Fighting for Gun RIghts in San Francisco

You know something’s wrong in San Francisco when the San Francisco Chronicle writes a story that sympathizes with gun owners. San Francisco voted to ban continued possession of handguns. In other words, “turn ‘em in” on April 1, 2006 when the law goes into effect.

San Francisco’s “turn ‘em in” law is scaring at least two lesbians who seem to be politically liberal. Marilyn Hurst and her partner B.C. like to shoot guns and know that their guns and their gun skills could save their lives. They have a couple of handguns and a long-gun or two secreted in their home. They’ve thought through a number of scenarios in which getting to a gun may be the difference between life and death. The two women practice regularly and they’ve become responsible for their own safety.

They describe themselves as, “…exactly the kind of people that should have weapons.” Such a description is especially true in gay-friendly San Francisco. However, Hurst and B.C. joined the National Rifle Association because they like its literature and possibly because they hope NRA will help protect their gun rights.

The story itself is surprisingly friendly to these gun owners although it’s not entirely free of bias. The reporter included gun crime statistics and interviewed one of the asshats who pushed for the gun ban, Bill Barnes. He states that the women can find another way to defend themselves, but he doesn’t even begin to explain what that might be. Instead he falls back on a red herring fearing that their guns might be stolen and that would lead to gun violence.

Hurst and B.C. hope that their city’s law will be struck down in an NRA sponsored lawsuit. If not, they plan to abide by the law (my one argument with them as gun owners, but everyone has to make their own decisions). They say they’ll take their handguns to friends living outside of the city and buy more long guns for their apartment. They’ll not disarm.

It’s really too bad that voters in San Francisco can’t be as wise as these two gun owners. It’s too bad that voters believe that women like Hurst and B.C. somehow threaten them. And, in a city known for tolerance, as they define it, it’s too bad that a majority of voters think they can decide how other people should live their lives.

I’m going to slip into rant mode here: I’m tired of GFWs (gun fearing wussies) who paint gun owners as violent yokels. I’m tired of reading purposefully skewed stories and statistics trying to show that a gun in the house will one day hop right up and shoot its owner. I’m tired of GFWs thinking they’re more “evolved” than gun owners.

I’m tired of GFWs trying to vote away my rights and trying to tell me how to live my life. I’m tired of Boston reporters and politicians trying to tell New Hampshire to institute gun control.

Most of all, I’m tired of fearing that one day I’ll read about a new national law that says “turn ‘em in” like they did with Hurst and B.C. I fear it because I won’t “turn ‘em in.”