Shots fired in Leilani

[Guest]

You have some of the highest petty crimes per capita, and that is something to be proud of ?

I guarantee all that stops if they know the homeowners become protected.

Will your Gun Death go up ? Of course, but whos going to get shot ? A few crooks, who cares ?

[Bullwinkle]

Good summation ... In hawaii (as in most of the world) one can not use deadly force to protect property

like or or not - them is the rules, we have a few transplants in jail - thinking they could challenge the norm

And again:

Hawaii--Rank: 50; Household Gun Ownership: 9.7 percent; Gun Death Rate:
2.20 per 100,000.

lowest in the nation

[Guest]

Just my 2 cents about this issue here. If a few more crooks get shot here that would still be an in justice. See these crooks have mothers and fathers, they even have kids themselves that get left behind. Most crooks in these parts are not stealing to get rich, there stealing to feed their kids or their drug habits. Help and alternatives are what these crooks today and tomorrow need more of. For those who think a gun is their savior I feel sorry for. Even if you get the chance you are so looking forward to, and shoot and kill this father or son and daughter Stealing. Now you will have to live with your self and your reasonings of justice that you served. Maybe I myself am more the type that believes in an eye for an eye rule. Someone who steals my BBQ or T.V may have done me more good than bad?. Myself shooting this person after the education he just gave me does not seem fair. Yes these people need to be held accountable for their actions but to take both eyes and change the lives of so many young and old connected to these thugs, NAH. So thank you again OP, You did handle the situation better than most. May you get some peace the rest of these holidays. JMO.

[Guest]

Not for nothing, and I want all the best for people, but one thing I've learned is, you can not be reponsible for the happiness of someone else, nor can you be responsible for their decisions.

Its great to have an open heart, and it is awesome to want to help people, but at the end of the day, you need to protect you and your family.

If a person gets wasted and drives a car into a tree, I feel bad for them, but I can not be responsible, no man can take another mans responsibilities on their shoulder, it would be too much pressure for a man to take on the responsibilities of other men. A man is responsible for him and his family.

If someone comes in my home, I have a responsibility to protect my wife and home, not to someone else's bad decisions. its not selfish, its natural law.

No one wishes the death or harm to anyone, I simply am responsible to keep myself, home and family safe. Thats why its called "Home Protection" and not "wander the streets and murder"

[Bullwinkle]

Again read up on Hawaii law - there is a fine line - an expensive one to examine in court

if they are just taking the TV - its best to open the door for them - grin

"If someone comes in my home, I have a responsibility to protect my wife and home, not to someone else's bad decisions. its not selfish, its natural law"

dogs work..........

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

quote:

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Originally posted by gypsy69

there stealing to feed their kids or their drug habits.

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I don't know if there are any statistics as to why a person steals, or if it would even be possible to get an accurate listing. If someone is caught stealing, they probably will not tell the police officer they did it to buy drugs, especially if the police have no suspicion about drugs being involved. It seems fairly easy to get food on this island from the food pantry, or food stamps. I've seen a person in KTA put taco shells in her cart, and when her friend reminded her that they just got taco shells at the food pantry, she said "I don't like that brand." They bought their preferred brand with food stamps. I'm guessing, and this is just a guess, that most theft in Puna is to buy drugs, not to feed children.

[csgray]

I'll take a high rate of petty crime over a high rate of gun deaths any day. I lived in Oakland when it was at its worst for gun violence. I came home from work to discover a bullet hole in my pillow where shot from a drive by shooting had gone through my wall. If I hadn't been working a graveyard shift I would have been dead. I slept in my cast iron bathtub on a regular basis because of the gun battles between rival gangs on the street in front of my apartment building. Having my own gun would not have protected me.

I grew up in a rural community with a high rate of responsible gun ownership, guns were a tool for protecting livestock and putting food on the table. I do not have a knee jerk opposition to guns, but I am really glad that the part of the population of our Island who are so quick to resort to "scrapping" when they perceive a slight are not armed with guns. With all the already violent ice heads we already have it is a good thing they do not have easy access to cheap or stolen handguns. Hawaii's gun laws work because we have the giant moat of the Pacific Ocean between us and states where you can buy a gun at a garage sale, we are lucky to not have a neighboring state where you can just drive over the border to load up on Saturday Night Specials.

Carol

[Guest]

Oneself, you have a pretty good understanding of not taking on another mans responsibility for being happy. Or Even making another mans decision for him. I also second your thoughts about protecting your family, Yet there is nothing NATURAL or any natural law that says you must shoot to kill when protecting oneself or family. Bad decisions are made every day by folks like you and I, or anyone else for that matter or we would not be learning. Guns have lots of good uses and were probably invented with good purposes in mind?. Yet other's who were not taught the basics of such tools don't know how to use them, or for what reasons. Guns are not the answer and if more crooks got shot then more would only be armed the next time. Peace, and education are some good things, especially before you own a gun. P.S Belongings are just that, they once belonged to someone else, they now belong to you, they will belong to someone else tomorrow. Life is short for all of us, lets not shorten it for others.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Although this next comment is not directly concerned with Puna, it does relate to the discussion on this thread about guns and the use of guns in our area. Iceland is the 15th most heavily armed nation in the world (per capita). A week or two ago, police in Iceland shot a man who was firing a gun from a window. The man died in the exchange - - the first person shot by police there in 200 years. Police even apologized to the man's family for shooting him. Now, try to imagine that in Puna, or Hawaii, or anywhere else in the US. How is it possible that Iceland can have so many guns, but almost no gun violence?
http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la...z2mwRYRAZG

[csgray]

This is an example of the downside to people having unsecured firearms in their homes, just one example from one day, but it seems like every day I read about an innocent person being shot in a home by someone who was either another child, not up to speed on how guns really work, or who was mentally ill or intoxicated. How many more tragedies have to happen before we have some common sense about firearms?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/natio...n/3927713/

Carol