While gun-control advocates scream for more gun laws, Americans are lining up to purchase firearms in unprecedented numbers. Criminal background checks have been recorded with monthly figures topped only by successive months. American citizens across the nation are arming themselves like never before.
With gun control in crosshairs of many, it seems appropriate to discuss the merits of gun control, but not in the traditional sense. Law-abiding, responsible American gun owners – be they city dwellers or living off the grid – should be able to agree to two types of gun control: 1) Keeping guns inaccessible to those that shouldn’t have them, and 2) Hitting your target.
The first one is easy. When not in use, guns should be locked up and a good gun safe will take care of that, but even trigger locks are better than nothing.
The second point can be problematic for new shooters, and since there are so many coming on board, here are some tips.
Get shooting instructions from an experienced teacher. In golf, for example, if you want to be as good as your brother in-law, take lessons from him; if you want to beat your brother in-law, seek out a good teaching professional. Learn correctly from the start.
Take a concealed pistol class – even if you plan not to carry in public – so that you will understand your lawful rights. Understand that there can be a heavy price for ignorance, so consider that when you weigh the cost of a class.
Become intimately familiar with any firearm you choose for self-defense. A good instructor will be able to help you understand a gun’s functions, but it’s your job to learn them through diligent practice.
Consider laser sighting devices in addition to primitive factory sights. Short-barreled handguns are inherently difficult to aim. Laser sights give a person the ability to see a point of aim and to acquire a target from almost any shooting position instantly. In addition, with an unloaded firearm during practice sessions, even your brother in-law will be able to observe what happens when you pull the trigger.
In closing, realists understand that guns are not going away and neither are gun owners by any stretch of mass imagination. They also realize that bad actors walk among us – the innocent – and as much as anyone may rely on law enforcement to prevent violence, it simply is not possible. In fact, the following case law proves the police cannot be held responsible to stop crime.
Ms. Gonzales of Castle Rock, Colorado had notified police that her estranged husband had violated a protection order and had kidnapped the couple’s three young daughters. Mr. Gonzales then phoned to tell her that their three daughters were with him at a Denver location. Ms. Gonzales promptly conveyed this crucial information to the police. The police failed to act before Mr. Gonzales entered the police station, shooting a gun, with the bodies of the dead young ladies in the back of his truck. The police killed him on the spot.
The legal case of Castle Rock v. Gonzales went to the U.S. Supreme Court to determine responsibility and in June 2005 it was ruled that the police do not have a constitutional duty to protect a person from harm.
Citizen gun owners can be the first line of defense when failure to act is no option and the tens of millions of respectable firearms owners are not about to do that. And, that’s the way it is – at least from one realist’s viewpoint.
