FIREARMS, RESPONSIBILITY, AND THE SECOND AMENDMENT

I am an American; Southern by birth and a U.S. veteran by choice. Guns were always in the house from the earliest time I can remember.

My father was a disabled combat veteran. I shot my first firearm when I was six or seven years old. I shot my first cousin shortly after that. Pellet gun. Not my fault, and not my fault. We laugh about it to this day—at least I do. I was the official "gun cleaner" and caregiver for the weapons in our house.

Hell, I was an only child. My father carried concealed all my life. There was always a 12-gauge by the front door. I was taught to shoot firearms, respect them, clean them, and care for them. Later, I received additional firearms training in the military.

That being said, do I promote violence? No. Of course not. A firearm is a tool that can easily kill, maim, or destroy if misused.

Do I think any children should have unsupervised access to a GLOCK 9 mm handgun—or any firearm? No. Of course not. Do I think everyone should have knowledge of and respect for any and all weapons? Yes, most certainly, in this American gun culture of ours!¹

I really did not intend to pick on GLOCK as the bad weapon in this case. That being said:

BUY SIG SAUER—personal choice.²

Anyone who abuses or neglects a child, enables that abuse, or irresponsibly gives a child access to a firearm should face proper punishment.

Keep up. I know I just said I do not promote violence.

I do, however, support proper investigation, evidence, and swift justice for anyone who hurts, abuses, mistreats, or causes the death of a child or anyone else desperately in need of protection and support.

Pedophiles, child abusers, and people who knowingly enable their abuse have no place around children. Period.

Furthermore, I support the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. I support the entirety of the Constitution of the United States, in fact. The Second Amendment is, of course, subject to judicial interpretation and legal standards applicable by state and locale. ATF — Federal firearms laws and regulations

Supporting the whole Constitution is a personal position of mine and not a statement that all firearms restrictions are unconstitutional.

The Second Amendment protects "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms." The complete text and its constitutional context are available through the Library of Congress's Constitution Annotated:

Second Amendment — full text

It is not a fucking pick-and-choose menu, America!

Full U.S. Constitution

And if you want the history, judicial interpretation, and constitutional scholarship rather than somebody's social-media interpretation of it:

Constitution Annotated

All of that being said, I think you have no business possessing, owning, or carrying a firearm without following the law, getting proper training, understanding the weapon, and regularly practicing with it.

And this is not some discussion about a tiny fringe of Americans.

According to Pew Research Center's June 2023 survey, 32% of U.S. adults reported personally owning a firearm, while another 10% said someone else in their household owned one. Pew also points out an important limitation: there is no definitive government database telling us precisely how many American adults personally own firearms. These are survey-reported figures, not a national firearm registry.

Source: Pew Research Center, Key facts about Americans and guns (July 2024).³

With a right that widespread comes responsibility.

I believe in securing weapons properly, carrying them responsibly, maintaining them, knowing their condition, and training with them. If you own one, you should know how it works. You should know how to make it safe. You should know where it is. You should know who can get to it.

Especially if there are children in the house.

Please see Project ChildSafe for an independent gun-owner-focused resource on secure storage and responsible ownership.

There is actual data behind that concern. A CDC report using 2021–2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data from eight states found that, among respondents who had both a loaded firearm and someone age 17 or younger in the home, 25.2% to 41.4% reported that a loaded firearm was kept unlocked.

That study covered eight states, so those percentages should not be presented as a national estimate.

Source: CDC, Firearm Storage Behaviors—Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Eight States, 2021–2022 (June 2024).⁴

I'm not a fan of the NRA.

I'm not a fan of people who own guns but never shoot them, never clean them, never train with them, and never seriously consider the responsibility that comes with possessing one.

I fully support the Second Amendment.

I also believe training, safety, secure storage, competence, and acknowledgment of the responsibility that accompanies firearm ownership are paramount.

Those positions are not contradictory.

Now, in case anyone is wondering whether I own a firearm, have owned firearms, or currently carry one, I have one irrefutable answer for you:

IT IS NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS!!!

Sources and additional footnotes