{"id":9899,"date":"2023-11-22T23:55:53","date_gmt":"2023-11-22T23:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.webhostlabs.net\/synergy\/?p=9899"},"modified":"2023-11-22T23:56:51","modified_gmt":"2023-11-22T23:56:51","slug":"armed-and-responsible-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.webhostlabs.net\/synergy\/2023\/11\/22\/armed-and-responsible-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"Armed and Responsible (Part Two)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Letter from America<\/b><\/h1>\n

When our dog, Jack, was put down after he was hit by a car, this act of mercy was performed with a pistol owned by a neighbor.\u00a0 Had we no access to that gun, I do not know how long and how horribly the poor animal would have suffered.\u00a0 The trauma to his brain was massive; perhaps he would have lived for an hour, perhaps ten hours, but would no doubt have had died with or without veterinary attention. I remember being grateful on the day that a gun was made available so quickly to us.\u00a0 Was the gun registered?\u00a0 I have no idea.\u00a0 Was the weapon owned by a law-abiding, respectable member of my community?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 \u00a0While I do not know the history of the gun itself, I do know the history of its owner:\u00a0 It is most probable that, if the gun was bought in brand-new condition, its use that day was the first and only time it was ever fired to end the life of a living creature.<\/p>\n

It was only after I moved to the South as an adult that I met many people who grew up with a healthy respect for and knowledge of all types of guns.\u00a0 Some surprised me with that knowledge.\u00a0 While on a business trip to New Orleans, I was accompanied by my favorite, gentlemanly young computer programmer.\u00a0 After a long day manning the booth at a trade show, we chose to walk from the restaurant in which we had dinner to our hotel.\u00a0 Taking one wrong turn, we found ourselves in a sketchy neighborhood, an area just unsettling enough to cause my co-worker to mutter, \u201cI wish I had one of my guns with me.\u201d\u00a0 I was dumbfounded.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have a gun?\u201d I asked, trying (without as much success as I had wished for) not to put too much emphasis on the word \u201cyou.\u201d<\/p>\n

My coworker regarded me curiously.\u00a0 \u201cI have about a dozen, maybe more,\u201d he responded.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know anyone who doesn\u2019t have at least one gun, except\u2014well, I\u2019m guessing\u2014maybe you!\u201d<\/p>\n

Back in the office a few days later, he told our colleagues how astonished I had looked when he told me he was a gun owner.\u00a0 Yes, I was teased unmercifully by the rest of them because, as it turned out, I\u00a0was<\/i>\u00a0the only person in the company who had never so much as\u00a0held<\/i>\u00a0a gun.\u00a0 Indeed, one member of the customer support staff had recently purchased a new pistol to replace a gun she had given to her mother!\u00a0 Mind you, our office staff comprised only upstanding citizens \u2013 nary a one had a criminal record.\u00a0 Some used their guns fairly often at shooting ranges or on weekend hunting trips.\u00a0 A few were ex-military or grew up on military bases.\u00a0 Some no longer hunted but kept at the ready the guns they had acquired over the years for the protection of their families in the event of a home invasion.\u00a0 One treasured his collection of antique firearms, certain that they would one day be worth a fortune.<\/p>\n

\"Guns\"Guns<\/span><\/span>The consensus among conservative, law-abiding gun owners is that mandating the registration of all weapons would result in the registration of only those weapons owned\u00a0by<\/i>\u00a0conservative, law-abiding gun owners, and that criminal types will be the only individuals in the United States who possess unregistered weapons.\u00a0 This is, in my opinion, a logical assumption.\u00a0 It is also their fear that registration of all guns merely makes it easier for subsequent confiscation of weapons by authorities.\u00a0 For this fear, they are scoffed at by gun-control advocates:\u00a0 \u201cNobody wants to take all your\u00a0toys<\/i>\u00a0away!\u201d\u00a0 I, however, find that fear to be well placed.\u00a0 I do not like to think that registration requirements are necessarily a prelude to confiscation\u2014not here; oh, no, not here in the land of the free and the brave!\u2014but I have to think it could be.\u00a0 Where does that leave all those unregistered weapons?\u00a0 In the hands of criminals!\u00a0 (Read my exhaled \u201cDUH\u201d right here!)<\/p>\n

Registration of guns and ultra-strict requirements for obtaining guns are not\u00a0the<\/i>\u00a0answer to the problem of violence in the United States.\u00a0 They are not, as is asserted by some, even the beginning of a solution to the problem of violence in general; but what\u00a0is<\/i>\u00a0the solution?\u00a0 Can a solution be achieved in a year, a decade, or ever?\u00a0 What are your thoughts?\u00a0 Does a solution come readily to your mind?<\/p>\n

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.<\/span>” mce_’ + path + ‘\\” + prefix + ‘:’ + addy4142 + ‘\\’>’+addy_text4142+'<\\\/a>’; \/\/–><\/p>\n

\n

Ed\u2019s comment:<\/u><\/i><\/p>\n

Why don\u2019t you let Cara know your views on this matter? In Ireland for example, you can\u2019t buy a handgun, and to be found in the possession of one is considered a very, very serious offense. Yes you can purchase a rifle or shotgun, but the rules are very stringent.<\/i><\/p>\n

The criminals have the guns, our uniform policemen do not (yes we have armed detectives and Swat teams etc) but our murder rate is still way below the US.<\/i><\/p>\n

So does having easy access to a gun make your life safer when the bad guy has one?<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2018Fire breathes fire in some people\u2019s book\u2019.<\/i><\/p>\n

\n

Follow us on Twitter – @DigiPrintNews<\/p>\n

Like us on Facebook\u00a0www.facebook.com\/dpnlive\u00a0<\/a>– (click the \u2018LIKED<\/b>\u2019 button\/top of page as well)<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2013, DPNLIVE \u2013 All Rights Reserved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Letter from America When our dog, Jack, was put down after he was hit by a car, this act of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,74],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-and-style","category-living-in-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.webhostlabs.net\/synergy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.webhostlabs.net\/synergy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.webhostlabs.net\/synergy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.webhostlabs.net\/synergy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.webhostlabs.net\/synergy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9899"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dev.webhostlabs.net\/synergy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9899\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9900,"href":"https:\/\/dev.webhostlabs.net\/synergy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9899\/revisions\/9900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.webhostlabs.net\/synergy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.webhostlabs.net\/synergy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.webhostlabs.net\/synergy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.webhostlabs.net\/synergy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}