When I hear the phrase “Gun Control” I think of three things

1. Keep it handy – Know where it is and practice getting it. Keep your weapon in an easy to reach spot where you are most likely to need it. In an interior cabinet or closet, 20 or more feet from the front door is best, hanging above the door with a spare clip. Out of reach of children, but within the reach of an adult. If you really need to have a trigger lock, keep that key on your person, on a chain around your neck.

2. Use an appropriate caliber -  big guns and “stopping power” are a fallacy… a controllable weapon is an effective  weapon. 44 caliber,  357 caliber and even 45 caliber handguns require a bit of training to handle effectively. Stick with, 22, 25 or 38 caliber handguns, semi-automatic or revolvers… big guns are hard to aim after the first shot unless you drill with them often. Remember, any shooter’s aim goes off when they are experiencing “return fire,” no matter what the caliber. That, and a hit with even a 22 caliber bullet is going to fuck up your assailant’s whole day.

3. Aiming under stress – go to the range and take a wife, husband, child or friend and have them yell & scream a bunch of crazy shit at you while shooting target practice. Have them pitch tennis balls at your head while firing target practice. When the time comes to use your gun, it ain’t going to be some sterile calm environment. It’ll be the most chaotic event imaginable, train for that chaotic event.

Remember, guns don’t kill people, good aim does! God forbid it ever comes to that, but the 2^ndamendment was incorporated into the US constitution to keep the individual, their families,  their communities and the nation as a whole, safe. Safe from foreign and/or domestic enemies. Control your weapon, control your life.

“Amendment 2 – Right to Bear Arms. Ratified 12/15/1791.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the

people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

The other reason that the 2^ndamendment was incorporated into the US constitution was to give out of control (out of civilian control / voter control) governments pause before disobeying the will of the people, that our constitution not only gives us the right, but also the responsibility, to remove any government who is not protecting and defending all of the constitution and the lives, liberty and welfare of our own citizens.

Every American should read and understand the founding document of this country, i.e. the Constitution of the United States of America http://www.usconstitution.net/const.pdf

That all being said, I am all for reasonable “gun controls” in as much as there is a need to keep guns out of the hands of violent convicted felons, or medically/ psychologically  certifiable people with mental illnesses, or even people with a professed and/or demonstrable predilection to harm individual persons, or the society as a whole.

Yet the fact remains that in comparison, traffic accidents, medical malpractice, and pharmaceutical drug reactions kill far more persons in the USA than does gun violence. Gun violence is just more shocking than are traffic accidents, medical malpractice, and pharmaceutical drug reactions. It is important to keep our perceptions in perspective when we think of “Gun Control.”

Do not be swayed by the “Shock Value” of any unfortunate gun related incidents. Could all of these things; traffic accidents, medical malpractice, pharmaceutical drug reactions and gun violence benefit from closer scrutiny and thoughtful regulations? Sure, you bet, as long as it is done with sane, non-knee-jerk reactions.

Just thinking out loud,

Den