My Sunday Feeling

I'm thinking about getting a gun.

I would buy it from a licensed dealer.  I would go through training.  I would get a concealed carry permit.  All of that.

I wouldn't pack it in church. Or at the doctor's office. Or at a high school ball game.  Or at a nice restaurant.  

At least I don't think I would.  I haven't really thought it through.  

I guess most people that know me would be surprised by this notion.  After all, I don't hunt, although I have no problem with it.  I'm not paranoid.  Indeed, I think that I am fairly well adjusted and socialized.  Lord knows I'm not insecure.  I'm extremely comfortable in my own skin and have no particular need to exert dominion over others.  

But I have this feeling that I am outnumbered.  

Let's face it.  Gun control has failed.  There are more guns floating around out there than could ever be confiscated without a house-to-house search by the Marines.

Which, contrary to the het up delusions of what used to be the fringe, will never happen.  

And here's something else.  The other day Congress voted down a bill which would have, in part, prevented folks on the Federal terrorist watch list from buying guns.  President Obama rightfully referred to this as "insane." I refer to it as failing to "provide for the common defense" which according to the Constitution of the United States of America is one of the jobs of the government.

OK. So I have established that I am neither crazy nor paranoid. OK so I'm not paranoid. I think my public record is one of civic duty and adherence to the rule of law.  I vote. I pay my taxes along with my personal obligations as they come due.  

So what am I scared of?  

Home invaders?  Not really.  While there's always that chance, I am fortunate to live in a safe neighborhood where that sort of thing is pretty much unheard of. Mass shooters? A little. But that's nothing that won't be ameliorated by my not attending the opening of Star Wars or staying out of a Planned Parenthood clinic.  That and I don't work in an office anymore.  

But I live in a country in which the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution is evidently sacrosanct and entitled to greater deference to the obligation of the government to provide for the common defense.  

Which means that pretty much any idiot with a driver's license and a Certificate of Live Birth and no felonies can buy an assault rifle at Bass Pro Shop.  Which means that you never know when some white punk whose boss yelled at him or whose wife cut him off won't try to man up and show the movie theatre who's boss.  Like the guy in Mississippi who plugged the server at the Waffle House for telling him to put out his cigarette.

Think about it.  You can't smoke in most restaurants or other public buildings because smoking is considered a risk to public health.  But packing a gun is not.  

Off the top of my head, I can't think of a better metaphor for the insanity of the gun culture.  

Do not misunderstand me.  I know many law abiding and responsible gun owners.  I would shoot craps over the phone with Chris and Jim Mark.

But neither one of these gentlemen, as far as I know, have a felt need to openly carry an AR-15 on a trip to the hardware store.

The ones that do are the ones that scare me.  

And so I'm thinking about getting a gun.  

Because I KNOW I'm not crazy.