Senator Gillibrand: "I Keep Two Guns under My Bed"

[SuperTrouper]

WASHINGTON - - New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who argues her pro-gun stance aims to protect hunters' rights and the Second Amendment, last week said she and her husband, Jonathan, keep two rifles under their bed to protect their upstate home.

Gillibrand said neither she nor her husband is a hunter, and in a general discussion of gun control said, "If I want to protect my family, if I want to have a weapon in the home, that should be my right."

(Update: She has removed the guns from under her bed citing security reasons)

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-usgill1612462761feb16,0,1502813.story?track=rss

[hedgehog]

1. I think her two children are a lot safer now that the guns have been moved.

[phleshdef]

5. "then later called to add that the rifles were locked in a case while stored under the bed"

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-usgill0217,0,325482.story

They were no more or less safe either way. The stupid thing was telling people where you hide your guns in the first place.

[hedgehog]

7. Glad to hear that the guns are locked up. Still, the notion of guns being handy to

a person jarred awake from a deep sleep is scary.

[phleshdef]

10. Being jarred awake by an intruder while being completely unprotected is scarier.

I'm all for reasonable gun control laws and I'm all for banning excessively dangerous firearms, but this is nothing to make an issue over.

[hedgehog]

27. I had the experience of waking up from a sound sleep and being totally convinced

that someone was standing in my doorway. I actually got up and turned on the light to prove to myself that no one was there, but consider what might have happened in that heart pounding moment if I'd grabbed a gun....and one of my kids was standing there.

[Occam Bandage]

34. If you would point a gun at a figure without first identifying it as something you want to kill,

you should not own a gun.

I am a pretty good shot. Not Olympic-quality, but pretty good, and I enjoy shooting. However, I strongly dislike hunting, and moreover have a family history of domestic gun violence, and so am personally uneasy with owning a gun. I recognize that gun ownership is not for me, but I also don't believe that it's unreasonable for other people to come to a different conclusion.

[hedgehog]

43. That's a wise statement, but who can say how they would react at 3AM upon waking up with a pounding

heart and the adrenalin flowing?

[Dr.Phool]

64. It it's 3:00am, I'll call Hillary!

[AZ Criminal JD]

84. I can

Just because you have a problem don't project it on the rest of us.

[sandnsea]

16. Of course locked guns are safer

If people would keep their guns locked securely, very securely, 3/4 of the complaints would be removed. Not quick enough access? Then push for new technologies, not more leniency to leave guns where kids can get them.

[backscatter712]

48. Part of kids and gun-safety...

is training the kids, educating them about the guns, and raising them right.

My sister and her husband have multiple guns in their house, and my niece and one of my nephews have been shooting since they were six or so. My younger nephew is still too young, but he'll learn to shoot too.

Firearms safety is very much emphasized.

[sandnsea]

65. I live in rural America

Fatal mistake to believe all you have to do to keep kids safe from guns is "raise them right". Anybody who lives around guns knows there's at least one gun "accident" a year involving rural kids who should have known better.

Guns should be locked up.

[backscatter712]

71. And they are.

In my place, and my sister's place, the guns are kept in a gun locker.

Like I mentioned, I also keep my Glock that I keep loaded for home-defense in a quick-open pistol safe next to my bed.

[YOY]

2. Um...OK.

I don't see the big problem with her being paranoid. It's within her rights.

[Possumpoint]

3. Posted As A Criticism?

Or is it a complement? Whichever, if you enter my home without permission you may be on the receiving end of a bad surprise.

[Renew Deal]

21. And if you roll over the wrong way in the middle of the night

you might never wake up. :hide:

[SuperTrouper]

45. Not criticism of her..just that it was unsafe for her kinds

[Enrique]

4. good thinking to have two

that way when a bad guy breaks in, she and hubby can both shoot him.

[phleshdef]

6. So what? I keep a rifle in my bedroom too. Whats your angle here?

[TwilightGardener]

8. Yeah, thank God Caroline didn't get that seat. NY really needed a paranoid nut job.

[phleshdef]

12. So keeping a gun in your bedroom makes you a paranoid nutjob?

Tell that to my 76 year old grandmother who lives in an area that is plagued by constant break ins by drug addicts who prey on old people for their medication. Paranoid my ass.

[TwilightGardener]

15. For the average person, no. For someone in Congress, who presumably

lives in an upscale area and should have a security system, it's a bit weird to brag about.

