I
have a lot of friends on both side of the gun debate. I am an educated woman,
well employed, no tattoos, married, Libertarian, commute to our nations
Capital, shop at Garnet Hill or Neiman Marcus or Nordstrom, am well traveled,
practice yoga and I own a firearm. For decades I never imagined I would buy a
gun. While I’ve always believed the 2nd Amendment affords citizens
the right to own a gun for personal use – not as part of a militia, I did not
see the need to own a gun myself. And, I had a bit of trepidation being around
guns because I’d never learned how to handle a firearm.
I had
a fear of guns until I learned to shoot one. We live in the country. There is abundant harmless wildlife that
transverses our property such as possums, wild turkeys, raccoons, deer,
chipmunks, squirrels and an abundance of cats. But we’ve also seen bear and
coyote. And there was a quadruple murder down the road a few years ago.
At
my husband’s insistence I bought a firearm for protection. Okay, it was a
wedding anniversary gift. But I discovered that I absolutely LOVE target
shooting – particularly at zombie targets.
We joined a gun club with several shooting ranges. I’ve learned I have a
good eye, a steady grip, and a propensity to hit my target dead center.
Most
gun owners like me are ordinary responsible citizens who want to protect
themselves and also enjoy the sport of shooting. Frankly, it is fun. And I do not want my rights trampled upon
because of a few bad apples. If somebody wants to commit an atrocity he or she
will find a way. Guns just seem to be an easy target (pun intended).
I
have no problem with background checks. But background checks won’t stop
criminals from getting guns anymore than it will stop criminals or terrorists
from hi-jacking airplanes, making bombs with fertilizer or strapping C4 onto
their bodies.
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