Guns are a contridiction to what I think is right

Let’s have another lengthy random thought. Its been a while.

Firearms. Guns. Rifles. Shotguns. Pistols. Revolvers. Machine guns. What ever you may call them and what ever type you may enjoy most, they are very interesting to me.
Whether or not you may like them. They are certainly here to stay.

However, the fundamental premise of firearms as weapons is ultimately a contradiction to what I believe to be true, correct, and right in the world.

Many of the world’s Holy books make claims to Man’s soul and connectedness to each other, whether that belief be Buddhism, Christianity, or Islam. Whether or not the details of these texts be true (which I strongly doubt, if not out right dismiss), they all have a single basic premise, love.

One of our lost spiritual leaders Bill Hicks once said “we are all one consciences experiences itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is but a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves...”. That is not a subscription to a religion, but a spiritual belief. That is not a subscription to a hierarchical institution to influence beliefs, not a fear based doctrine, but a loving belief created from personal experience.

I am yet to have such an experience; however I would like to think that we are all connected by more than just common ancestry. However the human species does not act as if we were interconnected in any sense. The human race acts as if we are separate and without the slightest and most insignificant relation. Even something as factual and fundamental like common ancestry does not seem to positively influence behavior.

There are people in far away places killing each other over differing beliefs. Not important or tangible beliefs like the geometry of the world, but silly things like which descendant of Abraham to follow.
There are people in far away places killing each other’s tribes over old family feuds. There are people in not so far away places killing each other over the turf of the street. There are people in not so far away places willing to kill over your wallet.
There are a select few people placed all over the world with their fingers on a key and over a red button ready and willing to end the human race in a nuclear holocaust. The world has possessed the ability to end complex life on the planet for well over half a century. The world has been within minutes of a nuclear holocaust on more than one occasion.

The members of the human race has invested so much in discovering and developing new ways to harm and kill each other. Popular television shows show and fascinate people with these new weapons of death and destruction.

Nuclear weapons can destroy the world.
Chemical weapons will kill the unprotected the civilian and leave infrastructure untouched.
Biological weapons have the power to end the human race as we know it.
There are missiles designed to destroy bunkers.
There are bombs designed to destroy the most heavily armored vehicles in existence.
There are countless weapons designed to inflict pain, suffering, and death on fellow human beings. But for what purpose?
Millions of Americans have the ability to end another’s life with a pull of the trigger. A small but notable minority take advantage of that.

I like firearms, but to think that someone could use such a weapon against another person or group of people is truly frightening. In that context, the idea of owning firearms is rather creepy.
Especially when considering the extent of which I and many other people go to make a firearm more efficient as a deadly weapon. Whether it be a light, a laser, hi capacity magazines, special ammunition for enhanced lethality. I am certainly guilty of all of these actions.

Would the creation and proliferation of weapons be considered a loving action? I would idealistically think not.

I would like to think that people are sensible and reasonable.
I would like to think that people are not violent.
I would like to think that people can solve issues with their minds and not by the trigger of a gun.

However, I know full well that not every is reasonable.
I know not everyone is non-violent.
I know not everyone chooses to use the ability of reason of violence.

For that reason, even though the premise of a self-defensive firearm is one of violence, it is a necessary evil. The belief that we are all one and inseparatable is valid and practical, and a good rule to live by.

However it is foolish to relinquish the ability to react should you be found in a situation where that belief is not understood by all parties, most importantly the parties with the ability to injure and mane.

For those reasons the idea of owning a weapon, as creepy as it may seem, seems justifiable in the light of reality. I would much rather know I have the means of self-preservation than to relinquish that ability in the disappointingly unrealistic world of “hope”.

I would go so far as to say it is a person’s personal duty to ensure they have and retain that ability.

So yeah. Guns are fun, however they are not toys perse’. They are weapons and all of the creepiness and negativity that goes with such a thing.. However a necessary evil for those with the right hands.

/End of philosophical thought.

 

Sure like your guns don't you?

 

Its a double edged sword.

I enjoy them, yet at the same time the idea of a firearm, and the idea of the reason why I own a few of them, is very easily considered to be creepy in my mind.

 

As long as there are responsible people around guns, I'm not worried. Am I safer walking around the armed camp of Switzerland, with its many machine guns and automatic rifles, than I would be in the dangerous parts of London, where there are fewer-but-illegal guns in the hands of urban punks?

Guns have not evolved than much in 100 years. The 1911 Colt is still going to kill about as many people in its original form, as it would in its 2012 advanced state of upgrades. That last most significant improvement in rifles was the MP-44 assault rifle during WW2. In trained hands, these will kill about as well as anything new (at least in daylight.)

I worry about the people where I'm at, not what type of gun they might have. And so I have fewer worries, I stay out of the bad areas with bad people as much as I can.

 

Interesting and thought-provoking piece, Wolverine. Thanks for posting.

 

Reality and what we strive for or should be striving for are often times in conflict with one another. In a perfect world, everyone would love on another and there would be no gun violence. In a perfect world, there would still be guns. They still serve a purpose even if some don't see it or agree with it.

Unfortunately a perfect world is not obtainable. We should never stop striving for it, but we need to let reality temper our decisions and not blind faith in our fellow man's desire for a perfect world being as strong as our own. Human nature is what it is. The idealists among us believe they can fundamentally change it through education, fiat and/or law. They can't. History proves this.

 

Nice post wolverine. I think those sentiments probably resonate with alot of folks, myself included. I stopped being a gun owner for many year EXACTLY for that sentiment.

To patriot911, I wanted to disagree with you about the perfect world not having any guns, but I believe that in a perfect world guns would likely have been invented for hunting purposes. I do doubt that they would've developed to the point/lethality they are now.

Human conflict is the quantum leap for weapon development.

 

Yes it is creepy — creepy that some dangerous intruder could break into your house and threaten the lives of your children, creepy that someday the government might turn on its own citizens and take away all their freedoms.

But most people just own firearms for recreational purposes, to go out to the shooting range, or going hunting. Nothing "creepy" about that — unless you are a radical vegan animal rights activist of course!

So how do you feel about abortion? Isn't it a lot harder to feel "comfortable" about abortion than about owning firearms?

 

Interesting post....I think of a gun as a tool for killing. It can be used to kill animals for meat or to protect oneself from predators whether they be human or wild animals. Guns are very efficient at killing and owning one is not a guarantee that will not the threatened by another with a gun. Killing is not always evil however, murder is always evil. Life and death are facts of life, personally, I want every advantage and tool I need to survive.

 

Gun control liberals would prefer that the government be the only ones with the power to kill.
That line of thinking, of course, is very dependant on how reliant you want to be on the government to take care of you, and how much trust you put in your government.

In many less populated regions or high crime areas, it is just unrealistic to expect the police to be able to protect you.