Guns
For the most part my life tends to run on the same cogs. Go to work, come home, do housework, play with my dogs, socialize. Every once in a while there is something that happens out of the ordinary. But usually it some crisis – like losing my billfold with way too much money in it, or a car accident. But this week, I was faced with a dilemma of not knowing the right thing to do.
Recently I wrote about violence against women – rape – so most of you are aware of my concern about this issue. Tuesday, my neighbor called me asking if she could borrow my gun because an acquaintance of hers told her ” I will have you”. Her husband travels with his job, and she is a stay-at-home mom. The man had just left her premise after a surprise visit. She was petrified but bluffed her way through the conversation and he left. She called the sheriff and then while waiting for him to come she called me and made her request.
I do have unloaded guns in the house. They were my dad’s. I have never used them and really don’t have a desire to learn how. I just haven’t gotten around to selling them. I think there are way too many guns in the U.S. I am not truly informed on the subject of gun control but if I had to vote today for more or less control then it would be for more, mainly because of accidents mentioned here.
So her question left me very conflicted. Of course I want to do everything possible to help someone protect herself. There is no question about that. But putting a gun in her hands – a gun that could be taken away by an attacker and used against her? Plus she has a young child less than three years old in the home. And is it against the law to loan a gun?
The first questions out of my mouth was, “Do you think you could actually use it – pull the trigger and shoot someone, and have you used a gun before?” She said yes to both questions.
Lucky for me she didn’t push for an answer right then. She said she was going to ask the sheriff for his advice.
I also cornered him after he left her home. He was very nonchalant about the whole business and stated yes, it was fine for her to borrow my weapon but he told her she would be better off getting her own gun. When I stated something about not really knowing how to use a gun, he informed me I should learn.
I do have a co-worker who carries a concealed weapon with a permit but I never felt the need to carry one.
So for the questions: Do you have guns in your house? Do you know how to use them? Could you shoot someone?
If you don’t have guns, have you ever thought of buying one? Do you have friends that carry concealed guns?
– Leigh AAR[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
Owning a gun without a special permission is illegal in my country, and I think it should be like that everywhere. No one should have something that allows you to kill someone on sight. I know the need to defend oneself is very understandable, but there are too many mistakes/accidents/abuses. So, your neighbour should totally buy a pepper spray, and defend herself without killing anyone.
My sentiments exactly.
There’s a kind of pepper spray they sell if you’re going hiking in Alaska and might encounter bears. It’s a great self-defense tool. We’ve had that in our house for years.
My husbands family are all country people, as well as military people and they are very good with guns. I am a city girl who knows nothing about them. We don’t keep them in the house. I don’t feel comfortable with them.
I have never thought of buying one and I seriously doubt I could shoot anyone unless I was protecting my children.
I’ve always felt mace is the way to go. It incapacitates without killing. That way, if you’ve made a mistake about the persons intentions, there is harm but no permanent damage done.
I will try very hard to be open minded here.
I am adamantly opposed to the personal owning of handguns. In general, having a gun in the home significantly rises the risk of firearm homicide and firearm suicide in the home. Furthermore, for years my husband fixed almost all the facial fractures at a major trauma hospital. Many many of them were gunshot wounds to the face–he’s a great plastic surgeon, but many of his patients–cops, kids who’d tried to kill themselves and missed, battered wives, criminals involved in the drug trade–never got back anything close to the faces, and, in many cases, mental abilities they had before.
That said, if you are going to have handguns in the house–and I am friends with many who do–you must go through training on how to use and care for a gun. A gun in the hands of an untrained user is an even deadlier thing. If you give your neighbor that gun, it’s so much more likely that, if this cretin comes over, he’ll use it on her. I think that’s a lot more responsibility than, were I you, would want.
One of my very best friends was raped when we were 24. She kept a gun in her house for years–at one point we were housemates and I lived in a house with a gun. She knew how to use it, care for, and store it. It didn’t freak me out. She offered to take me to the shooting range so I could learn to use it, but I declined. After about ten years, she got rid of the gun. She felt it made her less safe in reality.
My son, though, dated a girl whose dad had 500 guns–ex Army–and when my son visited him, they’d all go to the shooting range. I think that’s a good thing, actually. I think my complete lack of understanding about guns makes me less safe. I don’t ever want to own one or have one in my house, but I think I’d like to learn about them. My husband and I have talked about going with gun owning friends of ours and teaching me how to shoot and get familiar with guns. I’m thinking about it.