Liberals are Just People Who Have Never Been Held Up at Gunpoint

21 July 2010

Liberals are Just People Who Have Never Been Held Up at Gunpoint

It was just a matter of time before I had a conversation about guns in Texas. Texas is probably one of the most NRA loving states in the union…this is, of course, if you consider Texas part of the union…Texas would prefer to succeed and become their own country. In Texas, there is no waiting period for buying a gun, there is no state registration of guns, with proper licensing one can carry a concealed gun, machine guns are legal, and there is no limit to the number of rounds a magazine can hold. It is also legal to shoot someone with your gun in the state of Texas if you feel that your life was endangered or if someone has trespassed on your property. On my first day of residency at Baylor, I even noticed that there were gun signs on the entrances to Baylor College of Medicine. In this case, it was a notification that one could not carry a concealed weapon on the campus…no guns in lecture!

Today I sat in on a very long fetal ultrasound session and had a rather interesting conversation with the husband of the patient. He was big guy: tall and broad. He had a motor mouth that wouldn’t stop talking the entire hour…I might have blamed it on nerves if he just didn’t seem like a character of a man. The entire time he sat there in the chair, he rocked forwards to backwards, like he was all revved up and ready to jump out of his chair and spring into action at any moment. I told him that I had just moved here from the northeast a few weeks ago and he said, “Welcome to the only free state in the union!” He said he hoped that Texas could one day succeed from the union. He asked me how I felt about guns and I said, “Actually I’m packing right now!” He went on to say, “Guns are great! I love guns! Have you ever shot a gun? What kind was it?” He told me how he had just ordered a few t-shirts, one had a picture of a rifle on it and said, “Come and take it!” and the other said, “Liberals are just people who’ve never been held up at gunpoint.” His wife elaborated that he was one robbed at gunpoint. I told him that I did agree with the idea that a traumatic experience could make a person rethink the idea of keeping a gun for self-protection. He said, “Yea well hopefully the first time someone breaks in your house they don’t just shoot you in the head ‘cause then it will be too late to say you should’ve had a gun.”

This man continued to share his little stories. He told us how he wants to start a non-profit where people can donate towards him going out and shooting and killing child murders and child molesters. He said, “If I were going to be a doctor I would be an OBGYN too, I just love babies…” He went on to tell me how he is an instructor for Krav Maga, which is Israeli combat fighting for fitness. I have actually heard many times that this is a fabulous work out and told him I had been looking into it. He said, “Come on down, we’ll show you how it’s done, check out the intro class, I’ll give it to you gratis!” He is hoping that his next career will be as a medic in the army though…he wants to be in the field kickin’ ass and takin’ names.

This man clearly fit the stereotype of the Texan male, but they really do love guns in Texas. One article I read said, “’If you take 17 million people in Texas and multiply that by about three, you've probably got that many guns,’ says Jim Brown, legislative director for the Texas State Rifle Association, basing his estimates on conversations with people throughout the state.” It seems that the idea stems back from the times when Texas was part of the wild west and people needed protection out in the wilderness where the settled their ranches. In fact early settlers usually owned several guns because they wanted one gun in each room. One quote I read said, “If we give up our guns, what's to keep our military from coming in again? Nobody's going to invade my space."

As I lay in bed at my new first floor apartment the other night, listening to the array of unfamiliar sounds outside, I did get to thinking about safety. This was only my second time living by myself in an apartment and the first time was in a quieter suburban town. If someone broke into my apartment while I was sleeping, how would I defend myself? A part of me could see how having a gun in my bedside table would be a comfort. Clearly I am not the only woman that feels this way; an article I read said that women own 20% of the guns in Texas. I was once the staunchest anti-gun activist ever! The first time I held a gun I nearly started crying. In my eyes, guns equaled death. But as someone once told me, guns don’t kill, people do. So I figure I will learn a little more about guns. I plan to take a gun safety class with my friend, Danielle. We’ll see if two Yankees can manage not to humiliate themselves in a class of Texas gun lovers. And when and if I ever get that bedside table gun, you know I have officially converted to Texan!