At a party recently, after sufficient “lubrication,” I polled the guests on their “barrel count” (number of firearms they own). These are multi-generational Americans, living, in addition to Seattle, in California, Arizona, Texas, and Florida. The result was startling even to the guests themselves. These people, 6 of them, can out gun an infantry platoon. They were stunned with the answer themselves.
In this country, I must assume that my neighbors have guns. I must assume the driver next lane on the freeway has a gun in the glove apartment. I should assume my fellow campers have guns with them. By personal experience, I believe gun owners are statistically nice people, loving parents, highly educated professional, and law-abiding citizens.
Every year or so, a person, who previously showed no trace of madness and behaved like one of those nice people, brought some guns to a public place and killed. This will continue, since nice people have bad days, get pushed too far, or simply forget to take their medicines.
Statistically, this is simply part of the risk of living in this country. Not much different than driving to work, fly to a far away city, or touching an shining surface with a smear. Everyday, we accept the risk of getting seriously damaged, or even killed, without thinking too much of it.
What’s the probability of getting killed by a mad gunman going to the movies? How about getting into a traffic accident? Falling off the sky in an airplane? Contracting a virus from a public surface? Or even from an earthquake, tsunami, or tornado? Even eating a big fat hamburger?
Yes, Americans have more guns per capita than other countries. Gosh, probably more than they all have added together. But try inserting a word into the blank in the sentences that follow: “Americans love their <…> and are willing to pay a lot for them. This is history, passion, and a fact. It is not going away.”
In addition to guns, can you come up with anything else? Is that thing more dangerous than guns?