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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Bang Bang

I, probably to my own detriment, expressed this view on Facebook, but I don't feel bad for saying it on my own blog.  Here it is:  You probably don't need a gun in your house.

What happened in Connecticut was nearly the worst thing I've ever heard about.  A crazy 20-year old shoots his mom, kills other adults and 20 children, and then kills himself.  Just. Horrible.  A lot of people are calling for stricter gun control laws in an effort to combat this, but I don't think that's 1) the answer or 2) ever going to happen.  The guns seem to be lawfully registered weapons, and people that sell guns can't be responsible for what happened.

The issue as I see it, and I've said this for years, is people that think they need guns when they don't need guns.  The existence of guns doesn't bother me, the easy access to guns by crazy people does.  If you hunt, you need a gun. If you shoot for sport, you need a gun.  If you live in a place where your life is in danger, maybe you need a gun.  And maybe there are other circumstances.  But, a member of my family a few years ago talked about getting a gun because "you never know."  You never know what?  Whether you'll be robbed?  Whether your grandchildren will find a gun that you forgot you own because you don't need it and shoots themselves?  That reasoning seems really vague to me.

And some people just really dig guns.  That's cool too.  But consider going to a shooting range where you can rent all types of cool weapons to shoot.  Probably cheaper than buying, and then you'll never have to worry ever about someone using your gun.  Because you don't own one.

I have people living in my house that should not be touching weapons.  I don't hunt, I don't shoot for sport, and I don't feel that safety is an issue where I live, so I don't own a gun.  Simple as that.  If you feel you need one, then the law allows you to have one.  And "need"  can be loosely defined.  I "needed" that bag from Burberry.  Maybe someone else "needed" that gun.  But, no one is going to steal and use my bag to kill someone, so perhaps there's an extra bit of analysis that should go into buying a gun.  We'd all like to hope that no one is going to use our guns for anything bad, but so did the parents of all the kids who like to shoot up schools.

Feel free to misinterpret my blog post and leave me a comment explaining to me why you need the gun that you have.  I don't care if you have one, I really really don't.  You're allowed to buy one, you bought one, there you go.  If you're done the analysis, and you've decided that you still need a gun, then enjoy it.

Bottom line, like with anything we buy, we should consider whether we really need it.  But when it's a gun, I hope we think really hard.

 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Very well said. And I especially appreciate this coming from a member of our military, having handled and trained to use weapons and have seen the harsh reality of their use.

I agree- No one's going to come knock on yor door and take your gun away. That's not the point of the debate. I've never understood how anyone with children could really feel good about having a weapon in their home. Especially if they're not using it for hunting or some such thing. (I still don't feel truly comfortable there, but it's their right, I suppose, and at least there's something of a purpose.)

I guess, for me, when you live in a country as (relatively) safe as ours, the choice to raise your children amongst weapons is baffling to me.