Yes, That’s The Problem. Now What?

As I type this, there are reports of a horrific massacre in the sleepy little suburb of Highland Park, Illinois. I’m not going to speculate about who did this or how they did it. I maintain a strict 72 hour rule about commenting on such things because the information we have in the first few hours is almost always wrong. I try my very best not to look like a blithering idiot, and occasionally, I succeed. Others are not so prudent.

I will, however, comment on the reaction. The usual people are commenting with the usual response about “gun violence” in America. This time, however, there are also people commenting about how Highland Park is such a quiet little town and that they are so shocked that violence like this can happen anywhere.

Well, yeah. Tell me something I don’t know.

The reason I started down this journey oh so many years ago is that I realized that yes, violence COULD happen anywhere. That’s the whole idea. For example, a few years ago, my oldest son and I were leaving the house to run some errands, and I made him wait as I retrieved my firearm and put in my holster.

“Dad,” he said, “Do you really need that? We’re just going out for a few minutes.”

“Look,” I told him, “If I knew I was going somewhere where I needed a gun, I wouldn’t go there.”

And he understood that. We don’t carry a firearm (or a tourniquet, or pepper spray) because we are going to places where we know we might need to use such things. We carry those items on us (not in our car, not in our purse) because there are other people out there might cause us to need such gear, and we’re going to have no advance notice of that fact.

I leave you know with this quote from Tom Givens. How you choose to apply it to your life is up to you.

“You do not get to pick the day you need a gun to defend your life. Someone else picks it for you, and they typically notify you at the very last instant.”