Been awhile since I've thought of anything to write. I have always hated finding blogs that haven't been updated for long periods of time. But, since I made no promises how often these posts would come, time passes.
My son-in-law is a certified concealed carry instructor. He and my daughter are both licensed and both almost always have their weapons with them. Getting a concealed carry license seems to be the new thing to do. Most people blame the breakdown of society as most of us know it to be the reason to get the license.
I don't feel the need to get licensed, or to even keep a weapon in the house. Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-gun. I was raised in a home with guns, stored openly and unlocked. My dad was a gunsmith and dealer. He was also an avid hunter and taught all of us kids to shoot. We were also taught to respect the weapon and that it was never to be used as a toy or against another person. I once asked my mother what they told us to keep us from bothering Dad's guns. She said they didn't say anything special to us. We knew that they were his and not ours and we didn't mess with things that weren't ours. My son was raised with guns that again were not secured and he didn't touch them as a child either. That's one thing that boggles my mind when I hear about a child shooting another child. Why aren't they taught that if it isn't theirs, they don't need to touch it. I guess that's the problem, we aren't teaching our children to respect the property of others.
Even after we were broken into and had our home ransacked and many items stolen, I still don't feel the need to be armed. It wouldn't have made a difference if we were armed or not, we were not at home. It would have just been another thing stolen.
I guess I'm just a fatalist. If it is my time to go, if I'm ever confronted by someone armed, it's my time. Just as I said I would not let the thieves win by being afraid to leave my house, I will not live in fear of being shot by someone who feels that is the only way to get what they want.
Maybe that's naive in this day and age, maybe not. Call me crazy, but that's the way I feel.
I don't think you're crazy, Beth. I used to own a hunting rifle but I gave it away when I realized I'd likely never use it for hunting again. It was a Winchester Model 94 that I bought when I was 16. I used it to hunt deer with my brother-in-law a couple times but I never really wanted to kill a deer -- I just enjoyed being around Jerry.
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of arguments for owning a gun to protect a person's family and I understand that but I look to other countries who have much stricter gun laws than we do and they seem to live lives that are every bit as safe as ours -- or even more safe.
We're losing on average 33,000 lives each year to gun violence. It appears that guns are actually making us less safe but yet the only answer from the NRA is even more guns. I strongly disagree.