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I got a concealed carry permit in 2008. A thread ...
My husband was deployed. I was very pregnant. I had a 3 year old & a very out of control dog who needed lots of walks. And my neighbor had just been mugged & left for dead in front of my house while he was walking his dog. https://twitter.com/mikejason73/status/1380855046431240195
My husband was deployed. I was very pregnant. I had a 3 year old & a very out of control dog who needed lots of walks. And my neighbor had just been mugged & left for dead in front of my house while he was walking his dog. https://twitter.com/mikejason73/status/1380855046431240195
I was, frankly, very scared. Then another neighbor, an FBI agent out for a run, was beaten nearly to death. Police suspected it was a gang’s initiation activities. So I had to walk this dog, while pushing my 3 y/o in a stroller, while pregnant (& later with a newborn on my chest)
And I had to do it twice every day in a neighborhood where 2 men had already almost been killed. So I applied for & got the permit. I bought a holster. I took my husband’s gun out of our safe & ...I was MORE — not less— scared.
Because now not only did I have to scan the environment for threats, I had to stay vigilant about the gun. My son was VERY interested in it. If it was in my purse, I had to make sure my purse never left my sight.
If it was in the holster, I had to make sure I didn’t pick up or shift a child to carry on that hip. When we came in the house, I had to take care of my gun BEFORE I could do anything to assist my children. And anyone with kids can imagine that scenario.
Crying baby or whining 3 y/o. Overtired. Needing a diaper change. Wanting a snack. Cut and bleeding and needing a bandaid and a hug. And it all had to wait until I could lock the gun back up in the fingerprint safe. Because I knew the second I forgot about the gun...
The second I got distracted or prioritized anything or anyone before the gun, my son would get it and he would hurt himself or one of us. How many times have parents said, “I only looked away for a second...” and a tragedy happened.
That gun was like having a baby always in the bathtub. Always. I could never look away. Without a doubt, carrying a weapon made my family LESS safe. It made me a worse parent. Ignoring and indifferent to my children’s needs. Prioritizing everything after the gun.
The possibility of an attack or an intruder was certainly still there, but the likelihood was not as great as of a horrible, accidental, totally preventable tragedy. So I stopped carrying. I locked the gun up for good. I bought pepper spray.
I still worried that my son might get his hands on the can and spray it, but that’s a scenario I could - literally- live with.
I own guns & I enjoy shooting. But they stay locked up. I don’t think 99% of people have any business carrying. I don’t think parents should carry.
I own guns & I enjoy shooting. But they stay locked up. I don’t think 99% of people have any business carrying. I don’t think parents should carry.
Bring a responsible gun owner & a responsible gun carrier means prioritizing the gun over your child. And that means you are literally making that gun more important than your child. And that makes you an irresponsible parent.
