Today, I posed the question to my Facebook page whether or not they had guns in the home. Those that responded, aside from the few smart ass replies I got on Twitter, were mostly yes or no.
Obviously, in light of the world we now live in – and the whole political stance about the 2nd Amendment, the “gun issue,” is one at the forefront of a lot of people’s minds.
I constantly hear people saying, “Guns kill people!’ “Guns promote violence.” “Guns are bad, bad, bad!” “If it weren’t for guns – many lives would be saved.”
Yes, yes. We live in a violent society. I believe, that the ‘gun issue’ is actually not a ‘gun issue,’ at all.
It’s a respect, morality, self-control, empathy, compassion, reality issue.
If you check out this article from the Washington Post – which offers NON-PARTISAN facts about guns and gun violence – you will see that until recently, in the wake of the recent mass shootings – gun violence and ownership has actually been on the decline.
Now, suddenly – guns sales are back up! Woo-Hoo! The difference is that these are HONEST gun sales.
All of this media attention has set the wheels in motion where ‘we the people’ feel threatened and scared. People WANT to own guns. The more the government tries to control our guns and our access to the 2nd Amendment, the more the people want to assert their power.
The more we hear about violence, the more politicized it becomes – the more of an ‘issue’ this whole GUN thing becomes.
So thank you Washington for making guns an issue.
How ironic is it that during Joe Biden’s speech just today about GUN control and keeping our schools safe, the news interrupted with an important broadcast about another school shooting in Los Angeles?
The real issue is not about guns. Yes, guns kill.
But you are more likely to be killed in your mini van than by a gun. It is more likely that you will have a heart attack, or choke on steak, or die of cancer than it is that you will be killed by a gun.
Yet, according to statistics, 87% of the population will at some point be the victim of a possibly violent crime. You see, the bad guys – they have the guns. Just like the rapist, their guns are about power and control.
And, all the people so anti-guns – I wonder how many of them would feel differently if they, or their family, or their children, or someone they loved was left a victim of a gun crime? Would they suddenly wish they had that gun? One person on Twitter today made a smart ass comment after asking me if I had a gun, that if her or any of her followers were in trouble maybe I could come save them with my gun!
Sadly, by the time I got there, it’d be too late – so the jokes on her.
We all love peace. We all strive for a peaceful existence. No one wants to go back to the days of the Wild West (although maybe things were simpler then) where there was a gun on every belt. But at least THOSE guns were honest.
Consider (and I mean REALLY CONSIDER) the lyrics from Merle Haggard song about the legendary Pancho and Lefty; “He wore his gun outside his pants – for all the honest world to feel!”
Today, the bad guys hide their guns, which is what makes them so dangerous.
This is NOT a political soap box. I am neither FOR or AGAINST guns. I have an opinion, I believe in the 2nd Amendment. But I don’t think those who don’t are ignorant or naïve. Bottom line. I do have a gun in my home. Actually, several guns.
Sometimes we have to use the rifles to kill copperheads that get too close to the house. Once, we had to put down a farm animal with a gun to save it from horrendous suffering. And, just in case the meth head that ran into my driveway one sunny afternoon as he was trying to elude the police, and acting like an insane freak ever comes back to my house, I have a gun that I can use to protect my family from his brand of craziness.
Where I live, it would take 20 minutes for a cop to get to my house.
I grew up with guns. My dad was a cop. Perhaps I am desensitized. My dad would come home while he was working, to have dinner with the family, and he had a revolver hitched on his belt. It never affected me one way or the other.
Most importantly, my dads gun didn’t make me feel less or more secure. It was the world we lived in back then that made me feel more secure than I do now.
The guns in my home – they are there should I need them. But unfortunately, they STILL don’t make me feel more or less safe. They just make me feel prepared.
Like I said earlier, Yes, yes. We live in a violent society. I believe, that the ‘gun issue’ is actually not a ‘gun issue,’ at all.
It’s a respect, morality, self-control, empathy, compassion, reality issue.
Beautifully and wisely written. We have guns to. Under lock and key. My husband was a cop, is now an FBI agent and on a SWAT team. He has seen things and had to do things no one else would dare, or want to. He wants us to be protected, and our kids to understand and respect guns. They are not toys. They are for protection or hunting. Seeing people who want to jump on some bandwagon of taking all guns out of homes of Americans because that will magically fix the problem, it’s just sickening. And one HUGE step towards taking freedoms away in America.
