There was another time, where I was at scout camp. I literally split an arrow in the bulls-eye. Got the top award for camp that Summer, plus another award for shooting. Next year I almost shot the instructor because I wasn't paying attention. (I was focused on the target, not the rules of the range.) No gun, just a stick of wood basically.
Part ONE:
Just a few days ago a man was found with an illegally owned and modified sawed-off shotgun in a residential community that was originally set up for women to escape domestic violence. They are also alleged to have left a baby home alone all night, with the shotgun. Neglect aside, which is bad enough of course, there is another point here.
A follower of our page also lives in that residential community that is meant to be a haven from violence. There are many children who live there, and the place is meant to help people get back on their feet after they fall. Whether it be a devastating house fire, a devastating domestic partner, or simply the devastating loss of a good job. This residential community out on Route 55 in Dutchess County is sketchy at times, granted, but ultimately a god-send to our neighbors in the most dire of straits.
Our follower ended up in a confrontation, with this character just a few weeks ago, while this alleged shotgun owner appeared to be breaking into a room there, as he was passing by to the soda machine. It quickly became violent. Thankfully the police were on scene within a few minutes as the resident tried to fend off this belligerent with a stick.
But there is the crux.
The person who was trying to fend off an attack by what he says was a "berserker" was left with a stick to poke this guy off, and waiting critical minutes for the police. What would have happened if that man got into his room to get his sawed off shotgun?
Moreover, the victim in that attack owns a shotgun legally. Bought, paid for, background checks and all. Owned and paid for right here in Dutchess County where the 2nd Amendment is dubious at best..
Now we have a man who is intimately familiar with firearms, responsibly. He is a veteran, has worked in law enforcement, as a Firefighter, and an EMT. But he can't have his own legal gun in his home because he happens to be very poor at the moment. In the very same housing community where someone left their kid alone all night to "hit da club" maybe, and leave the 1 year old with the sawed-off. The same person who attacked another resident just weeks before. But we can't protect ourselves here with legally owned firearms.
This is a the consequence of a gun-free zone.
Part TWO:
An old friend of mine suffered a brutal family tragedy. She saw her father shoot her mother, then shot her again with a fatal shot before killing himself as the police raided. I can't possibly imagine, don't want to really, what she suffered... and must still suffer as a bold survivor. Yet there is something to be learned from this brutal event.
First, the father had been sent to jail already. There was an order of protection in place. He was violent in the home, allegedly, to the point that the judge set a large bail. A very large bail actually. (Something like a quarter-mil if I remember right.) From what I understand though, the named victim was not informed when the alleged perp made bail. (If a perp gets out, a phone call should be mandatory in the case of a violent offense.)
Now, to my understanding, New York State law makes it mandatory that firearms be removed from the house when a domestic violence charge is alleged, even before being proven. That appears to be the case case here, the judge ordered that all firearms be seized from the house.
A few weeks later that father, husband, named perpetrator showed up at his home where his wife and children were. He made entry, and shot his wife, once, with a wound that was not immediately fatal. For the next few hours the police from every sort of department and specialty surrounded the house. And sat there. Until he finally murdered his wife and himself. (In front of their daughter, who lived.)
Now I wasn't there, so it's easy to Monday-morning quarterback some things. My point here is not to shit on the police or say they should have done something better.
My point here is to shit on the law itself. The law does not circumvent the 2nd Amendment.
If it were not mandatory to take the guns out of the house, those women would have been armed.
Period.
Part Three:
I have also been what is called a "first-responder." I have worked in law-enforcement, as a firefighter, trained as an EMT. (Firefighters are the best tho.) Jack of all trades master of none you could say.
But I got pissed the hell off when my department Chief banned me from carrying my legally owned firearm into the house, while at the same time giving an exemption to a volunteer who also happened to be a sworn LEO.
Now don't get me wrong here, I don't think a cop should have to disarm to come into a firehouse. But at the same time, I don't think a firefighter should have to disarm either. Granted, a FF should never carry a gun on an alarm. (Even if cop, day job or not.) Also, all firearms should be secured better than leaving it in the top of your locker. But here it how it went down...
Our Chief banned all FFs from bringing our legally owned and properly secured firearms onto the property. No just in the house, but that means I can't even put my pistol in my gun box that I have specially banged into my dash, hampering my response as a volunteer FF.
Now take it a step further. The entire reason they made this a policy was because some moron firefighter went off his rocker and carried a gun into the meeting where they fired him. He didn't actually do anything, but I admit I warned the officers that I knew he was armed.
Soooo, as it wound up, he got fired, threw a bunch of crap around the room and walked out. Then they made a no gun policy. But here's the real catch.
They made it against policy for FFs to carry their legal guns, while the guy who got fired has every right to enter a public building with his gun and shoot all of us, if he were to be a nut like that.
All in all, you can never stop a nut, a gun is just a tool.
There are better ways to kill a lot of people if you think about it. .... Whuuut?