Thursday, March 14, 2013

Theme Thursday--Some Thoughts on Guns

I know its one of the things you are sick of hearing about, isn't it? I understand. I am even sicker of it than you are, because as a 911 operator I hear about this stuff all the time. But this week's  Theme Thursday challenge is to write on a controversial subject, and this one has been on my mind for a long time.

We had another gun tragedy in our city recently. A four year old boy was riding in the back seat of his father's car when a gun went off. No one is quite sure if he found it and was playing with it, or if it accidentally discharged where it was laying in the car.  But either way, a four year old is dead.

Working in law enforcement in a mid-size American city, we see crimes involving guns on a daily basis. Heart rending tragedies like Newtown are rare (thank goodness) occurrences. What we see daily though are the homicides (often drug or domestic violence related), the robberies, the fights, the non lethal shootings. Not only do they wear away at the victims, they wear away at the first responders, and they wear away at all the people of the communities these crimes happen in.

Its a cliche to say of a controversial issue like gun violence that there are no easy answers. There really are no easy answers though. There are constitutional issues, and privacy issues, There are fiercely drawn lines here.

While I believe there are practical steps that can be taken to make our society safer (no one really needs huge clips in civilian life, everyone should have to have a proper background check done before purchase, and so on)  I don't believe we "take away guns" from people.  I don't think it could be done if anyone wanted to. But there is something that I think is being overlooked that should be considered.

A comment we often hear in relation to gun violence goes like this: "If people didn't have guns they would commit their crimes some other way. They would use a knife or a rope or their bare hands".  And that is true of the person who is bound and determined to commit a murder.  But there are two things to consider with consider with this argument.  One is that most killings are committed on the spur of the moment.  If the weapon is at hand, the killing doesn't take place.  The other is that these other methods require a lot more proximity to the victim.    You have to get up close, confront your victim, take a chance of being harmed yourself.  You cant have a drive by strangling. 

Recently in our town a woman was shot and injured while driving in her car.  Apparently she was shot on the spur of the moment by someone who objected to her flashing her lights at them to get out of the middle of the road.  Does anyone  think they would have been able to throw a knife into her car as effectively?

Consider cars and bikes for a moment.  We don't have the same rules for riding a bike as we do for a car, even though both are vehicles that share the road.  That's because the possibility of doing serious harm to anyone but yourself on a bike is relatively slim.  Cars on the other hand, can create tragedies in the wrong hands. So society sets certain rules for the safe usage of cars.  We have traffic lanes, speed limits, licensing of drivers.  Because we recognize that cars have unique dangers.

Its the same with guns.  The capacity for harm and the ease of use, make guns uniquely dangerous weapons.

I don't know what the answers are.  But I do know we have to recognize and understand all the dangers of guns before we can have the discussion.



This post is part of Theme Thursday, a group of bloggers writing weekly on the same topic.  To see what others have to say on this topic, or to link up yourself, please click on the button.






8 comments:

  1. Your parallel of bikes vs cars is a good one - different rules for different weapons, depending on the potential to do severe harm. Enjoyed reading your post!

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    1. Thanks Dana. Working in a dispatch center we see all the day to day incidents that never make the headlines.

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  2. This is such a great post!

    While I don't own a gun, I have a lot of friends who do...the vast majority are either hunters, collectors or hobbyists who only take them out from under lock and key to go shoot at a gun range. I'm not a fan of owning a gun strictly for self defense...I'd be too worried that someone would use that gun against me or steal it, I'd shoot myself or someone else by accident, or my kid would get a hold of it.

    I think if you want to own a gun that's fine, but there should be a lot more restrictions in place and far more measures to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.

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    1. I feel the same way, although I don't own one myself I am all for responsible ownership. We have hunters in our family but they have taken safety courses to get their licenses. My son has earned his riflebadge in scouts, again learning the responsible ways to use and keep guns.

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  3. This is not a funny subject, but I couldn't help but chuckle when you wrote, "You cant have a drive by strangling." -- an absurd thought, but so absolutely true. You make a calm, reasoned, logical argument for the need for change and I really appreciate that. This is such a hot-button subject that gets people riled up quickly. I think there has to be a reasonable middle ground that keeps public safety in mind as well as an individual's right to bear arms. I do hope there are more people out there thinking along these same lines. (And I love the comparison to cars/bikes.)

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    1. Thanks Chrstine. "drive by strangling" is the kind of thing that. Gets stuck in ones head after 23 years of 911 calls, but it also reflects the time I've had to think about these things

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  4. I was hoping someone would write about guns! I wish there were none, but I get that I'm in the minority on that one. There's got to be a happy medium between me and doomsday preppers..

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    1. Kind of my feelings too Jenn. Though I am not interested in guns myself there are several uvareful responsible hunters in my family. But on the professional side I see the fallout from all the misuse and carelessness. Reasonable people should be able to accommodate each other.

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