After witnessing several videos on YouTube of people being irresponsible, we have decided to release a podcast episode on Gun Control. This will be an interesting topic as there is a great divide on supporters and opposers.
About three-quarters (72%) of gun owners say that protection is a major reason they own a gun. Considerably smaller shares say that a major reason they own a gun is for hunting (32%), for sport shooting (30%), as part of a gun collection (15%) or for their job (7%)
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/09/13/key-facts-about-americans-and-guns/
If we look at some of the legislation passed in recent years, especially in states like California, it seems like when the punishment of crimes is reduced, the desire for people to own guns increases. Looking at the data, gun-owners has risen by about 5% in the last few years. It’s worth noting, that this could be relevant solely to the performance of the survey and not an actual increase in gun-owners, but an increase in responses, however we will assume the data is accurate.
Why do people purchase guns?
People mostly purchase guns for protection as mentioned above, but why do they feel the need? If we lived in a society where the government is trusted more than it is today, where the government offered a bit more transparency and didn’t seemingly hide behind the curtains of politics and/or distractions, we believe there would be less gun-owners. If the majority of people purchase guns for protection, then that insinuates there is a lack of protection by public service. Personally, I can relate to this. When I was younger, there was a threat to the family where weapons were involved and we had called the police, only for the police to arrive 30-45 minutes after the call was made and the aggressors had left. Once the police arrived, they “took a report” and that was the end of it. Tensions continued as those folks still lived in the neighborhood, so we saw them on a regular basis. In hindsight, if we had owned a gun, we could then defend our yard, and in Texas, we could defend it legally (the aggressors were trying to kill our dog who was leashed to a tree out front).
When is it reasonable to use a firearm? Where is this applicable?
Texas has the “Castle Doctrine” which I personally strongly support:
These “protection” statutes specifically permit the use of force when the other party enters or attempts to enter with force into your residence, your car, or your place of employment, or attempts to forcibly remove you from any of these places. Force is also justified when you witness another person or persons committing or attempting to commit aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated robbery.
The use of force is not permitted when you are only verbally provoked in the absence of force, when you provoke the other party, or when you yourself are in the process of committing a criminal activity.
https://mccrimlaw.com/criminal-law-101/gun-usage-self-defense-texas/
It’s very important to understand that last paragraph; just because someone verbally provokes you, does not permit the use of a weapon. Remember one of the golden lessons they give you in school, and that is to de-escalate and walk away if possible. Here comes a grey area though; if the person follows you, are you then in imminent danger? How close can the aggressor get before you’re justified in self-defense? That’s debatable, and would be up to the courts to decide if your actions were justifiable. Now in the matters of it becoming physical — No questions asked, defend yourself before you lose the ability to.
As far as self-defense goes, I think it’s important to realize what began the situation. Were you just road-raging someone and you pulled over because they flagged you to stop? Did you yell at someone on the street for something? If you created the situation, then you should deal with the consequences. This inlies the problem with gun-ownership. There are manufactured situations by gun-owners that then use their weapon as “self-defense”. Look, you don’t go tell the biggest guy at the bar you’ll whoop his butt, and then pull a weapon on the guy when he’s beating you to death (not literally). This is someone who should not own a gun. You reap what you sow, you make the bed you lay in. These are the kind of people that give gun ownership a bad name.
Reduced Punishment for Crimes
When I watch the news and I see trespassing and robbery almost being permitted – I am inclined to purchase a firearm. If the authorities cannot protect me, then I must do so on my own. The most important thing to me is my family’s safety. I think that a lot of us agree, that if our family were in danger, the law would not prevent us from protecting our family.
Higher levels of firearm ownership were associated with higher levels of firearm assault
https://www.csus.edu/faculty/m/fred.molitor/docs/firearms%20and%20violent%20crime.pdf
and firearm robbery. There was also a significant association between firearm ownership and firearm
homicide, as well as overall homicide.
We get studies such as the one cited above, and we presume that more guns equals more crime. I challenge the contrary; more crimes = more guns. If you live in a high-income neighborhood, there will be less crime, and less gun-owners. If you feel safe, you won’t feel the need to protect yourself on your own. I’ll give an example which is what made me purchase a self-defense firearm to begin with: I live in a fairly quiet neighborhood (not high-income either), and one day my spouse and I went to Austin to get some food from a taco truck down in the more sketchy side of town. While we were there at the taco truck, there were two men constantly sizing us up. Watching what form of payment we used, looking at the car we drove, etc. This raises the hairs on the back of your neck – your intuition can detect a potential situation. One of the men came and asked us if we had any money to give him to which we declined, but the staring from them continued. As we sat down at one of the tables to eat (outside seating), we could see their area where they were standing in which there were beer cans, needles, and their personal belongings. Now, this is what I don’t like. People can already be crazy, but when under the influence of drugs or alcohol, they can be completely unpredictable. I fluffed my feathers so to speak, and they didn’t bother us much anymore beyond the occasional glance. Nothing came of the situation, but being it was myself, my wife, and my step-daughter; I ask myself if things would have gone differently if I weren’t there as the protector. This thought is what brought me to buy a firearm for my spouse. The moral of the story: If you feel that you are in danger, you will take steps to gain your safety or provide your own.
Immaturity
Now I get into the immature gun-owners. The ones that often times illegally own a gun, and they have zero-regard for the consequences of their actions. One great example being the videos I’ve seen on YouTube of people firing their guns into the air for New Years or just to get views. Furthermore, doing such a thing in a populated area. This is absurd, and should be met with extreme punishment such as an attempted homicide, or manslaughter. When you fire a weapon, you should know precisely where the round will go. You should be considerate of ricochet, line of fire, and the possibilities of unintended injury to the non-involved. I saw a video of a woman protecting herself from a road-rager that reached into her car window and she opened fire, hitting the assailant and the non-involved person in the vehicle behind him. Now, she wasn’t charged any crimes because it was valid self-defense, and I agree with this, but there is caution you want to exercise even in tense moments which thus brings value to getting training. I personally would not be able to live with myself, having killed an innocent person trying to protect myself. Note: the innocent person didn’t die, but they were injured. I am more in-line with laying my life down for another, not trying to take an innocent life to defend my own.
Conclusion
There are a lot of things to consider regarding gun-control. It is also very important to realize the data we receive, and consider why the results of the data are what they are. Logically, there will be more gun crimes in an area where more people possess guns – but does this area already have a naturally higher crime rate? What kinds of people own these guns, and what is their purpose for owning them? If gun laws are implemented, would that reduce the guns that criminals possess, or would it be like the war on drugs. Drugs are illegal, but they are everywhere. So much so, that it’s barely even punishable because the justice system would be overwhelmed. Those who abide by the law, will they be more protected or less protected with gun laws? What sort of legislation could be passed to deter gun-ownership? These are the kinds of questions we must ask ourselves.
As for myself, I am pro-guns. I am a law-abiding citizen, and my goal is to protect myself and my family. I do not wish any harm on anyone, and I’d do everything in my power to circumvent the use of a weapon, however if the situation demands it, I will not have any hesitation. I believe the wrong people are being attacked for owning weapons. I also believe there should be stiffer penalties for reckless discharge of a firearm, illegal possession of a firearm, and better legislation for searching for illegally possessed firearms.
Let me know what you think in the comments. As mentioned above, I will be creating a podcast episode regarding the views on gun ownership and the laws that govern it, and the proposals that are being made by our politicians today.
