Kathie Costos
July 6, 2022
If you are a gun owner and believe that everyone should be able to buy whatever gun they want, or have as many as they want, have you ever asked yourself, "What would you do when the gun turns on you?"
If a person breaks into your home and is armed, at least your odds of stopping them are equal. What if they break in with an AR15? Is your handgun going to stop them from obliterating your whole family? That is the chance you take if you are supporting the rights of anyone to get their hands on this type of weapon.
Most of the people I know have guns. They are responsible people. Over the years, I've asked them a lot of questions. I have always been a curious person, so they were used to it. They told me they keep their handguns near the bed when they go to sleep. If they had kids, then the gun was locked away.
You want to make sure your kids can't get their hands on it because you know that it is dangerous for them to get their tiny hands on it. You've read enough reports of what comes after they do get ahold of them.
On June 9, 2022, a one-year-old was shot by her brother. On May 26, 2022, in Florida, a Dad is dead and Mom has been arrested after their two-year-old son got his hands on the gun and shot his Dad. In April, in Philadelphia, a "4-year-old girl is dead after her younger brother apparently shot her by accident inside a car parked at a gas station." You can sadly find more of these reports because parents were irresponsible. You know what can happen, so you are careful.
If your handgun is locked away, where is your key? If someone breaks in, do you have time to find the key, unlock your gun, take it out, find the invader, aim and shoot before they do? Do you have time if they have an AR15 or similar type of weapon? Huge difference in your odds.
If the answer is no, then why would want this type of weapon to be allowed for anyone to purchase? They are being used for mass slaughter on our streets at parades, in schools where your kids go, as a matter of fact, they are used wherever you are but so far, you've been lucky enough to not be there when it happened.
Aside from the fact that none of the attendees at the July 4th celebrations where chaos was caused, especially at the parade in Highland Park, will ever be the same, the slaughter was caused by one of these guns and not a handgun you keep for self-protection.
The debate around the country is the wrong one to have for one simple reason, the AR15 is not considered an "assault weapon nor assault rifle.
Definition of what’s actually an ‘assault weapon’ is a highly contentious issueAnd that dear readers, is the problem. It's time for all of us to think beyond our own narrow view of gun rights. There are people out there that should never get their hands on any kind of weapon. I happen to be one of them. No, I'm not deranged or anything like that. I happen to be a klutz. Ask any of my friends and they'll confirm that one. You also wouldn't want me to hold a gun if you ever saw me throw something, including a frisbee. (I hit a priest in the head with one at a cookout.)
CNBCPOINTSFollowing last week’s Florida school killings, there’s movement by gun control advocates in some states to ban so-called assault weapons.
Exactly what constitutes a so-called “assault weapon” is a highly contentious issue and something that riles up some gun advocates.
Some gun control backers pushing for an assault weapons ban include the AR-15-style rifle used in recent mass shootings. But the firearms industry insists the AR-15-style rifles are technically neither assault weapons nor assault rifles.
Yet exactly what constitutes an “assault weapon” is a contentious issue and something that riles up some gun advocates. In fact, many of the large gun groups consider “assault weapon” a made up and ambiguous term invented by the anti-gun lobby in the 1980s, maintaining that guns don’t actually “assault” people.
That said, the gun industry’s traditional definition of an “assault rifle” is a weapon the military generally uses and has “select fire capabilities,” or the capability to switch between semi-automatic or a fully automatic mode. However, the civilian AR-15s do not have the select fire capabilities, only semi-automatic settings, so the firearms industry insists they are not an actual assault rifle or assault weapon.
I am not against all guns for all reasons. I just want to see my friends stay alive and have their kids survive getting through school, being able to go to movies, shopping, and worship services, and be able to regain what it is like to want to celebrate the freedom that was hard-won with their service to this country. I want my friends on the police force to be able to confront these criminals with their "legal" weapons of slaughter to have a chance to stop them because these weapons are off our streets, instead of becoming one more death the suspect is charged for committing.
If you are finished reading this, do you know now what you would do if the gun turned on you?
