The right to bear arms

I’ve always believed that it’s every American’s right to own a gun.  I believed it when I was young and impressionable and I believe it now.  I currently own a gun and have a concealed weapons permit to carry it.  But my reasons for owning a gun now are far different than when I was young.

I’ve never trusted government.  When I was a young man I always thought that we might need to take control of our own destiny to protect ourselves from our government.  (Of course that was silly and stupid, but that’s the way I felt.)

When I read that the Declaration of Independence says its our responsibility to overthrow a government when it no longer meets our needs, I wanted to have that option.  And, while I was not in favor of the armed overthrow of the government – – I never thought it was out of the realm of possibility.

All my life, I never owned a gun.  I’d spent enough time in the military to know that I really didn’t want a gun around the house.  But, I wanted the right to have one.

And, then, a decade ago, came an effort by some sections of our country to ban the legal possession of firearms – – something that continues to this day.   That got me thinking about the “right” to own a gun.  I didn’t make the move to do so until recently.  When I began to age and found my physical prowess declining I thought a gun would help me feel more secure.

Because I have 14 grandkids, I feel obligated to keep my little pistol locked up and out of sight, so it really wouldn’t be much use to me if I really needed it.  It’s just the idea that it is there.

I do own a gun.  I still think it’s every American’s right to own a gun.  And, I think the decision to do so rests  with the individual and not with the government.

Recent mass killings around this country have me wondering if maybe if one person had a gun, in that school, in that movie theater or in that supermarket, if maybe the body count would have been less.