guns&whatnot

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to go to a local shooting range with my room mate. I brought along my Cz75B in 9mm, Ruger 10-22, and Remington 870 12 gauge. My room mate had no firearms experience to speak of, but wants to be a police officer of some sort so I thought he would enjoy it.

I was right. We had a great time shooting the 9mm and shotgun, and then, when we were shooting the puny 22, a man sat down at the bench next to us with something that got everyone's attention. He was shooting a bolt action .50 caliber rifle. It is hard to explain how truly amazing it is to be near this rifle while it is shot. The best thing I could compare it to is the feeling you get when the bass drums go by in a Mardi Gras parade, times a million. The sound reverberated in my chest as my hair was blown back and my mouth and nostrils were filled with the hot sweet stench of gunpowder. Overall it made me feel proud to be an American.

To those unfamiliar with these weapons, they seem scary. In the hands of a trained marksman they can be used to take out human targets at distances well over a mile. They are loud and big and they fire a big cartridge which contains a big bullet. All these things make 50 cal weapons prime targets for those who seek to limit what the Second Amendment allows citizens to own.

I took all these things into effect and I looked around at all the people, myself included, shooting high capacity semiautomatic weapons. A Liberal's worst nightmare. But, contrary to what some might think, I never felt endangered that day, or any other day I have gone shooting, even though I was surrounded by strangers with guns.

I then considered the places I have been in my life and where I have felt safe and where I have felt threatened. Two years ago I visited Washington DC and New York City, two cities which have effectively banned the private ownership of handguns (which has been ruled unconstitutional). Despite the handgun ban, these are two places where I did not feel safe at all. Walking on the National Mall in our nation's capital at night was too frightening to attempt, and it turned out to be a good thing we took a cab that night, as someone was mugged at gun point on the mall not long after. I was in town 2 or 3 days taking tours of Georgetown University, during which time there were several shootings.

Of all the places I have been, Vermont is among those in which I felt the most safe. Interestingly enough, Vermont is one of only a few states where no licensing is required to carry a concealed weapon. Vermont also has a very low crime rate, even with a surprising lack of gun control. To me this says that guns aren't the problem, they don't commit crimes on their own.

All things considered, I feel safer living in an area where the majority of people own guns. I also feel comfortable knowing that a great number of law abiding citizens carry pistols everyday. But I don't feel safe knowing that I am disarmed on a college campus. It is proven that laws against carrying weapons onto campus do not deter criminals from doing so. I think the best protection against these crazies is to arm the good guys, people who practice and train and go out and get a permit and talk to their sheriff and decide to carry a concealed weapon to protect themselves and those they care about.

Disarmament is not the answer.
The Boy Scouts say it best...."Be Prepared"