A conversation the hub and I have every once in a blue moon is about whether or not to have a gun in our home. Although I'm not quite sure it actually is a conversation....usually it's more me finding him in the gun section in the store and then ranting and raving about how I don't really want a gun in our house once we're out of earshot of the general public.....However, I do try to be reasonable and listen to compromise and I'm just not sure how to feel about this topic.
I grew up in a household that was primarily opposed to guns. My mom's father was a hunter and had shotguns etc, but we never had a gun in our house growing up and my very quiet father will not hesitate to tell you that he wishes all weapons could be removed from the world. Coming from a rural community, I'm used to my friends having guns to hunt and on a few occasions have fired weapons out in the woods on shooting outings. However, I also feel that handguns, while useful in occupations such as law enforcement etc, tend to be more of a problem in our society than anything. I'm definitely in favor of gun regulations and (I'm just waiting for the barrage of comments from random searchers/strangers about this....) I'm not a huge proponent of gun ownership truly being a human right/necessity.
In my health education, I saw way too many pictures and read way too many studies about kids blowing each other away with handguns in homes. Nothing shocks your senses like seeing a 10 year old brain oozing out of their skull via forensic photos....and that primarily has always been my argument for having a lock box/safe in the home for guns. And my husband's argument of why safety instruction is necessary for kids if you are going to have weapons in your home. Although....since some of those kids and guns incidents are due to guns acquired on the street that doesn't necessarily solve the bigger picture.....but that's another discussion...
Now I totally understand the argument that if you needed a gun for protection in your home (not likely but feasible....) it isn't going to do you much good to have it hidden somewhere in a lock box in the garage, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to sleep having an unlocked handgun in my bedroom. My plan for a break-in includes jumping out the window and running, even if my husband is home to "protect" me. Ironically this has come up in conversation quite a bit lately.....I live on a military installation where most soldiers have to be qualified on weapons, there have been several reported break-ins/random security issues across the installation and local community in the last months, and most the wives I know around here actually want/have a hand gun in their home/bedroom for when their husbands are gone.
Before the hub and I got married we had the gun conversation, and I was pretty sure the agreement was that shotguns/rifles for hunting were okay, lock boxes were a must, and any kids we might have would have lots of gun safety instruction/introduction/comfort to decrease the likelihood of misfires/accidents/etc. The other gun rule is supposed to be that any potential kids wouldn't be allowed to play with fake guns or point imaginary weapons at people and play shoot them. However, it appears maybe these weren't the initial compromises. ;) And now I'm trying to sort out whether or not my uncomfortableness with handguns is unreasonable or rather if its extremely intelligent. Regardless, I really don't want any type of gun in our house for several years to come still, especially since those things aren't cheap! But I guess I'm also wondering if the hub had to have a gun for future employment purposes if my feelings toward guns would change.....hmmm food for thought.
Thoughts? Primarily I'm interested in what regular readers might have to thoughtfully say, not necessarily those who want to rant against any small percentage of what I've written. ;)
7 comments:
oh my....I could write a book here. The feelings in our house are almost identical to your house. Reguardless of what you finally decide, IF you do have guns in your home....please keep them under lock, even if it is just a trigger lock on it, in the bedroom. Even with proper training and education children and unlocked guns in the same place is not a good combo. In anger or when dealing with depression the unthinkable can and does happen. ---Shannon
Well, if it were up to me I'd ban handgun ownership completely. I can see people wanting guns for hunting, and even though I'm about the biggest animal lover on the planet, I don't really have a problem with that. But I see no reason that we should allow people to own devices, the sole purpose of which is to kill other people.
To me it just makes no sense. We prohibit people from owning/using all sorts of things because they're considered dangerous: drugs, dynamite, certain chemicals etc. And we require you to take a test to prove that you can safely operate a vehicle before you're allowed to drive one. But a handgun... a device designed specifically to kill other people, we don't have a problem with allowing people to own those as long as they're not a felon! On what planet does this make sense?
