Because you can't talk guns without talking politics (apparently) and family background, I'm just going to put my cards on the table and tell you that I'm a liberal republican swing voter. Ready to have your mind blown? I voted for both Bush and Obama. On purpose. I grew up in a conservative republican family, my dad had a large gun collection, and it was never a problem. So I don't have anything against guns, but I did not think I'd ever want to own a bunch of them or anything.
But this weekend I bought a gun. And I got another one as a present from a friend that same day. I thought it would be a good idea to talk about it, especially since I know that some of you disagree with this decision.
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| Annie Oakley is the revolver on top and Lil' Shortcut is the semi-automatic on bottom. They are both quite dainty. |
Meet the beginning of my Arsenal of Democracy (as a friend of mine calls his gun collection)... I say "beginning" because I really want to get a rifle too, so I can take vengeance on the deer that decimated my hosta garden. Venison is tasty. That's neither here nor there.
Why am I telling you all of this? Because I am starting from square one on guns, and it seems like everyone I know either thinks guns are satan incarnate only used to murder innocent children, or knows everything about them and are perhaps what the "other side" would refer to as "gun nuts". I thought it would be okay if I, a moderate and generally reasonable person, talked about my experience learning about them, and my rationale behind having them. Today I'm mostly going to talk about why I decided to get them and what I think about that. Another day I'll tell you about gun lessons, which I am taking because I want to be a responsible gun owner.
So, why did I get Annie and Shorty? Because even though I live in one of the "safest" neighborhoods in Chattanooga (though "safety" in Chattanooga is pretty much a joke as far as I can tell-- twice the national crime rate in every category, what what!!!), there have been a number of break-ins in the neighborhood recently. Including when people are at home. I'm alone in the house a lot, especially at night, and that's pretty scary. As a petite and non-burly woman, I recognize that if I were ever in some sort of physical altercation with basically anyone other than toddlers or the elderly I would lose. Hands down. The end. And I can't even run fast.
And it's not just as easy as "call the police."** I'm not saying I want to shoot someone who breaks into my house, but I'm saying I would like to have the option to defend myself if worse comes to worse, or at least scare off a burglar while I'm waiting for a man with a gun to come defend me. And seriously, the fact that as a woman, I have to wait for a man with a gun to come protect me in order to be safe in my own home feels pretty shitty and disempowering.
I don't trust the police here to arrive quickly either. A friend and I got rear-ended by a drunk driver last year, and it took nearly half an hour for the police to show up even though the station was just "five minutes away". I would certainly hope they'd show up faster than that if someone were breaking into my house, but who really knows. A lot can happen in a few minutes, and I'd rather not take the chance. So that, in a long-winded nutshell, is why I began my own Arsenal of Democracy.
One of the character traits I value most highly is taking responsibility for yourself and your decisions. I think that owning guns is a serious responsibility, and I will treat it as such. Maybe this is weird, but the closest metaphor I can think of is that owning a gun is like choosing to have unprotected sex-- a split second choice can have a lifetime of consequences. That is a heavy thing to contemplate. Having the ability to defend myself for the first time in my life is actually a little frightening, because it means that someday I may have the opportunity to make the decision to do that... rather than to run, hide, and pray for the best.
Stay tuned for Part II-- Gun Lessons!
**Also, so help me if one more person suggests I get a dog. A dog is a living (high-maintenance) creature, not an alarm system. If I wanted a dog, I'd get a dog, but I'm not getting a dog just because of burglars. JJ sleeps during the day, and we can't have a dog barking its fool head off all the time.
