This is not a topic that I undertake lightly, especially not in my well armed and very pro-gun family. To say that I am for gun control is no more accurate than to say that I am totally enamored by the idea of indiscriminate gun rights. To be blunt, I don’t own a gun, have only ever owned one gun, that I never fired, and have only fired one gun for the purpose of target practice. The experience was not exactly something I would call exciting, thrilling, or otherwise describe in positive words. It was unnerving.
The recognition of the capacity of the gun that I was holding to instantly end the life of any of the people I was with, either by intent or accident, was something that I couldn’t get out of my mind. It was also something that I couldn’t get comfortable with. But I do know enough to use a weapon. Perhaps not skillfully or gracefully, and most certainly as a last resort. And I kind of prefer it that way. Mostly because I see it as an understanding of responsibility that comes with a gun.
How about we consider gun responsibility?
While gun control talk is swaying the nation toward more laws intended to prevent future shootings like the devastating event that took place in Sandy Hook, it is important to note that no amount of gun control can take the place of gun responsibility. What is Gun Responsibility? The often touted phrase of being a “responsible gun owner” is bandied about, it is doubtful that many who use it really get the idea of what responsible gun ownership really means. Or at least what it should really mean. As part of the national conversation, and far removed from the arguments over new legislation to prevent gun sales, issuing fewer concealed carry permits, and creating a national database of people with mental health issues, it is important to talk about the realities of being a gun owner.
Although you, as a gun owner, may have no intent to harm another member of mankind, except in cases where they are attempting to harm you, your responsibility in owning a gun doesn’t stop there. It is easy to forget in our personal liberty obsessed world, we actually should be concerned with the impact that our actions can have on others. Is stopping that theoretical criminal so important that loaded guns should be so easy to get to that even a small child could do so? And what kinds of weapons do we really consider as elements of a self-defense strategy? Continue reading
Yes, it’s here, finally, the year 2013 has arrived! As this new year quickly approached, I saw some things needed to change over 2012, the dreaded New Year’s resolution was born. As the title suggests, the goal for 2013 is to be a little less techy. That’s not to suggest that this year should be spent raising a barn, reading by oil lamps, or using a ringer washer, but it does mean that some of the more “pretty tech” has to go. Pretty tech, or the technology that looks great on paper and has lots of features that make it sound like the solution to everything that ails us, often becomes what ails us. For instance the shiny Samsung Infuse 4G that has been cradled in my hands since July of 2010. Smart phones, at least for me and probably for others, are the definition of pretty tech. They can do pretty much anything, are bright and shiny, and are responsible for eating away a lot of the productive time of my day. Yes, I just called my Android smartphone a productivity killer! For all the possible benefits that one might see, as these are pocket sized computers with cameras, there can be a drawback, having too much that you can be doing, that isn’t what you should be doing. Of that, I am most certainly guilty. Facebook, email, Facebook, text message, text message, text message, picture of what I’m eating for lunch, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, text message, text message, Play Store, Google silly question that just popped into my head, bounce through Wikipedia articles for 30 minutes because that silly question leads down a rabbit trail of different topics that are sideways interesting to me, . . . rinse, lather, repeat. The relationship, like all others, started off looking like it was helping me to get more done. For the longest time I had convinced myself I was getting more done. Oddly, though, it seemed as if there was never anything to show for all this “getting more done” that was supposedly occurring. And because of that a new phone was purchased this weekend, one without all the bells and whistles, that will let me stay in touch without looking like Gollum touching his precious every few seconds. Perhaps, without the continual distraction of a device beeping at me every few minutes, giving me endless sources of distraction, things may get done. Perhaps cool techy things, like posting to this blog, will occur without being interrupted before I can complete the thought. Have you considered making 2013 a less techy year for you?
The donations, on their own, were not a major surprise coming from the company long known for its Christian values. Everyone kind of accepted that and didn’t think much about it, well, maybe a little about it, but it was not an issue that could really be fought. One corporate entity gave money to another corporate entity, and the world kept right on turning. Only the most hardcore of the hardcore were really making a stink about it. Maybe Chick-Fil-A supported their goals and ideas whole-heartedly, maybe not. Maybe they just donated money because it looked good for them to do so as a Christian business helping other Christian interests. Dan Cathy failed to appreciate that silence was golden. Silence gave people some wiggle room, plausible deniability, and some capacity to justify continuing to spend money there. As far as weak arguments go, it was flimsy, but something one could pass off to others as they carried their cow spotted drink cups back to work, enjoying their chicken sandwiches and waffle fries, all without carrying an icon of public enemy number one.
