With all the recent violence, I just had to publish this article….

Be Better Than Impulse Gun Buyers — No Guns In Our Family

by Keith Pascal

Face it, not all of the inhabitants of The United States show common sense.

The correlation between violent acts and gun purchases supports the above claim.

At first, it seems to make sense that every time a mass shooter shows his insane, destructive nature, the sales of guns rise sharply.

I mean … if we get a wake-up call that there are loonies out there with projectile weapons, it scares us enough to want to be able to fight back, to protect ourselves and our loved ones.

Let’s follow this train of thought for a couple of minutes….

1) Some states wouldn’t make it easy for you to get a hand gun.

2) You can’t take a rifle into a concert or to school “for your protection.”

3) In fact, you probably can’t and/or shouldn’t take a “hand gun” into a concert or to school either. (Many venues have metal detectors.)

4) If you had a gun, you might get killed by the surprise shooter, before you ever got your own weapon into play.

5) If you do manage to get your gun out of its concealed place, with all the nerves and adrenaline running rampant, you have to be able to pick out the direction of the fire, zero in on the bad guy, and be accurate enough to shoot him without tagging any innocent bystanders.

6) And speaking of concealed weapons, getting a concealed weapons permit is not necessarily the easiest task in this state. Some states won’t even grant them to “you.”

Hope For Zero Guns But Be Prepared and Aware

Look, when I go to a concert, I’d like to hope that nobody there, except the police, have firearms.

I don’t want the bad guys to have guns, and I don’t want my fellow concert goers to have them either.

I’m there to enjoy the concert.

So, how do you stay safe, if you aren’t going to sport a gun to your favorite fun-time event?

It starts with awareness….

The employees, security, and the police have to be aware enough to check out sketchy people with suspicious body language and gestures.

Also, they should examine large bags coming into (and around) an event.

But it’s more than simply trusting an employee’s awareness skills … you have to exhibit heightened awareness, as well.

If you were in a movie theater and some nut job revealed a gun and started shooting, how quickly could you get down, below seat level?

How fast could you throw yourself on top of your loved one to protect her (or him) from an “angry” bullet?

Could you judge when it would be appropriate (safer) to run for your life, instead of remaining in the line of fire?

If you’re wondering, I practice what I preach: I don’t own a gun, nor do I borrow a gun to go to concerts.

No gun, but I can stick a ballpoint pen in a wall from about eight feet.

Draw a caricature of a head on the wall,  and I can hit the eye from about six feet almost every time.

I’m not saying that’s the ultimate in defense, but I always carry a pen.

BTW, at a movie theater, I have their discount credit card loose in my pocket. I can fling one of those like a throwing star (shuriken) and hit a target from  about fifteen feet away.

It can cut skin, but actually, all I’d need is a distraction. The same with the ballpoint pen.

One last point in all of this guns-for-safety talk….

Wherever I go, I make periodic scans of the crowd. Nobody sees me doing this; I’m subtle. After all, I wouldn’t want to be perceived as suspicious.

Still, I make the occasional glance.

Through body language, you can get pretty good at reading human “tells.”

Whether you want to admit it or not, you could probably pick out most “scuzz-buckets” in a crowd, with a little observation.

If you have to have a gun, don’t let me be the one to stop you.

I just want you to know that it might not keep you as safe as planned, and there are those of us who prefer … a different way.

Peace,

Keith