[phleshdef]

19. People in upscale neighborhoods are subject to being victimized just as much as...

...anyone else.

As a matter of fact, being in an upscale neighborhood makes you an even greater target because you actually have things that people want to steal.

An alarm system is great but it won't necessarily save your life.

[TwilightGardener]

20. Yeah, Senators and other VIP's are going down left and right.

How could I have missed that in the news?

[phleshdef]

26. Headline, March 1st, 2005: Federal judge's family killed

Just one example...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0503010123mar01,0,4913954.story

U.S. District Judge Joan H. Lefkow found her husband and mother shot dead in the basement of her home Monday night, less than a year after white supremacist Matthew Hale was convicted of trying to have her murdered for holding him in contempt of court.

Michael F. Lefkow, 64, an attorney, and Donna Grace Humphrey, 90, were lying in blood with gunshot wounds to the head when the judge arrived to a darkened house at 6 p.m., a source close to the investigation said.

Police said they were conducting "death investigations," and cautioned about drawing any connections to Hale, who is awaiting sentencing for trying to solicit the judge's murder. Sources said Michael Lefkow and Humphrey were found together, each was shot once in the head. No weapon was recovered, but police found two .22 caliber casings.

Security at the Lefkow home--including a camera mounted outside the home and guards posted on the block in unmarked cars--had been beefed up after the allegations against Hale emerged in January 2003. But neighbors said the extra measures tailed off about the time Hale was convicted in April 2004.



Anyhow, there are plenty of things you can criticize any politician over, this simply isn't a criticism with any merit. There is nothing wrong with keeping rifles around for your own protection. It doesn't make her a paranoid nutjob, it makes her someone who wants to be sure she can protect her family if need be. Its responsible gun ownership.

Get over it, this is silly.

[TwilightGardener]

28. Oh well, we'll agree to disagree.

[phleshdef]

31. Uh huh, way to cut and run.

[TwilightGardener]

33. Yep, I'm a cutter and a runner.

[phleshdef]

36. I'm a joker, I'm a smoker...

[TwilightGardener]

38. Can't say I've ever been a midnight toker...

[RaleighNCDUer]

40. Nonsense. Just look at the police reports. 95% of all property

crimes are committed in low-income, high crime areas. Where is a potential burglar going to be noticed? Strolling around in his own neighborhood, or taking his old beater across town and scoping out the McMansions? Even lower middle-class suburbs are far safer than any urban neighborhood, and the really posh places? Forget about it.

[phleshdef]

52. I never said other areas weren't dangerous. But read the article I posted above...

[RaleighNCDUer]

66. And how, exactly, does a single example of a deliberate revenge

killing four years ago equal "victimized just as much as" or "even greater target"?

No one ever said the wealthy are immune, but any rational person will acknowledge that they are far LESS a target and are victimized with vanishingly greater rarity than regular people.

Again, look at the police records. How many millionaires have been murdered in their beds in the past year, compared with how many homeless have been beaten to death on the streets.

You have a VERY warped view of the nature of violence in this country.

[phleshdef]

74. Why are you trying to turn this into some "defense of the privileged" argument, that has nothing to

...do with what I said at all. I'm talking about the merits of responsible and reasonable gun ownership. I fail to understand wow you are getting a whole "wealthy vs homeless" social commentary out of it , but thats really a lot of unnecessary dramatics on your part.

Let me break this down for you:

Poster A sais that Congressman G. is a paranoid nutjob because her and her husband own rifles for protection. One of the basis for the argument was that because they hold government office and because they live in an upscale neighborhood, they have no reason to feel they need to have that kind of protection around.

Poster Me sais that Poster A is incorrect. Upscale neighborhoods DO in fact have robberies that occur. Upscale neighborhoods HAVE in fact had crimes occur within their boundaries that ended in violence and/or death. Also, during the course of my rebuttle, I showed an example of a person living in an upscale neighborhood, a public office holder incidentally, being victimized by just such an occurence.

And ya know, come to think of it, public office holders might feel more of a reason to need protection. But that really has nothing to do with my argument. I'm talking mainly about robberies and break-ins anyway. And there is plenty of that to go around in every decent sized city. I've lived in or near just about every type of neighborhood, crimes happen and there is nothing wrong, nutty or overly paranoid with partaking in responsible gun ownership.

