With so much recent news regarding gun control, I felt compelled to add my own two cents. 

Oddly “gun control” typically takes the form of disarming responsible citizens, rather than helpful and sensible controls like the Brady Bill.  I strongly support better education in proper gun use.  I would fully support legislation that required one to take a gun safety course before being permitted to purchase a firearm.  Nonetheless, I also recognize the fact that history, studies of disarmament laws enacted in England, and logic all tell us that completely disarming responsible citizens will lead to increases in crime and tragic loss of life.  A responsible citizen does his or her best to abide by the laws of our state and nation.  If laws were enacted which demanded that citizens surrender their firearms, most innocent and responsible citizens would comply, even if they did not agree with the law.  Criminals, of course, would not comply and would remain armed.  The loss of our Second Amendment Right to Bear Arms would lead to a nation in which only the criminals are armed.

I grew up on a farm.  Guns were as common as telephones . . . and our home certainly had more of the former.  These guns were not locked away or fitted with trigger locks, nonetheless, neither I nor my brother dared touch them while we were children.  Instead of hiding away these guns (which can lead to creating an unhealthy fascination for children), they were in plain view.  My brother and I were taught that guns are dangerous and that we were never to touch them.  On the farm, we witnessed these guns being used to protect our family’s horses and cows from preditors such as wolves, which left us with no doubt as to their deadly effect.  Guns are always present in a typical farm town home . . . a gun rack might be displayed above the television in the family living room.  It is a common sight and neighbors and visitors are never surprised or uncomfortable.  Every farm town home has firearms and that fact is well known within the community.  The knowledge that every homeowner is armed seems to serve as a strong deterrent to crime.  To this day, in the farm area where I grew up, few people lock their front door (even when away for the day).  Cars are left in the driveway, unlocked and with the key in them.  Theft is practically unheard of there and I’ve never known of an armed robbery to occur in that area.

On the flip side, farm town children are taught to properly handle guns.  (As an aside, we were also taught how to properly handle knives.)  Although “fun” games like laser tag or paint ball were not in existence when I was a child (Pong was advanced technology at the time), had it been in existence, my brother and I would have never been allowed to play them.  We did have toy guns, cork guns and cap guns were always a favorite, BUT we were taught to NEVER point our toy guns at a person.  My brother and I were punished appropriately, with our toy guns being taken away, if we even accidentally pointed our toy gun at another person.  We were always taught that guns are NEVER, EVER to be aimed at people, even if they are toys, even if they are unloaded — accidents can happen and you just never take that chance.  In my lifetime, I’ve never known of a child to have an accident with a firearm in the country town where I grew up.  

As a young adult, I learned the proper use of a gun.  I was taught how to shoot at a gun range and taught the importance of proper cleaning and care of a gun.  If someone asks to see your gun, it is first unloaded, and then handed over carefully with the empty cylinder open.  The safe use of a gun cannot be over emphasized.

Chilling tragedies like the Columbine High School and the Virgina Tech massacres can cause those who have not learned a to have a healthy respect for firearms to believe that the best answer is to ban them.  I don’t blame anyone for having this initial gut reaction, particularly if they’ve never owned a firearm or been properly educated about their use.  Slogans such as “guns don’t kill people, people do” have limited effect against that gut reaction which leads us to believe that fewer people would have been slaughtered if the killer hadn’t had a gun.  Yet, let us never forget the thousands of lives lost on September 11, 2001, at the hands of terrorists armed only with box cutters.

A recent occurrence has highlighted the tremendous benefit of arming “the good guys.”  Nonetheless, with the majority of the media supporting the abolition of our second amendment right to bear arms, this crucial aspect of the recent thwarted massacre seems to have received little coverage.             

–  On Wednesday, June 10, 2009, a crazed 88 year old anti-Semitic walked into the crowded U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and opened fire.  Guard Stephen Johns lost his life in the attack.  The loss of this one life is certainly a senseless tragedy.  The aspect of this horrific event that received little media coverage is that fact that another armed security guard quickly reacted by utilizing his own firearm to disable the shooter and put an early stop to what was clearly planned by the gunman to be a massacre of monumental proportions.  The museum was filled with school children and tourists.  Had this heroic security guard not been armed, had he not acted quickly, our nation would still be in overwhelming shock and mourning at the loss of the lives of hundreds of innocent children and visitors.  On June 10, 2009, the improper use of a firearm by a crazed lunatic led to the unfortunate loss of the life of one heroic man, Guard Stephen Johns . . . and THE PROPER USE OF A FIREARM BY ANOTHER HEROIC GUARD SAVED THE LIVES OF HUNDREDS MORE.  Unfortunately, there is not always a heroic guard nearby when tragedy strikes.  No guard was nearby at Columbine High School or Virgina Tech when the deranged madmen made their attacks; yet, had there been a properly armed citizen present, the death tolls would have likely been minimized just as they were at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on June 10, 2009.

My undergraduate degree is in Philosophy.  I have a deep love of learning and believe strongly in learning all the facts from each side of an argument before reaching a conclusion.  On issues such as “gun control,” it is easy to make emotional decisions that are based upon one’s gut feelings.  Yet, the issue is too important to rely solely on one’s gut feelings.  Do the research.  Listen to the reasoned and educated arguments from both sides.  Ignore the fanatical rantings that are certain to be espoused on both sides of any important issue.  If you do not own a gun and have never used a gun, take a gun safety course.  Doing so does not mean that you must purchase a gun, most facilities will rent a gun to you for purposes of taking the course.  If you believe in disarming citizens, taking a gun safety course does not mean that you must give up your beliefs.  Taking a course and educating yourself about the proper use of these weapons will simply allow you to make a more informed decision.  If after learning about the proper use of a firearm you continue to believe that responsible citizens should lose their Second Amendment Right to Bear Arms, then your belief will be based upon a more educated evaluation of the facts — which is all that persons such as myself ask of you.