I Am a Woman With a Gun

I Am a Woman With a Gun

I am a woman with a gun. Am I wrong? Am I right? Am I paranoid? Should anyone have a gun?

What are the answers to these simple, yet incredibly complex questions?

Let's start with the very first statement. I am a woman with a gun. Yes, yes I am.  I buy  from my local sporting goods store.  I, at times, carry my Ruger P95 9mm with a 3.9 inch- stainless steel barrel, black polymer grip with  a standard 15 round magazine, plus one in the chamber.  Other times I carry my Smith and Wesson model 65 revolver which can hold 6 rounds in either .357 caliber or .38 special. 

What does all of that mean? First of all, it means...I am not a criminal. I went through the criminal background check, through a licensed firearm dealer as per federal regulations. Second, I Open Carry my sidearm...meaning that I wear it on my hip, openly, secured in it's holster. Were I a criminal, I most likely would hide it in the waist band of my jeans. Third, my magazine capacity of holding 15 rounds....is NOT a high capacity magazine...it is simply a standard size. 

Am I wrong? Well, that depends. Am I wrong for knowing and understanding that there truly is evil in the world? That evil really does exist?Am I wrong for noticing one small thing everyone else seems to overlook? Take a few moments one day and go to youtube and watch news videos of reporters interviewing people who have either survived a tragic incident, witnessed a tragic incident or are simply nearby when one occurs. What is the first thing they say? Usually one of three things will ALWAYS occur. As I say to my children...look for the pattern.

They all will say 

1.  I never thought "that" (whatever tragic occurrence they are discussing) could happen here!

OR 2.  Things like that don't happen around here, they happen somewhere else!

OR 3.  It can't really be happening.

Am I one of those people? While I may in fact encounter some horrible occurrence in my lifetime someday and wish it hadn't happened, I will know why it happened. It happened because no matter where we live, or how much money we make, or what we drive, where we work, how we behave, how much we are loved or how much we love...bad things can and do happen.

 People who are morally corrupt, who lack compassion or empathy...or just simple love and respect for their fellow beings on planet Earth also exist. They are, thankfully not common, but they are around...they simply exist. Fortunately, those who would see ALL life as precious and worth saving far outweigh the number of the aforementioned people. 

The simple fact is, evil does exist. Am I wrong to know this? Am I wrong to know that I could be called upon to help save a person, help save people, help save a child, my family or myself. I don't think I am wrong. 

Am I right? That also depends. Am I right for knowing the above? I do believe that I am. I am right in believing that should, heaven forbid I ever need too, I have a God given right to protect myself. Do I ever want to be in a situation where I am forced into an age old battle of "right vs wrong"? Absolutely not. Carrying my gun does not make me want to kill. It does not make me want to commit robbery. It does not make me want to randomly shoot people. What it does make me however, is at least a little safer.

The bottom line is that my sidearm is nothing but a tool. It sits on my belt. It does nothing. It sits there. That is all. Were I a carpenter, and my sidearm a hammer...it still would do nothing. If I needed to pound a nail, I would grab my hammer, use it...and put it away. If I have an accident I would pull my insurance card out and put a call into the agency.  If I NEEDED to use my sidearm to protect me or others...I would grab it and hopefully just the sight of it would stop a would be assassin....and then I would put it away and give my statements to the police when they arrive between 2 and 20 minutes later. 

Am I paranoid? To some the answer would be a unanimous YES!! Maybe even to you. But what is the line between common sense, personal responsibility and liberty and paranoia? I consider the line for paranoia far from where I sit right now. I do not look for trouble, nor do I cause it. I do not WANT anything bad to happen. I do not look around with the eyes of a cornered rabbit expecting imminent demise around every corner.

I DO however, take a second when I step outside from wal-mart. I don't just aim at my car and walk into oncoming traffic as you know you have seen countless others do. I also DO take those few moments to look around me when I walk in a dark parking lot. As a woman, if I have to park in a dark parking lot, I try to be close to the door, close to lights.

That does not make me paranoid, it simply makes me a safer woman. I don't make sure that EVERY time I sit in a restaurant or tavern my back "is to the wall". But I do remain aware of the goings on and the people around me. It behooves every person to be aware. It is simple common sense.

Finally, should anyone have a gun? ABSOLUTELY not...Some people should not own a butter knife, much less a gun.  There are people among us who are a few crayons short of a box, who are a few cards short, lacking in the common sense department, lacking in the morals department, in empathy, in compassion...etc.

Those people as we have discussed, already exist, and the current background check system can and DOES weed those people out. Criminals as well should not have a firearm. I'm not talking a criminal who stole $40 bucks from his mom and got turned in, or who was 17 and his girlfriend was 16 1/2  and got turned in...I'm not even talking about the guy that got caught with a personal bag of weed. 

I'm talking about the criminals who walk free among us, committing the same crimes over and over. The criminals who don't really give a damn who they hurt...and still they are let free by a flawed judicial system. Those kind of people NEED to be incarcerated. 

I am a woman, I own a gun. I am still a woman, I simply have a tool. I am still a woman, and at night I want to snuggle into my man's arms and sleep. I am still a woman and I want to watch my babies grow up and laugh with them. I am still a woman, I want to sleep late on Sunday's, eat cereal and watch cartoons on Saturday with the kids. I want to drink Pabst Blue Ribbon with my man on Friday night.

I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want to be hurt by anyone. I don't want to have to make a decision that will impact mine and others lives forever. I also am NOT now and will not be a victim. I will not stand idly by and make my self puke to 'gross someone out' so they will leave me alone. I will not stand there and shit myself for the same reason.

What I will do, as the woman that I am is stand my ground and say NO! I am NOT your victim. I will not stand idly by when a sexual offender is breaking into my home bent on hurting one of my beautiful and precious children. I will not stand idly by when you are being attacked by a thug on a street corner. I will not stand idly by when one of the officers who are sworn to protect us is on  the losing side of a fight with a 'bad guy'. I will not stand idly by while 'heathens' would try to pull your beautiful wife or girlfriend into an alley...and you have been attacked.

I am a woman. A woman of empathy, of compassion, of love. A woman of peace. A woman. A mother. A sister. A friend. A lover. I am a woman, not a victim. Does my gun assure me of this, that I will NEVER be a victim. NO of course not. But it goes a long way to helping, for being a simple tool made of steel and plastic.