I maintain strong opinions about the Constitution. I carry a copy in the pocket of my suit. I hung a copy on the wall in my library. I detest the efforts of enigmatic snollygosters in political office to eviscerate it or to rewrite it by judicial fiat. I abhor the fact that many people see things within it that it does not say and do not see things that glaringly present themselves to the naked eye. Among those, I feel very strongly about my right to keep and bear arms. The US Forest Service tolerates the fact that I carry a gun (and a bowie knife) when I do trail recon for them on Mt. Charleston. They know that I don't draw it, that I don't menace with it, but that it legitimates me and gets people to pay attention. They know that I use words to do my job and the gun to substantiate my credentials. I own a few guns. I read an article in 2008 about 75 things every man should know, and since I didn't actually have one, I decided it was time to get one, learn how to use and care for it, and get familiar if God forbid I ever needed one. When government officials threatened to ban, confiscate, and restrict them, I felt even more inclined to buy one because IT'S MY RIGHT. You will hear lots of arguments, mostly darkening counsels by words without knowledge. If you really want to learn about guns and the Constitution, read Clayton Cramer's PhD Dissertation on the subject because it's illuminating. It's really just the literal manifestation of your right like every other organism on the planet to defend yourself. Porcupines have spines, bears have claws, fish can outswim you, plants have spikes or toxins, and humans have tools, like guns, because we're really kind of weak and soft and slow comparatively, so we have a right to protect ourselves if someone or something tries to hurt or kill us just like any other organism. When politicians discuss guns, they do so without regard for your right to protect YOURSELF because they want you to wait for the cops to arrive instead, if they feel like it, if you pay your taxes, and if the government decides you deserve protection. That's a diminution of our right to life. They don't think that humans have a right or the capability to protect themselves.
Most crimes are not protracted with guns, but they are usually done via things weaponized to be tools of destruction. Despite the media glamorization of shootings, which are always abhorrent, you are five times more likely to be stabbed with a knife or scissors and twice as likely to be beaten to death. When I was mugged in 2015, my attacker hit me in the back of the head with a floor tile fragment which was lying in the driveway of a neighbor's house- a weapon of opportunity. When I was mugged in Vienna, the guy just wailed on me with his fists. In fact, I've only ever been menaced by someone wielding a gun twice. Once was some stupid US Marshalls on Mt. Charleston who insisted that since they were "also law enforcement" that the rules didn't apply to them (they never drew, just let me know they were all carrying concealed). The other time was in the Walmart near my house where an older woman threatened me to get my wallet. I pulled out my bowie knife and said, "It better be fatal, because if you don't kill me with the first shot you won't survive". I don't recommend doing that, and neither did the officer when I reported the attempt, but I was feeling morose and didn't want to put up with her tripe. I've had more money stolen by bad online transactions and by pickpockets, and the kids who tried to break into my house didn't have any weapons at all. I've had rocks thrown at me and my car, had someone slash my tires, my identity stolen, and a few other minor things, but none of those involved guns, and nobody has ever actually shot a gun while victimizing me. Furthermore, if you look at "gun crimes" that usually lumps together suicides, accidental discharge, and when cops fire their guns at criminals, so it's sort of a misnomer that guns kill a lot of people in America due to negligence on the part of gun owners. Fully 75% of gun violence is protracted by people in possession of guns that are not theirs, but the ultracrepidarians in government don't want to hear that. They also ignore the fact that 71 people have been shot in Chicago this month already, and that's a gun free city. I guess someone forgot to tell the criminals that they can't use guns.
Guns are a weapon of last resort. Many family members have jobs where they deal with guns, directly or indirectly. I helped several of them learn how to use and get comfortable with them in order to pass their qualifications for their employment. I tell all of them to only draw their weapon if they are ready to fire it and intend to fire it in short order. Once you escalate to the level of firearms, you cannot deescalate, and if the other person has a gun too, you'd better be ready to fire and fire quickly or you're toast. If they have rocks or scissors or brass knuckles, it's much easier to deescalate or to flee, but it's hard to outrun a bullet travelling 1250 feet per second, even if you're Usain Bolt. Up on the mountain, I use words, then a whistle to get attention, and if I had to fight, the knife would be my first choice because if you have a weapon, you automatically have the advantage. Everyone looking at me eventually sees the gun. They also see the patches and the uniform, and all but a few accept that I have good reason to say what I say, and many realize that I have backup if they try anything, even if the backup has to hike up after me. When I was working on a ranch in Colorado in 2011, the boss indicated that there was some risk of wildlife and lent us a gunbelt. The gun was a crossdraw, meaning that the rig was designed so that you turn to the gun only if necessary. It can be very tempting to resort to one if you have it. We all know what happens to people without guns who face people with guns, and we know that criminals don't shy away from shooting innocent bystanders, and it's better to have a gun and know how to use it and not need it than need one and not have one.