But hey, if you really want me to waste my time, I'll go google some statistics and other news stories too.

I never said that upscale neighborhoods were being plagued with violence of ghetto-like proportions. But regardless of where you live, there is nothing wrong with having some reasonable weapons in your house for protection purposes. Having a few regular old rifles around is about as reasonable as it gets.

[RaleighNCDUer]

97. And what I took issue with - which you did not address - was the hyperbole.

Upscale neighborhoods being AS MUCH at risk, and being GREATER targets, when all the evidence is to the contrary.

AS MUCH means there are just as many burglaries and home invasions in the gated communities as in the tenements. GREATER targets means that there are MORE property crimes in the gated communities.

Obviously, you are exaggerating the threat to the middle and upper classes. The question is, are you doing that for the argument, or are YOU paranoid?

I never said that upscale neighborhoods are 100% safe - no place in the world is. But there is a huge difference between WANTING a weapon and NEEDING a weapon. I would bet that 99.9% of suburbanites who 'need' a weapon for self defense will never have cause to use them, except on each other.

[hedgehog]

88. Yeah boy, that's why I always make sure my car doors are locked whenever

I drive through the wealthy section of town. You never know when a criminal is going to run out looking for a getaway car.

[Lavender Brown]

82. She was talking about her house in rural Columbia County

[Hieronymus]

81. Good for your grandmother.

[Occam Bandage]

13. I don't think gun ownership is indicative of mental-health defects,

and I don't own one.

[TwilightGardener]

17. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. Why advertise this little nugget of info?

[Occam Bandage]

22. To inform guns-rights advocates that she is a gun owner, in hopes

of forming some sense of cultural solidarity and thus electoral support. I don't think it's any different than a politician eating at local restaurants in ethnic neighborhoods.

[TwilightGardener]

24. See, we had the same thought at the same time. I just take a dimmer view.

[Occam Bandage]

25. Well, that's certainly understandable. It's pandering, plain and simple,

and I suppose our tolerance for this statement is equal to our tolerance for pandering.

[SuperTrouper]

51. just like pandering to Hispanics saying she changed her mind re: immigration laws

[TwilightGardener]

23. Actually, I'll answer my own question: she's trying to appeal to redneck GOPer gun nuts.

[backscatter712]

50. Not all gun nuts are members of the GOP...

Hello! :hi:

[pretty]

58. really!

[Occam Bandage]

9. I like Ms. Gillibrand quite a bit, especially ever since I learned that she speaks Chinese well.

As for the guns? Good for her, I guess; it's certainly her right to choose gun ownership. Though I suppose I'm kind of surprised they aren't shotguns, if she's only planning on using them for home defense.

[riqster]

11. So, having guns makes you paranoid?

Funny, that's not usually one of the criteria cited by mental health professionals.

[phleshdef]

14. Some are so caught up in their gun control stance that they lose sight of reasonable gun ownership.

[biopowertoday]

29. Yes, that is true--or if you do not approve of the person.

[phleshdef]

32. Yea, I'm not huge on Gillibrand myself, but I don't try and generate issues out of non-issues.

If you are going to criticize someone, attack something with merit.

[biopowertoday]

57. true, but the anti-gun lobbyists are after her. I read

an article about this just recently. They are behind it and many on du who do not like her (for what ever reason) will eat it up.

[phleshdef]

62. I wish extreme anti-gun policy stances weren't such a predominate part of the liberal agenda...

We do ourselves more harm than good by making that such a front and center part of our platform. Reasonable gun control is fine. There should be regulation and there should be restrictions on what types of firearms people can and can't have. But some of us take it too far and it makes it look like we all are really against the constitutional right to bear arms.

Its gotten to the point that if anyone favors owning a gun, there is a knee jerk reaction from others on the left to act like the person favoring gun ownership is doing something wrong. Its done nothing but supply the right wing hate machine with ammunition that shouldn't exist.

[Occam Bandage]

18. Well, some doctors often do ask if you own a gun as part of patient histories,

but only as one small part of a comprehensive inquiry as to lifestyle and risk factors.

[biopowertoday]

60. yes, I ask

also. In the history. It is part of Patient Education. The goal is safty with guns especially if kids in the house.

[RaleighNCDUer]

41. Being a gun owner does not make a person paranoid,

but paranoia often makes people gun owners.

