The second amendment of the constitution guarantees the right to keep and bear arms. As the specter of gun violence continues in our workplaces, roads and schools, the question keeps arising: do guns keep you safe, or just increase the level of violence?
The gun lobby paints a romantic picture. If you have a gun in your home, you can ward off criminals that are lurking outside late at night. What they fail to mention are the deadly statistics outlined here and that the vast majority of would be robbers do not knock first. Unless you are prepared to be hypervigilant and sit by your door 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with your gun fully loaded, the reality is a gun kept in your home for self-protection is more likely to be used against you or somebody you love.
Such was the case in mid-August, when Kathy Minardi, of Cashmere, Washington shot and killed her 20 year old daughter, and then shot and killed herself with a gun that her husband kept safely stored in the home. Kathy suffered from depression and had tried to commit suicide previously, but what the gun lobby failed to inform this family and millions of other gun owers is that there are inherent risks when choosing to keep a gun in the home for self-protection. In addition to serious mental health issues, domestic violence and substance abuse are also risk factors to consider.
It's time that those of us living in the United States, stand up to the gun lobby and to the weak-kneed legislators who support their agenda and demand that more be done to stop the flood of guns in our homes, schools and communities. Afterall, we deserve to live in homes and communities free from gun death and injury.
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