We have known my mechanic for years. And by we, I mean my family and I. He has not always been our mechanic but when he finally opened his own shop a couple of years ago, we quickly switched over from our previous mechanic and started taking our cars to him... and by him, I mean Tim. Because that is his name. I've probably known Tim since I was in 5th grade. He is (I think) roughly 6-8 years older than me. Really great guy. Total redneck. He does a great job with our vehicles and we love and appreciate him a lot.
But before I go any further, I should tell you that I realize the following may be inflammatory and/or sensitive. Lots of people have really strong views either way and it's not my desire to make anyone upset or spout off views at random in an attempt to stir the pot. This is my blog, tracking my process in life, and I'm simply here to chart the things I experience and feel.
That being said, today I finally realized what all the fuss is about with regard to gun control. I've known for a long time that gun issues are a big deal. And no, my mechanic didn't shoot me or anyone else. But he does carry a gun on him at all times. He has a proper license and he tells me that several of the guys in the shop carry as well, even when they're working. When he told me this and I looked back at him in alarm, he turned sideways and raised his arms up just enough that I could see some kind of gun (he says it's the kind the cops use... I forget the technical name) peeking out from the small of his back, tucked into his pants in the same place where the FBI agents carry theirs. He pulled it out, emptied it of the cartridge and the bullets, and explained the difference in certain gun laws to me. Apparently, there's a difference between a CCW license, which allows you to carry a concealed and loaded weapon and another type of license which will only allow you to carry a concealed weapon if it is empty... which means that in a panic situation, you would not only need to pull out your weapon, but load it, cock it, and then pull the trigger. Tim explained that this process takes way too long... in a panic situation, you'd be toast, which is why he has a CCW. He also talked about certain places where he wasn't allowed to carry vs certain places where he was. There are signs that businesses may post that say "no guns" but if they don't meet certain size specifications they're null and void.
.... CRAZY!
It seriously blew my mind. Talk about information overload.
He also told me of how he recently went into my hometown grocery store and counted NINE other people in the store at the moment that he knew of who also carried regularly. In my hometown, that's like... THE ENTIRE STORE.
And that's when it hit me: Tim knows what he's doing. He's not a crazy. He's a trusted family friend. He knows how to handle his weapon and he knows when it's supposed to be used. Tim will probably go 99.99% of his life without ever needing to use his gun, but in the event that he does, he'll be ready. He could be ready if he needed to be. And so could probably all of those people in my hometown grocery store.
It also hit me today that guns scare all-of-the-things-that-could-ever-be-in-me out of me. But not when they're in the proper hands. Tim's gun didn't scare me because he knows what he is doing. And because he is a good man. But the idea of a gun sitting out or being stored improperly or in the hands of someone who doesn't know what they're doing or whose brokenness has taken them to a really, really dark place... that scares me.
I think Tim and his gun must've been something like what the founding fathers envisioned for us when they ratified the second amendment. Because there are crazies out there. Tim says that anyone who wanted could make a gun out of nearly anything they wanted. My dad says that if you take the guns away from the people who know what they're doing with them... the ones who only want to use them in a .01% emergency situation, then you leave yourself and everyone else helpless and open to the crazies. Because they're the ones who know how to make a gun out of a tuna can.
I could go further and explain how at least two of my family members that I know of subscribe to a number of conspiracy theories regarding the shooting at Sandy Hook... or their ideas about how the government wants to take our guns away in general so that we're easier to control. These ideas are also really scary to me, but I try not to think about it. I try to listen and keep an open mind when my family members talk about it. And then I try to forget about it and go play the piano.
I don't know how I feel about all the big stuff. I am really really not ok with people (especially children) dying at the hands of some lunatic who forgot to take his Xanax. I think there are certain things we could probably limit (like the need for anyone to own an AK-47... or a bazooka... or let's be honest, a spud gun) that in the end may or may not help the ridiculousness we've allowed ourselves to get into over this issue. And I do think it's ridiculous.
But really, all I know is this: as an artist, I don't really think I need to own or carry a gun. I mean, I play the piano all day. But I do feel safer knowing there are people out there like Tim who not only carry one every day of their life, but know what they're doing, and desire to use their gun only for good... for what it's supposed to be used for, which is protection for themselves and others. I also know that the world is a broken place. It seems to me that a gun is actually more of a tool, just like anything else. It could be used for its rightful and proper purpose. Or it could be used for awful, horrendous, terrifying damage.
I don't think the answer is necessarily in legislation. It almost never seems like it is. It seems to me that it is easier to legislate things that deal with hindrances of freedom and more difficult to legislate essentially moral issues, which is what gun control is at its root, if we're honest with ourselves. Because the truth is, people are broken. And really, there are no easy answers.
I would say that, when you come down to it, the real answer is the gospel, found in the person of Jesus himself. But nobody ever likes that answer...
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10
