I see this question being asked regularly. When a church or school or movie theater is shot up, this question echos in the media. I raise my hand dutifully, I think I know the answer. No place is sacred. No place is safe. The reason is simple. Craziness and evil do not recognize restraints.
This is mental disease spreading throughout our world. Its tentacles know no bounds or boundaries. Let me digress for a moment. The US is bound by certain international treaties on warfare and yet those we choose to lead our country commit atrocities upon civilian populations repeatedly. These leaders allow the bombing of school children and innocents and rationalize that it is the result of collateral damage. As if that makes it acceptable.
Now we have violence being progressively more commonplace in the US. No one has been able to attack the United States from abroad. We are insulated from enemies by oceans and friendly neighbors. But we will never be insulated from ourselves. Do you believe a country of such diversity accompanied by racial, religious and sexual animus would be exempt from acts of hatred tinged violence?
What makes us so special that tragedy should not visit us daily. We are a country proud of its heritage of blood spilled. We demonize what we do not understand or like. Fags, Niggers, Spics, Kikes, Sandniggers. Words of hate. Westboro Baptist Church is just a more sublime representation of our society. I have heard such hatred for Muslims, minorities, majorities, criminals, homeless, crazies and on and on. Even from the lips of those I know to be well-educated I have heard venom which I found ignorant and unworthy of reply.
I do not suggest that we deserve tragedy. I just mean that violence is woven into the fabric of our society. Even those so genteel as to sniff when it comes to the idea of owning guns find no fault permitting the imprisonment of drug users or the ongoing existence of a Guantanamo.
I do not practice law anymore. One of the big reasons is because prosecutors and judges hand out incarceration as if it was no big deal. How do you negotiate for your client with a foe who believes that your client cannot be punished harshly enough? How could I return to a system which incarcerates 14 year old boys to life in prison without the possibility of parole. That is unbridled violence to me. Prison is a sentence to a life of constant fear and violence.
So, I carry a gun. I have guns in my home. I do not delude myself for a minute into believing that a crazy killer will honor the societal restraints and not perpetrate on a Church or amusement park or school. I teach my children to be cautious and guarded when I am not home. Keep the doors locked and be wary of persons arriving unexpected. (I have yet to read a single interview with a mass murderer who said he intended to shoot up a grade school, but couldn’t figure out how to avoid arrest for illegal possession of a firearm on school property.)
There is no place safe or sacred. I accept that. I choose to anticipate and prepare for the worst. If you oppose gun ownership, you want the worst to never take place. You want the right to be safe in a house of worship and schools. I want the same thing you want, and the possibility of backing my peaceful efforts with a firearm. Let me know how that sacred thing works out for you.
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