Cowboys

I try to respect the opinion of anyone who is open minded enough to respect the opinion of someone else. That doesn’t mean I have to agree with them, or them with me, but it means that there is a potential to find some common ground. Anyone who believes that they are 100% right on any given subject (and that anyone who doesn’t agree with them is an idiot) cannot be reasoned with. That’s where the term “unreasonable” comes from. I don’t want to be considered “unreasonable,” nor do I want to deal with “unreasonable” people.


Last week there were two school shootings, one in Alabama and one in Knoxville, not far from my home. Leaving three dead and several injured, these shootings remind us once again how quickly our lives could change at the hands of an unstable person. How and why these two teachers committed these crimes will be debated for some time, but the sad truth is that these weren’t the first and won’t be the last time something like this happens.


I don’t know why I do it, because I always end up upset, but I have a tendency to read comments submitted to online news articles. If you want to gauge the level of “crazy” in our country, take a gander at some of the statements made on some of these articles. It’s pretty frightening.


While reading some comments posted on an article about the Knoxville shooting, a man stated that “if the other people in the room had been carrying guns, the shooter could have been killed before hurting anyone.” This was followed by a chorus of approval posts and more statements about how “liberals” and “socialists” were trying to destroy our nation and submit us to danger by taking our guns (at some point, all of these postings turn into a political debate, usually involving name calling from both sides).


I thought about the man’s suggestion. What if everyone carried a gun? Like the old west days, we’d strap on our holster and pearl handled 45 each morning before work. How cool would that be? I played that game as a kid. I was Marshall Matt Dillon, protecting my backyard with my silver cap gun. No one would come near my home and family without facing the cold plastic of my pistol and the loud pop and smoky smell of its discharge. I imagined a world where I could carry a gun all the time. I thought it would be awesome.


But I was a child.


As an adult, I do not want to carry a gun. I’m pretty sure I would use it on the first morning I take my kids to school and I am cut-off in the drop-off line. (Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t shoot anyone…but I can see myself taking out some tires and shattering some windshields). I don’t think I’m alone either. People are too tense; between work, finances, family and other issues, we all seem on the edge of breaking at any given time. Do we really want a gun on our hip when we are pushed to our limit?


So what do people think when they make these statements? Does this man really think it would be a good idea for everyone to be openly carrying a gun? Does he think that there would be less shootings? Does he think that only the “bad” people are going to get shot? I’m trying to give him (and those who agree with him) the benefit of the doubt that they might not have thought this all the way through.


On the other hand, I have a friend who insists that his wife carry a small gun (legally registered, of course) when she drives long distances alone to her family home out of state. His concern for her is justified, and when I think about it, I can’t help but agree. It’s a dangerous world, with lots of crazy people. If I weren’t kind of annoying, I’d think about buying one for my wife.


So what am I saying? Am I “pro-gun” or not? Like almost everything, it’s not that simple.


The NRA and gun lobbyists have turned the debate over gun control into an all or nothing deal. Try to discuss the restriction of automatic weapons and they quickly turn it into a second amendment debate which frightens every hunter into believing that they will have to turn in their 30/30 and burn down their deer stands. Americans need to start thinking for themselves and take off their camo-colored glasses. There is a lot of gray area in the gun debate.


There’s a big difference between wanting to defend yourself and being “defensive.” I hear a lot of people who seem to be offended that they have to wait on background checks or go through legal channels to get their guns. They make the excuse that if the criminals have guns, why shouldn’t they? Sorry, but that’s not rational.


If you are a law abiding citizen, why would you not want to have a background check run in order to legally possess a gun? Are you in a hurry to have your new gun? If so, I’d have to wonder why. People who plan so poorly might not have the temperament to carry a weapon.


Considering that so many lives are potentially at stake, shouldn’t the manufacture, sale and ownership of guns be even MORE strictly regulated? I understand that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” but no one can argue that it’s much easier to kill with a gun than with bare hands or a knife.


Sure, the regulations won’t stop everyone. The shooter in Alabama had “borrowed” a 9mm handgun and had no permit or registration. But, if we had more severe penalties for those who improperly sale, trade or “loan” guns to others, then we might stop a few tragedies. Wouldn’t it be worth it to save even one life?

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