This gun never killed anything.

I read a post this morning under “Freshly Pressed” (even though the original post was from July?) titled Planes Don’t Fly and Guns Don’t Kill.  Being a proponent of freedom, including the right to defend ones self on equal terms with the attacker, I read the post.  It was a story of a man who has killed for the sake of killing on more than one occasion.  Granted they were animals and not humans, but this man took three lives, two of which were deliberate.

What struck me about the post was that the author blamed his actions on the tool used to carry them out.  He made a choice to kill a living thing.  He followed through on that choice.  While having the gun may have made the action easier, it was the man behind the gun that ultimately caused the death of the creature.  He says he feels remorse, but he repeats his actions, so how much regret is there really?

I suppose we should be glad that the person who made these choices selected birds as his prey and not humans…or will he take that step in the future?  I respect the man’s decision to devoid himself of firearms.  It appears to be a wise choice for him.  Perhaps he is one of the reasons that others should be armed!

This blog is about freedom.  Along with that freedom comes the responsibility for ones actions.  You cannot have one without the other.  Every living thing has an inherent right to self preservation.  Even plants develop defense mechanisms to level the playing field and insure their survival.  Man, being the inventive creature that he is, has created tools to make life easier.  One of those tools is the firearm.  It has been a tool used for both good and bad actions by humans.  The object is inanimate and will never do anything without human interaction.  Much like an automobile, medications, bathtubs, swimming pools and a host of other objects and substances that can cause death or injury to humans or other living things, a person must manipulate the tool to cause a reaction…that reaction can be good or bad based on the actions of the person.

So while the title of the blogger’s post was true, the premise of the body is a poor excuse for the author’s bad behavior.  I don’t buy into the theory that having a gun in your hand will cause your primal instinct to kill to surge forward uncontrollably.  If it does, perhaps you should seek professional assistance.

p.s.  I was going to comment directly on the post referred to above, but it appears that comments were disabled.