I dunno. As the country bifurcates more and more, I'm thinking long and hard about if I want to travel to certain states. I'd rather as little of my money as possible be spent there.
I don't step in non-constitutional-carry states. The good thing is that, with the exception of basically Florida, there are no states I care to visit that don't already have it. The problem is traveling to those states. I'm temporarily a felon to get there, even though it is my right to keep and bear that handgun nationally. Beats me.
I will not contribute my money to a government that does not allow me my rights, and will also not disarm myself to make myself more of a juicy target just to temporarily sight-see. Not worth it. Plenty of pretty sights to see in the states that aren't ridiculous.
Hmm. Watch Active Self Protection on YouTube, and tell me that again.
You'd be surprised how often people get targeted for no reason / stupid reasons.
Frankly, I find that the people that oppose guns and concealed carry are usually the type that live in nice neighborhoods and make nearly six figures, where the opinion is invalid. So, basically the demographic of Hacker News.
I don't want to come off as a troll, but I honestly believe that a person can do both those things at the same time:
1. Do what you can to make all neighbourhoods better. (Donate to or volunteer at local organizations working to improve neighbourhoods, get to know your neighbours, vote for positive change, join neighbourhood watch, etc.)
2. Do what you can to protect yourself until Step 1 comes to fruition. (Avoid high-risk areas, maintain situational awareness, train in self-defense, carry self-defense tools, etc.)
Lol, one day I was riding my bicycle home, and had to pass through a very poor part of town in which I am a racial minority. My bike got a flat just that moment. Someone took notice of my weakness that I had to stop and fix the flat and that I was obviously not from the neighborhood. They put a gun to my head.
That disabused me of any notion I am never a target.
I personally don't feel the desire to visit other countries. If it's not somewhere I'd want to live, it's not somewhere I really care enough about to see. I care more about experiences and knowledge, both of which can be had where I live.
It helps that my state is also comparable in size to larger European countries. And has a pretty dynamic environment. Very mountainous and foresty in the north, planey in the east, red desert to the south, and tan desert to the west. Blazing hot in the summer, and well below freezing in the winter. I still haven't seen the majority of just this state.
Being rather varied in nature, the U.S. is still just one country. It is culturally more diverse than some places, but that's still mostly one culture, one way of living, one way of thinking about things. Since you can't leave, you're confined to it and have no way to experience other cultures.
I guess that does not bother you, but what are your thoughts on this anyway?
The US is a big and varied place. One could certainly spend an entire lifetime here and not feel left out of much. And I say this as someone with a meager but existent share of international travel under my belt.