Go see my Pop’s stuff

Dad put together a very nice pair of blog posts about firearms, and why you don’t need to be afraid of them any more than you need to be afraid of a chainsaw in your garage or an electric carving knife in your drawer.

In the first, he addresses the folly of assigning a personality or “spirit” to your gun. Though my friend and hero Don Gwinn is skeptical that naming a gun could contribute to the hoplophobia that is rampant throughout the planet, I beg to differ. How often have we heard of handguns or “assault rifles” or other arms referred to as “evil”? There is a subtle but very real belief among many that the mere possession of an arm will cause the owner to take on the personality of the gun. (Which, according to the Brady bunch, is evil.)

This belief is carried on by some who are pro-gun, too. Possessing a lever action rifle and a single action revolver makes you a cowboy. Possessing a tactical pistol and an MP5 makes you “an operator.” Or whatever.
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In Dad’s second post, he addresses the old saw about guns being “only good for one thing, and that’s killing!” It’s really another view of the same topic as his previous blog, but it makes this point very well: A firearm is a tool, and is only dangerous if wielded dangerously. Without human interaction, a firearm is inert. Benign.

Go read ‘em. Dad’s been making this point my entire life, and I suspect a good while longer, as well.