If you are a good parent, particularly a mother or single mother, you have a duty to keep your family safe. This means child proof locks on cleaning supply cabinets, smoke detectors on every floor, car seats, a loaded handgun in an easily accessible safe, and a Concealed Carry Permit (CCW) to carry that handgun when not at home (if you live in one of the 40 states that allows it).

Does that last part offend your sensibilities? If so, please read on and respond intelligently. Because one of us is making a grave mistake on how we care for our family. And if it’s me, I need to know. Because my children and family are the most important thing in my life.

Of course there are many exceptions as to who has a duty to own a firearm. There are true pacifists who would honor the life of the axe murder above that of their children. There are people who live in foreign countries (or the American equivalent of a foreign country, Washington D.C.) where gun ownership is virtually banned. There are people who know they are too irresponsible to be trusted with firearms, as of course there are people who wouldn’t “have the heart” to shoot someone no matter how many of their family members are about to die.

But if you don’t fall into any of those categories and are a normal, law abiding American who would fight with any tools available for the lives of your family if attacked, then you should buy a firearm AND take the necessary training to learn how and when to use that firearm.

And of course there are the oft heard arguments from the anti-gun groups against this common sense American traditon. Arguments to try and convince people they are simply too irresponsible to own something lethal (though they don’t fight to ban cars, box cutters, rental trucks/fertilizer) and make many other shrill, emotional claims that are simply not supported by the facts.

Mucking out a barn occupied by overfed bulls takes some effort, and likewise countering every anti-civilian gun ownership argument is too much to deal with in a single post. One document you can find that covers everything above and more is here.

But given the FACT that a gun is an effective means of self defense, and that civilians use guns every day for self defense, why would you not choose this inexpensive insurance? How can you look at your children and say:

“Sure. I could buy an inexpensive weapon and fight to save your lives if the unthinkable happens, as they news media tells us it does to someone every day, but I’m not going to. I’ll keep buying smoke detectors, even though our chances of dying in a fire are less than being murdered, and keep up my life insurance and everything else that we spend so much money on. But make a one time three hundred dollar purchase so that I can shoot somebody who intends to kill you? Of course not! How would that make sense?”

Every American, particularly a responsible parent or the head of a family, has not just a right to own a gun, but a responsibility to own a gun. Because guns and self defense are American traditions; living in fear and being helpless victims are not.

Common Sense – it’s a good thing. It’s something sadly lacking in the US and in the world. It’s a theme of this blog.

But what is common sense? The first thought that comes to mind? The first emotional response?
At the most general level, common sense is trusting what we inherently know. There are many points of common sense that are difficult to debate:

1. Toddler’s shouldn’t be trusted with permanent magic markers (not everyone is born with this knowledge, but it is learned rather quickly with parenthood).
2. When you drop something it will fall.
3. Driving the speed limit on the highway will save you gas money AND anger the guy in the car behind you.

But you can’t always trust common sense. Because the more complex the issue, the less likely it is to apply. i.e.:

1. Many young men assume a happy marriage is based on really good sex.
2. Many young women assume a happy marriage is based strictly on love.

But marriage is complex, and neither of the above holds true in real life. And people who believe such things should listen to their elders. Because there are some other things that should be common sense, such as:

1. Seeking knowledge and wisdom is less painful than learning from mistakes.
2. Emotional responses should not be ignored, but neither should facts and research.
3. When the emotional responses and “common sense” don’t match the facts, the facts win.

So why, when faced with a most complex and issue, such as the violence faced by America, do the anti-gun groups continue to state and restate the old arguments that have been disproven so many times? Why do they continue to expend their efforts on useless rhetoric to fight battles that do nothing to make our society safer? Why do they spend so much money fighting for laws that have been disproven to reduce the murder rate?

Is it not also common sense that it is what is in the heart, not the hand, of a person that makes them a murderer?

Here are some more oft heard anti-gun beliefs that are upheld as “common sense” no matter how many times they’ve been disproven, and so often restated as though they should be listened to:

Emotional Rhetoric: But concealed carry of guns by normal citizens will end up with blood in the streets! The OK corral! People having gun fights over parking spaces! It will be the Wild West all over again!
Facts: “Shall Issue” concealed carry laws, which allow ANY law abiding citizen to carry a loaded, concealed pistol, have been spreading across the US since 1987. There are now 40 states that allow any law abiding citizen that wants to carry a firearm to do so and millions of “average” Americans exercise this right. There have been no explosions of crime, shootouts over parking spots, or gunfights over road rage in these 40 states.
Real Common Sense: A normal citizen doesn’t decide to become a murderer because s/he has access to a firearm. There is a wide, wide gap between the emotions that cause a person to make an obscene gesture, shout angry words, or even throw a punch … and committing the act of drawing a handgun and killing a fellow human. Which not only ends their life but puts the shooter in jail for life. Average citizens don’t go to this level, and those so deranged they will are already carrying guns.

Emotional Rhetoric: People who try to protect their homes with guns will have their guns taken from them and get shot with them.
Fact: This almost never happens. There are numerous verifiable cases of civilians using firearms for effective self defense every day, and virtually none of burglars taking away guns and shooting the homeowner or his family.
Real Common Sense: A burglar intending to steal a stereo doesn’t find a gun and change his mind to commit murder. If confronted by a homeowner, particularly an armed homeowner, he is most likely going to flee to find an easier mark. If he is breaking in to commit a violent act he already has sufficient weapons on his person to do what he intends.

Emotional Rhetoric: More guns means more accidents.
Fact: Gun accidents have reduced in number much faster than gun ownership. And in every household there are dangerous items – household cleaners, swimming pools, and other items cause many more accidental deaths than guns.
Real Common Sense: Guns don’t go off unless someone pulls the trigger. By properly handling a weapon there is no chance of an accidental discharge. By keeping the gun properly secured there is no chance of a small child finding it and hurting himself or someone else.

There are many more of these points, of course. I can foresee many more posts following this pattern.

Post some observations of your own in comments.