"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 18 Oct 2007 11:45:01 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, "Ed
Huntress" quickly quoth:

"Jim Chandler" wrote in message
Did it ever occur to you, Ed, that not everyone can afford to live in a
place such as you do?

Yeah, it did, but I did some research on this subject in the early '90s,
when I was writing editorials about gun control, and found that costs of
living have nothing much to do with it -- unless you're in the position of
someone like Snag, whose neighborhood apparently has deteriorated around
him
and he didn't or wasn't able to get out in time. There are safe
communities
all over the place just as there are dangerous ones all over. The local
culture, for lack of a better inclusive term, is what determines how
likely
you are to need to carry a gun for self-defense.

I don't remember if I posted this recently but don't think I did.
Speaking of bad neighborhoods, here ya go, Ed.

--snip--
Jack was sitting in an airliner getting ready for takeoff when a guy
took the seat beside him. The guy was an emotional wreck -- pale,
hands shaking, moaning in fear.

"What's the matter?" Jack asked.

The man said "I've been transfered to New Orleans. There's crazy
people there. They've got lots of shootings, gangs, race riots,
drugs, poor public schools' and the highest crime rate."

Jack replied, "I've lived in New Orleans all my life. It's not as bad
as the media says. Find a nice home go to work, mind your own
business, enroll your kids in a nice private school. It's as safe a
place as anywhere in the world."

The guy relaxed, stopped shaking, and said, "Oh, thank you. I've been
worried to death. But if you live there and say it's OK, I'll take
your word for it.

"What do you do for a living?"

"Me?" said Jack, "I'm a tail gunner on a Budweiser truck."
--snip--

ROFLMAO! Oh, jeez, I've gotta remember that one.




I can be sympathetic about the problems many people face in this regard,
up
to a point. But in the end it boils down to one's set of values. Given the
freedom we have to move about in the US, you have to consider how you
value
the safety of your family, and how vigilant you are about the need to make
a
move if things start falling apart. Stubbornly hunkering down and arming
yourself is not going to solve the problem. You'll still be living in a
threatening environment and it's going to diminish your family's quality
of
life, no matter how good you are with a .45.

Too true.

--
Ed Huntress