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2)I know the value of a gun in this environment. I know how many times our home has been kept safe because my father has been willing to wield a gun against either intruders or against 'undersireable' characters coming around(read drug dealers, crack heads, you name it). Our part of the block has a reputation for not being somewhere for these pepole to hang out because my father and our neighbors have taken a stand against such scum.

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Any comments?

Thanks for your perspective. I have imagined that if I found it necessary to live in such a place that I might favor choosing a building with some sort of covenant, explicitly agreed to by all tenants, that allowed searches for weapons. I take it that you would not find that to be a good idea. Do you have other ideas along such lines?

Yes. Should I be subject to the 'tyranny of the masses' as deToqueville put it? Conventional wisdom would say 'yes' however, I disagree. Conventional wisdom also suggests that I have a choice to live here or not. For many people living in subsidized housing, there is no choice, but rather, the choice is between there and the street. You said that if you had a choice, fine, but for most if not all of these people, there is NO choice. They cannot choose a building, they simply take what is givne to them. Such are the breaks of being poor. Also there exists another problem with it. Why should I give up my gun which I use to protect my family when its not even illegal except in places where the the government is the landlord, that is mostly poorer sections of town. Ben.