Why I Don't Own a Gun

For my European readers (hello sisters) the title of this post will seem bizarre.  I have never heard anyone in Europe complain that they are prevented from owning a gun.  The question would be, "Why would you own a gun?"

By "gun" I mean a firearm designed for killing human beings.  I think there are legitimate reasons for owning hunting rifles (i.e. killing deer for meat and to cull the population in places with no predators) but I find the general public wanting to do this strange.  I don't personally see the allure of killing wild animals for fun, in fact, I find it disturbing.  I understand that meat gets killed, and I'm willing to do it myself, but it's a nasty chore.  Killing for fun being OK?

Anyway, the reason that the title of this post is "Why I Don't Own a Gun" is because I live in Texas.  In the United States there are almost as many guns as people.  Within the first week of my moving into this house a neighbor's friend asked me in my kitchen if I wanted to buy a Glock, which he showed me.  When I replied that I didn't like guns the response was, "Don't you love your wife?"  The idea is that without a gun for self-defense you are making things more dangerous for you and your family, I assume significantly so.

Recently there has been another of the sporadic mass-shootings in the USA which leads to a national debate on the legality of guns.  I find the idea that a debate should take place under these circumstances, twice the number killed in this attack are killed, on average, each day in the USA.  There is no chance of there being substantial legal constraints on gun use in the USA in the foreseeable future.  For the record, the killer in this shooting used a semi-automatic, military style assault rifle, a pump-action shotgun as used by police forces in extreme situations, and a Glock handgun, all purchased legally.

So, if I love my wife and want to be safe, why don't I have a gun?  The first reason is that I don't think I would be safer with a gun.  For a start there were 17,000 gun suicides in the USA last year, and I get depressed sometimes.  Secondly, the person most likely to be shot with a gun is the owner.  The third reason is that those who carry guns are actually over four times more likely to get shot than those without guns.  So, from a safety point of view it is actually better to not have a gun.

However, a really important factor that is almost always not mentioned is the effect on a person who has killed someone.  Death is a really unpleasant thing, it messes with your mind.  Just being around people who are dead is a traumatic moment.  Accidentally running someone over and killing them would be a horrific moment, lived over and over.  Deliberately killing someone with a weapon would be something that never leaves you.  I think it probable that doing something like that would be as psychologically damaging as being beaten, or stabbed, or being tied and helpless.  Certainly worse than being robbed.

I don't like guns.  I just don't like them as objects.  They are objects for killing people, and therefore I find them inherently evil.  If there is a gun in the room I will leave. 

I don't own a gun because it would make me less safe, I find guns revolting, and if I ever used one it would damage me permanently.