"Gun crime"

(free photo from Pexels/Kat Wilcox)

I've lost count of the times people have insisted my feelings about guns would change if someone I knew was a victim of a "gun crime". This shows their ignorance. And even if my "feelings" did change, the truth doesn't.

I've had three close friends shot by bad guys. Two of them died as a result. Do I blame the guns? That would be as pointless and stupid as blaming cars for my daughter Cheyenne's death.

In one case, my friend was shot in the head by an angry ex who had been in and out of mental institutions. While she sat at a red light. I don't think she ever knew he was in a car next to her. She probably wouldn't have been saved if she'd had a gun-- which she was in the process of trying to get government permission to carry. But it wouldn't have made things worse. Making it harder for her to "legally" carry a gun didn't help her.

In another case, a friend was shot in a mugging. He didn't hand over enough money (he handed over all he had, the mugger just didn't think it was enough) and then tried to elbow the excited mugger. He survived. Since he was not situationally aware, was in a dangerous place at a bad time of night, having a gun might not have done him any good. But if he'd had a gun it wouldn't have made things worse for him. And, just maybe things would have gone worse for the mugger-- who was never identified or caught.

In the final example, a friend of mine, my closest teenage friend, was shot in the gut "accidentally" and left to bleed out for an hour or more until a witness finally decided to call an ambulance. It was too late. According to the shooter, it was accidental. But I don't believe my friend would have held a gun by the barrel while handing it to someone-- he was more careful than that. Although I also think drugs, possibly a drug deal gone bad, were involved. If it was really an accident, then his having a gun wouldn't have helped. If, however, it was a murder, then perhaps he could have defended himself had he been armed. Either way, having a gun wouldn't have made it worse for him.

It's so dumb to separate "gun crime" (or worse, "gun violence") from other archation. I'm opposed to the innocent being harmed or killed regardless of the tool used by the bad guy. I wouldn't feel better had my friends been violated with fists, bricks, knives, boots, or "laws".

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