Why do some people in America believe that they need guns to protect themselves?
In the early 1970s, my father and a good friend of his took over management of a local gas station.
Well, they took over the night shift, anyway. The people who owned the station couldn’t get people to work there at night, and were willing to take a chance on a couple of scruffy-looking guys who were in turn willing to work a shift that nobody wanted.
Why didn’t anyone want the shift?
Because the station kept getting robbed at night.
So… Dad and his buddy started working the night shift, and after about two nights it was clear to everyone who cared, that the store was no longer a target.
Why?
Because they were wearing these while they worked:
(Image from Pinterest, though I did find one of the old belts not long ago. The leather isn’t… in good shape.)
One night after they’d been working there for a few weeks, a police officer from out of town stopped for gas as he was passing through. He saw the gun belts, and asked, “You boys have much trouble here?” Their response? “Not anymore.”
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In the late 1970s, or maybe the early 80s, my eventual-wife-to-be’s father ran a country store. He’d bought it and intended to make it his retirement plan. It was at a crossroads, close enough to town to survive, and far enough out in the country to be quiet. A great little place, where you could get a hot dog, buy some worms, fill up your car, or post a picture on the wall of that prize deer you took last week. Everybody knew his name, and he was a fixture in the community.
(Image credit NorthAmericanWhitetail.com)
Unbeknownst to him, a small gang of boys was working their way across the county, knocking over gas stations. They’d burst through the door, wave a pistol around and demand money, and beat the shopkeeper if they resisted.
Except as they went, they started beating the shopkeepers for fun.
And they kept beating them, and the beatings got worse.
One night, a strange car pulled up, and three boys got out, and one burst through the door with a gun in his hand.
And my father in law pulled his pistol out from under the counter, and pointed it at the boy with the gun, and pulled the trigger.
And the boy took a bullet to the shoulder, and he and his friends ran. His friends dropped him off at the hospital, and left.
And the crime spree ended.
The shopkeeper before my father in law? Had been beaten almost to death. And they were escalating. By pulling that trigger, my father in law had protected not only himself, but everyone else those boys would have attacked and robbed.
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In the late 80s, a female relative moved out on her own. She’d saved up deposit money, and rented her first apartment. It wasn’t in a great part of town, but she was proud of being able to do it on her own.
She was given a revolver to keep on her nightstand.
One night as she was drifting off to sleep, she heard glass breaking downstairs. She grabbed the revolver and as she reached the top of the stairs, she saw a man coming up the stairs toward her.
She fired at him, and missed, but he ran. He was caught a short distance away, soaked, soiled, and brown in the trousers, and taken into custody.
The man was a serial rapist. By defending herself, my relative saved not only herself, but every other woman that man would have victimized.
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There have been a couple other cases over the years. My family total is now up to seven, but I won’t relate them all here. The point is, that there are people out there, who will hurt you. Police can help to protect society at large, but on an individual level, each of us is responsible for our own safety, but more than that, by protecting ourselves, we also protect those around us. People passing through town quickly learned that gas stations in the area where my father worked… were not to be messed with. The boys who tried to rob my father in law… stopped. Abruptly. The man who tried to rape my family member? Went to prison. These people didn’t only protect themselves, they made their communities safer for everyone.
So… Yeah, we’ll hang onto our guns. |
