws must change...

[AndyD]

You need to be able to respond with the same lethal intend meaning a weapon that is fully automatic and able to suppress, harm and or if necessary eliminate your attacker.......

......The laws must change...

I can't say I'd be in favour of fully automatic weapons in the hands of the general population.

[mother]

Why not rather use non-lethal protection?

Seriously?!

I disagree. I prefer not to have a firearm in the house, because I have little children. But I do carry a flame thrower... too tricky for little fingers to operate, but super efficient up to about 6m. It throws a ball of fire roughly 1m in diameter. I pray I never have to use it; but if my kids are in danger, I will roast the bugger!

[tec0]

Seriously?!

I disagree. I prefer not to have a firearm in the house, because I have little children. But I do carry a flame thrower... too tricky for little fingers to operate, but super efficient up to about 6m. It throws a ball of fire roughly 1m in diameter. I pray I never have to use it; but if my kids are in danger, I will roast the bugger!

I would imagine that it is an effective weapon this flame thrower... But I think you may have the wrong idea about a gun... It is not suppose to be in your sock-drawer for example. It is suppose to be in a safe that is locked with a key that is normally hidden and or placed in a safe place.

Secondly any weapon can kill a person. Your flame thrower for example can easily directly and or indirectly kill a person. Or do permanent damage...

That said how long will it take you to arm yourself with your weapon of choice "gun, flame thrower, knife, paint ball gun and so on and so forth" Time yourself, you will be surprised to know that you can double your reaction time because of shock. Not to worry this is true for both men and women.

So it really doesn't matter what you use, you will only get one chance to use it. All I can say is:

Be vigilant
Be careful
Avoid being alone
Avoid isolated arias.

I can't say I'd be in favour of fully automatic weapons in the hands of the general population.

How many bullets does it take to harm and or kill a person? Just one.... So in all honesty you don't need a fully automatic weapon unless if you have more than 1 attacker and you need to suppress them.

[Blurock]

It is the duty of a state (Government) to protect its citizens. In our case the government is failing dismally. Laws are ineffective due to (some) corrupt policemen and politicians.

We often read about prisoners escaping or criminals going free on a technicality. Police are not well trained and sometimes mess up crime scenes so that evidence is destroyed. Criminals (including organised crime) know that the statistics are in their favour and the chances of getting caught is slim. If they do get caught, the conviction rate is low due to a weak legal system.

I have been fortunate that I have not been a victim of serious crime. I do not want to carry a gun, but I can understand why some people feel that they should go to extremes to protect their families. If the State did their duty, we would not have to live in a war zone.

[mbsmit]

Seriously?!

I disagree. I prefer not to have a firearm in the house, because I have little children. But I do carry a flame thrower... too tricky for little fingers to operate, but super efficient up to about 6m. It throws a ball of fire roughly 1m in diameter. I pray I never have to use it; but if my kids are in danger, I will roast the bugger!

Wow! I wouldn't want to end up in your house at midnight :-). I do not have a firearm, or any other lethal weapon in my possession, and doubt I ever will. I own 2 cans of pepper-spray, 1 stun-gun and a stun baton. All of these are effective, easy to use and most of all - SAFE. If a kid accidentally comes across it, it has several safety measures and even if they do get past them - the odds of them getting killed is VERY slim (perhaps a little pain, but not death).

I have never had to use them, and I pray I never will. But anyway, If I do need them I have them at my disposal. I will find it hard to take another persons life - even if he/she had the plan to take mine - I haven't got it in me.

But anyway - we all have our own ideas, ideals and opinions in this matter - and it will be hard for anyone to win a debate like this. Similar to the Windows vs. Linux or maybe the Microsoft Office vs Open Office debate.

Regards,
Mr Smit

[AndyD]

But I do carry a flame thrower... too tricky for little fingers to operate, but super efficient up to about 6m. It throws a ball of fire roughly 1m in diameter. I pray I never have to use it; but if my kids are in danger, I will roast the bugger!

I hope you have alternative accomodation available (and fire insurance) if you ever confront a burglar with your flame thrower.

Did you make this contraption yourself or did you buy it locally?

[mother]

I hope you have alternative accomodation available

... which is why I pray I never have to use it! LOL!

I bought it from one of those travelling salesmen (you know, the kind that sell all sorts of freaky gadgets). It's surprisingly simple: it works on the same principle as the "doom + lighter" party trick, only this one uses pepper spray + what looks like lighter fluid. If you squeeze the trigger, the initial flame is a small blue one; then you press down on the pepper spray with your thumb, and it's "koebaai Meraai".

[wynn]

The cop's were looking for a sneezing suspect who was dyed red and had his hair and eybrows burned off.

[AndyD]

I'm sure the cops would be looking but it's pretty medium rare that they ever catch the guy.

[mother]

You're cooking, boys!! Well done!

[Dave A]

Seeing as you have the flame thrower, I suspect you're the one that's doing the cooking, mother

[murdock]

lucky its not petrol driven...imagine the cost to run it

[Blurock]

So it really doesn't matter what you use, you will only get one chance to use it. All I can say is:

Be vigilant
Be careful
Avoid being alone
Avoid isolated arias.

I believe that neighbours should watch out for each other. I don't know how many neighbourhood watches are still operating and how effective they are, but that sounds like a good deterrent.

In our suburb we use Sun Cell Watch which works very well. Our crime stats are very low with only the (very) occasional opportunistic petty crime reported. A resident will report suspicious activity via SMS. The control room will filter the report and then send out SMS warnings to members only in that street or vicinity. The message is also relayed to the police and security companies.

Should a crime be committed, the response is often there before residents realise what is going on. By residents being vigilant and keeping an eye on suspicious cars, loiterers etc, the baddies quickly realise that the community is involved and vigilant and that they may not get away with what they were planning to do.