I've read numerous studies which show that you're much more likely to be hurt or killed if you have a gun than if you don't. Here's just one that I found by Googling it: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17922-carrying-a-gun-increases-risk-of-getting-shot-and-killed.html. I know that people think a gun makes them safer, but the facts just don't show that to be true.
To me, it's sort of like people who claim that you're safer without a seat belt than with one, just because now and then somebody is saved by being thrown from an accident, even though you're about a zillion times more likely to die that way than to be saved. Ha! Speaking of seat belts, there's another example... it's against the law to ride without a seat belt, but not to own a gun. It's just total lunacy in my opinion.
I was once staying with a friend who kept a loaded gun under the bed. Sometime in the middle of the night she became convinced that she heard something in the basement. She grabbed the gun and then wanted me to go down the stairs ahead of her! I was like "Are you crazy? So I can get hit in the back when you freak out and accidentally pull the trigger? NO way!" There was, of course, no intruder, and that was the last time I ever stayed at her house because I was literally afraid that I'd get up to pee in the middle of the night and get accidentally shot!
Hmmm... apparently I have strong views on this subject, as my comment just got rejected for being too large. Here's the abbreviated version:
I would say NO WAY to a gun in the house. I've read numerous studies that show you're actually much LESS safe with a gun than without one. Here's just one: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17922-carrying-a-gun-increases-risk-of-getting-shot-and-killed.html
The thing is, we ban all sorts of things because they're "dangerous" (drugs, dynamite, chemicals etc) and require you to take a safety test before you can drive a car, and then you have to wear a seat belt in the car. But because we persist in our fallacious, emotionally based idea that hand guns somehow make us safe, we allow just about anybody to own a device, the sole purpose of which is to kill people. On what planet does this make sense?
OK... and here's part 2. I once was staying with a friend who (unbeknown to me) kept a loaded gun under her bed. In the middle of the night she became convinced that there was an intruder in the basement.
She tried to get me to go down the stairs ahead of her while she was behind me with the loaded gun! I was like "Are you crazy?!? So I can get shot in the back when you freak out and accidentally pull the trigger?!?"
Suffice it to say there was no intruder, and I NEVER stayed at her house again! I was afraid I'd get up to pee in the middle of the night and get shot!
It's just not safe.
Although my ancestors used guns for putting food on the table, there were no guns in my parents house. A pound of ground beef was then available at the grocery store. It wasn't anything I ever had to think about.
While raising our children in northern New England we were surrounded with a new dilemma, almost everyone owned firearms and hunting was a "sport" for many folks. The ones we knew did not need to hunt to survive. (The cost of the rifle, ammo, and various licenses can outweigh the benefits of the meat in the freezer. Especially if the hunt isn't fruitful!)
In short, I understand those who want to hunt for food. And those who feel they need to protect themselves, since keeping guns out of the wrong hands is tougher than we had imagined. But accidents happen. And there's no way to un-do one.
As long as you both want what is best, and safest, I think you'll come to a good place on this decision. Best wishes!
We sleep with a loaded handgun in one of our nightstands. Both of us are good shots ;) I personally like having a handgun in the house for protection and I enjoy shooting (at targets) for sport. I am in the process of looking for a locking case that can go in/on the nightstand since we are (hopefully) about to be (kind of) parents. We also plan to buy more guns (P is a gun and knife enthusiast) and will have a large standing, locking case for those.
We plan to teach our children gun safety at very early ages and I know that P wants to teach them how to shoot.
I personally see nothing wrong with having a gun for protection and I admit that when P is gone, I feel safer knowing that if I needed it, the gun is there and I know how to use it.
I am diametrically opposed to hand gun ownership because of all the studies linking them to increased crime, the fact you are more likely to be a victim of a shooting if you own one etc. I "get" that people feel safer with them, for for me I don't want to give into the ills of society, I want to stand for something, peace, mercy, kindness, love which I don't see guns as an example of. But I do understand that people feel safer although the stats say otherwise.
Speaking of guns, I do also find it very interesting that in the US many Christians are involved in the pro-gun lobby whereas in all other countries it is Christians pushing the anti-gun agenda. One of the cultural & religious observations rambling around in my head!
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