Yep.
Just because we're "gun nuts" doesn't mean we are nuts with guns.
Steve

Sounds like you don’t think either guns or older folks can be effective in the art of protection. If all 50 of your geriatrics were firing at the recent madmen that would be a dream not a nightmare.

Another factor for those who carry,
1) get insurance
2) if something happens-tell the LEO the following:Identify yourself as the victim of the attack inform responding police that you have an attorney, and you will be happy to cooperate BUT only in the presence of your attorney--this from my insurers contact car---CCW SAFE

Dayton shooter wore mask (for gas I suppose) and bullet proof vest (expecting to be shot).

One of the very nice things about the US is (coming from a country in Europe where I had to duck behind the bushes as a 6 year old while going to buy milk because of war) is that I don’t have to carry to go to Publix or the Square or sleep with a gun under my pillow. Just stay away from some questionable neighborhoods in cities etc. I can’t tell you what a relief it is.

Except this all seems to be changing, and that's why we have these discussions here and elsewhere on the internet, in political arenas, in coffeeshops, in knitting circles, and most of the rest of the civilized world.

The Stoneman Douglas school shooting occurred in Parkland, Florida, a wealthy city of under 30,000 people. Median income is $131,000, median house price is alomst $600,000.

The Sandy Hook massacre occurred in a sleepy little village-type neighborhood of one of the richest towns in Connecticut, which is one of the richest states in the country.

It CAN happen here. It CAN happen anywhere. Denial won't save your life. Do you need to be in panic mode 24/7? Nope. Do you "need" to carry a gun just in case? Probably not. Is it healthy to have cautious optimism? Absolutely, as long as you don't forget the "cautious" part of that.

An old tidbit of wisdom:

Trust in the Lord, but tie up your camel.

It has happened in the Villages. A planned shooting was prevented at one of the charter schools.

Cops: Two students planned mass shooting at school in The Villages - News - Daily Commercial - Leesburg, FL

It can happen here. But talk about probabilities, what is the chance of being shot in TV: .1% say if we go out a thousand times (once every day for 3 years) do we get shot once? Where I was in Europe at the time the probability was much higher.

Is the probability of being struck by lightning or being shot for the average person higher in TV?

Having some experience with a 40-something woman who went through the war in Bosnia...


I suggest using some of the same precautions you did going through a war, only obviously less intense... situational awareness is key, plus knowing how you will exit a place you have entered if need be. Staying out of questionable places at questionable times. Exiting quickly if you see a situation possibly escalating.


The only thing that bothers me about so many people carrying in a retirement village is that we're all getting old, foggy, and losing our filters.


But I do feel safer in TV than I would in other places. Also, I'm not inclined to go to large gatherings, although that's no guarantee to staying safe.

Thank you for your advice. Especially useful when traveling. I feel pretty safe in TV.

I am from Central Europe, never been to Bosnia but have read about how hard it was for them.

Interesting. I actually feel safer knowing that one of my fellow Villagers may be carrying and having the ability to confront any would be attacker.

You will find that most of the mass shootings occurred in no carry zones or states / cities with extremely tight gun laws that make it very hard to carry a gun legally. Shooters know where to go.

Interesting statistics. Here are some more for you: most states had NO reported mass shootings at all in the last 2.5 years (I only checked from January 2017 to current).

Another: Of the states that have the most mass shootings since January 2017 (that would be California, Florida, Ohio, Texas, and Pennsylvani), only California's gun laws are considered strict. And they are one of the strictest states in the country. However - California is also bordered by three of the loosest states in the country - Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona. None of those states require a state license or permit to purchase a firearm at a private sale, and background checks are not required at private sales in these three states, so it would be very easy to buy a gun *legally* in these three states, even if you plan on doing illegal things with them (such as bringing them to California).

California had 9 mass shootings since 1/2017.
Florida had 6.
Texas had 5.
Ohio had 4.
Pennsylvania had 3.

In total, these five states alone make up 27 mass shootings in 3 years. Of those 27 mass shootings, only 9 of them occurred in a strictly-controlled gun law state. The other 18 occurred in especially relaxed gun law states.

There were 6 states that had "only" 2 mass shootings each, and again - only one state had strict gun laws in that state.

There were 12 states that had "only" 1 mass shooting each during this time period, and only 4 of them have strict gun laws in their states.

I got my primary list of mass shootings from Wikipedia. I then went to each state's official website to read their state's gun laws.

So I'm wondering where you got your statistics from.

You need to break it down even further. He was also referring to no carry/gun free zones. Not just states with strict or lax gun requirements.

How many of these shootings took place where you're not allowed to carry a gun even if the state has more permissive gun laws?

Mass shooters know schools are easy targets because they are gun free zones.

Yep. Also people need to look up what constitutes a "mass shooting".
Mass shootings happen more than you know, or what the media wants you to know, in the big cities.

UPDATED: Mass Public Shootings keep occurring in Gun-Free Zones: 94% of attacks since 1950 - Crime Prevention Research CenterCrime Prevention Research Center

Steve

It is against FEDERAL law to allow firearms within 1000 feet of a school. So it doesn't matter which state you're in, or which school district you're in. It's illegal, regardless.

However, most mass shootings in the last 2.5 years didn't occur at schools.

Gun-free isn't a legal term and is defined differently by different data-collectors. A sports arena where civilians aren't allowed to bring their weapons, but there are armed guards and police present - is that "gun-free?" Or is it "gun-restricted?" Some say it's semantics. But it's the semantics that people are basing their statistics on.

Also fyi "mass shooting" is also defined differently by different data collectors.

It's easy to believe internet memes and soundbites and tweets by pro- or anti- anything. But when you delve into the actual official documents of the subjects that interest you, you come up with a lot of facts that are not being included in your meme-of-the-day.