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(Neil at Citizen of the Month posted an interview with a fellow blogger on gun control. His friend, a law enforcement officer who doesn't own guns, supported the rights of people to own guns and carry concealed weapons. The following is based on the lengthy comment I left on Neil’s site, which seemed long enough to be a blog entry of its own.)

Living in Europe now, I am subject to the outrage people here feel in response to American gun policies. Why should Europeans care? Because most of the handguns in Europe come from America, and they feel their own gun policies are being undermined by ours.

Until we moved here, we owned guns. Early in our marriage, my husband was a hunter. When he was in the military and had access to a shooting range, he liked to target shoot and we had a handgun for use on the range. When we had children the guns were hidden and locked away and not used at all. The children didn’t know they existed until we sold them when we left the U.S. Guns can be responsibly owned and used for sport, but that doesn't mean I would not support legislation to limit the type and number of weapons people could own and the circumstances they can buy them under.

On Neil's blog, his friend wondered what would have happened if one of the students or professors in Norris Hall had been armed. How might that have changed the story? Could someone have killed the shooter? What if they fumbled with the gun and shot an innocent person?

There are lots of guns in the U.S. but is anyone really safer? Does the number of guns in America deter crime? Contrast the number of times we read about accidental shootings of innocent people because of guns in a home with the number of times we hear about Citizen John Doe successfully using a weapon to prevent a crime or defend himself against a real threat.

When someone feels they’re in danger, do we want their first response to be picking up the phone or picking up a weapon?

When police respond and arrive at the scene of a crime, do our law enforcement officers want to be dealing with “citizen shooters” and “friendly fire” as well as criminal fire?

Is it right for Citizen John Doe to shoot and kill someone about to steal his motorcycle out of his home driveway? How about someone carrying his TV out of his house when he arrives home? How about someone stealing his iPod?

Where do we draw the line on what’s acceptable use of a firearm? Do people deserve to DIE for property crime, for trespassing?

Anybody besides me remember Bernie Goetz? Was he a hero or a villain?

Last year in Belgium, a young man was fatally stabbed in a Metro station when he refused to surrender his MP3 player to two teens. Within days, nearly 100,000 people gathered and marched in the city to protest his killing.

My question for Americans is WHERE IS OUR SENSE OF OUTRAGE? Maybe the tens of thousands of people filling stadiums and reciting school cheers to “remember the victims” should hit the streets instead.

March and demand answers. March and demand change. March and let your words and presence say that these sorts of killings are unacceptable, and we need to do EVERYTHING we can to prevent them. Sure second amendment rights are important, but let's not forget the power of our first amendement rights to freely assemble and speak. Words CAN change the world. Whatever your thoughts are, engage in the political process and share them with those who have the power to change our laws and shape our culture.

April 23, 2007