A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:
If you made it this far, showerthoughts is accepting new mods. This community is generally tame so its not a lot of work, but having a few more mods would help reports get addressed a little sooner.
Whats it like to be a mod? Reports just show up as messages in your Lemmy inbox, and if a different mod has already addressed the report, the message goes away and you never worry about it.
When I took a class to get my Concealed Carry Permit, on the very first day the instructor made a very interesting statement.
"If you are somewhere where you feel you need a gun to feel safe... Why are you there in the first place?"
While I did go on to get my permit I never once carried. I never went anywhere where I felt I needed it. If I became uncomfortable at a location, I left.
I got mine so it would be easier to transport weapons to a range. I got the weapons in case trump starts a civil war or something.
As well reciprocal states that recognize it so you can transport them with minimal issues as well. It's one reason to get one regardless of being in a constitutional carry state.
I did self-defense training, both learning and teaching for close to 15 years or so, I did the CCW thing, took classes in firearms as well as martial arts and the whole nine-yards for many years.
I will often reiterate what you cited there, that if you're in a dangerous situation that you already expect to be dangerous, your first priority is changing your situation. Not going to that place, working towards moving, etc. Kind of like step-one of any fight is to not get into a fight.
I eventually also stopped carrying my gun, because all it did was add extra stress to my life. Always making sure you know where it is, if you're somewhere that legally prohibits you having it, then if you do have to leave it outside of a store or business, you are always thinking about it inside your car. My greatest worry was someone breaking into my vehicle and using the gun to commit a crime, which statistically is much, much more likely than actually being in a situation where you need to use it.
I still own guns but keep them locked up. But I don't enjoy guns broadly because I've had too much time think about it. I've had to learn the law, I've had to take responsibility for teaching others how to defend themselves, I've spent too much time playing out situations and the post-event situations that most gun-chuds NEVER spend a moment thinking about.
I feel strongly now that a lot of the gun violence in the US can be connected to the general lack of respect and knowledge about firearms. The only "training" most owners get is action movies. I think if more people were required to actually study the law and play out scenarios they might be far less likely to reach for a gun to solve all their problems.
Never really thought about the logistics of having to leave it in your car. Are you allowed to take the ammo in with you?
It depends a lot on your local laws. Not every state even makes the distinction, so to err on the side of caution, I always treated ammo the same as a gun, and never separated them.
Some laws let you transport guns anywhere in your car if it's in a locked box, some laws are written in a way where that could mean your glove compartment, other states have wording that excludes a glove compartment, just as an example of the ambiguity involved in gun laws.
Also, your proximity to schools or other public services can override all the other laws. It was when I was drawing kilometer radiuses from local schools that I started to feel such stress from planning my trips outside that I decided to stop taking the damn thing out all the time, and eventually just stopped entirely.
A good CCW class will give you the most basic stuff you need to know for your area, but it does change frequently so you would need to refresh on the laws frequently.
If it's a state/federal building you can't even bring the ammo and that's still the least of concern. The person getting a firearm can get replacement magazines and ammunition for it easily. People concerned for the safety of others and not wanting it stolen will get small gun safe boxes that bolt into the car someway to stow it.
As another carry permit holder, this is most certainly true. But there are a few places I will carry due to the remoteness and some of the wildlife that can eat you if they really want to. But mostly it remains at my bedside as an "in case" if it's needed. If something were to go sideways, law enforcement is probably going to be at least 20 to 30 minutes away and possibly up to 90 minutes. I cannot rely on either one of the two deputies on duty at 2AM to be anywhere near me if things go bad. Things will be well and done long before I can expect help.
Another thing most of the rabid "Gotta have my pistol and 3 spare mags on me at all times" never think about is the cost of shooting someone even in self-defense. By the time it's all said and done, it can cost upwards and beyond of $100,000+ in lawyer, expert testimony, and court fees. And you are likely to lose your job due to being jailed for at least large parts of it.
There might be someone dangerous in Publix!!!
I have, it's not fun
I'm happy for you. It sucks having to use one. But it sucks more not having one and having to use one.
Okay, but what if my self-esteem is predicated on the knowledge that I could kill anyone at a moment's notice.
Surely that suppressed libidinal desire to inflict unimaginable pain and suffering on everyone around me is worth something.
You've got a good point there... Have you ever considered using your car as a weapon against bicyclists who have indirectly offended you?
It's incredible that we feel the need to make up monsters for our movies and ghost stories when we've got prime examples living amongst us.
Realistic movies scare the shit out of me. Prisoners, Blue Ruin, The Tall Man. True psychos are way scarier than any fucking ghost or demon.
A bicyclist's very existence is offensive. But I consider the .50 mounted on the back of the pickup a more sporting way to handle things. Alternatively, mini-gun mounted from a helicopter, and if anyone asks I'll just say I was hunting wild hogs.
I can see situations where having one would be handy, especially in the US, but I think the likelihood of me blowing my brains out is greater than needing one to defend myself, so I don't have one.
I've never been in a situation where I'd need to know how to do cpr. Yet I've learned how to do it.
Give it a bit, we all will.
I have, but it's because I'm trans and I lived in a bad place for trans people.
I think guns make sense if you live in the wilderness and need to protect yourself from bears
The city is a concrete jungle. We already said we'd choose the bear. Its not the bear we need guns for.
Not just bears and really there's better ways to deal with bears generally to avoid confrontation with them as well as other critters. Still, there's definitely instances where people will want to be carrying regardless for self protection. Hiking in remote areas you should have a rifle, farmers in the more rural areas of the country are likely to have something to deal with coyotes, wolves, bears, etc. that may threaten them or their live stock. I remember seeing a youtube video about living far north in Alaska that when it's time to take the dogs out to do their business they bring a high powered rifle for polar bears. But me going to my local game store, there's no real reason to be packing. ESPECIALLY open carry.
And Iam thankful that in my life this is true. But not everyone is so lucky.
But what if you wanted to shoot a gun? Surely that would make that situation better.
Glory to Mankind
I have. I've been in places and situations where being able to get someone to back down and slow their roll would have been a better outcome than what I was able to get without being armed. Shit just happened around me, and I couldn't exit the situation in good conscience. It's terrifying to try to stand up to stop shit from going really sideways knowing that if it does, there's not a lot you can do except be a meat shield for someone else. Almost all defensive gun use doesn't involve shooting; it involves having a gun, knowing how to use it, and using the threat of force to stop someone else from escalating a situation.
People say that when seconds count, the police are only minutes away, and fuck me, that is extremely optimistic. I've never had the cops show up in under five minutes; the closest was about ten minutes, and that was after a shooting in my 'hood in Chicago. CPD showed up after the ambulance.
Let’s imagine that the weapons are extremely hard to get, and people can’t afford even legal ones (because of checks and prices), not to say about illegal. Wouldn’t your place be better one if that was so?
I've definitely had some rural evenings that would have been better with the ability to shoot some cans.
I don't think that's the kind of "better" you were talking about
outside of the movies, there is RARELY (as in astronomically small percentage) one... the problem is that most Muricans live in a fictional reality with the reasoning capacity of a teen boy
