Here's my .02 cents:

As citizens, we have a civic duty to try to stop carnage and mayhem when we encounter it, if we can do so safely. I want the best tools available to stop a bad guy. The police choose firearms and pepper spray and tasers. That's good enough for me.

The right of self defense is God-given and the Constitution makes it illegal for the government to infringe that right (but they do it anyway).

To those saying a class should be mandatory before someone can carry a firearm, I agree. It should be taught in high schools and required for graduation. Also, a passing grade in civics should be a requirement to vote.

I believe I also responded with the idea of "realistic solutions."

I think it means in your hand, not just carrying.

Florida statute 790.151

Leg.state.fl.us
Welcome
:

Online Sunshine › Statutes › 0790.151.html
(1) As used in ss. 790.151-790.157, to “use a firearm” means to discharge a firearm or to have a firearm readily accessible for immediate discharge.


U try it and let me kno. :1rotfl::1rotfl:

So that's the benchmark there? Don't use deadly force when it's not necessary, because you could go to jail? I dunno - I'd rather have an NRA instructor who told me don't use deadly force when it's not necessary, because you could end up killing someone who shouldn't be dead.

I hope you are never in a scenario where your life is in imminent danger. I’ve been there. Twice. Once a gun in my face and another time, I was stabbed in the back with a knife. After that I told myself I would never again allow myself to be a victim of a violent crime.

Many other states have the same law.
 

Many other states have the same law. (You can Google for the list.) And there hasn't been an increase in gun crimes in any of them.

Perhaps you should read the definition of "readily accessible". You must have missed it. It helps to read the entire section.

(2) For the purposes of this section, “readily accessible for immediate discharge” means loaded and in a person’s hand.

Law #6 Bars and Restaurants
This is another place where the law is tricky to understand. Florida gun law states that you can carry with a permit in a restaurant, but not if it serves alcohol.
Since many restaurants have their liquor licenses, Floridians have tweaked this requirement.
If the main purpose of the establishment is to serve food, but you can buy alcohol with your meal: feel free to carry. If an establishment has a dedicated bar section, your gun is not welcome there.
If it’s a fully licensed bar with no other purpose, like nightclubs, carrying is illegal.


One of many links:
https://miamicriminaldefense.com/7-t...apons-charges/

1. You where stabbed in the back with a knife --- Your gun would not have helped you in that case.
2. Gun in your face --- Your gun would not have helped you in that case.

I was mugged once.

How could you possibly know that a gun would not have helped in those cases? Were you there? You do not know all of the facts surrounding the incidents. Maybe, just maybe, being able to defend himself with a firearm the Op my have prevented the escalation of the criminal acts that resulted in his assault and stabbing.

Common sense isn't very common these days. Nor is situational awareness. Here's how you can possibly know a gun won't help you:

If someone is behind you - you can't see him. You can't know he has a knife, and you won't know that he's going to stab you until you have already been stabbed. At that point - you're already stabbed, and gun won't unstab you.

If someone has a gun to your face, then - if you move, he'll shoot you. His gun is already out, loaded, cocked, and aimed at your face. Yours is holstered. You reach for it - you're dead. A gun won't help you become un-shot in the face.

Now, you see someone coming TOWARD you with a knife, and it looks like he's aiming to stab you then sure. A gun will probably save you from that.

If you see someone coming toward you with a hand on his holster, but the gun isn't out yet, and isn't aimed at your face yet, then yup - you have a chance at saving yourself, assuming you're faster than he is.

Common sense, situational awareness. It's all part of "paying attention." If you're not good at that, you absolutely should not ever carry a firearm.

AND then again, perhaps after being stabbed in the back, he was able to draw and put the bad guy down, saving others from having to go through the same pain or worse. If he had a gun put in his face, how do you know if he was able to get to his own(if he had one) and put the bad guy down, thus saving someone else from the same situation? Situation awareness sounds real good and really is good in most situations. It doesn't work in all situations, just like guns don't work in all situations. Guns do not always prevent assaults, but stats prove that thousands of people are saved by good guys with guns every year.
The point is, that if you don't want or are a afraid of guns, then you are FREE not to own one. If you are afraid of guns, doesn't give you (whomever) the right to insist that others do not own them. I would rather go down knowing that I had done everything I could to survive than to wonder on my way out if I might have been able to do more to survive the situation.
This has been beaten to death. We will never convince those that are afraid of guns to change their minds about gun ownership. They will always come up with a "what if" to argue against our "what if." Gun ownership is a right, period. No one has to own a gun, just like no one has to voice their opinion just because we have a right to Free Speech. No one is forcing either practice.

You are correct. Common sense is not common. If you were stabbed in the back, did the person magically appear behind you instantaneously, or was there some development of a situation where a gun may or may not have been able to help.

If a person in front of you has a gun, and you have no gun, it can develop from a nothing situation to a gun in your face situation and you have no control. If you have a gun, and you see someone with a weapon before it is in your face, different actions can be taken and your gun could prevent his gun in your face.

I think the arrogance of a person being 100% sure about a situation that they were not at, and then saying anyone else who doesn't see this situation their way has no common sense, is exactly why certain people shouldn't be weighing in on other people's right to protect themselves.