Much of the anti-gun bandwagon is from those who live in far more urban areas than you do. Most of those people never grew up with guns and learned to respect them.
We live in a semi-rural area. It would take about 10-15 minutes for police to make it to my home. I have a fair bit of wildlife that wants to eat my pastured chickens. I don’t have a gun yet, but plan on taking the course by the end of February. My husband does have a gun.
I can understand why someone in NYC may think it is completely unnecessary to own a gun. They aren’t hunting, protecting animals and don’t have to worry about a fast response from police.
I think the issue is more of a mental health issue, along with what you mentioned above. We need to focus on keeping guns out of the wrong hands. We need a better system of checks and balances to ensure that mentally ill people do not have the ability to purchase guns or obtain weapons from a family member.
BTW, I live in CT and less than 15 miles from Newtown. Those shootings made a huge impact on me and my family. The violence needs to stop everywhere, but especially in schools. I’m just not sure we are going about it the right way.
There is a lot of fear on both sides of this issue. I wish I felt differently, but I think the issue will continue to polarize and escalate because of the name-calling and blaming that is being done. Until people truly listen to each other, and examine all the facts and all the policy implications, it’ll be more of the same emotional fear mongering.
Great post, Dani. Excellent points!
If every gun was owned by someone who needed to shoot copperheads and defend their chickens, this wouldn’t be an issue. I wonder about the mother of the meth-head, hoping and praying that her son soon gets treatment, only to find that he’s been killed by someone who felt threatened by him. At what point does one decide they need to protect themselves? When seeing someone who doesn’t look quite right approaching their property, do you wait until you can see if they are armed? Do you shoot now and ask questions later? Are you prepared to be a killer? Or do you lock your door and windows, call the police, and wait until your life is truly threatened? I think that anyone who truly believes they need their gun for protection needs to answer these before they pick up their weapon. And is your weapon protected against someone who could use it to harm others?
http://arianaisstillgrowing.blogspot.com/2012/12/mothers-against-mass-murder-yes-mamm.html
If the mother of the meth-head, who had just fled the scene of a crime where he severely injured others – feelings were hurt by her son being killed by a woman trying to protect her own family (if it would have come to that), then so be it. He was an adult. He made choices. And in that moment, i had choices to make as well.
Am I prepared to be a killer? I am not sure that is something anyone is prepared for, except for the criminals who collect guns and plan mass murders. Or people in the military.
Do I shoot first and ask questions later? Of course not. And I dont necessarily assume everyone is armed, and I also realize that even people without weapons could kill me if they really wanted to. If I feel threatened for my life, I wont have time to ask questions….I will shoot. Or run. Or do whatever the situation calls for.
Are my guns safe and secure? Yep, I am a responsible parent and realize the dangers involved with owning guns.
Do I wait 20 minutes for police to arrive, hoping that the two officers on duty in my county can actually get here that quickly? Do I hide in the meantime? Only if I didnt have the means to protect myself. locked doors and windows? HA! They dont stop criminals intent on killing or assaulting someone.
Funny thing. One of my friends is an ATF agent. If the general public realized just how many assault rifles are being shipped into the United States from South America on a DAILY basis, they would be horrified. These folks ship guns in pieces within boxes of toys and then they are reassembled here in the United States. By the thousand loads. Laws wont get rid of guns. They will only make them more deadly.
I think that the one thing everyone can agree on is that we desire a peaceful existence, and would love an existence that doesnt involve weapons of any kind. But that just isnt going to happen anytime soon.
Excellent post. I think this is the first one I’ve read about this issue that didn’t sound preachy or like someone was up on their soapbox. Just your opinion, which you aren’t shoving down anyone’s throat, but you’re not apologizing for where you stand either. I agree with SO much of what you said. And your comment about your ATF agent friend? It makes me scared and oh so sad. We as a country need to stop looking for a Band-Aid fix to our issues and actually get to the roots and put in the work it’s gonna take to make things better.
Came over from the TGIF Blog Hop and I’m glad I did