It’s time for gun owners to talk about gun control

By Hal Walter

I can distinctly remember the last time I fired a gun. Last summer we had a cow that had been sick for several months, and despite ongoing veterinary care, her condition was worsening. Finally, we made the decision to donate her carcass to the local wolf sanctuary, and I had to put her down.

A single gunshot was the most humane and effective method. Cattle are fearful of strangers, and a lethal injection would have rendered the meat inedible by the wolves.

Later in the fall I took my rifle out into the field in search of wild game but never fired a shot.

This is all to say that I am a gun owner and have been for many years. I received my first .22 caliber rifle at the age of 12 after completing a hunter safety course. Though not very versatile (there’s an old ranching joke that “if you cain’t do it with fencin’ pliers it probably don’t need doin’”), a firearm occupies that odd space between lethal tool and recreational equipment. Between rights and personal responsibilities.

As a firearms owner, I have some major differences with the gun culture in this country. I detest the NRA. And I am appalled by the first reaction of some gun owners that recent tragedies are part of some grand conspiracy to take their guns away. This is almost as illogical as blaming such incidents on “removing God from the schools” or “God’s punishment for allowing gay marriage.” If you truly believe that stuff it’s possible you may need mental health care as much as the lunatics who commit these crimes.

Honestly, if I really thought it would end shootings of innocent children, I’d be the first person standing in line to give up my firearms. But I don’t think that will work, much the same way prohibition didn’t work and narcotics laws don’t seem to work. Besides being ineffective, prohibitions also foster an environment for contraband.

Still, I think as a society we must do something. And the first step is for gun owners to accept that regulations designed to keep guns out of the wrong hands are not some sort of conspiracy. If this were true, the National Firearms Act that required special licensing for machine guns, sawed-off shotguns and other such weapons in 1934 would have probably already led to total disarmament. I believe there are some sensible, responsible steps that we can take to help reduce the risk that guns will be misused.

We already require a background check for people buying firearms at a retail establishment. There’s no reason this should not be expanded to include all firearms sales, such as those at gun shows and private homes. This is completely sensible and does not affect any law-abiding person’s right to purchase or own a firearm.

How about training and proficiency testing before you can buy a gun? You must do this to drive a car, and nobody’s taken our cars away. This would make people who want a gun for the wrong reasons jump at least one hoop. In most states you already must take hunter safety courses to get a hunting license. In Colorado we already require special training to get a concealed carry permit, and it hasn’t affected anyone’s rights.

Maybe the old notion of a waiting period isn’t such a bad idea either. If you’re going hunting you can plan ahead. If you feel like you are in some imminent danger, then you should go to the authorities rather than make the snap decision to buy a gun you probably don’t even know how to use.

And high-capacity clips? If you need more than 10 shots to get the job done perhaps you should consider that pair of fencing pliers instead. Just sayin’.

Which of course, and at last, brings us to the real meat of the matter. There are those who say firearms are necessary to protect ourselves from a tyrannical government. That may partly have been the notion back when our founding fathers – dudes who wore wigs and ruffled blouses but didn’t think women should be allowed to vote – were discussing whether the citizenry should keep their flintlock squirrel guns. Other considerations of our founding fathers included the fact they had little wherewithal to build a real military, and a “well-regulated militia” might be helpful in the very possible event the king regrouped or if they needed to keep the slaves in line. Needless to say, our world has changed dramatically since then.

Today the government has much better weapons than typical civilian assault rifles, including machine guns, grenades, rocket launchers, missiles, tanks, smart bombs, all manner of aircraft including drones and even tactical nukes. Besides, most of us have evolved to desire more sane and peaceful resolutions to our differences, like this one about firearms.

As a ranch hand, hunter and gun owner I think the right of everyone to feel safer from people who simply should not have guns is just as important as the right to bear arms. Gun ownership implies a certain responsibility, and this responsibility includes joining a larger conversation that includes violence in the media and mental health care, among other things, and casting aside the rhetoric and paranoia that only makes firearms owners appear more like the lunatic fringe than accountable citizens.

 

Hal Walter writes and edits from the Wet Mountains.

You can keep up with him regularly at his blog: www.hardscrabbletimes.com