Guns.

I am suspicious of guns. Any gun. I am suspicious of anyone who owns a gun. I mean, what are you doing with it exactly? Sleeping with it under your pillow in case of a big, bad, robber? Patrolling your suburban cul-de-sac to keep out unmentionables? Keeping it in your Coach bag, just in case you are mugged on the way to lunch?

No one, besides a few avid hunters that I know, has ever been able to explain why a private citizen would need a gun, most specifically why a private citizen would need a semi-automatic rifle or a glock or a pistol or whatever is vogue these days in the world of home weaponry.

There is absolutely no reason for it.

We've heard the arguments of those gun loving citizens, the NRA types, who say, if law-abiding citizens were not allowed to be armed; then only the lunatics would be armed and all the innocent people with empty gun safes would be the perfect target for the lunatics who were illegally packing heat.

I say, it is all the lunatics who own guns. Maybe you think I am totally wrong. Maybe you think I would change my tune if I were threatened by a gun. But most likely, I would wish that gun had never been manufactured in the first place.

We no longer live in an age of militias; instead we live in an age of mass shootings. And if you had your gun and were in that Aurora, Colorado theater last week, when the "joker" threw smoke bombs and began shooting innocent people, what would you do? In the chaos, would you have tried to aim your handgun in the direction of the shooter, hoping for the best and trying to bring out your internal Navy Seal? And would you have saved the day?

Maybe. But, I doubt it. Instead, you would have missed. Or hit his body armor (maybe you need to upgrade your ammo to pierce body armor). Or hit another one of your theater-going colleagues. Because, guns don't discriminate. Because, guns do one thing really well: kill.

And yeah, I've heard it before: Guns don't kill people. People kill people. Fair enough, a gun lying untouched and unloaded on a table is not going to kill anyone. Neither is a person standing in a movie theater with their hands in their pockets. Guns and people are a toxic mix: they kill people together in perfect, horrifying and evil unity.

Call me unconstitutional, but the right to bear arms is as antiquated as the plume that was used to write it. And if I can't change the constitution, I can say this:

The right to bear arms, comes with the responsibility to fully understand the consequences of bearing those arms. When a gun is loaded and in your hands,or anyone's hands, it is brimming with the possibility of shooting something; of killing or maiming or destroying someone.

And once that gun is shot, the outcome is anyone's guess. It could miss. It could hit. But, that bullet will lodge itself somewhere.

None of this violence will stop until we all admit that the only arms we should be bearing are those on our bodies.

Comments

  1. Thanks for you uninformed and acerbic comment.
    You are "totally wrong".
    To answer your question: Yes! You bet I sleep with a Colt .45 automatic under my pillow (loaded with Black Talon hollow points. I sleep like a baby).
    Guess what bud--no matter how idealistic you want to get about society--there will always be scum of the earth criminals in our midst. The police are just here to write out reports (like dealing with your dead body after the criminal/scum have killed you).
    I take responsibility for my safety and survival. You're damn right the gun is just a tool. People kill people. There should have been a CHL at that theater and he could have put a round between that crazy man's eyes. That would have saved a bunch of lives and suffering.
    As the old saying goes: "when guns are outlawed; only outlaws will have guns".
    Come on out of your fairy tail and join the real world.
    P.S. I also own a Glock. (it's under my other pillow in case the .45 fails).
    signed,
    a navy seal wannabe/gun nut

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    1. I couldn't sleep with a gun under my pillow because I am very sensitive and would be so uncomfortable. Plus I would be concerned that one my my children would get it and we would become victims of people killing people. I am a bit confused about this though because how could people kill people with guns if they didn't have such easy access to them...hmmmmm I think you need to think a bit more about that point
      I LOVE fairy tales. Arthur please note that YOU are "totally wrong" because it's tale as in fictional story not TAIL as in what a dog wags. That said, The Princess and the Pea is my favorite fairy tale. I can totally relate to her and I think it's exactly why I would be uncomfortable with a gun under my pillow.

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    2. Being a Navy Seal wannabe/Gun nut sounds very dangerous. I agree you have a right to own a firearm. But, it is your responsibility to treat them with great care and respect. I am guessing you don't have children because that would be incredibly irresponsible to keep a loaded gun under your pillow with little curious fingers around. Agreed Sarah! Maybe you should learn about your guns, how to properly store them and use them in case of an emergency. But most importantly leave the Navy Seal work to the Navy Seals. They are professional and I am sure keep their firearms locked up safely at night.

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  2. I find situations like the the one in Colorado very difficult. On one hand, I grew up on a farm in Ohio & we literally had guns everywhere. All over our house-my dad never locked them up, we knew exactly where everything was if we would have wanted to use the guns-ours were mostly hunting rifles, but access was never limited.

    I have however, never really felt comfortable around guns, even though I was shown how to use them properly. My brother is the opposite & totally fine and has hunted his entire life. I also don't feel comfortable with the saying the faults of a few should punish others. Car accidents kill an average of 115 people everyday, while it is obviously different, people aren't asking people to stop driving.

