This is false equivalence. First, the spare tire and the fire extinguisher are not designed as weapons to kill people.
An insecticide is designed to kill insects, but we use it as a tool to prevent mosquitoes from spreading malaria and dengue fever. It literally is a biological weapon, and it saves people’s lives by killing mosquitoes.
A disinfectant is designed to kill bacteria and viruses. Another killer that saves lives.
A gun is the right tool for certain extreme situations. If every situation can be resolved peacefully, then there will never be a need for the police to be armed. When your life is threatened, the police is nowhere to be found, and your neighbors have scattered, then it could be the only thing to save your life.
I have absolutely no wish to take human life, but if I have to choose between my life or a criminal’s, I have an inalienable right to preserve mine.
Second, imagine if I had driven from Bogor to Jakarta in May 2008 and did not have a spare tire and did not get a flat tire. But I saw a car with a flat tire. Would I subsequently be exclaiming: "Oh, I wish I'd had a spare tire that day."?
Or if in May 2018, there was a fire in my neighborhood. I didn't have a fire extinguisher and my house was not burnt. Would I then exclaim: "Oh, I wish I'd had a fire extinguisher back then."?
I can’t speak for you, but for me the answer is yes.
I’ve seen what happened when people didn’t buckle up in a severe car crash. I don’t need to crash my car first to believe that wearing the seat belt is a good idea.
You may wait until you have a flat or have your house burned down before you take preventive measures, I don’t.
You saw a car get smashed. And that makes you wish you had had a gun back then? I saw much worse than cars getting smashed in May 98 (and I was in a car that got smashed). I don't feel that having a gun would have improved my safety. Do you think the people burnt in fires in May 98 would have survived if they'd been carrying guns?
I mentioned the car because it was right around the corner from my place. It means at any given moment the riot could have easily reached me and my family. The fact that it didn’t was due to neighborhood vigilance (every able-bodied men took turns guarding the entrance) and plain luck. Two people in our group actually had guns, although they didn’t use them. The guns weren’t even displayed, but they gave us some comfort. If we were attacked and outnumbered, we could still hold the rioters at bay.
This is not a dick measuring contest. I too have seen severe devastation, including charred buildings and bodies.
You are free to feel that having a gun doesn’t improve your safety, but that doesn’t make it true. If I were in a burning building surrounded by an angry mob, I do think that having a gun would significantly improve my chance to escape. My odds would be even greater if my neighbors also have guns, then the rioters might not have the chance to start the fire.
How many people in Alaska have these predatory polar bears killed? Do you feel everyone in Alaska should be carrying a gun in case a polar bear suddenly appears? Guns being registered to licensed hunters, farmers and competitive target shooters is not the same as civilians in general being able to purchase guns. As for the US in general, more guns in the hands of civilians is not the solution to its gun problem.
I had made another post on this thread, lamenting the shooting of geckos. It was deleted by an admin. I stand by my assertion that being hysterically afraid of harmless geckos to the point of demanding they be killed is stupid.
rabbit_39 has addressed Alaska, so I’m not going to rehash it.
The only animals I kill fit into two categories: pest or food. I have never killed a gecko, I don’t even kill spiders (with few exceptions). I always take the time to pick up the spiders around the house and drop them outside. However, I terminate mosquitoes and centipedes without a second thought.
If you think having a gun automatically makes one a killer, then not even police officers should have it, because it’s only a matter of time before they can no longer stop the urge to kill.