The Equalizer

An armed society is a polite society - Robert A. Heinlein

Do you know what Hoplophobia is? It is defined as "fear of firearms." Colonel Jeff Cooper who claims to have coined the word stated that "the most common manifestation of hoplophobia is the idea that instruments possess a will of their own, apart from that of their user."

There are many people, educated Malaysians included, who fear guns. Guns are weapons that can cause death by people who want to cause death, and therefore should be rightly feared. But people should not fear guns in the hands of law abiding citizens.

My father owns a shotgun that he uses for hunting and he has owned it for as long as I can remember. He put it in the closet and at no time at all when we were younger were we tempted to handle it. We had a healthy respect for that shotgun.


My son is 4 years-old and we are teaching him to respect guns, that guns are not toys, and that guns can hurt people if mishandled. We are trying to demystify guns so that as he grows older he will not try to handle guns behind our backs simply out of curiosity. Demystifying guns to young children, in a household that has guns, is the first step to preventing accidents. We are teaching him about gun safety so that he knows that with ownership comes responsibility.

My husband grew up around guns and he fired his first gun at age 6. He and his father are lifetime members of the National Rifles Association. My husband has quite a collection of pistols and rifles, and I now own a handgun too.

Before I came to America, I too had the impression that America had too many guns and that too many people died needlessly because of those guns. That was when I was still ignorant about the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution. The 2nd Amendment states that "A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

This is a right that should be protected and not given away lightly. A government that has an armed citizenry will think twice about becoming a tyrant. Someone commented in a friend's blog that since America is not living under a tyranny, why should people continue to have guns? Duh!? Once the guns are taken away, how are you going to stop the government from becoming one?

Me, firing a Rossi .22 rimfire pump action rifle

There are many laws regulating gun use in America. Contrary to popular beliefs, especially with those living outside America, gun related deaths are not out of control in this country. Accidental gun deaths is not the number one killer of children under 14 in this country. Mass shootings like those you hear in the news recently are not as common as are made out to be.

It is a fallacy to claim that less guns mean less crime. Switzerland is a country that best illustrates this fallacy. In Switzerland National Service is compulsory and the men keep those guns including assault rifles that they use in their national service training in their homes. You don't hear much news of gun crimes in Switzerland.

In countries where guns have been taken away from the citizens, like the UK and Australia, crimes are not down, and neither are homicides. Criminals will always get their guns, legal or not. The only people left defenseless are the ordinary citizens.

Consider the following situations.

Police said that two men forced their way into a home on the 1900 block of Sachtjen Street on Madison's north side, near the Dane County Regional Airport, just before 3 a.m.

A couple was home in bed at the time and a woman was pistol-whipped by one of the assailants, who fled without taking anything. The woman is being treated for injuries.

Full story here.

If you're faced with intruders in your house, in which situation would you rather find yourself?

Bleeding and weakened from the bullet wound in her chest, Susan Gonzalez aimed her husband's .22-caliber pistol, the one she hated, and emptied it into one of the robbers who had burst through the front door of her rural Jacksonville home.

Those shots ended the life of one robber, led to a life prison term for another and became an epiphany for Gonzalez, a 41-year-old mother of five who runs a photography studio.

Full story here.

My home is still my castle, and if a person enters my home intending to cause me harm, he'd better be prepared to meet his Maker.

Be not afraid of any man
No matter what his size
If ever in fear, just call on me
And I will equalize

Engraved on the cylinder of a old West "Peacemaker" Colt .45 revolver.

Yes, a firearm is a great equalizer.


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