Gun Control

I was recently on a political debate show. The topic was changed at the last minute to ‘Gun Control’. Now I’ll start by saying I’m not the best candidate for a good defense of Gun Control. I own no guns. I’ve not fired a gun since I was married over 7 years ago. I’m not in the NRA, nor do I spend countless hours delving into the innuendos of gun control laws. But alas the discussion continued.


Having been expecting to discuss a different topic I had to shift gears. At one point the moderator asked a question, that quite frankly I didn’t have a good answer for. The questions roughly equates to this: If the purpose of gun ownership as defined by our Founding Fathers is to be able to defend against ourselves against any invader including tyrannical gov’t, bringing that line of thinking forward, in today’s world of nuclear weapons, where do you draw the line? At what point is it fair to say, he shouldn’t own THAT?

Having spent some time since the debate thinking about it, I have a few more thoughts on the topic, though I wouldn’t say a clear answer yet.

If we ever reach the point where our gov’t is threatening its own citizens with nuclear destruction, we have much bigger problems than who owns what weapons.

That being said, I feel we should be able to equip ourselves with the ability to defend ourselves with extreme prejudice. Certainly we all hope we never have to actually defend ourselves with a gun ever, but we should be allowed to arm ourselves to the teeth if we so choose in preparation for a “S!@# Hits the Fan” (SHTF) scenario. Whether it’s the starving looter (pick any riot in the last century) or the gov’t (er go WACO Texas / Ruby Ridge), or simply a robber breaking into your home, you should be able to defend yourself be any and all means necessary to survive with weapons adequate to the task.

We live in a world with little protection. It’s a far cry from the days when cities had moats and walls and forts and garrisons: When ordinary citizens formed militias to defend themselves when needed. I think it a great mistake to dismiss the notion of local militias. An unarmed America is a vulnerable America.

Weapon ownership is not inherently dangerous. There are millions of American’s who own weapons and rarely do you hear of anyone getting hurt. I believe it safe to say the great majority of weapons owners have never injured another human being with them (unless deliberately, such as in time of war). In fact when you do hear of someone being shot it is usually at the hands of a criminal or a Police Officer. The criminal most likely did not obtain said weapon legally, and the cop hopefully is only shooting in self-defense (as we all have the right to do).

Of course there is the notion of “I was cleaning my gun and it just went off”. It is a physical impossibility to discharge a gun you are cleaning. To clean a gun you must disassemble the weapon. At which point it is just a funny looking blunt object. If you “accidently” shoot someone (please note the sarcasm) you have either deliberately fired your weapon, or you have violated the first and most sacred rule of gun ownership, “Treat ALL WEAPONS AS IF THEY ARE LOADED”, followed closely by “NEVER POINT A WEAPON AT SOMETHING OR SOMEONE YOU DON’T INTEND TO SHOOT”. And of course both of these are followed by, “DO NOT place your finger over the trigger until you are ready to pull it”.

I guess my answer is this: I should be able to arm myself with whatever weapons I’m inclined to purchase. And in self-defense I should be able to discharge said weapons at those who threaten my life or the lives of my family. And since our gov’t other gov’ts of the world see fit to build massive OFFENSIVE WEAPONS, we may all need some pretty hefty arsenals.

As for nuclear weapons, the sad truth is the only winner of a war that uses nuclear weapons are those that don’t play. Lord willing we will never see a nuclear war. If we do, I’m not sure I’d want to see the world that remained. It is a weapon that not only kills immediately, but continues to kill for years to come.