“I
don't understand why anyone wants 'the right' to bear arms.”
“You
have to be mentally unstable to want that 'right' anyway, by
definition.”
“Why
does anyone even want to own a gun in the first place?”
These are all comments that
I've seen regarding the right to bear arms. I've written about guns
before, a little blurb in my last post, but I feel like I need to
write more because it seems that there is a gradually prevailing
opinion that gun owners are dangerous and unstable.
Let me start by saying that I
completely understand how scary guns can be. As a child, if I was
watching TV with my parents and a gun came on the screen, I would get
up and leave the room. I did this well into my teenage years – I
was terrified by them. I still do not own a gun, and I have never
fired one or even held one. But I believe this is something I need to
remedy.
See, historically, guns were
a way to not only protect oneself, but also to provide food for one's
family. Back in the days when people were predominantly
self-sufficient, a gun and ammunition could make the difference
between surviving the winter and starving – and not just for an
individual, but for an entire family. Although this level of
dependence on hunting for food has almost disappeared, it still
exists for some families in rural areas. Are they “mentally
unstable”? I don't think so. Honestly, I respect them for being
able to provide for themselves without a grocery store. Not many of
us can do that.
I've also read that the
average city can only go a few days without the incoming
transportation of food. In a situation like that, the size of one's
community shrinks rapidly. People don't care about their neighbors
anymore – they don't feel like they can afford to be generous,
because if it's not freely available then it must be saved for their
families. Or taken for their families. The balance of power without
weapons is based almost entirely on physical size and strength, or
some form of unarmed fighting technique, which most Americans do not
have. But if a ninety-pound woman has a firearm, then a
two-hundred-pound man can no longer take her food from her, unless
she gives it freely. Of course, in order for it to act as an
equalizer, she needs to know how to use it confidently. She must have
practiced with it in times of peace, when others might consider her
“mentally unstable”, so that it is available for her if/when she
needs it.
Speaking historically again,
we live in the safest time period ever recorded, which is why I don't
really understand people who talk about how things are getting “so
out of control”. Violent acts only make the news because they are
so rare, in terms of percentage. Most people I know have never had a
violent act committed against them, and even those that have
experienced violence have lived in safety for the vast majority of
their lives. Violent seem prevalent simply because there are so very
many of us.
I think the thing that
bothers me the most is that people don't seem to care about being
self sufficient anymore. Their argument is based on fear, but this is
contradictory to what they say they want. If we rely on others, i.e.,
the government, to meet our needs, then we are no longer able to meet
our own needs. What would happen if we stepped outside the realm of
government protection? What if the government collapsed, or we were
invaded by another country and everything were thrown into chaos?
What if the government continued to become more powerful and decided
we didn't need the things it was supposed to provide? I grant that
these scenarios are not likely, but they are possible. And the more
we give away our rights, the more we give up our control to others,
the more likely they become.
Our forefathers wanted us to
be prepared to hold a revolution. They had personally experienced a
government with too much control, and they wanted to prepare us to
win our freedom again if need be. If they were to see us now,
constantly dependent upon others to meet our most basic needs, I
think they would be disgusted. They would be disgusted at not only
the way we need to be taken care of, as adults, but also the way we
are raising our children to do the same.
I believe that even if you
choose not to own a gun, you should learn how to properly care for
one. Know how to load and unload it, know how to clean it, and know
how to fire it. Be able to ascertain that a gun is unloaded. And
teach your children proper gun safety, too, even if you think they
aren't in contact with guns, because you never know what they will
discover at a friend's house. Knowing safe procedures cannot possibly
cause worse damage than knowing nothing and doing it anyway.
Believe me, I get it. The
guns of today are not the same as the firearms used when the second
amendment was written. But when we're talking about using them as an
equalizer, and being prepared to revolt if need be (however unlikely
it seems right now), why would we want to place all the power in the
hands of the very people we might need to defend ourselves against?
The only reason I can think of is because we've chosen safety over
freedom. That is not the choice I would make, for me or for my
future children, and it is not the foundation on which this country
was built.
Better to focus on helping
people not want to hurt or kill others – because, I'll say
it again, criminals don't follow the law. Antisocial behavior is the
hallmark of someone who needs help, not a well-adjusted person.
Therefore, rather than trying to limit the freedoms of honest,
well-meaning citizens, we should be trying to help the
mentally-unstable become stable. It's a lot more difficult than just
taking away all the guns, but it will lead to a healthier society all
the way around.
My experience with children
has shown me that the easier way is rarely the right way. For
example, spanking a kid might get them to comply with you in the
short term, but it also leads to more violent behavior and lack of
respect for authority (because fear is not the same as respect).
Children who regularly experience corporal punishment tend to follow
the rules only when an authority figure is present, or, in more
extreme cases, when they are so cowed by fear that they are
psychologically damaged. Punishment and reward systems, in general,
consistently devalue the very behaviors we wish to encourage. And
yet, these are the easier ways to parent (at least in the short
term), and so they are commonly implemented. But these methods are
only effective in the short term, and cause exactly the opposite of
the desired effect, in the long term. Then people wonder why so many
adults are in therapy; why people have violent and antisocial
behaviors; why people hurt, and why they hurt each other.
And this is the model we are
trying to implement with adults? Because it works so well with the
children, right?
No. The easy thing is rarely
the right thing, and gun control is no exception. In this matter we
seem to be a nation of cowards – we need to man up and do it right.
And the place to start is by helping people raise this generation of
children to be mentally healthy. This happens in homes, yes, but it
should be happening in schools, too. We need to provide resources for
people who are at their wits' end raising children alone, or while
struggling with their own issues. We would need to study “the
system” extensively in order to develop such a plan, but I feel
confident that it could be done – if we are willing to try. If we
are brave enough to give the new system some time to work. If we are
willing to take some control of, and some responsibility for, our own
protection and defense.
I am, but I can't do it
alone. If the majority of Americans would rather be safe than free,
at some point our children, or their children, won't be either one.