    I 100% agree that gun laws need to be reformed, though I'm not sure what that looks like, but I also don't feel that all guns should be taken away because responsible gun ownership isn't what killed anyone in Colorado, that was done by a man who has some serious issues.

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    1. I have no problem with hunting; but I do have a problem with the selling of semiautomatic rifles, concealed handguns and other weapons meant not for hunting; but for "protection." when I see and hear stories of children accidentally shooting themselves at home with a handgun, I think: why would a private citizen need that kind of weapon.

      Hunting is an entirely different story. My Dad was a hunter. My grandfather was a hunter. Hunters are using their guns for something else entirely.

      So in the hunting sense, I totally agree with you.

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    2. I didn't grow up on a farm and we didn't own guns growing up but I am pretty much completely with Jessica otherwise, including the fact we need reform of some sort. I have a basic idea of what I would want it to look like but not all logically figured out.

      The guy in Colorado was FLAGGED for seeming off by a gun club. WHY didn't authorities act on it? He bought way too many "protective" items. Why wasn't there something in place to flag him THEN? The fact he could buy a gun isn't the issue IMO. He would have found another way to do what he wanted. The issue is the precautions that SHOULD be in place and the fact that those that were in place were not followed as seriously as they should have been.

      I want to add that I do not think there is anything wrong with someone who wants to have a gun "for protection". It wouldn't work in my family. It just isn't for us but there are situations I have seen where someone was potentially saved because they did have a gun for protection. Do they need to live with injuring or killing another human being? Yes, but honestly, better to live with that than to live with knowing someone else who WAS innocent suffered and/or died because they couldn't protect them.

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  3. Unfortunetly in society common sense regulations are needed. While autos do kill there are more regulations for driving then anything else on the planet. Society agrees that you don't have the right to drive 200 mph or put others in danger. Cars are continuly regulated to the lowest limiting factor of risk.

    Should you be able to by a shoulder mounted missle? How are semi automatic, wepons better?

    The Colorado loon bought 6000 rounds of ammunition... Should this not have at least raised a red flag under some sort of regulation? Plus 30,000 americans are shot each year for our right to bear arms.

    Unfortunetly laws punish the good people, however can't common sense gun control prevail?

    "I like most Americans believe that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual the right to bear arms,” Obama said in a speech before the National Urban League in New Orleans. “I think we recognize the traditions of gun ownership passed on from generation to generation, that hunting and shooting are part of a cherished national heritage.

    “But I also believe that a lot of gun owners would agree that AK47s belong in the hands of soldiers not in the hands of criminals, that they belong on the battlefield of war not on the streets of our cities,” he said.
    "

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  4. Opinions are meant to be opinions- so no one is "totally wrong"
    Buy a big dog. Hollow bullets? That's completely irrational. I hope your safety is on those guns under your pillow. Gun laws need to be amended.

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  5. Guns belong with appropriate owners. Due to the type of job I had another lifetime ago, i had to learn to operate a 9mm Beretta and an M16. I hated every minute of it. I am the type of person who should not have a gun; my mood swings would make me a dangerous person, even though i know the rules for brandishing a gun.
    The difficult part is deciding who is the appropriate owner.

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  6. When it becomes easier for a civilian to buy multiple deadly weapons than it is for him/her to buy a box of Sudafed, we have a problem in our country. I read one article this week that said that problem in Colorado wasn't that there were too many guns-just that this idiot had all of them. There needs to be a serious conversation about gun control here...I'm not suggesting total bans or taking away the guns that people keep insisting our forefathers would have wanted them to have (sorry, but Ben Franklin would be mortified if he had any idea where the right to bear arms has gotten us today). Perhaps the compromise could be that those of us who want to see more control and regulations will have to accept that handguns and hunting rifles are here to stay...but those on the other side of the debate are going to have to accept that NO CIVILIAN should have any need whatsoever for a weapon that sprays bullets and is intended solely for the purpose of mass killings. I also agree with Trish that these handguns bought for "protection" seem to end up causing more harm than good...you see a lot more accidental shootings and small children dying on the news than you see heartwarming stories about people being able to defend their families in a time of need.

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  7. Can we agree that a national law against handling a firearm while intoxicated should be passed?

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  8. I totally agree with you. But we need to start SOMEWHERE and I think assault weapons is the first step. Just don't let anyone own them. I can't see why anyone would be against that.

    Another issue to consider is our Culture of Violence. We all see this "I'd be safer with a gun" because that's what TV and movies and pop culture tell us. That anybody can pick up a piece and save the day. That's baloney. The statistics that I've seen don't bear that out. Guns are dangerous, period, and a gun in the house is more unsafe. There's not many stories going around of people successfully shooting criminals who break in vs. people who's kid picked up a gun and hurt or killed someone. Just heard one today. It gives people the illusion of control, that's all.

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