DISCLAIMER: This post is sure to outrage staunch gun supporters, but hear me out. I’m neither for nor against you fine folks or anyone’s right to bear arms. I’m simply sharing some thoughts as I see them, sparked by a question someone left on our Facebook page.

THE QUESTION

THE ANSWER

Aw, us crazy, misguided, disillusioned, yet well-intentioned, Americans. Our culture is gun crazy. We think “guns” and “fighting” or “defense” is synonymous with one another.

We no more need guns to battle zombies or aliens than we need guns as part of our everyday life. We’ve somehow come to believe that if our right to bear arms is taken away from us, our freedoms will follow.

Guns don’t preserve our freedom. Guns won’t likely help you in most aspects of your real life. Sure, there are those who think by being well armed no one will mess with them. They’ll be able to protect and defend yourself.

If this happens, I’d like to hear about it more in the news. And I mean average citizens defending themselves spontaneously when they’re lives are threatened, not police officers either on or off duty or ex-military who happen to be on the scene.

The truth of the matter is, unless you’re actively engaged in gang or mafia violence, the chances of you needing your gun for protection are slim. Sure, it’s going to make you feel better to have it. If you’re attacked and have the opportunity to get to it and use it, fantastic. I’m all for blasting any fuckers who mean you harm to begin with.

The trouble with most people thinking they’ll be able to defend themselves is they have too high an opinion of themselves and underestimate the intelligence of their attacker.

Most attackers rely on the element of surprise. People forget this when they say things like, “I’d like to see someone come after me. I’d blast their head off.”

Yep. You probably would. If you knew it was happening and had a chance to prepare. But when you’re caught by surprise and your weapon isn’t near you, or loaded, or… Then what?

People associate guns with control. If they have a gun, they’ll have the power to control the situation. Ah, if only life was that easy. Ask any service man or woman who has served on the front lines in Iraq or Afghanistan. Ask the ones who were attacked if they believed people with more limited access to weapons could inflict the amount of damage they did against an army with such superior weapons.

The fact is, people like to think they could defend themselves and do the inflicting of harm rather than be inflicted upon if they had a weapon. They think there will be time to get to their guns in their gun safes and load them and defend themselves and their property.

In the event of an alien invasion or zombie apocalypse, perhaps. Perhaps there will be this warning and guns and ammo can be amassed.

In spontaneous situations? Good luck. It’s not like the movies where people jump to action. Trained people might. The average citizen? They’re also going to have to contend with the psychological side of themselves.

You’ve heard of the flight or fight instinct right? The average person, if they see a chance to get away from danger, will flee. They’re not going to stick around to fight. I know a lot of people fancy themselves heroes and they’d be there to whip out their guns and blow the bad guys away.

There’s our culture again. From John Wayne and Clint Eastwood to Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis, what happens when bad guys attack? Someone with a gun does them in.

Here’s the sad truth no one’s confronting:

• Guns are fun to shoot.
• Guns make killing easy.
• Guns make people look and feel like bad asses.
• Guns are sexy.
• Guns are a convenient weapon for those with little other physical prowess or skills.
• Guns help the weak feel powerful.
• Guns are a crutch.

You no more need a gun to defend yourself than you need money to be happy. Sure money makes life easier, but if you’re a bad spender to begin with, only having more to spend will add to your woes, not solve them.

Same goes for guns. If you’re not able to think your way out of a situation or gain the upper hand in a confrontation without a gun, you’ll never truly be free. You’ll always be relying on that crutch. And what are you going to do when you don’t have that trigger to pull?

What if you’re fighting aliens or zombies and your gun malfunctions, or you run out of ammo, and there’s no other guns available? Die? For those who think they need guns to live, that’s what’s going to happen.

Or you’re going to rely on those of us who don’t believe guns are the solution to most problems to CYA.

What all this debating over guns, be it gun violence or whether you need guns in a zombie apocalypse or alien invasion, boils down to is people confusing their wants and their needs. People want guns. They don’t actually need them.