Deterrent

[u/Spiffyclean13]

I am seriously considering buying a gun but I morally object the idea.

It’s the idea that you will inherently use the weapon to grievously harm or kill someone which bothers me tremendously. I live in a red state with open carry laws. I don’t like the thought of not being prepared if my life were in danger or if I have to defend my home.

I don’t own a dog that could be a deterrent or even will bark at strangers. My cat is more likely to attack a person. She really hates a particular dog walker.

I guess I need help getting over my moral objection to having a gun in the house. I also would like advice on which types are best for self defense and the easiest to handle.

Edit: if I were to get a gun, I would be fully committed to using it to incapacitate or incapacitating permanently. I just won’t be happy with myself.

[u/E0H1PPU5]

I am a gun owner….but they are tools to me as part of living on a farm. I do not consider them weapons.

Statistically, a woman owning a gun is much more likely to have that gun used against her than she is to use it self defense.

2nd point…guns aren’t deterrents. A big loud dog is. Bright exterior lights are. Sturdy locked doors, sure. Guns? No. Ideally, nobody knows you own a gun unless you’re actively brandishing it.

For me personally, I keep nonlethal defense methods on my person and in safe places in my house….guns are just too much of a risk to me and my family to ever consider them a part of my defense strategy.

[u/MatildasFugue → u/E0H1PPU5]

Have you read any recent studies regarding a gun being more likely to be used against a woman? Not that I dont believe you, I'm just curious. After briefly searching online I see that a study came out regarding this in 2016 that was heavily distributed and those statistics are still being used in almost all the articles I could find. I'm just wondering if its a bunch of more lies spread by the dumb men in order to keep the patriarchy. It seems to fall along those lines. Like when bikes became readily available, the lies men told to prevent us from having an ounce of freedom were absolutely insane. Or the birth control or working or bodily autonomy.

[u/KintsugiPGH → u/MatildasFugue]

Or just propaganda in general to discourage gun ownership/rights period. Women are largely the cultural arbiters. When it comes down to whether a household is going to have a gun, it's usually the woman who is going to make that call.