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
I’m with you on this. No sense in arming liberals especially ones as stupid as these.
Did she actually say that? /rhetorical
There. Fixed it for ya.
thanx! I knew I meant to say something like that.
I call Bullsh_t.
Found this, an honest to God study of Pediatric Autopsy reports in NC between 1999 and 2002:
"During the study period, 40 children died of firearm injuries. Mean age was 7.6 years. Handguns were responsible for the majority of deaths (59%) followed by shotguns (27%), rifles (10%), and undetermined cause (10%). Most deaths were homicides (67%) followed by unintentional death (18%), suicide (13%), and undetermined cause (2%). Most crime guns (76%) were purchased legally, and many (40%) had a time-to-crime of less than 3 years."
Using the 40 kids killed in 3 years infers about 13-14 kids a year die from guns in NC. Contrast to the average of 35 each year the drown. Where's the outcry to ban swimming?
A kid ran out in the street and was runover by a car. They shouldn’t let their grandkids live anywhere there’s a street, or moving vehicles.
“ GUN FREE ZONE”
As Ted Nugent pointed out, there are no "Gun Free Zones" only "Good-Guy Gun Free Zones".
Yep, she said it. Her other writings have been touchy-feely, sentimental stuff that will elicit a tear or a brief chuckle, but this is the first one that I can recall in which she reveals words totally unencumbered by the thought process.
Oh, she went farther than that. It was published on the front page of Section B of the local fishwrap, which even with a declining circulation, is still read by several thousand folks.
Oh, and chair wielding drunks, don’t try bashing down the door if my daughter’s home. She’ll put three in the ten ring in a blink of an eye. (She’s horrible at straight target shooting, but snap shots, just... Ahh, the Nintendo generation.)
I have done fairly extensive research on this issue. All the statistics sources I have found define "child" as either 19 or 24 years old. (that's right, 24!) I have found none that define child as 18 or younger. 'Child' is commonly defined by dictionaries as a 'person between birth and puberty' (around 13-14 years). Interestingly, the majority of violent crimes are committed by males ages 16-24. So, the 16-24 year old 'children' (including gang members) that are killed during the commission of violent crimes are included in this statistic.
A 9 year old should know better than that. I swear some kids today are so stupid around guns. I have been hunting since I was six years old. Whether or not we choose to hunt, our father taught us about guns. His number one rule: Every gun is a loaded gun. (Although his guns were always unloaded, he meant that we were to treat every gun as a loaded gun.)
How ‘bout that Glock!
I'd even edit that to:
"If you have kids you should have weapons."
That's responsible: you're those innocents' ultimate protector. In a societal breakdown, armed parents will be all that stands between their kids and predators who'd take those kids by force. Unarmed parents = vulnerable kids to the ruthless among us.
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.
OK, so that comes out to 49 children per year. Why use one year statistics for one thing (self-defense) and ten year statistics for the other (accidental shootings)? Simply to distort the truth to prove your point. That's called deception, or lying.
Probably more than guns.
Let me tell you.
Some do bad or careless things with guns.
Some wantonly butcher the English paragraph.
I am not calling for offenders to be shot.
Hanged, electrocuted, gassed, impaled, or thrown out windows.
But they should be heavily fined for touching any keyboard.
The fine to double upon each subsequent conviction.
(Reserving the graver penalties for those attempting poetry).
Which will stop them cold.
And deter others.
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