GOOD GUYS WITH GUNS

Another “good guy with a gun” shoots up mall. Wayne LaPierre and his NRA followers have contributed to the deaths of three more people; yes, I believe most people, by far, do not want assault rifles and pistols and certainly do not want them in the hands of the mentally unstable. Have we reached a point in gun ownership from which we can never recover? The reference above to “the good guy with a gun” is not written to be cynical; many good guys do have guns and that is the problem.

We have millions of decent law-abiding people, both young and old, who have unstable times in their lives. They are not crazy or mentally ill. Many of us often encountered something in their lives they have trouble coping with: unemployment, lover life, depression, or what ever. We may or may not be hunters or target shooters. It makes no difference. What makes a difference is that when we fall into a moment of uncontrolled rage or depression and there is loaded gun at hand. “Suicide by police” as many of these wanton incidences are, invariably involves guns.

Guns are everywhere. I have heard many people in a moment of despair or rage or whatever say, “If I had a gun I would kill myself, you, him or her or even kill it, if kicked by a horse or bite by a dog”. I have heard hunters that are legitimate gun owners, who know what it means to kill, say these kinds of things; although I have to admit, I have never heard an actual combat veteran say anything like that.

Yes, gun permits issued after background check will work; however, the problem runs much deeper then that. People who go into a duck boat or the woods with three or four shells are real hunter and have guns. They look at their guns as sporting equipment and put in storage, just like footballs, and tennis rackets, during off-season; the guns are probably not setting in the living room next to a soft chair. There is a measure of safety in that although that is obviously not the reason the owner puts the guns away. Of course, they can turn the guns on themselves or others but that is rare.

However, if you use the term ‘second amendment’ or if you say you have right to own a gun, which every hunter and target shooter knows he or she has without saying it, tells me you are looking for an excuse to buy a gun. You are covering up the fact that you own a gun because you are probably scared of your own shadow or are not tough and are trying to look that way. The alternative is that you are trying to cover up your personality faults.  The third alternative is that you are trying to protect yourself from all the guns that are on the streets. In the first case, study martial art. In the second case, go see a psychologist, and in the third case stop advocating for guns and join your fellow man in the drive to curtail gun sales and make matters worse. Better yet, learn about politics and find out how things are suppose to work in a civilized society.   

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