NRA Convention Bans Guns To Protect Mike Pence. Parkland Survivors’ Jaws Drop.

Well that's sort of the way the real world works, we have to be honest with ourselves here....

Celebrities, persons in power, etc are more "exposed" so to speak, than you or I. Not saying their lives are more important or more valuable, but they are at greater risk of being a target than the average joe.

For example during one of my combat deployments to Afghanistan I was tasked as part of the personal security detail for the Colonel. We remained by his side at all times and drove him around the battlefield in an armored convoy consisting of 5 vehicles with him in the middle. During dismounted patrols he was flanked on all sides by heavily armed troops including myself. Our job? Protect the boss at ALL COSTS, with your life if necessary. And we did.

Is that "right" per say? Is his life more valuable than my own or any of the rest of us? I never had a personal security team follow me around the warzone to protect me. But the reality is that yeah the Colonel is a higher target than well....a junior enlisted guy which I was at the time. He is more important than I am due to his rank and position and me dying would have less of an impact than him dying for obvious reasons. So if it came down to it I was fully expected to die if necessary to ensure he did not.

It's not to say that all life is not equally valuable but the reality is that some folks in society ARE more "valuable" than others. Heads of state such as the VP require security measures in place for obvious reasons. When I walk into a convention center for a show or something there aren't special agents running around to protect me because I'm not that important obviously.

Point is, we can play semantics all day long, but the reality is that yes the Vice President of the United States is more "important" than "you or me" and at a MUCH GREATER risk of being attacked than either you or I. That is why you or I don't get personal security details to follow us around 24/7 while people like the VP can't visit a coffee shop to grab a drink without armed guards in sunglasses and earpieces combing the area first.

We can pretend to live in a fantasy land where we are all equal but the reality is that no we aren't. If Nightmare515 was shot tomorrow then it would have no effect on the nation outside of those who personally know me and care about me. It might make the local papers....If the Vice President gets shot then that would have a much greater impact on the nation than the average citizen such as myself which is why much greater precautions are taken to ensure his personal safety than mine.

 

Because they have enough common sense to realize that having a bunch of firearms around someone as important as the Vice President of the United States is a whole different ballgame than allowing folks to walk around with guns in general.

Political figures are high profile targets, they are at much greater risk of violence than every day folks. Nobody outside of this forum knows who Nightmare515 even is or what I believe in. Plus I have no power in the real world to make regulations. And nobody knows what I even look like. I can walk around a society full of armed citizens and be perfectly fine because I am not really at risk of assassination.

Somebody like the Vice President of the United States is a bit more important and more highly exposed than I am and at much greater risk of assassination. That's why he gets a Secret Service entourage and I don't.

I mean come on...Lets not pretend that the Vice President is the "same" as the average joe for the pure sake of being argumentative....In the real world yes there are human beings who are more important than you or I and are going to be protected better than we are due to their positions. The VP is one of them...

 

Still doesn't equate. Once you bring high profile personnel into the equation everything changes. Pence is a high profile person at a higher risk of violence directed towards him, so is someone like Taylor Swift.

It's about measuring the risk analysis of the situation. Sure everybody is at some level of risk of being a victim, but high profile folks such as heads of state or celebrities are at a much greater risk than the average person for the blatantly obvious reason. Greater precautions are taken to ensure their safety due to their much greater level of exposure.

You could replace Pence with any other famous person and I still hold the same rationale. That Justin Bieber kid is at a much greater risk of being assaulted or killed in public than an average every day guy like myself. That's why he has armed body guards who follow him around and I do not. Same with all other famous people. I doubt there's more than like 100 people in the world who even know who I am, there are hundreds of millions of people who know who these famous people are. Higher exposure, much greater risk, much greater precautions.

Point is, I am around guns all the time. I've been to plenty of gun shows where the majority of folks walking around have rifles slung on their shoulders or pistols on their hips, as did I. Felt perfectly fine, no different than walking through the mall. I felt perfectly fine because I'm not a famous person, nobody even knows who I am. If I were a famous celebrity or political figure who's music or policies are known by millions of people who may or may not like me then I would not feel safe walking among hundreds of people with guns on their hips.

In layman's terms, yeah guns are safe to be around unless you are someone who is famous enough to where others may want to deliberately assassinate you for some reason....

 

They DO.

It sounds harsh and we all love to pretend like that isn't true but yes it is.

My own parents don't share that perspective, nobody's actual family or friends share that perspective obviously but it doesn't make it any more or less true. Yeah I am more important to my own family and friends than someone like Pence or Trump, but those two guys, like it or not, are more valuable to the nation than Nightmare515 is....

If Mike Pence and I were both kidnapped and there was only the option to save one of us then guess who is getting left to die. I'll give you a hint, it won't be the Vice President of the United States....

Sort of like how my truck got blown up in war while being out front of the Colonel's truck. Why? Because the Colonel is more important than some junior enlisted Soldier is. We can spin it any way we want, the bottom line is simple, the life of a Colonel is more valuable due to their position and rank than the life of a Private. That's why a decade ago my truck got blown up with a chemical bomb instead of the Colonels. They put me out front for that very reason alone. So I get blown up by bombs instead of him. To my family and friends I am more important than him. To the US military he is much more important than I. So, in layman's terms, if somebody has to die, they'd much rather it be me than him, so I got sent out front of him.

That's how the real world works, I live in the real world. Yes there are people who are more important to society than I am, there are people in greater danger than I am due to their positions or fame.

It sounds almost comical but lets be honest here. If a doomsday meteorite was coming like we see in the movies and there is only a limited amount of space in underground bunkers to save a limited number of people then guess who the government is going to grab first? Once again I'll give you a hint, it ain't gonna be a mid grade US Army guy who volunteers as a mod on a political forum...

Why? Because in the grand scheme of things, while I may be important to my own family and friends, there are plenty of people in our society who "matter" a whole hell of a lot more than I do.

Philosophically are we all equal as human beings? Yes
Realistically are we all equal as human beings? Hell no