A mom contemplates gun ownership
Help me, I’m floundering. I don’t want a gun in my house but I’m not so certain how I feel about other people owning them any more. I don’t believe it is my father’s strong republican beliefs coming out as I get older. I once felt strongly opposed to guns because their only purpose is to kill. I’ve been along on enough hunting trips to see the damage that guns do but my peace-loving self has been overtaken by my maternal instincts. Yet, I suspect it is fear that makes me not quite mind if the world knows that most Americans are armed. I don’t like this maybe feeling. Am I for or against private gun ownership? How do I decide? What questions must I ask myself?
Head on over and offer constructive advice (emphasis on constructive). I did.
October 20th, 2005 at 2:45 pm
I don’t agree that the only purpose of guns is to kill. To me thay are an awesome source of pleasure to compete with. I have fired quite literally many millions of rounds of competition ammo and never once killed anything. I also look at the beauty of guns and the craftsmanship involved as fine art.
That having been said let turn to another issue. It was the Japanese during WWII who quite truthfully said they chose not to invade the US because they were sure that there were as many guns available as blades of grass. Therefore it seems logical that guns are a deterent to armed aggression. This can be proven by the failure of any anti-gun person I have encountered saying “no” when I volunteered to supply them with “Gun Free Home” signs and stickers. It is apparent that they know all to well that their homes are being protected by the umbrella of so many US homes having a gun in it.
The last issue is one of child safety when a gun is in the home. That can easily be addressed with proper education and reasonable gun storage. With so many homes having guns in them it stands to reason that most rules and regs are working because the extremely small number of accidents do happen. Yes one is too many but gun safety is so much better than most other sports and games that it is obvious we are doing extremely well.
October 21st, 2005 at 9:06 am
[…] Over in the comments at Cathy’s that I linked yesterday, Barry says: Opposed to the use of guns…opposed, too, to the somewhat “awe” of guns some folks have that approaches a kind of hyper-hobby, almost a worship. […]