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I guess I was around seven or eight years old. I was watching some documentary about the Vietnam War with my parents. The screen showed grainy film of little children bloodied, burned and limp in the hands of grieving adults.
I asked my mom, "Why is the world like that? those kids don't deserve that." I went on to ask her what purpose guns had, other than killing things. I still have never gotten a clear answer from anyone.
A young man recently murdered six innocent people in Tucson. He used a gun equipped with a long clip, once illegal in the United States. This brought up the question again: "What purpose do guns serve other than killing?"
I've had arguments with people over this issue and I've heard every answer in the book.
1. Guns don't kill people, people kill people.
I assume this answer refers to "responsible gun owners." But the state of Arizona as well as the store that sold Jared Loughner his gun thought he was "responsible" enough.
The problem with this argument is that all human beings are unpredictable. We have the potential to snap at any moment. And when equipped with a killing device as efficient and quick as a gun, that momentary lapse in sanity and control can equal death. It takes a fraction of a second to pull a trigger and even less time for a bullet to travel. That miniscule moment in time is enough to change a life forever.
2. I need my gun for protection.
Translation: If someone comes into my house I can kill them. I understand the need for some people to covet protection of their property, but when I ask them if guns serve a purpose other than killing this isn't an answer.
Of all the gun-related deaths in America, less than one percent are caused by someone defending himself. This means that around 99 percent of all gun-related deaths in America are suicide, homicide, or accidental. Not that this will change more than 200 years of Constitutional law, but the statistics are alarming.
It just goes to show that a person carrying a gun is more likely to be Loughner than John Wayne.
3. I use my gun to hunt.
In other words, the purpose of the gun is to kill an animal.
Views differ on whether hunting is right, but the goal is to kill the animal. The mission in a hunt is not to injure the animal, it is to kill. I have yet to meet a hunter who told me, "Hey, I really grazed that deer today, he's going to feel that in the morning." It's not catch and release like fishing. The animal must meet its ultimate demise, usually by the hot sting of a bullet.
4. Target practice.
Killing practice? Who knows?
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that guns are killing machines, and they are available for purchase by most Americans. If someone without a felony conviction decides one day they want to kill lots of people, that's fairly easy in this country.
It's actually more difficult to adopt an animal from the ASPCA than it is to purchase a gun.
I've always thought the pen was mightier than the sword, or in this case the gun.
I hope that one day we will live in a world where people don't feel the need to keep a gun at arms length, but instead our brothers in arms reach.
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