Sure, if I lived in the country and not as I do now, in a great metropolis, I’d likely belong to the “Rod and Gun” club. I like to fish and you could probably talk me into a trek through the Northwoods during deer season. But, I draw the line at handguns, a line behind which stands the National Rifle Association.
Handguns are for killing people. I don’t want one in my house and I don’t want you sitting at the next table in a restaurant with your 357 magnum hanging at your side as if you are somebody because you carry a gun. I don’t want to assume that the bulge in your coat pocket is a gun, either.
I think the second amendment was intended to assure that a militia could be raised if and when it was necessary to defend American territory. With this idea in mind, the National Rifle Association has turned the second amendment into a mandate to carry arms for personal defence. Instead, I want to see that right curtailed as stictly as possible. Yes, I’ll defend home and turf but in my own way.
In my lifetime, I have asked two people to get out of my car because they flourished handguns, neither was a member of the National Rifle Association. One was a salesman-friend who carried his hand gun in his front pocket wrapped in a thin white handkerchief. He said he just wanted to show it to me. He was chuckling as he brought it out. Even though I knew him well and we were not near our destination, I pulled over and quietly asked him to get out. He thought I was joking. I wasn’t. The NRA would not have approved.
When I needed directions in an unfamiliar city, a man, dressed in a nice suit volunteered to direct me to my destination and I let him get into the back seat of my car. I’d offered him a ride of a couple of blocks.When he brandished a handgun and asked me what I thought of it, the following words ran through my head: “Why did I let myself get into this situation?”
Fortunately, the man did exit the car without further incident. I concluded he wanted to show the gun to me because in his eyes it equalized me with his condition. I had an impressive brand new car, he had a big, shiny handgun. The National Rifle Association would have supported this show-off.
I’m glad that in each case I did not reach for my pistol, simply because I didn’t have one with which to threaten either of these guys.
I can think of a hundred different ways to counter an intruder. The last thing I would do is go run for a handgun. I’d use my head and not try to blow his off.