Confessions of a Liberal Gun Owner.

[gsx1138]

I wrote this for a different blog but thought I'd share it. Make no mistake, I'm thoroughly disgusted with the state of the Republican party. And do still believe people should not be one issue voters.








All of those cute political polls online tell me that I’m a Libertarian. I don’t know what the hell that is nor do I care. I used to have a right wing view on foreign policy and a left wing view on domestic issues. Anyway, as a kid I was always fascinated with guns. Generally most boys are and we usually “play” war. When I was around 12 or 14 my parents let me get a .22 and I spent all kinds of time plinking away with it. Eventually it was sold and I was without a firearm. When I was 22 years old I bought a .357 revolver, 30-30 lever action rifle, and a Mossberg Bullpup 12 gauge. However, at this time I was far to irresponsible and really shouldn’t of had any of them. Needless to say between getting piss drunk and high I pulled my pistol at a party. Luckily I was tackled and the gun was stolen that night.

I swore off guns the next day. Despite this I did end up at an indoor range the next year with my soon to be wife but after that it was out of my system. For the next 10 years I sort of went on a spiritual journey and a growing up period. At least I’d hope someone would grow up after 10 years of living. By this time I was pretty liberal and was fully behind gun control. After all, who needs 30 round magazines to kill a deer? It seems perfectly logical that the less guns out there means less gun related crime and death. I’d heard the right wing propaganda machine spewing, “Take guns out of law abiding citizens and only criminals will have guns”. ‘What utter bull****.’ I’d thought because we pay good tax money for the Police. After all, it had to be true that most people who own a gun are killed with it during a robbery. Right?

So there I was a few years ago, 36 years old, a wife, 2 kids, a house, a decent job, and a new peaceful love everyone attitude. I’d pretty reached the American dream. I was a new age hippie loving life. At least from a far right point of view. However, our first house was in a low income area. I didn’t worry so much because I had a martial arts background. I’d done some tourney fighting so I was sure I could handle myself. Until the mail started getting stolen and I could see the guys from the homeless shelter a few blocks up cutting through my yard at night. Those were my first thoughts again of owning a gun. But they were quickly pushed aside because everything I’d read told me that I’d more than likely get my gun taken from me and used against me anyway.

We move on up out of the East side and into a really nice home with the water view and everything. My wife takes up camping as a hobby. Me being the city boy I have no real interest. I use the excuse that if I’m going to camp I want a gun in case of a bear attack. Apparently that’s the Stephen Colbert defense. What I didn’t realize that even talking about getting a gun, even though it was a total excuse, made me actually want one. I still had some fond memories of my wife and I going to the indoor range. Then one day I just decided that it was time to take an interest again. One thing liberals love to throw around is the “education card”. Everyone needs to get educated. It’s a good philosophy so I decided that if I was going to buy a firearm I was absolutely going to take a class. I also did a ton of reading and research. What I found shocked me.

All the things that I had thought about guns was wrong. Apparently, the right wingnuts were correct. Cities with the strictest gun control laws had a far higher crime rate on average. This included deaths by shooting. How is it possible? Guns are illegal in these places. What I also found was that the average gun defense situations was upwards of 2 million a year. Far higher than what I was led to believe. It seems totally counter intuitive but the numbers don’t lie. They don’t have a political bias. In fact, States that allow citizens to carry concealed weapons have lower crime than those that don’t. But, more guns shouldn’t lead to lower gun violence. Well, all signs point to: more guns do in fact lead to less gun violence. However, it’s not that simple. More guns in the hands of responsible law abiding gun owners it what seems to make the difference.

One day at the range and I bought a XD45 on the spot. Being a practitioner of Zen for some years I can say that shooting brings a calming effect. It could just be me but a day at the range is one of the most relaxing experiences I can have. And now the new age hippie liberal will be buying an AR-15. Why? Not because I can hunt with it. Not because I need 30 round magazines to bring down a deer. Why then? Because I can. Because as I read and study like all liberals should be doing I see that owning a firearm isn’t just a right but a responsibility. I used to roll my eyes every time some right wingnut brought up the Second Amendment. Not anymore. It amazes me the foresight those old timers had. I’m guessing fighting a war on your own property does that to a person. On that note I should find out what a Libertarian is exactly.

[mhillsing23]

Cool article, very well written. It is nice to hear of your progression. Like you came to realize, those "facts" that the anti-gun throw out usually aren't true at all. Congrats on the XD and new AR!

[hacker15]

Welcome to the 'light'! I have many friends (and some family!) that roll their eyes when I strap up to go to work. Sometimes, they even comment about the 'gun on the hip'.....usually an XD service .40, but sometimes other pistols....

Guns in the hands of the righteous is, by far, the most powerful anti-crime method known to man. Now, try telling that to your typical big city politician....

[gsx1138]

Originally Posted by hacker15

Welcome to the 'light'! I have many friends (and some family!) that roll their eyes when I strap up to go to work. Sometimes, they even comment about the 'gun on the hip'.....usually an XD service .40, but sometimes other pistols....

Guns in the hands of the righteous is, by far, the most powerful anti-crime method known to man. Now, try telling that to your typical big city politician....

Well I ended up with an even bigger shock when my wifes, friends husband (who is a pretty liberal Cop) commented on me packing a pistol. He said it was a good idea and more people should be armed. The look on my face must haven been priceless because he laughed at me.