Like guns, they are tools for sport that can also kill or cripple. In the absence of owning a gun, I’ve thought about keeping a bat or a club by my bed, just in case. But it doesn’t bring me feelings of comfort or reassurance, to play through those images.

I can think about the myriad bad things that could happen to me and my family, to rationalize planning for a self-defense scenario. I can replay scenes from the movie Death Wish, where it brought me joy to watch Charles Bronson kill, because it seemed like the right thing to do (or so I thought, as a 10 year-old).

I’ll take a gun if I go into the wilderness where there are bears that can kill me. But for all the beautiful places there are in this world, why go where you need a gun? Just because you can?

At our core, we have the same instincts toward fear and violence here as other parts of the world. The difference is, we make it American.

Categories: Uncategorized

Tags: DPchallenge, fear, gun control, postaday