"Netsock" wrote in message ...

So...you would keep your gun accessible and loaded at home? What if you
weren't there? What if there are kids or other folks around?

Absolutely, and did with so my very young children, with apology to no
one - who were thoroughly taught at very tender ages how to deal
safely with loaded guns, and who were outshooting me by age 10 with
big-bore handguns (better eyesg). A pox on political & social
correctness, if everyone of any age *knows & assumes* that any gun is
loaded & ready for use like any other respected tool, everyone is far
safer. I am not a city dweller & my ways are appropriate for rural
homestead living where frequent firearm use is a fact of life.
Presently I'd rethink and change this policy since my area has slowly
become suburbanized & with citified newcomers dropping in, etc. My
point is that any true gun safety should be situational & well
thought-out, not rightfully dictated by others in some blanket
fashion.

IMO&E the best thing one can do with very young children, is to teach
them how to quickly & safely unload or disable any firearm produced in
their presence by an unsupervised child "if it is exactly like one of
ours", and how to immediately run like hell to an adult first if it
isn't. Learning to shoot & properly maintain guns when very young
also removes unhealthy curiousity or fascination. IMHO the best way
to foster trouble with kids (one's own that is) & guns, is to lock
them away where they are "forbidden" and "inaccessible." There is
almost no such thing as "inaccessible" to a child of average
intelligence.

In a real-life situation of violent piracy toward a yatch, in most any
tactical sense a firearm is useless if not suicidal. Your assailants
have the superior elements of surprise, grim determination, possibly
superior size or speed or power or maneuverability, usually home-turf
advantage, and already-drawn weapons. Ed Teach proved this 300 years
ago.

I'm not sure I agree. Armed "Pirating" was growing immensely on Lake
Cumberland in KY, until people started arming themselves. There were a
couple of very publicized incidents, were the houseboat owners retreated
into the vessel, and drew their own arms against the assailants. Tactically,
the house boaters were superior, as they had good cover, while the
assailants where typically in the open. Quite a few boarding attempts were
thwarted because of the boat owners had armed themselves.

And I'd have to agree with this in the case of houseboats, which might
be victimized by any kind of punk as might any other dwelling,
campsite, etc. My comments were directed at seagoing voyaging people.
I feel that characterizing this sort of instance as "piracy" is a bit
of poetic license - it's essentially a household B&E, yes? One might
view marina liveaboards the same way, or others who do their sailing
on MSC's (Main Saloon Cushions).