Extending the right to shoot

The New York Times reported today that 15 states are expanding the right to kill people in "self-defense" - I put that in quotes because what the laws will really do is expand the right of murder in non-life threatening scenarios like protecting stuff or a less severe attack.

There's a story I always tell when in debates with people about gun-control and the right to use those guns. (Assuming it's printed, there will me more about this story in my News and Record column this Wednesday.) Shortly after my 18th birthday, my recent ex-boyfriend broke into my house and attacked me - I literally talked him out of killing me by promising to run off and get married. True story. By the end of the morning, he was arrested and I was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital (though my worst injury was a slightly punctured lunch which hurts but isn't a big deal medically). On the way, one of the EMTs, a woman, said, "Too bad you didn't have a gun - he would have gotten a real surprise then!"

I gave that a whole lot of thought the first few years after the attack, back in the days when I was positive he would attack me again once out of prison. (He's been out for 6 years and lives in Greensboro as far as I know but I've never caught a glimpse of him.) I joined a shooting range with my gun-savvy bro-in-law and practiced about once a week until pulling the trigger no longer made me flinch.

At the end of my year membership, I gave a lot of thought to buying the gun I was so prepared to use and realized that a physical familiarity with a gun is a whole different animal than the psychological willingness to use that gun. Ultimately, I decided I probably couldn't shoot him and even if I could, I was unsure which would be worse: being attacked again or having his death on my conscious for the rest of my life.

At a gut level, I am opposed to the Big Mother government that America seems to want most of the time - it's what we're begging for every time we sue for a Caution: Hot Contents warning on a cup of coffee - and along those lines, it would be nice if as a country we could say, "Sure, have whatever guns you want and use them responsibly." But guns are too dangerous and people are too frivolous to let this one go at that. If it were up to me, people would need a year of supervised training in shooting and a psychological evaluation before being eligible for a gun permit.

Ultimately, the obvious is true: access to guns leads to an exponential increase in gun violence. People who own guns are a third more likely to be shot. These new changes to the "self-defense" gun laws will cause more shootings and less safety, regardless of what its champions would have you believe.