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I am watching the public debate regarding gun rights closely. My family
owns guns for hunting and basic protection. That being said, I am not
certain Americans who appreciate the second amendment have taken a
moment to view this matter through the lens of a mom with young
children. I have lost my ability to support the belief that all weapons
should be legal for all Americans to own. Here’s why:
A few years ago, moments after putting my then 5 and 3 year old children to bed, my house began shaking to the deafening, throbbing pulse of what I soon discovered was an automatic rifle riddling my neighborhood and the one local sheriff's deputy in our isolated small town with bullets. It was dark and cold. We had no idea what was happening. I grabbed my children out of bed (one had a fever) and tried to find a room that was not easily penetrable with bullets: at that time not knowing where the gunfire was coming from. My husband told me to take the children to the basement storage room and lock all doors behind me. It was 40 degrees in that room and very hard to keep a sick toddler warm. I bundled my children in sleeping bags and had them sit in folding camping chairs for much of the night. My husband watched in the 2nd story window, trying to figure out what was going on. During this time, we later learned the sheriff's deputy had been shot and lay fighting for his life in the street one house away from our home. Reinforcement law officers eventually showed up, got the fallen deputy on a flight to a medical center and got word out that our town was locked down as the shooter (our neighbor) was hiding somewhere in town. A swat team searched all homes that appeared uninhabited in an effort to find the gunman. Our neighborhood was both eerily quiet as the snow fell that weekend and incredibly busy with law enforcement officials and eventually media. My neighbor (the gunman) gave himself up on day 3 of this horrible incident citing heart irregularities.
The small town I speak of has a culture of hunters and believes (more than most) that all citizens have the right to bear arms; any arms. The local shooting range is used often and most local children learn from an early age how to use guns responsibly. My husband is beginning to teach our growing son basic hunting skills and rifle safety measures. Our guns are always locked up. I say this to make it clear that I am in NO way against a citizen's right to bear arms. There are many citizens (including trusted neighbors and my husband) who I have every confidence will always use quality judgement when utilizing their 2nd amendment rights. But, short of our friends in law enforcement and the military, I know of no reasonable citizens who see a need to keep an automatic firearm. My old neighbor who jumped on his roof and shot up our neighborhood, scaring the crap out of this mom with a sick kid, because the shooter's wife had supposedly just told him she wanted a divorce and requested law enforcement backup when he became belligerent; did NOT need an automated weapon and multiple high capacity ammunition clips.
The NRA's black and white answer to the congressional conversation being had at present strikes me as covering for people like my neighbor who are capable of terrible things. Part of my fear here is the suspicion that so many of my own neighbors in that town seemed to dislike the US government and specifically President Obama and his administration; I worried that some people were simply interested in their gun rights so that they could fight a 'government' they did not vote for. If true, that philosophy leads to a weakened government and, I fear, a general tendency towards anarchy. It jeopardizes not only the federal government's ability to maintain a strong, law-abiding citizenry, but also reduces even the local sheriff's ability to do his job and here's why: not all citizens are able to understand that law enforcement at all levels is a means of maintaining a safe and stable society. Said citizens simply feel picked on by law enforcement when challenged and believe it their right to 'prepare' to fight back. Who will they choose to fight against? And in that individual's mind, at that moment, will it matter who he is fighting?
In the 2011 political climate, I got a sense that there was a group within the county that felt it patriotic to defend themselves against anything at all to do with 'big government'. While I knew many citizens in my town who understood that their desire for a smaller government was simply a political conversation that was useful at all levels of society in an effort to shape our future; I also sensed that some citizens felt that they would need to fight their own government to overcome the political trend towards 'big government': they saw this conversation as a true threat to their family’s security, rather than a conversation to participate in what may lead to a better method of governance. Some of these individuals were well armed and often openly admitted that they were not accountable to federal, state or even (in many cases) county laws. Though many of them generally believed that their local sheriff had their best interest in mind, I became frightened to learn that even our local sheriff's deputy was gunned down when trying to resolve a domestic dispute: suggesting that some of these individuals no longer felt that even the sheriff was a trustworthy public servant.
Yes, this was one man: supposedly an isolated incident. Or was it? Of late, I am not so sure it was isolated: Newtown, Connecticut, Clackamas Town Center in Oregon, Aurora, Colorado (where a dear friend lives), Virginia Tech…. just to name a few.
I am not convinced that the NRA is aware of the anarchist philosophy that their staunchness in gun advocacy seems to this mom to be supporting. I, more than most, understand what a country in anarchy looks like. I was in Peace Corps, Zimbabwe in 1999 and 2000 when white farmers were being driven from their land (some violently), Zimbabwean nationals were being tortured for having divergent political views, the Zim Dollar literally collapsed and the AIDS epidemic/ healthcare crisis impacted every aspect of Zimbabwean society. Though I recognize that it is irresponsible of me to assimilate the United States of America with Zimbabwe, Africa (I know full well that we are exceptionally different on every level), I point this experience out to emphasize where my fear of extremism comes from.
I am a mom of young children and though I am not sure legislation is the exact answer to the prevalence of guns violating our schools and terrorizing our traditionally safe streets, I AM sure we have a problem that needs a wise, collective group of Americans to swallow some tough pills and deal with. I see NO need for automated weaponry in general public hands. If the NRA and Republican Party can help me understand that my children are in fact safer because some of my neighbors have automated weapons, then please help me see that perspective, but unlike many NRA members I do not fear my government. I know from experience what a government to fear actually looks, sounds and feels like and the USA is not it.
What I fear the most is those individuals with guns who stray from the solidarity of the American people and the safe society we have worked hard to create- through conversation and compromise. I fear fear itself. A people self-arming against non-existent or overplayed fears is the essence of fear overcoming the balance and foundation of its own people.
Do what you can by supporting enforcement of all the laws and regulations we already have and, If legislation is the only answer to this riddle, then I am in favor of increasing regulations on guns including banning automatic weapons and high capacity ammo clips.
A few years ago, moments after putting my then 5 and 3 year old children to bed, my house began shaking to the deafening, throbbing pulse of what I soon discovered was an automatic rifle riddling my neighborhood and the one local sheriff's deputy in our isolated small town with bullets. It was dark and cold. We had no idea what was happening. I grabbed my children out of bed (one had a fever) and tried to find a room that was not easily penetrable with bullets: at that time not knowing where the gunfire was coming from. My husband told me to take the children to the basement storage room and lock all doors behind me. It was 40 degrees in that room and very hard to keep a sick toddler warm. I bundled my children in sleeping bags and had them sit in folding camping chairs for much of the night. My husband watched in the 2nd story window, trying to figure out what was going on. During this time, we later learned the sheriff's deputy had been shot and lay fighting for his life in the street one house away from our home. Reinforcement law officers eventually showed up, got the fallen deputy on a flight to a medical center and got word out that our town was locked down as the shooter (our neighbor) was hiding somewhere in town. A swat team searched all homes that appeared uninhabited in an effort to find the gunman. Our neighborhood was both eerily quiet as the snow fell that weekend and incredibly busy with law enforcement officials and eventually media. My neighbor (the gunman) gave himself up on day 3 of this horrible incident citing heart irregularities.
The small town I speak of has a culture of hunters and believes (more than most) that all citizens have the right to bear arms; any arms. The local shooting range is used often and most local children learn from an early age how to use guns responsibly. My husband is beginning to teach our growing son basic hunting skills and rifle safety measures. Our guns are always locked up. I say this to make it clear that I am in NO way against a citizen's right to bear arms. There are many citizens (including trusted neighbors and my husband) who I have every confidence will always use quality judgement when utilizing their 2nd amendment rights. But, short of our friends in law enforcement and the military, I know of no reasonable citizens who see a need to keep an automatic firearm. My old neighbor who jumped on his roof and shot up our neighborhood, scaring the crap out of this mom with a sick kid, because the shooter's wife had supposedly just told him she wanted a divorce and requested law enforcement backup when he became belligerent; did NOT need an automated weapon and multiple high capacity ammunition clips.
