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Comment by seneca | Hacker News Reader

This mirrors what I've seen personally. I shoot quite a bit, and had a lot of friends reach out about advice on buying a first gun.

Fears were largely around the general civil unrest and BLM rioting last summer. I've heard several women say they don't feel safe being out alone anymore, and felt the need to protect themselves. I've heard a few mothers voice concerns about protecting children as well.

I always coach people to take a gun safety course before bringing a firearm into their home. It worried me seeing so much buying based on fear. I think an armed person is better off, but having a firearm you don't understand, and bought on a knee jerk fear reaction, can be dangerous. I think the best thing I, and other gun enthusiasts, can do is get out there and educate all these new owners so that they're comfortable and safer.

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I'm not quite following, but are you saying that women are afraid for their children because of Black Lives Matter?

Have there been any documented cases of BLM indiscriminately attacking women or children? This seems weird to me.

I've taken gun safety courses run by local police, and every time they told us that it's ideal to not have a gun in your house at all because they see more accidental shootings than thwarted break-ins. This is of course, anecdotal, and I'm sure they prefer fewer citizens to have guns... so it might be BS.

Not OP, but he may be right. And not because it's true, but because people are irrational. The same people buying guns because they are afraid of BLM/Antifa are also avoiding vaccines while hoarding ivermectin. Irrational.

> Have there been any documented cases of BLM indiscriminately attacking women or children? This seems weird to me.

Well, there was widespread rioting across more or less the entire nation. Also, while not direct violence by BLM agents, many metropolitan police forces have either introduced "reform" in direct support of BLM policy or have otherwise changed tactics to avoid getting bad press and riots in their own town. There is also the issue of officers getting fed up with these changes and leaving for more supportive locales.

In my city, I've had two different hood-rat road rage incidents this year, having only had one other incident 10+ years ago. In both cases drivers made high-speed dangerous maneuvers and then attempted to run me off the road and stick their firearms out the window. One yesterday morning, the other in February. In the former case, I provided a full description of the driver, vehicle, and plate number to 911 and they never even touched the case. I'm still waiting to hear back some 6 months later. I never bothered calling in the second incident.

Actions have consequences, and a less safe city is a result. Criminals, particularly Black criminals, are emboldened by these changes and the zeitgeist that will back them up no matter how much wrongdoing occurs. It's only natural for folks to look after themselves in the face of a faltering police force.

What is a “BLM agent”? How often has gun-toting helped defend you against “Criminals, particularly Black criminals”?

Wasn’t a woman shot in Indiana for saying all lives matter to BLM protestors?

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