I had an interesting conversation with my mom-in-law earlier this week. She asked me, with somewhat elaborate casualness, "Bob tells me you've been taking a lot of shooting classes...?"
"Yep," I told her, "I've got another class coming up in March, an advanced class which I'm taking over because I didn't do as well on the test at the end as I'd hoped. It's pretty challenging stuff."
She shot me a weird, sidelong glance, and then said, "Well, as long as you enjoy it. You know, guns really scare me. I like shooting at paper a little bit, but ... I'd never be able to shoot it, like at another person I mean. And guns really do scare me."
I nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean."
"My husband kept telling me I should carry one, back when I was doing all that driving every weekend by myself. But I thought, you know, I'm not going to use it, I really wouldn't."
I told her, "I understand what you're saying. I think you're safer without a gun than with one, if you aren't sure you could use it, if it came to that."
She said, "Yeah, that's it exactly. It really would get taken away from me and used against me, if I wasn't willing to use it."
"Well, that's true. If you don't think you would use it if you needed it, you shouldn't carry a gun."
She nodded. "Anyway, um, er (stammer stammer stutter), I wanted to ask you. Do you think you could use a gun, like that? Really?"
She obviously expected me to say no, or to have some problem answering. Deep breath. "Ah, yeah, I could." She blinked. I said, "I wasn't sure at first, but I got thinking about the kids. If someone tried to hurt or kill one of my babies --"
She said, "--you'd tear his head off!"
Laugh. "Yeah, I would, too. Wouldn't have to think about it at all. Don't touch the kid."
"But, what if it was just you?"
"Just me? Well, growing up without a mom would hurt the kids, wouldn't it?"
She was quiet for a minute, then said, "Yeah, I can see how you could get there that way." Then she changed the subject so abruptly that I had to wonder if she'd just decided that she had the moral equivalent of an axe-murderer as a daughter in law.
pax
Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city. -- George Burns
"Yep," I told her, "I've got another class coming up in March, an advanced class which I'm taking over because I didn't do as well on the test at the end as I'd hoped. It's pretty challenging stuff."
She shot me a weird, sidelong glance, and then said, "Well, as long as you enjoy it. You know, guns really scare me. I like shooting at paper a little bit, but ... I'd never be able to shoot it, like at another person I mean. And guns really do scare me."
I nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean."
"My husband kept telling me I should carry one, back when I was doing all that driving every weekend by myself. But I thought, you know, I'm not going to use it, I really wouldn't."
I told her, "I understand what you're saying. I think you're safer without a gun than with one, if you aren't sure you could use it, if it came to that."
She said, "Yeah, that's it exactly. It really would get taken away from me and used against me, if I wasn't willing to use it."
"Well, that's true. If you don't think you would use it if you needed it, you shouldn't carry a gun."
She nodded. "Anyway, um, er (stammer stammer stutter), I wanted to ask you. Do you think you could use a gun, like that? Really?"
She obviously expected me to say no, or to have some problem answering. Deep breath. "Ah, yeah, I could." She blinked. I said, "I wasn't sure at first, but I got thinking about the kids. If someone tried to hurt or kill one of my babies --"
She said, "--you'd tear his head off!"
Laugh. "Yeah, I would, too. Wouldn't have to think about it at all. Don't touch the kid."
"But, what if it was just you?"
"Just me? Well, growing up without a mom would hurt the kids, wouldn't it?"
She was quiet for a minute, then said, "Yeah, I can see how you could get there that way." Then she changed the subject so abruptly that I had to wonder if she'd just decided that she had the moral equivalent of an axe-murderer as a daughter in law.
pax
Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city. -- George Burns
