An Anti-Gunner’s Progress Or How I Finally Discovered the Truth About Guns.

By Amfivena

I like guns. I’ve always liked guns. I appreciate them for their history, their aesthetics and their engineering. I enjoy shooting guns, smelling the burnt powder, and cleaning them afterwards. I even enjoy just holding and looking at guns.

No doubt most readers share my sentiments. The problem is I grew up in an anti-gun family in an anti-gun state. So, for most of my life this interest in guns was a guilty pleasure. I kept the guns I owned hidden from friends and family, treated like a porn collection under the mattress.

I never really questioned why I felt guilty living in a safe, wealthy suburb and I never saw any practical and positive application for guns. The people around me didn’t hunt and weren’t victims of violent crime. Mainstream media told me guns were bad and the source of all sorts of problems and I believed them. I even wished we could be more like Britain or Australia. Without giving it any thought to the matter, I had accepted the mantra of gun control.

The Virginia Tech massacre was the first time I was forced to critically think about the fact I could be a victim. My time in Blacksburg was spent during the Clinton years. I was long gone by 2007, but the attack was still personal for me. It disturbed me in ways that reports of violence never had before.

Virginia Tech shooting
Injured students are removed from Norris Hall as police continue to hunt for the Virginia Tech gunman. (Alan Kim/The Roanoke Times/AP Photo)
I dated a woman in the dorm where the shooting started and had classes in the building where most of the carnage took place. I distinctly remember feeling uncomfortable with the calls for more gun control laws. At that point, I was still firmly in the ‘guns are bad’ camp, but for the first time, I finally began to think about the issue.

I taught American politics in Canada for a couple years after the VT shooting. When I teach I make a point of helping students form their own opinions about important issues. I do my best not to tell students what to think and my grading rewards forming and supporting strong opinions. I like controversial subjects because they tend to engage students the most.

A three-way discussion including me and two students who were destined for an A grade, while 17 others snooze doesn’t strike me as effective teaching. You need topics like drugs, guns, or sex to get the back row to wake up and participate.

I found most Canadian students viewed the Second Amendment in the same light as fugitive slave laws…outdated and barbaric. The overwhelming view of my students was that the USA is a violent place because of the Second Amendment. At first, I can’t say I completely disagreed.

In every class there were a few Canadians who held a minority view. I generally dismissed them as “gun nuts.” Yes, that was hypocritical given my own personal interests. My self-imposed duty to present both sides of a matter forced me to take them seriously though.

Over a few semesters I dug into the history of the Second Amendment looking for material to present both sides. I soon found myself making a case for the Second Amendment to the class and actually believing the words coming out of my mouth. I also found myself somewhat proud of the views as an American. It’s indicative of the bias prevalent inside the academic bubble that my new-found knowledge still stirred some guilty feelings.

I returned to the US a modest supporter of Second Amendment rights. I was generally in favor of civilian ownership of firearms, but still all too willing to randomly outlaw something in the interest of the greater good. It was an improvement for sure, but I was still more an enemy than a friend of the cause.

I continued to teach and always looked forward to discussing firearms. I developed stronger opinions on the importance of the Second Amendment with each passing semester. Despite this, my views on gun control remained soft. At that point I fully understood the geographic distribution of violence and crime, but I also cared about human life.

The daily body counts in our cities bothered me. I wanted to do something, even if the problem mostly occurred somewhere other than in my northern New England home. I remained willing to sacrifice some of my liberty if it might help others.

It took the Sandy Hook massacre for me to fully reconcile my conflicting views on guns. My daughter was the same age as most of the victims. So, like the Virginia Tech shooting, news of Sandy Hook was profoundly disconcerting despite the fact it had no direct impact on my life.

The inevitable calls for more gun control laws and more gun-free zones suddenly made no sense to me. Mainstream media shouted ‘we’ve got to do something!’ For the first time in my life I asked the question; How will punishing law-abiding Americans make any difference to people willing to kill?

Thankfully, the internet enabled me to see that others were asking the same question.

With each passing year I became more passionate about the futility of gun control laws. The repetitive calls to restrict the rights of the law-abiding became insulting. I own a number of guns. I have never so much as willfully pointed one at another human being, let alone actually shot anyone.

My guns aren’t the problem. The 450 million guns owned by law-abiding Americans aren’t the problem. I care about human life and still want to do something about it. But nothing will change as long as we allow the leaders of American cities to deflect blame. African Americans and the urban poor continue to suffer because it’s considered racist to point out the real problems.

It’s easier and safer for politicians to blame someone else. That makes me angry. My guns no longer make me feel guilty.

The good news is that I’ve noticed a trend in my classes. This may be difficult to believe, but each semester I find more students arriving with a better understanding of the Second Amendment, why it’s important and a willingness to reject more laws restricting guns. Students who speak up for gun control generally spout the same old talking-points with little conviction and they’re getting counter arguments from some of their peers.

Class discussions usually start with a focus on self-defense and hunting which are certainly important aspects of our right to ‘keep and bear.’ However, I’m pleased by the fact I no longer need to bring up the topic of armed insurrection. A student, usually a veteran, unfailingly performs that task for me. I’m comforted by the fact I know a dozen or so former students (with infantry, Ranger and Marine service) who recognize that civilian arms are the peoples’ fail-safe against out-of-control government. Given the trend in constitutional carry and after the Bruen decision, the future of the Second Amendment looks sound, at least in my little corner of the country.

I can say that my support of the Second Amendment is now entirely free of ‘buts.’ Unfortunately, my views are still largely verboten in academia. I like teaching and want to keep my non-tenured job, so I regrettably have to write this under pseudonym. It seems the fight for our freedoms will never truly be won.