You are enjoying a relaxing extended family gathering and your loud cousin is in attendance. The conversation turns to guns, and he is prompted for his opinion on home defense weapons. He proudly says “Get a shotgun. If you want to keep someone away from your house, just fire the shotgun through the door. If there’s ever a problem just walk outside your home and fire two blasts.” You swear you have heard this before but are stunned at the people shaking their heads in agreement. What do you do?
Get a Shotgun “They” Say
The lunacy of this statement will cause even the most forgiving gun owner a moment of pause and headshaking. Yet, this type of misinformation is widely distributed via uneducated politicians and the media. You recognize these words because they were spoken by President Joe Biden. While our scenario is obviously fictitious, the words he spoke are real and honestly quite dangerous. I say that because there is a certain portion of the population that will follow his uninformed advice. This is especially problematic as we see millions of new gun owners join our ranks.
I believe it is our duty and responsibility to address misinformation such as this. The pace at which the media and politicians spout absurd gun knowledge can make it an almost full-time job, but we owe it to our new brothers and sisters in arms. To address this specific claim, I would certainly inject some facts into the conversation. While a shotgun can indeed be an effective home defense weapon, it takes extensive training in order to use it effectively.
Addressing his more specific point of “just fire the shotgun through the door,” I would simply say that this is one of the most irresponsible and dangerous things you can do. A cardinal rule in the defensive use of firearms is to verify your target. Firing blindly through a door puts any innocent bystander in mortal danger. You run the chance of missing the person you deem a threat and killing an innocent person.
Don’t Fire Blind Warning Shots!
On his second point of “If there’s ever a problem just walk outside your home and fire two blasts,” this too is extremely reckless and dangerous. Randomly firing a gun in the air endangers anyone that may be in the path of the falling rounds. People have been killed because of gunfire launched skyward. Mix in the fact that discharging a firearm is never to be used to scare someone off and we have an incredibly dangerous point to address.
While I will refrain from name-calling, President Biden has embodied the uneducated commentator class. We have dealt with it for decades but over the last ten years; it has reached a fevered pace as anti-gun politicians and talking heads offer their expertise. We need to calmly dissect each and every claim just as you would your loud cousin’s babbling. It is a lot of work, but it is also for a greater cause. Until next time – educate your friends and stay safe!
Reader Tony Phillips Says:
“Tell my cousin he is full of s**t and explain what the laws are about unlawful discharge and reckless handling of a firearm. Might also go into the physics of what goes up must come down with those rounds he just shot in the air. I hate being around dumb people, and apparently this cousin of mine is one of the dumbest. lol”
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