Posted on 07/31/2007 4:11:14 PM PDT by DeFault User
1 less gun for grandkids to worry about DANNYE ROMINE POWELL "Maybe we should buy a gun," I told my husband.
As I waited for him to answer, I listened to the birds chirping. I looked toward the sky, hoping for rain.
"No, we shouldn't," he said finally.
"Listen to this," I said, picking up Sunday's paper. I read aloud from the front-page story, "Forced to Kill," about four Charlotte people who had each shot someone trying to protect themselves.
The killings were legal. Necessary. The police said so.
I could slip instantly into the shoes of one south Charlotte man, who woke to the sound of the doorbell seven years ago. When he heard loud banging, he grabbed a revolver and ran downstairs.
A young man had thrown an iron patio chair against the window, shattering the glass. The older man fired two safety shots. When the young man swung the chair again, the older man aimed a third time and fired, killing the intruder.
I could imagine us in the exact situation -- without a gun -- defenseless.
Not in my house
"Can't you see that happening to us?" I said."Sure, I can," my husband said. "But we have an alarm system. And we're not getting a gun."
"Your reason?"
"Two reasons," he said. "Our granddaughters."
That stopped me cold.
About 200 people in the United States kill someone each year in self-defense.
But how many die each year -- innocently -- from guns?
Let me tell you.
In the 10 years ending in 2006, 486 children under age 18 in North Carolina, alone, died from gun-related injuries.
Amazing the figure is that low, considering that 82,000 kids in this state are exposed each year to unsafely stored firearms.
Thanks to my husband's unruffled thinking, our grandchildren won't be among them -- not in our house.
Unforgettable near miss
Our conversation triggered a memory, one I usually manage to tamp down.
I was 9 years old, visiting a neighbor a year or so older, whose father had been a colonel in World War II.
Her mother ran out to the grocery store, leaving us alone for about half an hour.
As soon as she'd pulled away, my friend unearthed her father's gun -- a relic from the war -- ornate, as I recall. Official-looking, heavy.
It's not loaded, she said, pointing the gun at me.
We sat there, each of us cross-legged in our chair, about eight feet apart. She tried to squeeze the trigger.
I felt no fear. She'd said it wasn't loaded. Why doubt her?
She squeezed and squeezed, still pointing. The trigger didn't budge. When she heard her mother in the driveway, she ran to put the gun back.
My friend called the next day, tearful. Her father had found her out, and spanked her. The gun, she whispered, had been loaded after all.
I sat speechless, the phone to my ear.
She was lucky. I was luckier.
In our house, we'll remain unarmed.
Defenseless is better than discovering someone we love dead.
IN MY OPINION Dannye Romine Powell
Only 200 a year? How many people show the gun to the criminal and save themselves a mugging or worse?
“In our house, we’ll remain unarmed.
Defenseless is better than discovering someone we love dead.”
IN MY OPINION Dannye Romine Powell
It’s not an either/or choice. Perhaps she is liberal and not thinking this through. If the gun is stored properly, the kids wouldn’t play with it in the first place.
Secondly, she is thinking too much about that incident when she was a little girl and thinking that if there is a gun in her house, even if safely stored and unloaded, that her granddaughters will discover it and play with it. Children need to be taught that a gun is not a toy.
As for me and mine: If anyone wants to invade this home, they better pray they get the drop on me.
Because if they don't I'll blow their heads clean off.
Some estimates put the number at more than 2 million. Most go unreported, which makes it very hard to come up with a true number.
My grandpa was a Milwaukee police officer. My dad was a nosy only child who’s dad had told him many times about the dangers of guns. He would sneak into look at his dad’s gun, then put it away. The cigars were more dangerous for my dad. He actually tried using those, got himself sick and burned a hole in the carpet.
Dannye,
I’m sorry you married a queer.
Larry
And given that horrendous case that just hit the news this week, I guess she'd rather see her husband nearly killed, and her and the granddaughters tied up, beaten, raped, and set on fire with gasoline? Not having protection leaves you no options.
Dannye is a very atypical name (and spelling is even more atypical) for a person growing up in the late 40’s early fifties and now a grandma.
Leads me to believe the story might just be made up.
My 10,000 guess would just be for North Carolina children during that period.
Twisted tortured logic.
Good for them. Anyone who is that ignorant about guns shouldn’t own one.
WTF is a "SAFETY SHOT"?????
Does she mean "Warning Shot" ??
Not something taught at any gun class I've been to..
That'll get you sued in a heartbeat not to mention the manslaughter charge when your "SAFETY SHOT" takes out a toddler next door..
the woman is a certified "TWIT"
I guess they’re going to give up their car. I mean, how may children die in car accidents every year?
If you have kids you must be responsible and secure your weapons.
What a damned coward of a grandfather.
...... Guess folks would rather die after watching their daughters , wives or loved one tortured, raped and killed. Such as that Doctor last week who lost his wife and daughters to just such a home invasion.
Firearms are simple tools, misuse a tool, any tool, and you get hurt. Educate, train, try before you buy aka practice practice practice and then and only then buy whats best for you and your spouse.
The link to the revolver modification below is one I used when I purchased my girlfriends Mom her first firearm for self defense. The “ring” one wears make the revolver 100% safe to all but the person who is wearing said ring. I have known LEO’s who have this to survive a weapon being taken from them in a fight etc ....... The revolver is useless without the ring.
http://www.tarnhelm.com/magna-trigger/gun/safety/magna1.html
Link above if for those who can’t “fear” that they can’t keep their kids totally safe from such tools used for self defense.
Overzealous “locker uppers” are sometimes worse than the anti-gun bunch.
If gun locks are so great, why don’t you ever see one on an officers’ service weapon?
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