There are many things that are against the rules on these forums specifically because they're practically impossible to have a civil discussion about.
Unfortunately, any discussion of the effectiveness or lack thereof regarding self-defense might as well be added to that list, because folks get so darn worked up over it, not unlike various banned subjects.
I learned a long time ago that it's best not to start discussions regarding the effectiveness of various facets of self-defense both here and elsewhere. You'll get chewed up and spat out for it, regardless of how impartial you make the OP, how many times you urge folks who post to remain civil, or how desperately you try to steer the thread away from being derailed into an insipid debate between various schools of thought.
There is quite literally just as much unnecessary intolerance, anger, and bad blood between two cartridges as there are between two separate creeds. Sadly, some folks simply cannot tolerate any opinion other than their own, and they'll start an argument with just about anyone who doesn't express sentiments which perfectly mirror their own, and they'll even go so far as to hold petty grudges over such disagreements. They've been around since the dawn of mankind and will most likely persist straight up to the bitter end. Heck, some folks go even around looking to provoke arguments by repeatedly expressing extreme sentiments because they know that eventually somebody will take the bait.
It can't be helped, and it isn't your fault. I guarantee that no matter how you had worded that thread, the exact same folks would have still gotten all bent out of shape about it became that's just the way that they are and they will most likely never change.
There was a wise saying that I heard not too long ago shortly after I had been torn to shreds on another forum by simply stating that violence should always be a last resort. I don't remember exactly how it went so I'm paraphrasing here, but it went something like this...
"The difference between a wise man and a fool lies in how he reacts to being challenged/corrected. A wise man considers what he has been told, is willing to accept/admit when he was wrong, and will even thank the other person for setting them straight. A fool reacts immediately with anger/insults, will never accept/admit that he was wrong, and will hold a grudge against the other person for pointing out their flaws."
Ever since I read that, it not only convinced me not to bother with folks who react like that, and to be careful never to behave like the fool myself.
Larry
