True. You said "
Whatever items they were taking were not worth the life of a young 18 year old - no way - no how.... no matter how much a of a bad person he was." I agree. No money or material things are worth killing for.
Way & How: My family's personal safety, lives and well being ARE worth stopping a "
bad person" for. Sadly, Bad Persons don't like witnesses or care about our safety or laws. If an 18 year old Bad Person points a gun at me or mine with the intent to do harm, they have forfeited the right to cry "No fair. You have a gun too."
As for me not being in the situations I mentioned, does that mean
if the statistic isn't about ME personally, it isn't real? If the crime is committed against my next door neighbor, then it doesn't count? In what universe is that even logical? And as it so happens, I actually have been robbed at gun point. So, yes, I do get to be a REAL statistic when I grow up. What was your point again?
I don't carry a gun out of fear. I carry it as a preventive measure. Yes, the odds of violent crime threatening me and mine are slim, but so is crashing my bike, and yet... I wear a helmet. Or pay life insurance for the last several decades, even though the odds of me dying (in my younger years) was microscopic. In case I do, my family is protected. The gun is not out of fear, but for the ability to protect my family in the off hand (and steadily increasing) chance that violence does intrude into my life (again).
In the real world: In NC, according to
FBI statistics, (which I assume you will give me as a valid source) there is 3.6% chance my wife or I will experience a violent crime, murder, forcible rape, or aggravated assault (
IN A GIVEN YEAR) [39,885 REPORTED crimes divided by a population of 2.2 million]. This does not include: robbery, property crime, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, or arson, because... as you say, "
not worth the life of.. blah blah blah". If included, those crimes increases the chances that one of us will be the victim of one of these crimes to 39.2%. [433,886 instances divided by a population of 2.2 million x the two of us.. or does she not count either, because it isn't me?]
Here is a point of my own: you seem to be under the impression that I (and others) are trying to change your point of view on the right to carry a concealed weapon. I'm not. I was explaining that I do because crime isn't isolated anymore and happens to good people in all locations. Some people don't carry out of fear, they carry to "inoculate" themselves (and reduce) against the admittedly small odds that bad things will happen to them or their families. They are not relying on the government (minutes way... I love that!

) to protect them, but are empowering themselves to do so.
You clearly are never going to carry a weapon and I am okay with that. I have no desire to influence you one way or the other. Your mind is made up. Guns:Evil. Cool. We get it. You don't want a gun.