So I find myself in the position of being very conflicted. I just had a pretty heated argument with my beloved (and soon to be intented) over guns. We're generally exact opposites on almost everything-- and true to form, we're total opposites on this. I preach peace and he carries a gun to the dinner table. This was sort of a running joke between us, but today his gun-totingness overwhelmed me. All of the sudden I realized his devotedness to that part of the constitution-- I guess I had thought that he packed heat because he has to-- not just because "he can" as he put it. Maybe I'm being silly, but guns really kind of scare me, especially when I think about your average joe schmoe having them. I've been shooting with him, and after the first shot I was ok with it (though truth be told that first shot almost convinced me to never shoot again.) He contends that "Guns don't kill people. People kill people." I guess my thought on the matter is that we shouldn't enable people to kill people. Perhaps I'm still reeling over the VA Tech tragedy, but it makes me nuts to think about more crazy people carrying guns all over the place. I know a lot of people with really bad tempers who aren't especially rational when mad-- and I sure don't want them having guns.
In the course of the argument, he contended that lots of "ordinary" people have concealed weapons on them all the time... and then further pointed out that a preacher whom I have known all my life often carries a concealed weapon. For some reason, this bothers me immensely. Not only that I didn't know about it. Not only that he's a preacher. It just bothers me for so many inexplicable reasons, not the least of which is that it seems highly contradictory for a preacher to carry a gun. Granted, I hold a relatively high belt in Tae Kwon Do, and plan to go further... and I guess that seems contradictory too. But I guess when it comes down to it, I know that I would never fatally harm someone in defense of my own life (though if anyone threatened the lives of my children or anyone else nearby, I can guarantee that my resolve would bust.) I enjoy TKD as a sport and an art-- and I guess the same types of arguments could be made about carrying guns. Maybe the issue is that I don't trust the common citizen. Or maybe it's that I desperately yearn for a world in which people don't feel they need guns to feel safe.
I'm going to marry this aforementioned arguing guntoter-- but I wonder if I'll ever feel completely comfortable with this part of him.
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Wow. I've been married to the same woman, another preacher like yourself, for 17 years. No two people are ever the same and we do not always agree. But I cannot imagine being married to someone with whom I had that BASIC a disagreement. Because I can guarantee that no gun will ever be allowed in my house or around my kids.
Uncomfortable? Sorry. That would have been a deal breaker for me.
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