July 15, 2015 5:46 AM

Who determines what kind of world we live in? Proudly Closed-minded Gun Control Foes ©.

Outside a Whataburger in San Antonio, Charlie Hair said he would feel safer if the chain allowed customers to openly carry firearms. “I prefer an armed society to an unarmed one,” he said as he exited with his 8-year-old son.

But Mary Jones, who was with her 15-year-old grandson, said she was happy that Whataburger took a stand against open carry.

“Why do you need to bring a gun into a store where there are kids?” she asked. “We are not in the Wild, Wild West.”

It’s a question raised by the controversy over Whataburger, an iconic Texas fast food chain, banning open carry in its restaurants. Never mind that Texas’ new open carry law doesn’t elevate gun rights over property rights- quite the opposite, in fact. No, the question that keeps running through my mind is very simple:

“What kind of world do we want to live in?”

Do we want to live in an “armed world,” as Charlie Hair describes it, a world that Mary Jones described as “the Wild, Wild West,” or do we want a world that errs on the side of safety and preventing death from friendly fire or accidental discharges? If that questions seems perhaps one-sided, I’ll own that…because for me, there’s no question about what the answer to that question should be.

We live in a world in which many cling to the mistaken and easily debunked belief that “more guns equals more safety.” Unfortunately, believing something and repeating it with frequency and fervor doesn’t negate being just plain wrong. People are far more likely to be killed by guns in their own home than they are likely to kill an intruder. In a mass shooting situation, a “good guy with a gun” is as likely to kill innocent people as he is the actual shooter. No matter how loudly or passionately a Proudly Closed-minded Gun Control Foe © may proclaim their belief, the truth isn’t on their side. Believing the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun is as self-serving as it is intellectually and factually dishonest.

We no longer live in the world that existed when the 2nd Amendment was written. At that time in our history, threats to personal safety were far more real, immediate, and potentially lethal. One couldn’t just call 911, so having an available firearm could be the difference between life and death. We no longer live in fear of attacks from native Americans…or bears…or whatever other threats existed in the late 18th century, and we no longer have the legal right to shoot someone merely because we perceive them to be a threat. Truth is, the 2nd Amendment has been willfully twisted by Proudly Closed-minded Gun Control Foes © to the point where it’s become the most misunderstood and misinterpreted 27 words in the English language.

Ultimately, the choice is ours- we, the people. That we’ve chosen to remain silent while Proudly Closed-minded Gun Control Foes © and their interest groups have purchased a government favorable to their interests is something we can only blame themselves for. The vast majority of Americans don’t want to encounter someone with an AR-15 in a public space…yet we’ve allowed those who see it as their birthright to create a legal system that condones such potentially lethal irresponsibility.

It’s for all of us to ask ourselves a very simple question:

“What kind of world do we want to live in?”

blog comments powered by Disqus

Technorati

Technorati search

» Blogs that link here

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on July 15, 2015 5:46 AM.

The problem with writing and editing very early in the morning was the previous entry in this blog.

It's hipster mating season in Portland...things promise to go sideways pretty quickly is the next entry in this blog.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.

Contact Me

Powered by Movable Type 6.0.8