“If you need it, there it is”
by digby
I wrote about Wayne LaPierre’s predictable comment that Kassandra Perkins could have saved her own life if only she’s had a gun yesterday. (It turns out the eight guns in the house and that Perkins was a gun enthusiast herself, but whatever.) I somewhat hyperbolically suggested that this argument suggests that one is asking to be a victim if one refuses to remain armed with a loaded gun at all times.
Apparently, this is a real thing. Wonkette found this from a pro-gun site:
Oh they have a gun. Most have several. Know how to shoot them too. But they don’t have immediate access to a gun in their home. Which is the same as not having a gun. They all think they’ll be able to run to their gun at the start of a home invasion. That is one seriously dangerously delusion.
You think the bad guys are going to make an appointment? Knock three times? Wait while you prepare for them? Allow you to secure your kids before you get your gun? I wouldn’t bet my life on it. And neither should you.
There are plenty of “common sense” objections to home carry. It’s unsafe for the kids (definitely not true if you keep your gun on you at all times). I’ll look like a nutcase (who’s coming to dinner?). Etc. And there’s one common sense reason to man (or woman) up and carry a gun in your home: if you need it, there it is.
As John Lennon said before he was shot to death, life is what happens when you’re making other plans. Semper fi baby. Semper fi.
One could think that’s just a lone nut screaming into the void. But if you take Wayne LaPierre’s comments seriously, you have to believe this too. And Wayne LaPierre is the president of the most powerful single issue lobbying organization in the country.
So, all you so-called “victims” out there had better be prepared. We’re one step away from blaming you for failing to have the foresight and responsibility to quick draw on your assailant and shoot him down before he shot you. That’s where this argument naturally leads.
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