This was originally written as a bit for Newsweek, back around 1999, but when I was done I realized that I was at about twice the word count they like, and given Newsweek's politics the chance of them publishing it were so slim as to make the effort of trimming not worth it. So I have put it up here for the edification of the masses. For those of you outside the US, okay, my gun doesn't protect you, but I hope this piece has given you a bit of insight into the mind of the American gun owner that you would not get through the news media.

Armed and Dangerous?

by

Robert M Brown

My name is Robert, and I carry a gun.

Oh, not everywhere; there are a few places where it's illegal, and my employer, an otherwise very liberal Internet startup company, has a Zero Tolerance policy towards guns in the workplace. (I'm afraid I've driven my HR department nuts trying to get them to explain to me how that makes us safer. I mean, are the people who're really dangerous likely to be put off because carrying a gun is against the rules?) But most places, most of the time, I am armed.

I don't fit the stereotype of the gun owner, the one the news cameras focus on at gun shows and pro-Second Amendment rallies. (But then most gun owners don't fit that stereotype.) I don't own a single thing with camouflage pattern on it, I don't drink beer, much less have a beer belly (as I pass through my middle 30s, though, I find it takes more and more exercise to maintain that state of affairs). I don't watch TV, or even follow sports. No, not even football. I live in a quiet suburb, drive a Mazda Miata, and work as a computer network administrator. I have a degree in History. I don't go out drinking with the guys (my lovely and talented wife is better company), and never in my life have I started a fight.

And I carry a gun.

I hear you asking, "Why? Isn't that dangerous?"

Carrying a gun is not easy. It is legal in my state, after passing a thorough background test (they have up to 180 days to try and find a reason to deny you, and believe me they do look), sitting through a long, long day's class on the relevant laws, then proving your knowledge in a written test, and your skill on the shooting range -- the same range qualification that Department of Public Safety officers have to meet, excepting only the longest distance set. Photographs and fingerprints must be provided, and a fee paid. Physically carrying the gun, 2.5 pounds of steel weighing down my hip, is a hassle, especially in the 100+ degree heat of summer. It has to stay concealed, so I have to choose my clothing carefully, and watch how I move in public (always reach for items on the top shelf at the grocery store with my left hand, not my right). Imagine carrying a large cell phone and it being illegal for someone to catch a glimpse of it and you have some idea of the logistical problems involved. I cannot do anything that might be seen as escalating a confrontation; if someone curses or make an unkind hand gesture at me in traffic, I have to let it pass. Society trusts me to carry a gun in public, and to only use it in defense of life. The responsibility is real.

There is a reason why our lawmakers decided that I have to keep my gun concealed: So criminals won't know who is armed. Not knowing who is safe to rob or attack, they become more cautious. And it works; armed citizens do reduce crime, both by deterrence and by direct action. Two million times a year Americans use guns to defend themselves from criminals. Two million murders, rapes, and robberies that don't make the news, because they never happened.

I carry a gun. And it protects you.

Carrying a gun can be dangerous. If I were to grossly mishandle it I might hurt myself. I might even hurt someone else. Of course, a moment's inattention behind the wheel of a car can hurt many more people. And, in fact, that is the case; a child is 60 times as likely to die in a car accident as a gun accident.

I think of my gun as a sort of seatbelt. Some people say that wearing your seatbelt can kill you; you can end up trapped in a burning vehicle. That is remotely possible, barely. Much more likely, though, is that the seatbelt will save your life. Or an airbag; under just the wrong circumstances, it can be dangerous, but most of the time it's a benefit, one that can save your life. I hope that I never need the airbag or seatbelt in my car, but they are there, and I don't begrudge the moment it takes to strap myself in before driving. I hope to never need my gun, but more than that I hope that I never need it at a time when I don't have it.

A few years ago I did not carry a gun. Oh, if I were driving across the state, or into a more dangerous part of town, I might put one in the car. But I hadn't taken the time to get my carry license, and I didn't carry as a matter of course.

A few years ago a couple was coming home from an evening out, home to a nice house in a nice neighborhood just a few miles from mine. Unfortunately, there were 3 men from a not as nice neighborhood waiting in that alleyway for someone to come home. The young couple were robbed, and stuffed into the trunk of a car. They were driven around while the men toured the local ATM machines, draining the couple's bank accounts, then taken out to a field in the country.

Some hours of rape and torture later, the men finally left them.

The system worked for these people. The police collected evidence, and made their arrests fairly quickly. The men were brought to trial, the jury heard the evidence, and sent the convicted felons away for as long a prison stay as they could. It will be a very long time before they bother honest citizens again.

Too late for this particular couple. Too late for the other half dozen or so victims of the group's previous driveway robberies. But at least these particular criminals won't be hurting anyone for a long time. That's good.

I can't help but think, though, that it could have been better. Did this couple really have to suffer through what they did? The police do what they can, but they can't be everywhere, can't watch everyone. Was there nothing that could have been done?

This story bothered me, because it was so close to home, so easy to imagine me, and my wife, caught up in such a nightmare. But what could I do? Never go out? Hope that we would never be that unlucky?

I carry a gun.

Not for myself. I'm not a big guy, but I'm rather fit and relatively young, confident and alert. Not the sort criminals like to pick on. I'm not invulnerable, far from it, but criminals like easier prey; people they can overpower easily, people who aren't paying attention to their surroundings. I carry a gun to protect my wife, my friends, my neighbors, the total strangers around me at the mall or restaurant. You. Whether you know it or not, whether you like it or not, my gun makes you safer. And there are millions of me out there, looking out for you. Not because we have to, but because we can, because we cannot stand by and let someone be hurt when we have the ability to prevent it. Because it's the right thing to do.

Because there may come a dark night when you need some help. I hope someone will be there for you.

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