I am the face of the American gun owner

I am the face of the American gun owner. I am not a monster. I do not want to shoot anyone. Even if you break into my home and threaten my family I do not want to shoot you. I will because you have forced me to, but it is not something I will relish.

Those who have never thought about this don’t realize that when you are forced to do this, you lose a bit of yourself also. Which do you think is more traumatic? Being a bad guy and aggressor, preying on others and eventually getting shot, or being an ordinary person, going about your average life, and suddenly being thrust into a situation where to preserve that ordinary life you are forced to take another.

Owning a gun and knowing how to use it is a great responsibility that comes with many rules of safety. Being a thug has no rules. To shoot another person requires you to go against the rules of safety you have been taught, and that in and of itself adds to the trauma of defending yourself. Please remember that although we as gun owners sometimes speak cavalierly about our guns, we do understand the full weight and responsibility of that ownership.

The average gun owner is a parent. When we speak about gun education for children, we do not mean the safe handling of guns. Quite the opposite. We think all children should be taught STOP, Don’t touch, Leave the area, and Tell an adult. This should be taught in all schools, everywhere, to all children. You never know when the thug will run from police, cut through the park and throw his gun on the playground. Your child could be the one to find it. Have you taught them what to do? Just because you don’t own one doesn’t mean they’ll never find one. We choose our children to safely shoot, and will teach yours if asked, but we will respect your choice should you choose not to.

The average gun owner is also a patriot. We love our country. We work hard and understand our parents and grandparents did also. We respect the constitution and the rights it affords – yes, even the right to make us gun owners out as unintelligent beer drinking neanderthals.  And we want our rights, ALL of them, protected for the future.

It is easy for some to vilify us as a group, but we are individuals. We have faces, we are your friends, your family, your neighbors. We are also gun owners.