The NRA's black and white answer to the congressional conversation being had at present strikes me as covering for people like my neighbor who are capable of terrible things. Part of my fear here is the suspicion that so many of my own neighbors in that town seemed to dislike the US government and specifically President Obama and his administration; I worried that some people were simply interested in their gun rights so that they could fight a 'government' they did not vote for. If true, that philosophy leads to a weakened government and, I fear, a general tendency towards anarchy. It jeopardizes not only the federal government's ability to maintain a strong, law-abiding citizenry, but also reduces even the local sheriff's ability to do his job and here's why: not all citizens are able to understand that law enforcement at all levels is a means of maintaining a safe and stable society. Said citizens simply feel picked on by law enforcement when challenged and believe it their right to 'prepare' to fight back. Who will they choose to fight against? And in that individual's mind, at that moment, will it matter who he is fighting?
In the 2011 political climate, I got a sense that there was a group within the county that felt it patriotic to defend themselves against anything at all to do with 'big government'. While I knew many citizens in my town who understood that their desire for a smaller government was simply a political conversation that was useful at all levels of society in an effort to shape our future; I also sensed that some citizens felt that they would need to fight their own government to overcome the political trend towards 'big government': they saw this conversation as a true threat to their family’s security, rather than a conversation to participate in what may lead to a better method of governance. Some of these individuals were well armed and often openly admitted that they were not accountable to federal, state or even (in many cases) county laws. Though many of them generally believed that their local sheriff had their best interest in mind, I became frightened to learn that even our local sheriff's deputy was gunned down when trying to resolve a domestic dispute: suggesting that some of these individuals no longer felt that even the sheriff was a trustworthy public servant.
Yes, this was one man: supposedly an isolated incident. Or was it? Of late, I am not so sure it was isolated: Newtown, Connecticut, Clackamas Town Center in Oregon, Aurora, Colorado (where a dear friend lives), Virginia Tech…. just to name a few.
I am not convinced that the NRA is aware of the anarchist philosophy that their staunchness in gun advocacy seems to this mom to be supporting. I, more than most, understand what a country in anarchy looks like. I was in Peace Corps, Zimbabwe in 1999 and 2000 when white farmers were being driven from their land (some violently), Zimbabwean nationals were being tortured for having divergent political views, the Zim Dollar literally collapsed and the AIDS epidemic/ healthcare crisis impacted every aspect of Zimbabwean society. Though I recognize that it is irresponsible of me to assimilate the United States of America with Zimbabwe, Africa (I know full well that we are exceptionally different on every level), I point this experience out to emphasize where my fear of extremism comes from.
I am a mom of young children and though I am not sure legislation is the exact answer to the prevalence of guns violating our schools and terrorizing our traditionally safe streets, I AM sure we have a problem that needs a wise, collective group of Americans to swallow some tough pills and deal with. I see NO need for automated weaponry in general public hands. If the NRA and Republican Party can help me understand that my children are in fact safer because some of my neighbors have automated weapons, then please help me see that perspective, but unlike many NRA members I do not fear my government. I know from experience what a government to fear actually looks, sounds and feels like and the USA is not it.
What I fear the most is those individuals with guns who stray from the solidarity of the American people and the safe society we have worked hard to create- through conversation and compromise. I fear fear itself. A people self-arming against non-existent or overplayed fears is the essence of fear overcoming the balance and foundation of its own people.
Do what you can by supporting enforcement of all the laws and regulations we already have and, If legislation is the only answer to this riddle, then I am in favor of increasing regulations on guns including banning automatic weapons and high capacity ammo clips.
Thank You Tricia. I agree.
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