I had high hopes (don't we all?) of keeping up with this blog thing last year.... While speaking with a friend today, I was reminded that I had let this go; so here I am, wheeeee.
The thing that is currently irking me: People who refuse to accept that owning a gun is perfectly reasonable.
Look, if folks are paranoid about guns and don't want them in their own home, that's fine by me. But there is absolutely no reason that I shouldn't have one. I am a stable and responsible citizen of a (supposedly) free nation, I am not a criminal nor do I intend to become one. The folks I mention tend to believe that the police will always arrive in time to save them from Big Bad and that's simply not the case.
Someone recently overheard me talking with a friend about guns and chose to inform me that I was only putting myself in danger if I owned a firearm. Apparently, this guy believes that an inanimate object has the capability to be evil and warned me that I could be shot by my own gun at any moment, simply because said gun exists. I countered with the following facts:
Guns, like baseball bats, require a human being to put them to use. I have never witnessed a gun leap from the safe/counter top/whatever and fire itself and I doubt that I ever will. If a person picks up a baseball bat, he/she has a choice: play ball or use it to bust up windows/vehicles/people, etc. Guns can be used for responsible reasons as well (playing ball isn't one of them of course).
I then tried to explain why I own them, besides that whole 2nd Amendment thing....
As living arrangements go, I live in a fairly low crime area but it is also very rural and we have a Sheriff's dept. that is undermanned due to a small budget. It is NOT a zero crime area and several arrests connected with meth/meth making have been made over the past few years. My experience in dealing with tweakers/cookers/etc. is that they are very unpredictable and can be a threat.
In the county where I live, it can be upwards of 40 minutes to get police response if you live outside the limits of one of our small towns and you have need after 10pm or there about. (Yes, that's personal experience...and the 911 call was in reference to a known violent offender) There is only one (1) deputy on duty from 11pm until 7am and if he/she is on the opposite end of the county, it's up to us to protect ourselves and our families.
My opponent in this little argument said that I should move to a safer area or build a safe room in my home for these kinds of situations, rather than own a firearm. I replied that I couldn't afford to do either. He then offered that I could surely reason with a criminal and, that failing, was large enough to defend myself against an attacker if need be. I agree that while this may be true, I'm not willing to bet my life or my family's safety based on odds. Our conversation continued but there was no swaying either of us, so I won't drag details out any further.
More than one court has ruled that police do not have a duty to protect citizens (this continues to baffle me, BTW) and that's just one more reason why I choose to own guns for personal protection as well as target practice and hunting.
While I'm at it I should mention to those who may not know, IL is about to become the ONLY state in the Union that doesn't allow some form of concealed carry. Many of the politicos in the northern part of the state continue to endanger us by not recognizing that right. Our Constitution is supposed to protect our God given rights, but IL chooses to ignore the 2A.
49 states vs 1.....that's damned difficult to ignore.
Here's your homework: Take a few minutes and look up Hoplophobia.
