A Wartime Reminisence Triggered by the Rhetoric in the Wake of Newtown

 I was absolutely devastated by the murder of the innocents in Newtown last week. Certainly I am not alone in this. As a result there is much discussion and debate over what should be done. Should guns be outlawed? Should we amend the Constitution to eliminate the 2nd Amendment? What should be done with the mentally ill? Should armed guards be stationed in our schools? On and on it goes. I don't have the answer, but I do think that the debate does indicate that something must be done in controlling guns, treating the mentally ill and seriously looking at violence in our media. What follows is some of my personal thoughts about guns.

I confess that I have never owned a gun, but I have used them for recreation (target shooting) as a child and youth. I also used guns as a professional military officer. I must say that I like guns. Shooting is a lot of fun. The one fun part of my preparation before embarking for Viet Nam was "playing John Wayne" at Camp Pendleton. Yet, I found when I went to Nam that this was no longer fun. Seeing people maimed and killed is not fun even though movies and video games make it seem exciting.

I am not for doing away with the Second Amendment. Yet, there must be limits. I lived for a year in an environment where everyone was armed -- and I didn't like it. Here are four vignettes illustrating my fear of everyone roaming around armed:

1. One never knows the mental state of another who is armed. Those of us with vehicles were encouraged to pick up men who were looking for a ride and I complied. This led to one of my most fearful few moments over there. I picked up a man -- obviously just back from the front lines. He had his M16 in hand. As he got into the vehicle, I noticed his glazed eyes and a dazed expression on his face. He kept mumbling to himself and fingering his weapon. I wondered what he was thinking. I kept asking him where he wanted to go. He never answered. I went to my destination, got out and so did he. He than wandered off. Nothing happened, but it was frightening anyway.
2. A gun can make a relatively simple situation into deadly confrontation. One of my best friends at Naval Support Activity Danang was the security officer. One of the normal duties was pursuing troops that were going into "off limits" ares looking for sex and or drugs. In the military, this is a relatively benign activity, but with the troops all armed, he had a number of running gun battles US Troops vs. US Troops over a relatively minor infraction. Not pretty!
3. A simple argument -- even a fight becomes deadly if a gun is present. When I stationed at Binh Thuy, some of my men would come in from their detachments for a few days of rest and relaxation (you know that their conditions were bad if they came to Binh Thuy for a good time.) Of course the men were armed, but left their weapons in my room while they were there. One evening I received a call to report to the Enlisted Men's Club immediately. One of my men aptly nick named Bull had all of the patrons lined up against the back wall while he threatened them all with a M60 machine gun (you have to be a Bull to manhandle the weapon.) A simple argument had escalated, Bull retrieved his weapon from my room and took matters into his own hands. Thankfully I was able to talk Bull into returning the weapon to me. All weapons should not be readily available to volatile individuals.
4. Fear when armed can cause one to kill and innocent person. One day while driving my vehicle through a small village traffic caused me to stop for a moment. I had my left arm resting in the open window. I was not looking at my surroundings but was lost in thought about my job. Suddenly I felt something hit my arm and then something fell into my lap. Immediately I thought, "Grenade." Even though this wouldn't have helped much, my gun was in my hands, I was getting out of the vehicle, ready to kill the perpetrator. The person that was running was a little boy. He had snatched my watch from my arm (the hit to my arm) and the watch band fell in my lap. Nothing serious, but I could have killed that child. 

We talk about protecting our home and family. Should an armed intruder be killed? I think that I would kill someone like the Newtown killer if it could save the children. I could also probably kill to protect my family. But, I so often here people say, "If they come into my house I can and will kill them." Does a thief deserve the death penalty? There must be some limitations placed on firearms. After all, my help doesn't come from my gun, as a Christian, my help comes from the Lord. I may also comment later on the treatment of the mentally ill and our violent culture.