Live and let live sounds wonderful until your life is threatened. That being said, killing is an ugly and dirty business, and so while I maintain the right to keep, own, carry, and use a gun, I think that it behooves each person to be judicious in doing so. Unlike other weapons, guns tend to kill. When I was mugged in 2015, among the items stolen included two 50rd boxes of .357mag ammunition. Yes, that's what I carry. When the police learned first that ammo was stolen and next what caliber it was, they asked me why I didn't just kill my assailant. I told the responding officers that it would be foolish of me to take someone's life over a matter of $50. Granted, if the man had continued to pursue me even after taking my stuff and hearing me call 911, and if and only if I thought my life was threatened, I reserve the right to use my weapons to save my own life. Killing or even shooting someone is a serious thing. As annoyed as I was to be attacked and to lose $50 worth of stuff, it's easy to replace that; it's not easy to replace the life or health lost if I shot the man. Not to mention, when you pull that trigger, you risk killing two people- the person you shoot and the person you used to be. Once you cross that road, you cannot walk it back and be like you were. It was easy for me, interestingly, in the moment to decide flight was better. I'm annoyed to lose the ammunition and the backpack, which I owned since high school, but it's not worth risking my life or taking his. If you shoot someone, despite what the LVMPD officers implied, there will be trouble. Of course they investigate, and that promises all sorts of unpleasantness, and even if you were in the right, what about the family or friends of the person you shoot? They'll feel "robbed" of their son/husband/whatever, and probably seek a judgment against you. I don't need that, and I certainly don't need to go to jail because I overstepped my rights in shooting some punk in his 20s who decided he wanted my stuff. He didn't really seem to want to take my life or hurt me any more than he had, to be honest, and so I felt more inclined to run and limit the damage and pain where it was. An eye for an eye eventually makes the entire world blind. Of course, if he hurt me or killed me, we'd feel differently, but I honestly think he was just an idiot, and death by firearm is a severe punishment for being stupid.
Like most things, I think we esteem guns lightly because we obtain them readily. It's not "easy" to get a gun, but they are plentiful. You have to pay a great deal for a gun, and most people can't afford them, and then you have to buy ammunition. You have to fill out forms and be approved (at least in NV) by the Highway Patrol as having no outstanding warrants or convictions if you buy one from a licensed dealer. Then you have to practice, which is not cheap, because you can't just fire a gun anywhere you like (although some of my neighbors don't seem to realize when they shoot off their guns for Cinco de Mayo that the ammunition comes back DOWN). Most people don't research them, train with them, or have any real instruction for their care and proper use. When I bought mine, I had been taught. My father taught me a little when I was 12, and in Boy Scouts, I did earn the Rifle Shooting Merit Badge. I was trained. We didn't have one readily accessible in the house, and my dad taught us to respect them as dangerous. I don't know how long it took the police to arrive when I was attacked, but it was odd because nobody saw the attack. Although it was May, nobody was outside because it was like 89F at 9PM, so everyone was hunkered inside enjoying the air conditioning; I didn't even see any cars drive by after I was attacked. If I had to wait for someone or the police to come and protect me, especially if this dude had an actual weapon rather than rubble to hurl in my direction, it's very likely I would have been killed in 2015. I believe in the right to keep and bear arms because I think you have a right to defend yourself. While doing Taekwondo, my sensei taught us that the best self defense technique is to not be there, but when someone waylays you and ambushes you from behind like a coward to take things because they can, you may not be able to run. Fortunately for me, the kid neither incapacitated nor killed me with the first blow. If you decide to carry a weapon, you ought to be allowed that, and if you decide to carry a gun, you ought be allowed that too. Where do I draw the line? Well, weapons are for defense, so if it's silly to think you would use it for personal defense, it should not be available for personal purchase. Nobody would use a missile launcher, bazooka, or tank to defend themselves if mugged because that's not practical, but you might need a rifle for example if you're attacked by wolves, bears, or coyotes or a gang of humans. There is nothing wrong with carrying and using a gun. Why you do a thing matters far more than what you do. Especially now that I have actually been attacked, I claim the right to carry a gun, because if he had known, he might have crossed the street instead of crossing me.
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