Subject: owning guns

Hey Bart!

Please bear with me, this is a rant but I believe a necessary one.
I've been a long time reader of your site and for the most part agree lock, stock and barrel with what you have to say.
But I must ask you to please, please spare us this horseshit about the glories of gun ownership.

The glories of gun ownership?
Guns are like abortions and tattoos - if you don't want one, don't get one.
 

As you have pointed out, at least I think you have, the average American is as thick as mud.
Do you really want people whose IQ is only marginally larger than the size of their hat band walking around armed?

Like my complaints with the Hillary debates, the choices you have presented are false.
I'm referring to, "I'm tired of Bush/Clinton/Bush/Clinton."
Those choices aren't on the ballot.

We don't have the option of a gun free America, so if those "thick as mud" Republicans have guns,
why would you want to be the guy with nothing but a stick in your hand?  (Homage to Godfather I)
 

There are so many arguments presented in defense of gun ownership but none of them withstand scrutiny.

ha ha
What do you do when you awake to breaking glass?
Call 9-11?   (Good luck if you live in a poor, black neighborhood.)
Pray to the Invisible Cloud Being to protect your family?
Ask the intruder to come back at a more convenient time?

Do you understand that the bad guy (or guys) owns you and your family until further notice?
How can you take a gamble like that?  Do you tell yourself it's not likely to happen?
 

The Second Amendment speaks of a well regulated militia.
The average gun owner is neither a militia or well regulated.
Hell, their not even poor regulated.  For every crime stopped by a gun owner
    there have been many more committed while gun owners stood by and did nothing.
For every home invasion prevented, countless people have died due to accidental shootings.
Then there is the "Responsible Gun Owner" defense.  This states that Mr. A shouldn't be denied
   gun ownership because he is a responsible gun owner.  That is until his gun is stolen or he flips out
   and starts killing people.  Then you don't mean Mr. A, you mean Mr. B.  He's the responsible gun owner.
   When Mr. B proves to be a whack job, you move on to Mr. C, and so on and so on.
I've known three gun owners in my life.  Two of them had their guns stolen when their homes were burglarized
   and the other accidentally shot and killed his wife.  People want to own guns?  Fine, let them but hold them accountable.
If you lose your gun, you're fucked.  If you're gun is stolen and used in a crime you're double fucked.
If you kill someone because you're a gun toting fool, you're fucked.
How about some responsible gun ownership for a change.

Are you almost done?
 

I live in NYC Bart, you know Sodom on the Hudson, the most evil, dangerous and rudest place on earth?
I've lived here for 45 years.  I've survived all this time without a gun.  I don't need to make me feel like I got a pair.

Thank you Bart for your time and patience.  Keep up the fight.

Lucullus, NYC
 

In New York City, a cop is always one scream away, right?
If you wake up to breaking glass in NYC, maybe you can blow a police whistle and feel safe, I don't know.
But every other city in America has fewer cops per square block than you do so I own guns.
And don't think you're going to take over the responsibility for the safety of my family.

We have 200 million guns in America.
Deal with the facts, don't tell me how things "ought to be."

You've known four gun owners and the fourth is sane and hasn't shot anybody, yet.

Here in Okie-homie, we have what they call burglar alarms.
We turn them on when we leave and when we go to bed.
It makes a loud sound when a door or window opens without permission.

If I awake to breaking glass, and I can feel Mrs Bart next to me, anything taller than a cat
is in trouble because I know my way around my house in the dark and he doesn't.
We don't have kids and I don't "horse around" with my guns because they're always ready to fire.

If you're sane and you live farther than a scream's distance from a cop, a gun can be a good idea.
If the bad guy has a gun, what are you going to do with a baseball bat or a sand wedge?
But - we can still be friends even if you choose to gamble.

I won't insist you have a gun if you don't insist I can't have one.

The origibnal question - what do you do when you awake to breaking glass?
I've been asking that for 11 years and I never got an answer I could live with.
 

 Send e-mail to Bart

 Discuss it on The Bartcop Forum
 Discuss it on the BartBlog

 back to  bartcop.com