[AtomicKitten]

30. And she keeps Clinton's staff under her bed too.

from the link posted in the OP:

With an election in two years, Gillibrand said she had taken on much of Clinton's staff, including the state director and the Long Island office.

[Occam Bandage]

35. The Clenis whispers to her at night. nt

[AtomicKitten]

39. She wishes. ;)

[Cha]

42. This whole thing of the

way Caroline was rwinged outta there has left me not feeling much for the gunslinger.

She'll have to earn my respect if she ever gets it.

[AtomicKitten]

46. I'm hoping a liberal/progressive takes her out in the primary in 2010.

I find her views on guns, immigration, and gay rights appalling. Her very recent makeover is unconvincing.

[Cha]

54. Yeah, and it's kinda

viseral with me..everytime she comes on local news when I'm checking for the weather..I switch.

[rvablue]

55. Oooh! Horrors! She kept people around who had on the job experience! It's a conspiracy!?!?!?! n/t

[AtomicKitten]

56. it does connect the dots of the trail of ugly leading to this appointment ;)

[brentspeak]

37. I don't see the problem with that -- except for her trumpeting this fact for the whole world to hear

What prompted her to make this an issue? Political pandering.

[Blue_Tires]

53. +1

pandering plain and simple...i'm fine with home protection; but she shouldn't start acting like she lives in the worst parts of Newark or East St. Louis or Miami...

[slampoet]

70. I see a problem with RIFLES INSIDE A HOUSE. Don't you?

Rifles are for hitting things at a distance longer than inside a house. They are awkward to maneuver around corners and walls which means you're more likely to get them snatched from you and end up being shot by your own weapon.


This sounds like a politician that is pandering to the gun crowd but doesn't know BEANS about using a gun in the real world or even which weapon to select in the first place.


Go into your local gun store and tell them you want to buy a RIFLE for home protection. The store people will either laugh at you to your face, try to talk you out of it and into a handgun or shotgun, or sell you the gun and laugh at you after you leave the store.

[Budgies Revenge]

94. I see more of a problem....

with keeping the rifles OUTSIDE of the house, actually...rust and all.:P

[Orsino]

77. Epic pander.

So many of our brand-new Dems are ready to swagger just like their Republican counterparts.

[backscatter712]

44. That's fine with me. I keep a Glock next to my bed.

(for the safety-conscious, it is in a quick-open pistol safe.)

And yes, I keep it for self-defense. Not for shooting targets or animals, but for defending myself against hostile human beings.

Nice to see that we have a fellow Democrat who'll help keep DiFi and other gun grabbers in check.

[texas1928]

47. Note to self... Don't jump on her bed. and no rough sex.

[SuperTrouper]

49. LOL! Would sound like Beethoven's 1812's Overture...at climax time...

[Muttocracy]

91. psst - Tchaikovsky

[SuperTrouper]

100. LOL! Thanks! I have shown my ignorance regarding classical music...

[pretty]

59. and no drinking and sleeping

:crazy:

[ClarkUSA]

61. Yes, but does she have more than two brain cells under her hair? The jury's still out.

[PBS Poll-435]

67. She voted the right way on the Stimulus

:shrug:

(Both times!)

[dcindian]

63. And that my friends is how children end up shooting themselves.

Unfit for motherhood unfit for the senate.

[Starry Messenger]

75. Most of the senate is male.

So that's them out.

[Occam Bandage]

90. The guns are locked in a safe. nt

[SoCalDem]

68. Must suck to live one's life in total fear of "intruders"

she's lucky one of her kids has not blown the head off of another child..sillygilli

[hedgehog]

69. You've mentioned what never must be said when discussing gun control-

whether fear of intruders is valid. People who are convinced this is so must have guns to protect themselves, their families and their property. They consider gun control advocates ignorant and/or naive because the control advocates trust in the police to protect them.

[backscatter712]

72. Two of my sister's neighbors were shot and killed in a home invasion.

It happened just a mile or two down the road. Don't tell me that it doesn't happen, because it does.

My sister responded to the news by purchasing a .357 Magnum revolver.

Yes, fear of home intruders and other violent criminals is perfectly justified, and we're more than within our rights to keep and use deadly weapons for just such an emergency.

Don't think we're being irrational. We take precautions that include keeping weapons handy, but at the same time, we don't live cringing terrified behind the couch.

[hedgehog]

87. This is an example of why people tend to talk past each other

whenever guns come up. The conditions in your sister's area and in my area are very different. We have break-ins around here, but most violent crime involves disputes among drug dealers and their customers. I feel safe, so my view of gun ownership is going to be different than your sister's.

At the same time - how many guns are owned by fearful suburbanites in low crime districts? How many suburbanites who will never see a criminal fight gun laws meant to keep guns out of the hands of urban gang bangers?

[Danger Mouse]

78. If somebody breaks into your house and decides they want to hurt you...

you won't have time to wait for the police to get there.

[RaleighNCDUer]

96. It is not that we trust the police to protect us (unless, of course, we

live in million dollar houses in gated communities) but rather the acknowledgment that this kind of crime is actually very rare. Even as stupid as criminals are, most of them know that home invasion is a high risk, low reward crime. And most who don't know it, learn it pretty quickly.

Sure, it happens. But it will not happen to 99.9%+ of the population in their lifetimes. If it is happening to one in three, there's reason to be worried. If it's happening to one in ten, it's reason to be cautious. If it's happening to one in a hundred, you are prone to worrying a bit. If it's happening during the lives of one in a thousand, you're freaking paranoid.

BTW - people who watch a lot of television tend to be more scared than those that don't. Most people, in most places, would feel a lot better and save a lot of money by turning off the TV instead of buying a gun.

[alsame]

73. My youngest brother is a police officer and he has 2 guns in

his home. They are kept out of sight and way out of the reach of my niece and any other children who may be in the home. He has always been obsessively cautious about where the guns are kept. Trust me. they are not under the bed.

[TrogL]

76. Rifles are not the best choice for a house gun

Difficult to point the barrel in close quarters like a bathroom. It would bang against the walls.

[slampoet]

83. It proves the politician is LYING.

[Danger Mouse]

79. What a wimp. Where's her AK-47?

[Taverner]

80. What I don't get - and maybe someone can educate me - but why 2 guns?

I can see a handgun with a trigger lock under the bed - and said key under the pillow or in a cup

But 2 guns?

What is she going to come out all Neo from the Matrix when her home is broken into?

If anything that just leaves one gun for the intruder

[slampoet]

85. She said two rifles because she is Lying and doesn't know SQUAT about guns or their use.

People (usually women but not always) who don't know anything about guns often use generic terms for guns like "Rifle" to mean any gun with a wood stock or machine gun for any gun with a clip for rounds.

[Occam Bandage]

89. It's possible that she is not lying, but is rather minimally informed, as you say.

It's entirely possible that:

A. She actually has two rifles, because she doesn't really know that shotguns are better for home defense.
B. She has two shotguns, and said "two rifles" because she doesn't know a whole lot about gun terminology.

[Budgies Revenge]

95. or "C."

She might own two shotguns that have rifled barrels. I'm honestly not sure what the correct term for those types of guns would be.:shrug:

[slampoet]

98. Well Either A, B, or C, all these options add up to a bad gun owner.

Which i guess is worse than lying about it.


BTW - I have heard people call shotguns that shoot rifled slugs "Slug Throwers" but i'm not sure what the official term is. Either way a slug firing shotgun isn't the best choice for home defense anyway.



I think what everybody on this thread knows but this politician isn't saying is that ABOVE ANY GUN the best home protection IS A DOG.

[Taverner]

99. Meh guns are guns

They are a tool

Studies have shown that using a trigger lock can actually prevent domestic violence among gun owners. By the way, guys, might I add the most common gender using a gun in a Domestic Violence case is female...

In most cases where you want one, guns are rarely available.

But that doesn't mean they should be banned.

[Ewellian]

101. Maybe the answer's simple.

I think everyone is over analyzing this. I keep two guns under my bed...a shotgun and a high powered rifle with a scope. I wouldn't make the claim that I keep them there for protection....but I think they would get an intruder's attention in a hurry. I keep them under my bed because it's the best place to store the large locked gun case.

[Drunken Irishman]

86. LOL @ your update.

I peed a little.

[quakerboy]

92. Rifles? for home protection?

The only time Rifles are good for home protection is in case of zombie attack. Otherwise there are better choices.

On the other hand, now I know the senator has the same base concerns at heart as myself.

[Canuckistanian]

93. I keep a few RPG's under my couch

(Update: I have removed the RPG's from under my couch, citing security reasons)

Take THAT, evildoers!