I do own firearms but they are all locked away.
Only a flashlight/pepper spray/machete are readily accessible
Granted they probably won’t stop a guy with gun.
I read somewhere that if you own a firearm, the statistics are greater that a friend/relative/spouse/neighbor will get you vs a stranger.
I never did research on that statistic cause we know that statistics can be slanted (guns kill xx amount of people…..yet it doesn’t note that yy of that amount were suicides)
But it seemed somewhat realistic to me. I come from a small island so there are few strangers, all the shootings/killings I recall were passion and/or alcohol related. Yes, a small island may not be the norm.
This is just anecdotal stuff:
I’ve lived in Ewa/Kapolei for about 13 years and in PC for about 21. I don’t watch the news but I don’t recall any forced entries. There is no public housing in both areas so I think that makes a difference. We do have robberies in PC….often of older people that can’t hear
I’m more worried about getting killed by a drunk driver or someone talking/texting while driving….or electrocuted at work….. than someone shooting me.
A coworker has lived in the area by McKinley HS for about 35 years and the only shooting I can recall was a drive by shooting on a couple walking along the street….i think the girl died…it was a few years ago. Coworker has more than pepper spray on his note stand
My other coworker lives on Kam IV rd near KPT….about 15-20years. There have been a few times when HPD have raided homes. But no shootings I can recall. I think he has nothing….not even pepper spray.
My cousins lived on Democrat St. The shops have pau Hana after work. Gritty place. 3 of 4 cousins got hooked on ice. Rough place but no shootings I can recall. I’m kind of surprised about that. I sort of assumed that they and lot of others in the area had stolen guns.
I guess if I lived in a not so great place, I would try to move. If I couldn’t move, then I might consider a readily accessible firearm.
lol. I looked up neighborhoodscout.com….my area is one of the most unsafe…. 7 or 8/10 in PC. Our area includes the shopping center which has homeless….that probably messes up the statistics.
Our area in Kapolei is also unsafe….like 7 or 8/10. I don’t recall there ever being a shooting or forced entry.
Barbers Point and East Kapolei are more unsafe. I assume it’s because of the homeless.
We have always owned 2 dogs and I don’t watch the news so that probably helps with my outlook (head in the sand perhaps)
USA has the most mass shootings by far. If I went by that, I would ccw
I get concerned if out late at night. Don’t want to be certain areas when it’s getting late
The Pupu streets even in the middle of the day is a little sketchy…..groups of kids walking around. I had to inspect some stuff in the area…it was okay….no one really pays attention to people in work clothes/shoes and PPE’s. I’d be a little hesitant of leaving X-ring at night….but seems to be ok….haven’t heard any horror stories about people who use at X-ring at night
Palolo housing and Kalihi Valley housing are mellow in the day. Mostly old people and toddlers in the day.
I feel if I avoid places where the young kids hang around at night, I’m relatively safe overall from violence.
I'd like to offer a few questions to ponder.
Do you own a fire extinguisher?
Do you know the odds of needing one?
Do you know the odds of getting to an extinguishers when you wake up to a fire?
Do you own and carry a spare tire and jack in your vehicles?
How many times have you needed to use them in the last 20 years?
Do you own any tourniquets?
How many times have you used one?
Do you see the common thread here?
It's not about how likely you are to need a gun (or any other thing I asked about). It's about the consequences of not having one if you should ever need one.
Today, home and business defibrillators are selling like hotcakes. The odds that anyone in your home or at your business will need one is a fraction of a percent.
The real question is this: when your life is on the line, why would you not want to have the necessary items or tools -- and training -- to save your own life or the lives of others?
Just like cleaning supplies and other poisonous products you store at home, you have to do an assessment of how likely it is a child OR ADULT will accidentally be poisoned. You wouldn't take a busted package of rat poison and transfer it to an empty sugar decanter without taking precautions. Even an adult could mistake it for sugar.
You don't put bleach in an empty water bottle without marking it.
For every danger in the home, you try to mitigate that danger. Locks, locking cabinets, safes, labels, childproof lids or cabinet door latches, shelves or appliance a child can't reach above, ... whatever in your estimation is needed to make it safer.
There have been a couple of studies that paint the picture that guns in the home increases the risk you or someone living with you will be murdered.
What the studies don't account for is the flip-side of the argument. At least as many, and perhaps as many as 2 million gun owners, successfully defend their lives and the lives of others each year. That, compared to the 30,000 estimated gun-related deaths each year is to me a big argument for self protection. But when about 9,000 of those are considered "regular" homicides and accidents, and the others are gang-related or suicides, the gap widens.
Would you rather try to avoid being one of the 9,000 murder statistics, or would you rather be one of the 30,000-2M successful self defense statistics?