Gun

Not unlike Tbogg, Kevin was raised in a home where hunting was a thing.

He even used one once to scare off a burglar. Teenaged Kevin was alone and asleep in bed (his mother was out) when he woke to the sound of an intruder. He managed to find his old hunting rifle, burst into the hallway with all the boom and bluster he could stir up (in an attempt to seem larger and not alone) and roared at the fellow to “get the fuck out before I shoot."

It was unloaded but Mister B&E artist didn’t know that.

What’s key here is that Kevin had the presence of mind to bark and bellow, to appear lethal and menacing but not BE lethal, unlike Theodore Wafer, George Zimmerman, Michael Dunn or any of the other murderous asswipes with big warrior hero complexes.

I too was home alone when a couple of robberies/home invasions happened. I slept through one and successfully hid during the second.

In any case, in one of those just found old letters, Kevin rants about guns. He was a Hebrew/Arabic Linguist — why should he have to carry one, dammit!? Being in the military though, they were kinda inevitable.

Back to guns—do you realize that I have to carry one sometimes?! All the people I work with are thrilled about guns (ick). They were not amused when I “accidentally” dropped mine in the new cement sidewalk. My luck though, they issued me a new one.

You should have seen me at “gun class”. Actually, we’re supposed to call these weapons. You know the line — they tell you to grab your crotch with one hand and hold your bang-bang in the other and repeat “this is my gun, this is my weapon, etc.” I, of course, being ever decorous, refused to fondle myself in public (or pubic). Hence, I still don’t remember what you call the little nasties (guns — not cocks!). The women in the class were not thrilled with that bit either.

Geez, just give me a gun and I’ll ward off the hordes of godless commies. Actually, the world is safe from me. I caused so much trouble in “gun class” that I was kicked out on the last day. I can still shoot better than any of them — old competitive habits die hard — but since I was kicked out, I’m not allowed to have bullets.

Aw, I’m heartbroken! *sob* hack!

I still have to carry it sometimes — just for show. Anybody tries anything funny and I’m supposed to pretend it’s loaded and fake them out (he’s got good experience with this ruse). All well and good as long as they don’t notice the bubble gum I got caught in the cylinder (it jumped out of my mouth — honest! Actually, if I’d ever oiled the thing like I’m supposed to, the gum wouldn’t have welded itself to the metal. Oh well.)

I’m still trying to get them to take it away from me altogether. Yesterday I tied a string to it and drug it around the office as my “pet.” I figure that, by tomorrow, they’ll have decided to take it away. Yea! Then they’ll probably send me to “knife class.”

From the Mother Jones article 10 Pro-Gun Myths, Shot Down:

Myth #2: Guns don't kill people—people kill people.
Fact-check: People with more guns tend to kill more people—with guns. The states with the highest gun ownership rates have a gun murder rate 114% higher than those with the lowest gun ownership rates. Also, gun death rates tend to be higher in states with higher rates of gun ownership. Gun death rates are generally lower in states with restrictions such as assault-weapons bans or safe-storage requirements. Update: A recent study looking at 30 years of homicide data in all 50 states found that for every one percent increase in a state's gun ownership rate, there is a nearly one percent increase in its firearm homicide rate.

Go read all ten. Really.