Carl Hitchens - tracking the self …
Carl Hitchens - tracking the self …
2013
To Dare to Carry
I don't necessarily believe all of the statistics bandied around about gun-related crime during the ten year period of the expired Assault Weapons Ban (1994–2004). Besides, statistics can be deceptive when narrowly stated. Let's say twenty gun-related crimes occur one month and twenty-five another. If reported in such a raw statistical fashion, what do we know? (The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was ONE crime, but twenty-six people [mostly children] were gunned down.
“How much government do we want in our lives is the on-going debate in a democracy, but we all must give up something. It's a quality of life issue, not just an ownership issue.”
This is similar to drivers licensing, where states' law enforcement share information across the country. We don't live in the Nineteenth Century or earlier. If we want responsive government, we must fulfill our social contract to one another and be both responsible and responsive to society's needs. "People" is a plural term. Government of the people, by the people, and for the people requires balancing my needs with the needs of the whole. How much government do we want in our lives is the on-going debate in a democracy, but we all must give up something. It's a quality of life issue, not just an ownership issue.
In considering whether to carry or not, let's get down to the practical. If you’re wanting to carry to feel tough, feel adequate, not be a push over, to revenge a life of quiet desperation, you’ve got your priorities wrong for carrying. Don’t invest in that holster, those mags, that laser sight. You’re a risk to yourself and others.
In truth, carrying for that one situation when it is needed (provided, of course, you're able to react with conditioned, correct judgment) is a real pain in the ass. Take it from one who knows.
Most situations that people will be confronted with outside the home involve crowds, where-in, even if able to determine the shooter(s), firing you're weapon would often be too much of a risk to bystanders. As a film on test subjects reacting to a realistically created shooter attack suggests, basic target qualification, unsupported by real-combat situational training, encourages one to react standing erect. If you survive your first firefight in war, you get it from there on that the drill is: get down, get cover, return fire. Crowd situations grossly limit the opportunity to risk returning fire, so you're left primarily with getting to cover and to a vantage point to determine the situation unfolding. You can't shoot what you can't see or risk innocent life over.
In addition, the responsibility for carrying is daunting for the average person. You must practice gun safety at all times. It must be a conditioned response that you can do sleep-walking. You must... must always assume the weapon is loaded, even if you have placed it in a gun safe or car lock box yourself. One assumption, unverified, can cost a life—yours or someone else's. You must vigilantly stay in touch with your instincts and emotions to ride herd over aggressive impulses or ego-based responses to situations and people. And—this is important—once you chose to engage a situation with your weapon, you are accountable to the law for your actions. If you don’t want to take all this on, don’t carry.
Gun Law and Order 4
2/2/13
The nuancing between "keeping" the peace and "making" the peace"—the gun debate.
This is a series of separate blog posts that I have done regarding the Second Amendment and gun rights … a kind of point of view montage, if you will.
There are multiple aspects of the “right to bear arms” from self-defense to freedom from tyranny, which pushes people’s buttons. And because it is a hot button issue, people have a tendency to lock onto one “feeling point,” and shut off from other opinions or facets of this issue.