If gun ownership is important to you, the thing I would like you to know about this “bleeding heart liberal” is that my feelings about guns are not driven by me being hell bent on taking away your rights, leaving you helpless against all evil. It actually comes from a genuine concern and love for everyone in our community.
If you really, really want a gun, you should get one; this is, after all, a free country. Who knows, you may be the person who does step in and save the day sometime. Just please, please be aware that there could be some pretty big trade-offs for this added sense of “safety.”
It could be that your 3-year-old or his friend finds the loaded gun (ready for self-defense) that you promised yourself you would never leave out. It could be that your depressed teen gets dumped by his girlfriend, and for a while life doesn’t seem worth living, and that gun he knows that you have starts looking appealing. It could be that you are indeed in an active-shooter situation, but because your adrenaline is racing and you haven’t gone through the motions again and again in training every year like police officers do, you accidentally shoot someone innocent.
You might save the day. But the chances are much greater that something could go tragically wrong. Please be aware. And if you are buying a gun only because everyone else is and you are really, really afraid, think about the decision really hard. Fear is powerful. It makes some of the best of us do things we later regret.
Despite all of the good reasons to feel terrorized these days, I would like to choose love and trust over fear. If I get taken out because I don’t have a semi-automatic weapon to defend myself, then I guess that’s how my story will end, but I will have gone out with courage and love and not in fear.
Debra Moses
Durango
