COMMENTARY: Ready, Aim, But Can You Kill?
By Joseph Honick
Editor's Note: This commentary was originally published on this site on June 1, 2007. Author Joe Honick -- "in light of Sarah Palin's threatening appearance before the recent NRA convention" that Obama would deprive all Americans of any guns at all if he could -- believes it should be reprinted. Link to story on Palin's May 14, 2010 appearance to the NRA convention in Charlotte, NC: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/14/politics/main6484410.shtml
In the aftermath of the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech that had a
madman slaughtering more than 30 victims, it was bound to happen that
some of the gun folks would suggest more would have survived had there
been other gun toting students, faculty et al around the campus.
Guns for all got major play at this week's National Campus Security Summit. One security expert said faculty and students should have access to guns. That is the dumbest thing that I have ever heard, and I have been trained to fire just about anything.
When I heard these foolish suggestions, I was reminded about a conversation I had some years ago with my doctor. When we finished the medical part of my visit, he blurted out, "Joe, I bought a gun yesterday."
More than a little surprised, I asked why he had done so and why was he telling me?
He knew of my military service and particular training and thought I might be useful with some instructions and other advice. He also told me the reason he got the gun was because of a Halloween home invasion by two masked and costumed men posing as trick-or-treaters.
After they broke in at gunpoint, they took the doctor's wife and daughter upstairs while demanding money and other things from him downstairs. Despite the threats of bodily harm to his wife and daughter, the thugs fled when given a substantial amount of money.
The idea that gun- toting ordinary civilians who might have had some target practice could be trained killers not only would be ludicrous; it would be tragic.
Believing a weapon would protect him and his family in the future, he easily was able to purchase an automatic and ammunition.
When he finished his story and asked what I thought, I told him I had a series of questions that he had to be prepared to answer. First, had he ever owned a gun? Negative. Next, was he willing to take some training and would he be willing to take the time to maintain the weapon regularly? Sure he would.
And would he keep the weapon in a secure place where his kids couldn't find it easily? Of course he would
After a few more questions, I said the final one was the most important: was he prepared to kill a person in a split second without thinking about it?
That stopped him. If he even had to think about that question, it was enough reason to get rid of the gun before he hurt himself or his family in a crisis.
The reality is that those most experienced in handling weapons under pressure and are constantly trained to respond with lethal force in an instant have to confront that last question all the time should they have to put their training into action. And they often suffer some real psychological trauma afterward, whether they were military or civilian police officers.
So the idea that some gun toting ordinary civilians who might have had some target practice and might even know how to clean their weapons could be trained killers and accurate as well not only would be ludicrous; it would be tragic. Add to this the idea of the gun being securely hidden where the kids couldn't find it, and how it could be instantly produced if needed, the discussion was over with my urging him to get rid of his new sense of artificial security. He did.
There are those reading this who will mutter something about wimpy liberals and other such nonsense. The fact is guns and bullets have no respect for politics and philosophy any more than nervous gunmen have for those who foolishly believe they can overcome a lifetime of peaceful behavior in an instant.
A lot of people like to talk tough, as with the College Republicans for the War who could never find a place to enlist to fight it and others who put on a big display of bravura. In the end, gunplay away from the firing range for recreation is best left to those whose work and training make it their daily responsibility.
And, no, despite all the training I had some time back, I do not keep a gun in my house.
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Honick is president of Bainbridge Island, Wash.-based GMA International Ltd, the consulting and public relations firm he formed in 1975 to help companies broaden their business abroad especially in China and Japan. He also contributes to a variety of publications -- including Huntington News Network -- on public policy issues.