On Borrowed Words, Part 2: Thank you, Jonathon Penny

As the debate rages, more and more people are weighing in, many of them are simply tired of the argument, as Jonathon Penny says, when responding to a comment on the status I am about to quote, "It isn't brilliant or anything. Just tired." The following words are also his, and I should say this, he is one of the most rational people I know. No, I don't consider myself rational enough. My passions often get the better of me. Take it away, Jonathon:

"This is all I'm going to say on the matter: the shootings, like today's, that occasion discussions about gun control, are never perpetrated by criminals with troubling histories. They are perpetrated by people who have ready access to guns and, for the most part, knowledge of and experience in using them. They are perpetrated, in other words, by "normal" gun owners or the relatives of gun owners who snap: the very people you claim are responsible and will be the best line of defense against shootings are the shooters. This does not make me feel safe. Nor does the buffoonery, potentially fatal, at the recent gun shows.

"'Criminals' perpetrate targeted crimes, not massacres. They isolate their victim, and pre-empt her ability to draw a weapon and defend herself. Other than the occasional, desperate bonehead, they know what they're doing, and they manage the associated risks. I am not afraid of them. They won't shoot me if they aren't provoked. And if they plan to, there's very little I can do about it either way. Lunatics or depressives with daddy's assault rifle have basically already accepted their own death, or they deny their own vulnerability, and want to do as much damage as possible, mostly indiscriminately.

"In short, arguments against reasonable regulation leave me colder than the remote possibility that I might some day repel an intruder by somehow getting to my lock box, opening it, and loading my weapon before being assaulted. They leave me colder than the remote possibility that some day, as armchair warrior, I'd be able to repel a trained military or police force, no matter how well armed I was.

"I would, that is, rather be vulnerable to some remote risk than live in a society where weapons are readily available. My chances of being shot in such a society are far greater."

I should let more people write blog posts for me. :-)