A tragedy took place today in Connecticut, and already my Facebook page is full of calls for more gun regulations. The news will undoubtedly be full of articles and op eds by the end of the day, debating the subject in detail.
When I was seven and my little brother was five our dad took us out to the shooting range. He taught us gun safety and how to shoot straight. Then he braced us as we each took a turn firing his police handgun. There was no way for him as a police officer to not have a gun in our home. He taught us not only how to use one, but why not too. The power that slammed me back into his chest as I fired his gun kept me from even touching his locked gun box. It's still a vivid memory.
It's a pity that gun safety and respect is not a politically correct thing to teach your kids anymore. In me it shattered the fear factor that immobilizes most people in an emergency. Mine was the clear head that called 911 when shooting started in my neighborhood. None of the weapons involved were obtained legally by the way and the way the shooter ran across the street firing his weapon showed no one had ever taught him gun safety either. In my opinion, education is always a superior solution to regulation.
For personal safety I keep pepper spray around (I acquired it for bears when we lived in Alaska). In addition, we keep a couple of firearms locked away as a deterrent against a totalitarian government. Something I believe every law abiding citizen should do. Switzerland remained neutral during WW2 by requiring every citizen to bear arms. I don't think I'll ever have to use them. I'm not a conspiracy theorist. But that's why our founding fathers insured we have the right, and if we don't exercise it we take a serious risk.
More relevant to this tragic situation is the reality that psychos bent on destruction will find ways to achieve it, with or without guns. This is a human tragedy, which could only have had a human solution. Someone to see the distress of a lost screwed up person and care enough to intervene before he acted out in such a horrific way. We sideline the assholes in our society. No one has time to love them and figure out what's making them so screwed up.
Someone will argue that better funding of our state mental health facilities could result in reduced costs in state detention facilities. Maybe. But there will always be those who slip through the cracks because no one noticed they had a problem. We were all too busy.
I see other posts on Facebook that drive me crazy all the time. They masquerade as inspirational quotes about eliminating people from our lives who bring drama. Making it seem noble to look out for our own best interests at the expense of relationships where others depend on us. In the wake of this tragedy, yes, we should hug our children close and treasure them. But maybe we should also take a moment to reach out to someone who drives us crazy. Especially within our own families. Maybe we should take a moment show them some love, to listen to what's going on in their heads. To be a human connection for someone at risk of losing their humanity.
I'm not saying we have to let our lives be overrun by crazy people. But knowing our own boundaries and capability to act responsibly, reach out and love somebody who doesn't add anything to your life. Do it because someone you want to connect with, someone whose friendship has meant a lot to you, had nothing to gain from reaching out to you. Do it because you may be the one to prevent the next horrific tragedy from ever occurring. You'll never know. We only hear about the ones who slip through the cracks.
*** This post was featured in the Redwood Mpire Mensa Bulletin, June 2013 edition.
When I was seven and my little brother was five our dad took us out to the shooting range. He taught us gun safety and how to shoot straight. Then he braced us as we each took a turn firing his police handgun. There was no way for him as a police officer to not have a gun in our home. He taught us not only how to use one, but why not too. The power that slammed me back into his chest as I fired his gun kept me from even touching his locked gun box. It's still a vivid memory.
It's a pity that gun safety and respect is not a politically correct thing to teach your kids anymore. In me it shattered the fear factor that immobilizes most people in an emergency. Mine was the clear head that called 911 when shooting started in my neighborhood. None of the weapons involved were obtained legally by the way and the way the shooter ran across the street firing his weapon showed no one had ever taught him gun safety either. In my opinion, education is always a superior solution to regulation.
For personal safety I keep pepper spray around (I acquired it for bears when we lived in Alaska). In addition, we keep a couple of firearms locked away as a deterrent against a totalitarian government. Something I believe every law abiding citizen should do. Switzerland remained neutral during WW2 by requiring every citizen to bear arms. I don't think I'll ever have to use them. I'm not a conspiracy theorist. But that's why our founding fathers insured we have the right, and if we don't exercise it we take a serious risk.
More relevant to this tragic situation is the reality that psychos bent on destruction will find ways to achieve it, with or without guns. This is a human tragedy, which could only have had a human solution. Someone to see the distress of a lost screwed up person and care enough to intervene before he acted out in such a horrific way. We sideline the assholes in our society. No one has time to love them and figure out what's making them so screwed up.
Someone will argue that better funding of our state mental health facilities could result in reduced costs in state detention facilities. Maybe. But there will always be those who slip through the cracks because no one noticed they had a problem. We were all too busy.
I see other posts on Facebook that drive me crazy all the time. They masquerade as inspirational quotes about eliminating people from our lives who bring drama. Making it seem noble to look out for our own best interests at the expense of relationships where others depend on us. In the wake of this tragedy, yes, we should hug our children close and treasure them. But maybe we should also take a moment to reach out to someone who drives us crazy. Especially within our own families. Maybe we should take a moment show them some love, to listen to what's going on in their heads. To be a human connection for someone at risk of losing their humanity.
I'm not saying we have to let our lives be overrun by crazy people. But knowing our own boundaries and capability to act responsibly, reach out and love somebody who doesn't add anything to your life. Do it because someone you want to connect with, someone whose friendship has meant a lot to you, had nothing to gain from reaching out to you. Do it because you may be the one to prevent the next horrific tragedy from ever occurring. You'll never know. We only hear about the ones who slip through the cracks.
*** This post was featured in the Redwood Mpire Mensa Bulletin, June 2013 edition.
Thank you for your opinion and for expressing it so well. I appreciate the right choose to have firearms or not.
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