Why don't I carry a gun? The cost is too high, yet has nothing to do with money
Only once in my life did I even consider owning and carrying a gun or firearm.It came earlier this year when I visited Shoot Point Blank, an indoor shooting range and gun shop in Merrillville, to shoot a Ruger AR-556 auto-loading rifle, for a column.
I also shot two handguns, a Colt Cobra and a Colt Mustang.
Again, I did it strictly to see how it felt, and how they compared to that AR-556, for that column.
The gun shop was an impressive facility. Big, bright and professional with dozens of weapons of every shape and size displayed behind glass cases and on the walls. The thought of possibly buying one and carrying it on me in public flashed through my head.
Cost was a factor. Not paying for one of those handguns, rounds of ammunition, a permit, and training how to handle one. I can likely afford the monetary price, but I was more concerned with the cost of always having to be mindful of my firearm when I carried it in public.
Where would I keep it on my body? In a holster on my lower leg, as some owners do? In the back of my pants, as other owners do? In my car’s glovebox or under a seat?
Or possibly in a shoulder holster as my father once did with his handgun? Working as an insurance agent in Gary, he insisted on packing a gun for work each day. I understood his safety concerns, but his gun-friendly attitude never transferred to me and my job.
I’ve been in a few dicey situations as a newspaper columnist visiting strangers’ homes in dangerous neighborhoods over the past 20 years. Not once did I feel the true need for a gun.
I’ve always carried pepper spray with me. I’ve used it just once. On a dog.
While staring at all those firearms in that gun shop, I also wondered how often I would carry one on my person. Every day no matter what? Only in potentially dicey situations? At large gatherings of people? Dining out? Private parties? Public events?
I also wondered the odds of me ever using a gun to protect myself or others in public. Or in the privacy of my own home. Those odds are long, I told myself. Seriously, despite all the mass shootings in our country – at schools, workplaces, and public gatherings – the odds are astronomical of me being a victim, and also being able to defend myself or others with my new sidearm.
I understand that some gun owners imagine such heroic scenarios, finally using their trusty firearm for truly lifesaving purposes, not merely for target practice. I’ve listened to quite a few men who even seem eager for such a situation. Would they actually come through in the clutch amid a life or death scenario?
They believe they would. I believe they don’t have a clue until it actually happens.
Statistically speaking, more gun owners have their weapon taken away from them and used against them than the rare gun-packing hero who saves the day for others. I save my romanticized versions of reality for intimate relationships, not lifesaving gunplay.
By not carrying a gun with me all day every day, I understand that I may be placing my life in the hands of police or first responders who often arrive too late to save lives or avoid casualties. They can’t be everywhere for everyone. I know this.
When Jarrod Ramos, an angry loner with a deadly grudge, shot and killed five people June 28 at the Capital Gazette newspaper office in Maryland, police arrived less than 60 seconds after the call came in. Even this amazing response time was too late.
Would those five victims have stayed alive if any of them carried a gun? Or if anyone else in that office carried a gun? Possibly. It sounds plausible in theory. Truth is, it’s easier to shoot holes in this theory than to shoot a deranged madman amid an ambush.
Gun owners and the NRA would disagree, insisting that those victims would at least have had a chance that day. I see their point.
I also tend to see the bigger picture with such controversial issues. I believe that we, as a society, are being held hostage by the most notorious couple in 21st century America – rampant mental illness and a gun-friendly culture. Also, there is a twisted irony about a country that bans certain toy guns but produces an endless supply of real ones.
This latest mass shooting reignited the debate of not only allowing guns in the workplace, but the notion of owning and carrying a gun for people like me who’ve never seriously considered it. Well, I have seriously considered it.
Gun owners have told me that carrying their handgun on a daily basis is no more a thought or hassle than carrying, say, their wallet or car keys. It’s merely a form of insurance, or for peace of mind, they tell me. Again, I see their point.
“I carry a handgun everywhere I go. It’s the only way I feel safe,” Anthony M. told me.
Paying such a high premium for this form of insurance protection is too costly for me. It’s also not the mentality I want to possess on a daily or hourly basis. I’m guessing that other people who don’t own or carry a gun would agree with me.
I should note that today’s column isn’t aimed at gun owners who already carry a weapon in public, whether it’s concealed or not. This column is for those of us who don’t own a gun, though we’ve considered it even in the flash of a moment.
My moment lasted for only a couple of minutes as I gazed at all those guns in that shop.
The cost to own and carry one is simply higher than I’m willing to pay.
HALAMAN SELANJUTNYA:
