(Some points of this story have been obscured for my own reasons.)
(You Have Been Warned.)
A very long time ago, I had my first adult (as in "not a summer") job. I was living in a strange town in a strange state. Other than through work, I had not made any friends. I was living in an apartment in what was commonly called a "garden apartment" complex, which meant that the apartments were first-floor or second-floor walk-ups, with direct outside access. I had a first-floor apartment.
For reasons that escape me, it seemed like a good idea to buy a gun. What I bought, for no good reason that I know of now, was a knock-off of a Colt Peacemaker, in .45 Colt, with a 7.5" barrel.
It retrospect, it was probably about the worst kind of handgun for the task at hand, but I was young and ignorant about such things. I did one thing right, I got a membership at a pistol range and learned how to shoot. (I later traded away that gun, but that's irrelevant for this post.)
One evening, around 10PM or so, I was home when there was a loud knock on the door. I went to the bedroom, got the pistol and I stuck it in the waistband of my jeans behind my back. Then I answered the door. The man at the door (let's get this right out-- he was a white dude) said he was selling something or taking a survey. Like I said, it was a long time ago. He was insistent that he had to come in and talk to me and I wasn't opening the door wide for him. Finally, after about five minutes of this, he said something like: "I really have to come in and talk to you" and he put his hand on the door and started to push on it.
I took two steps back, drew the revolver, pointed it at his face, cocked the hammer and, as I was doing all that, I said: "You are not coming in."
I do not know what it looks like to have a large .45 revolver pointed at my face, to hear the hammer and cylinder notches engage and to see the cylinder full of fat silvery-lead bullets rotate, but he did and it evidently did not agree with him, for he ran off without a word.
I never saw him again.
I believed then and I believe now that he meant nothing good for me. I don't know what he intended to do if he got inside my home, but I don't believe he intended to preach the Gospel to me.
No shots were fired that night. No harm was done to anyone. I firmly believe that the reason no harm was done was because I was armed.
I believe that self-defense is a human right. That is why I am of the opinion that the Supreme Court got it right in D.C. vs. Heller.
I got no problems with keeping and bearing for home protection (I own a Mossberg pump-action 12 gauge) but I have no problem with as much regulation for guns as there are for automobiles. In some states it's far to easy to buy large quantities of weapons with little oversight. A lot of those guns end up on the streets in my state, in the hands of those criminal and unsavory. I have a big problems with paying for others' 2nd Amendment rights with the lives of our children.
ReplyDeleteFixer, the problem I have with that is that gun regulation has been used, from time to time, to deny people the right to own guns.
ReplyDeleteMy feeling is that if you have a problem with criminals, go after them. Pass a law; you commit a violent felony with a gun, you go away for ten years minimum of hard time, with no parole for the firearm component of the crime.
We have well over 100 million firearms in private hands in this country, they are not going to go away.
You had exactly the right gun to protect that doorway and yourself, tell that story often and loudly.
ReplyDeleteYou really sound solid, and infringe on my Right is anything that slows my bringing a weapon to bear on my target. I like laws that punish those that harm and hurt people and property - makes more sense than trying to take away carving knives and scissors.
"I do not know what it looks like to have a large .45 revolver pointed at my face, to hear the hammer and cylinder notches engage and to see the cylinder full of fat silvery-lead bullets rotate,"
ReplyDeleteProbably looks like staring into a 5 gallon bucket filled with liquid death.
Good on you, BTW. Never been there myself, hope I never am, but you handled yourself well it seems.
Now, gotta take Fixer to task here. :)
"I have no problem with as much regulation for guns as there are for automobiles"
Agreed. I bought my first vehicle when I was 15. I paid cash, no license required for the purchase. I operated it without a license on our private property for months. I took it off that property once I had a license for that, but I didn't need one to buy it.
I'm fine with guns being treated the same, but that's probably not the analogy you were going for.
The problem with trying to make the analogy you were aiming for is that there isn't a single other commonly owned product out there that fits it.
"In some states it's far to easy to buy large quantities of weapons with little oversight."
Well, since you're taking the position that those guns will be used by criminals I'm going to presume you're talking about handguns.
Federal law states that any gun dealer that sells more than 1 handgun to an individual in a 24 hour period has to submit another form to the ATF notifying them of multiple sales.
I don't consider notification of the feds when you buy a whopping TWO handguns at once to be "little oversight".
Sure, they could venture into the same gun shop every 48 hours and buy a single handgun each time, but don't you think the shop owner might notice that? These poor bastards can get taken to court if a customer writes "Y" in a box on the 4473 instead of "Yes." They tend to be very much interested in not drawing the ire of the feds.
Hell, I've been in a gun shop when all the clerks were atwitter when a fellow came in, tried to buy a revolver, was denied, and then showed up with his girlfriend to buy it for him. They were wise to his antics. Sale refused, GTFO.
"A lot of those guns end up on the streets in my state, in the hands of those criminal and unsavory. "
No. They don't. The mean time between a gun being sold at an FFL and it actually being involved in a crime is about 10 years. Your average gang banger isn't sending his girlfriend with no record to the gun shop to buy 30-something pistols for him and his buddies to be used in a crime next week.
"I have a big problems with paying for others' 2nd Amendment rights with the lives of our children."
Go find another crusade then. Check the CDC stats on child deaths. Accidental deaths of children by firearms have been on the decline for decades. They rank below pools for crying out loud.
No. They don't. The mean time between a gun being sold at an FFL and it actually being involved in a crime is about 10 years. Your average gang banger isn't sending his girlfriend with no record to the gun shop to buy 30-something pistols for him and his buddies to be used in a crime next week.
ReplyDeleteNo, he isn't. Some yahoo is buying 30 some-odd guns at a show in Virginia and selling them to the gang bangers. This isn't something I pulled out my ass, it's fact. Most of the guns involved in crimes in NY were bought out of state, mainly in the south, and brought up here illegally.
The problem with trying to make the analogy you were aiming for is that there isn't a single other commonly owned product out there that fits it.
Correct. No commonly owned product is as lethal, just by picking it up and pointing it at someone. The history of a gun, and the background of the people, and a record of every time it was sold, who've owned it should be permanent.
I see too many penis-challenged idiots who think a gun makes them powerful and are all too willing to use them. I know too many people who violate NY's carry laws regularly. Another problem that's almost impossible to combat before tragedy strikes.
I'm not saying guns should be outlawed, but all should be registered and owners forced to demonstrate their proficiency and responsibility.
And just a note to those who think their owning a gun will keep the 'government' and 'black helicopters' at bay: If the government decides to take your gun away, there will be nothing you can do about it. If you think there is, I'll remind you of it when they pry it out of your 'cold dead hands'.
New York's carry laws are part of the problem. NY is a "may issue" state; issuance of a carry permit is discretionary. The reality is that other than security businesses, nobody in NYC can get a carry permit without being politically connected. Upstate, it is wholly discretionary with the sheriff and the county judge who signs off on the permit.
ReplyDeleteMany other states do it far better, including Connecticut, which is a "shall issue" state (and has been so for many decades), does not have a problem with CCW permit holders turning its streets into free-fire zones.
New York's gun laws are rooted more in racism and classism than any desire to control crime. The whole reason the Sullivan Act was passed was to keep guns out of the hands of immigrants and Blacks.