Guns

    So much on the news lately has concerned guns and laws pro and con.  Having grown up in rural Texas, guns were just there and no one thought about them very much.  When I was very young we hunted and ate what we killed;  wild rabbits, doves, squirrels and wild turkeys.  I once went on a deer hunt and everyone along teased me forever more because I thought a deer in my sights was too beautiful an animal to kill and I just couldn't pull the trigger.  It was my last and only deer hunt.

     Although nearly everyone I knew seldom went hunting, most had guns around.  I don't think hardly anyone could articulate a reason for having them, they were just there.  I once owned a rifle I won in a raffle at a bar.  I probably owned it for at least five years without ever firing it.  I think I probably gave it away;  I really don't remember what happened to it.

     Since I was never in the armed forces having contracted Polio when I was four years old and had after-effects that left me rated 4-F when America still had a draft for service.  I was too young for Korea, too disabled for Viet Nam, too old for wars since then.  So I haven't had any formal training in firearms whatever. 

     The last gun I owned came to me from a neighbor in an apartment complex where I lived with my very young son.  Coming home one day from work, this neighbor asked if I wanted to buy a gun.  He explained he wanted to buy a smaller caliber gun for target shooting as the 357 Magnum I was being offered was just too expensive on bullets.  Since this was 1980, he wanted just $50.00 for the gun along with a box of shells. Checking my briefcase, I had exactly that amount so the deal was concluded.  The gun and bullets went into the briefcase and the money went into his pocket.
 
     As fate would have it, I was picking up my son from a baby sitter.  I brought my briefcase along with my checkbook to pay her.  People at her apartment told me of a fight earlier over a stolen bottle of vodka and how a man threatened to come back later and get even.  I was scared and since I had the gun, inserted five shells and had just closed the cylinder as the back door burst open and a man entered firing a pistol at me.  Luckily he missed as I instinctively returned fire hitting him twice in his torso causing him to fall down.  He was still attempting to shoot from the floor when my next two shots hit his head spattering brains all over the kitchen.  All this occurred within a few seconds without any conscious thought.  A grand jury refused to indict calling it justified homicides.

     Even today after all these years, I still haven't gotten over killing another human being.  A gun owner can construct any scenario they want but until it really happens, no one knows what they will do.  I don't think guns should be banned but there need to be some restrictions.  And I think every gun owner needs to spend some time in the emergency ward of any major hospital.