Friday, February 22 2013
CORRECT ME IF I’M WRONG!
By Author Bryce A Baker
Violent Intent?
Violent Intent?
I’m going to jump into the fire with both
feet and give my past and present observations on a very controversial subject.
Controversial for good reason and both sides of the argument have responsible
points. In light of the recent shootings that have taken innocent lives, the
verbal and legislative battle for and against firearm possession is firing back
and forth. Pun intended.
Understand that coming from a criminal
investigation background and a bodyguard, I understand firsthand the
devastation a weapon can incur to the victim and victim’s family. It is a
traumatic, emotional event that has no release. I have had many people give me
their opinions on the subject and some have as I said before, have good reasoning.
But the full picture of the subject needs to be analyzed before making
judgement.
First Opinion: “If there were guns only in
the hands of Law Enforcement and the Military, the threat would be eliminated
or at least reduced. No one should have guns!”
Great idea, but unfortunately in the real
world the ‘BAD GUYS’ prefer to be armed and have no moral obligation to follow
popular opinion or walk into a business with a toothbrush to rob them, Or burst
into someone’s home and threaten the petrified occupants with bad language.
Second Opinion: “Having a gun in one’s house
opens up a possibility that a child or an emotionally distraught adult could
get hurt.”
Of course there is that possibility if the
weapon is NOT properly secured as per the laws of possession in Canada. The
incidence of accidental or intentional injury or death from a legally possessed
and secured firearm is extremely rare. On the contrary, injury or death, from
knife attacks are unfortunately extremely high. Knives have never been a real
issue in the public opinion.
Now I could rattle on for hours but let’s
get to Pro gun possession. It has been my observation that most people would
not have a gun in their home for protection because they prefer not to and have
a great swing with a baseball bat. The majority of gun owners have guns for
sport target shooting, hunting, or collections of rare or specific firearms.
The liability is subject to these responsible gun owners and misuse is not
common practice in Canada.
Let’s get back to ‘BAD GUYS’. In Canada
alone the drug trade and organized crime members would love the public to be
unprotected. Why do you think the Home Invasions are high? I don’t think they
take out transport permits for the assassinations of rival group members with
innocent people in close proximity. They just don’t care who gets hurt or
killed.
Another opinion on the Con to gun ownership.
“It won’t happen to me if I don’t have a gun.”
The chances are like in the animal world,
the weakest are the first target.
Again, another observation; Motor vehicles
are used as lethal weapons in heinous crimes like robberies and drunk driving,
and kill more people in a week than guns do in a year. Yet there are no
advocates wanting to ban motor vehicles. Advising a family member that their
son or daughter or other has been killed in a car accident by a drunk driver or
criminal in an attempt to elude police, was the hardest part of my job.
In summary: It would be the greatest gift to
society if there were no gun related tragedies, but we live in a violent world
and everyone has been affected by some violent act. We all have the right to
choose between the baseball bat (or use whatever reasonable force needed) to
protect one’s self or family, or submission to violence.
If I had an unknown subject breech my home,
I would defend my family
without hesitation with
all means of my training. If someone were to shoot
at me, I would shoot
back. If there is an opportunity for non- lethal use of
force, IT WOULD BE USED.
It is also unfortunate that even if guns were
removed, there would
still be guns in the hands of the criminals and the
crazies that feel the
impulse to end lives.
Post Script: Just a
tidbit of information. As a former
bodyguard we were trained to recognize threat before incident. Let’s learn to
recognize the signs of subdued violent intent with the children in our schools.
There are warning signs.
One last thing; we all
have the right to ‘not own’ a firearm, but no one has the right to remove the
rights of others.
By Bryce A Baker
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