Thirty-Something Soccer Mom

 Have you ever wondered why conservatives are so opposed to limitation and regulation of our 2nd amendment rights?  Have you ever asked them why?

In recent years our nation has become divided on many social and political issues.   The anger and enmity that brew between us is a result of our inability to see things from the other persons point of view. 

We all have our own reasons and unique life experiences that shape our thoughts, beliefs and perspectives.  Even if you don’t agree with someones reason or opinion on an issue it doesn’t make their perspective or ideology any less legitimate. When we seek to understand those reasons, we may find that the divide between us isn’t as massive as we’d believed.  

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This week I came across an interaction on social media that clearly expressed both sides of the gun debate.  It began with the following question posed in response to this weeks  mass shooting in Las Vegas.

Here’s the question:

I know lots of people who own guns. As far as I’m concerned none of them are mentally ill, disturbed or anything like that…So if you own guns and you want to continue to own guns and you’re not crazy, why would you oppose stronger laws that would lessen the likelihood of a crazy person buying guns? You are not crazy so it wouldn’t affect your life in any way. The day after the law passed you’d still be able to walk into your favorite gun shop and buy more guns. So why work so hard to oppose something that has a chance to prevent some future act of needless violence?

Most would agree this is a legitimate question.

Another Facebook user* respectfully responded to his question with an explanation that  most anti-gun advocates don’t typically hear.  I’m sharing portions of his response (supplemented by my own comments) for those who legitimately want to understand the millions of Americans who (even in the face of extreme gun violence) continue to oppose the limitation or regulation of our 2nd Amendment Rights.  

American Flag with Rifle | by Geoffrey Coelho Photography

Why Conservatives won’t give up their guns…

The second amendment was created by our founders as a check and balance on our federal government.  It was also put in place to ensure that citizens knew how to handle firearms and could be well versed and accurate in their shooting so that if the need ever arose for a Citizen Militia to be raised, they could. Obviously, this is what occurred during the Revolutionary War. Citizens were called on and brought their weapons to fight against the British as they were needed.   The fact that the founders felt it necessary to put this protection as the 2nd Amendment after the First Amendment which protects free speech shows how important they felt it was.

The truth is this: If one were to raise a militia to protect citizens from an oppressive regime (or an invading force) what would be the minimum that they would need as a foot soldier to fight against a modern army? Imagine if the Colonialists had no guns? Could they have ever defeated the British?

When people say we should have more background checks, register guns and put limits on those who can have guns this gives power over these guns to the federal government, the exact people that they are supposed to protect us from. Once the federal government can call someone mentally ill, what stops them from calling a Republican or a Democrat mentally ill? (Many on my Facebook feed already do.)

If you register guns and do background checks the federal government knows exactly where to come and get your guns if they decide they want to. They also know how many and what type of guns you have. These are very slippery slopes from a Constitutional standpoint. Many conservatives are very concerned about this.

Obviously right now it seems that our government is perfectly stable and there is no chance of a need to defend ourselves. But historically speaking there are countless times when governments have confiscated guns, and as a result citizens were helpless to defend themselves agains the rising evil of a corrupt leader or an outside invasion. Hitler’s Germany is a perfect example of this.  

We often judge the Germans for not standing up to Hitler and his regime but how could they have?  One of the first things he did was to disarm the German people.  All citizens first had to “register” their guns.  Later those who were deemed unfit to own them (Jews, Communists, etc.) had their guns confiscated.  In time, the entire populace had their guns confiscated.  It was a slippery slope that ended in an entire country being completely disarmed and powerless in standing up to his Gestapo. Many historians believe that this played a huge part in paving the way for Hitlers Genocide.  I’m not saying that I think this is likely or could happen today, but if you want to understand the reason for conservatives opposition to gun laws and registrations this is the reason.

The founders knew that innocent people would be killed by guns, they debated it thoroughly and decided that it was worth the cost of some innocent blood in order for there to be the check and balance on the central government that it was designed to be. They probably never imagined mad-men shooting up schools of little children or many of the horrors that we know today in our modern society.

I am heartbroken by what has happened, not just in this instance but in all of the mass shootings of my lifetime.  I see both sides of the issue and understand both perspectives. It’s a very real and difficult challenge. But my hope is that the next time someone says, “There is no reason why anyone needs an AR (Assault Rifle), you will understand that these issues are not just about hunting, or gun collecting but rather ensuring that we can personally, as citizens, protect ourselves from our government or support our military in the event of a foreign invasion if that need should ever arise.

In comparison to other countries in the world we are a very young nation.  And though our freedoms and way of life are not presently threatened, who’s to say that in 150 or 250 years that will still be the case? Every country in the history of this world has experienced foreign invasions and seen governments that had once been stable, toppled and overthrown by evil regimes or corruption from within.  Our military, no matter how large, would never be able to protect every state, every county line, every town, every street, every neighborhood on their own.  Assault Riffles are the minimum that a citizen would require to be well armed.   Even handguns offer many Americans the security of knowing that they have a means to protect themselves, their families and friends if the need ever arose.  Eroding those rights is a slippery slope and endangers the safety and security of us all.  

Seek to Understand

We all love our country, we all love our families and friends, and we all want to protect our freedom and way of life.  When we focus on these things, we realize there’s far more things that unite us than divide us.  We don’t have to let the horrible acts of one man with a gun make us angry at each other.  We are all grieving for the loss of life and the tragedy of this terrible crime.  Now is the time to come together, love each other and shoulder this burden together.

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 *Bo Palmer owner of Allied Boats