I had a handgun with me when I lived on the road.
To make sure I wasn’t breaking any laws, I kept the gun unloaded and locked up in the bed of the truck when I was driving.
At night, I kept the gun loaded and accessible in the camper next to me. I camped in the wilderness, at truck stops and in rest areas. Many of these were in the middle of nowhere. Some had no cell service. If something went down, I was on my own.
Many of the people I met during my travels were “packing”. Two women ranchers told me they had guns to protect their animals and themselves. They said if they ever called the police, by the time they arrived – if they arrived at all – it would be too late.
Another woman who was homeless and slept in her truck carried a pistol. Several men (and women) campers told me they had concealed carry permits and were armed at all times. I’m sure many others had guns but didn’t share that info with me.
None of these people seemed crazy to me. In fact, the opposite seemed true. They made rational and practical decisions to be armed.
What never came up during our discussions was politics, liberals vs conservatives, 2nd amendment rights, the NRA or gun control. Gee. Go figure.
I never used my gun. The only dangers I encountered on the road were:
- coyotes racing by my campsite and packs howling nearby.
- one large snake crossing a dirt road
- a mountain lion sighting reported by a local resident
- a warning that I was camped in a dangerous drug smuggling zone
- 3 different animals trying to get into my camper (rats, squirrels, cotoyes or raccoons I’d guess)
When I ran into sketchy looking people who made me uncomfortable, I never needed a weapon. I just moved on.
Although I never had to use it, having the gun made me feel more secure. If I remained on the road, I would have eventually replaced it with a pump shotgun.
Living in the suburbs, I have even less of a need for a gun. The police are minutes away. My home is well secured. The deer and bunnies who visit my yard are not threats.
Still, there have been a few occasions when I was glad to have a firearm in the suburbs:
- during extended power outages after a hurricane when looting was reported
- when police were searching for a criminal in the area
- when there was a rabid raccoon stealing my cat’s food.
But in nearly 30 years, I never fired it in self defense. Still it was comforting to have.
Which brings me to the issue today.
Last weekend, there were 2 “mass shootings” in the US. One in El Paso TX and one in Dayton OH.
Both shooters had weapons that looked liked machine guns with large capacity magazines. I do not know if these guns were automatic or semi automatic. What I saw and heard on videos was bullets being fired at least as fast as the shooter could pull the trigger.
In El Paso, 22 people were killed and 26 others were injured in a few minutes. In Dayton 9 people were killed and 27 injured in 32 seconds before police killed the shooter.
Apparently both shooters had purchased their guns and ammo legally.
After the shootings, I heard the usual political grandstanding, hand wringing and bullshit from the politicians the news media and the talking heads.
There was finger pointing, misdirection, meaningless “thoughts and prayers”, condolences and hopelessness. There were protests, memorials, blood drives and the sad stories. There were stats comparing mass shootings in other countries to the US.
I saw the president and other politicians echo the NRA’s claims that this was caused by mental illness, violent movies, video games and a lack of family values.
I heard 2nd amendment proponents claim that allowing any gun restriction was a slippery slope that would lead to the government confiscating all guns.
Well, I’m calling bullshit.
I believe that most politicians primary goal is to get re-elected. They’ll say whatever they have to in order to keep their jobs but will also do whatever the highest paying lobbyists and corporations direct them to do (NRA, Gun manufacturers, lobbyists, etc.). Politicians follow the money.
I don’t need to be re-elected. I’m just a semi-retired widower without a stake in the game.
I “think” that mass shooters do have mental problems. Obviously. Shooting a bunch of strangers is not normal. I wrote a while ago about the “lone wolf” and what I thought I could do to help. I still think that connecting to others in our community is important.
But, like all of the other things mentioned above, it is not enough.
People are still dying.
It’s the guns.
How does an untrained teenager kill 9 people in 32 seconds? He buys a rifle that he can shoot quickly and attaches a magazine with a capacity of 100+ rounds. Then he goes to a crowded location and pulls the trigger quickly.
How does another untrained teenager kill 20 people in a few minutes? He buys a rifle that he can shoot quickly and attaches a high capacity magazine. Then he goes to a crowded location and pulls the trigger quickly.
How did the Las Vegas shooter kill so many people last year? He bought several high capacity military style assault rifles and multiple high capacity magazines. Then he targeted a crowded location and pulled the trigger as fast as possible.
How did the Newton shooter kill a classroom full of first graders? The same way.
The Columbine shooters? Same.
The Garlic festival shooter? Same.
And on and on and on.
It’s time to do something.
We’ve got to stop allowing high capacity automatic or semiautomatic guns to be sold to anyone.
We’ve got to make a concerted effort to get as many of these guns off the street as possible,
We need to have real licensing and certifications. I cannot drive a car without passing a competency test. I can’t deposit large sum of money into my bank account without providing additional information. I can’t even buy Allegra-D without being processed in a database to ensure I am not an Allergy Medication abuser.
I don’t want to take away anyone’s guns because I want to control them. I’m just tired of seeing so many people killed and so little action being taken to stop this.
- Will criminals still have guns? Of course they will.
- Do some people need guns for protection of property and lives? Of course they do.
- Do some people need machine guns with high capacity magazines? Maybe. But far fewer than can buy them easily today.
- Would reasonable, rational people be willing to register, prove competency and be licensed in order to own a gun?
I think we would.
So fuck the half measures, platitudes and hand wringing.
The politicians we have today won’t take care of this, so let’s elect people who will.
They are reluctant to do anything meaningful. Look at their track records – it’s all talk and no action (in some cases, no talk and no action).
I think our country will do something about guns eventually. It might be after another 10 or 50 or 500 shootings. It might be when there are enough that the majority of us start to feel like the next victim could be us. It might be when a politician’s children or family are shot. It might be when people who are sick of all this opt out and leave the country.
We can do better.