any instrument or device for use in combatMy brother revealed to me today that he took a trip to a firing range recently and got an incredible rush from firing a loaded gun.
I took the news in stride, kind of shrugging it off as a barely interesting piece of information.
Then he mentioned that he might continue on with it and get a licence for his own gun.
To be kept in his own home.
"You will never, ever babysit my children in your home if there is a gun inside," I said.
He told me that it would be securely locked in a case, if he gets one.
Doesn't matter, said I.
I've got strong views on a lot of sensitive topics like religion and politics; particular topics that I know to bite my tongue on to avoid heated discussions that can end friendships.
But guns are not a discussion point that I am willing to roll over on.
Missy feels the same way, only
more so. She refuses to let the boy play with toy guns. If it's up to her, there will never be any video games in our home with guns involved. There won't be action figures with toy guns, water guns or anything of the kind that has a trigger and shoots someone else.
I don't feel that strongly about toy guns, but real guns scare the hell out of me. I don't understand why he can't keep the gun at the firing range. Surely they have some kind of a setup that can allow for it. Or why can't he go play paintball, or get a super-realistic video game that allows one to blow
someone's head off at close or far range?
I realize that banning guns is not the solution. There are always going to be people who don't adhere to laws but keeping tools that are designed to kill people in your home is also not helping.
I was trying to figure out if my reaction would have been different if I were child-less. It probably would have been.
Most of my reason for being nowadays consists of making sure that the adorable little munchkin in my care makes it safely and healthily into adulthood. I make sure not to drive like a maniac when he's in the backseat of my car. If he's playing near a river, I make sure that I'm always at his side in case he falls in. I make sure that the knives in my kitchen are off-limits; that the door to my balcony is always locked and that the drugs in my bathroom are out of reach.
In general, I keep him as distanced and padded from the things that can hurt him, as I possibly can.