Guns save lives; guns take lives. These arguments are both valid, and they're both hotspots in today's politically charged world. Generally speaking, older, more conservative generations tend to favor loose gun laws, while younger, more liberal generations tend to favor tighter gun laws. And here comes moderate, middle of the road me. Though it matters very little what I think, here it is: You have the right to own a gun, but that doesn't mean you should own a gun. Yes, people in my age group are opposed to guns because we see a ton of violence.
Though no one really wants to talk about it, violence is present on every college campus. From hazing, all the way up to gun violence, most college students have either witnessed or been the victim of some violent crime.
No student, from incoming freshmen to seniors, comes to college prepared to deal with the violence that's everywhere. Then, when they go out into the world terrified of regular people with carry permits, police officers, pocket knives, etc., everyone wonders what crazy ideas must have indoctrinated us. Here are some logical responses to those of you who laugh at us for viewing with a skeptical eye those items that can easily inflict pain
"I can't believe you won't carry pepper spray."
I actually used to until a campus security officer my freshman year of college pointed out something very reasonable to the entire class: Most people that carry pepper spray don't actually know how to use it. I sure don't. I would probably end up spraying myself in the eye instead of my attacker. And if there were a breeze, I certainly would not know how to prevent the pepper spray from blowing back into my own eyes.
You see, most millennials don't know how to properly use pepper spray, guns, etc. If you don't know how to use something that you have for "self defense," then it is not doing you very much good in the self defense department. It's not "liberal ideology" or "going against the second amendment;" it's just good old common sense -- not even the one written by Thomas Paine.
"Guns don't kill people. People with guns kill people."
It's not exactly that I care if you have a gun, but with my Irish temper, you should stop suggesting that I get one. Our educators do a pretty good job of reminding us in school that we need to evaluate every item before we use it. Our society has a serious overuse problem with everything. Not only are guns and pocketknives over-present in households and over-carried on the streets, we also overuse pretty much every other amenity. We overeat, creating obesity. (Guilty as charged.) We overuse our cell phones, increasing rates of cancer. (Potentially also guilty as charged.) We have overused antibiotics, creating drug-resistant super diseases. We over-prescribe painkillers, which has led to the nation's latest drug abuse epidemic. Everyone does not need a gun. There are some people I know who, frankly, don't need kitchen knives.
"You see violence in video games and movies."
If I choose to, and even then I don't actually have to walk in the real world with those violent characters. I also see witchcraft in my beloved Harry Potter movies and even in the Narnia movies, with all of their faith-based links, but that doesn't mean I go out and practice witchcraft.
"Victims of violence can still live a normal life."
They can, and they do. Many victims of physical violence require little to no counseling to deal with the situation, but the truth is it's different for every person. Many people have asked me time and time again to write about my personal experience, and though maybe someday I will, today is not that day. But I will say this: Lots of people try to tell us to stop blaming the object. It's not that we blame the inanimate object, but it's that we experience discomfort when we know that some people are not as responsible as they could be around those objects.
Violence is everywhere, but as it becomes more common, those of us who see it have a different response. Not all of us are "hippies," "judging you for being a redneck," "trying to take away your Second Amendment rights," or any of the other charges we have had laid upon us. We simply understand the importance of caution.
