{"id":3155,"date":"2015-11-04T12:22:28","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T18:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=3155"},"modified":"2015-11-04T12:22:28","modified_gmt":"2015-11-04T18:22:28","slug":"guns-vigilantism-and-original-sin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/11\/guns-vigilantism-and-original-sin.html","title":{"rendered":"Guns, vigilantism, and original sin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

This is, as you\u2019re likely used to by now, one of my more fact-free posts, in which I try to make connections without a heck of a lot of research. \u00a0But I wrote about guns<\/a> the other day, and as a result of the comments to that piece, and some other things I\u2019ve been reading, am thinking the following:<\/p>\n

Yes, there is data to be found and analyzed with respect to concealed carry, and the overall impact of gun-ownership by people who, as far as we can tell, are law-abiding. \u00a0(Because we all agree that criminals shouldn\u2019t have guns, and wouldn\u2019t have any respect for \u201cgun-free zones\u201d or the like anyway.) \u00a0But it seems to me that we\u2019re more likely to view the data in one way or another based on our prior attitudes about human nature, in general.<\/p>\n

To put it simply: \u00a0do you believe more strongly that<\/p>\n

\u201canyone can snap\u201d or that<\/p>\n

\u201canyone can be a hero\u201d?<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone can snap\u201d = you\u2019re likely to believe that people who acquire guns for self-defense purposes have a high likelihood of getting caught up in some quarrel or another and committing a crime. \u00a0Or, even if not, you may misjudge a situation and think you\u2019re defending yourself or others, when there was no real risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone can be a hero\u201d = you do believe that people can successfully use their concealed-carry weapon to protect themselves or others, and believe that the large majority of people, well, are not at risk of the \u201canyone can snap\u201d behavior.<\/p>\n

Here are two reports on an incident in Chicago over the weekend: \u201cStore employees grateful for customer who killed robber<\/a>,\u201d in the Chicago Tribune, and \u201cConcealed gun permit holder fatally shoots suspected robber during Chicago stickup<\/a>,\u201d from the Washington Post (it\u2019s the beginning of the month so I can read articles there again).<\/span><\/p>\n

In the first, the story is told plainly; the robber of a convenience store held a gun and appeared to be threatening the employees\u2019 lives, so a customer shot him, leaving the employees grateful, even though it turned out the robber (who had a long criminal record) only had a paintball gun. \u00a0In the second, there\u2019s much more second-guessing, with the author asking whether it\u00a0may have been a Halloween prank (even though there\u2019s nothing in the description of the event to suggest that) and quoting family suggesting that the shooter should have merely wounded him.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not suggesting an answer here. \u00a0It\u2019s just striking to me. \u00a0I labelled the post \u201cguns, vigilantism, and original sin\u201d because I wonder whether these reactions tie in, in some way, to our personal thoughts on the latter, and whether we think that all people have within them an inherent evil or goodness.<\/p>\n

As always, for your consideration and comments.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is, as you\u2019re likely used to by now, one of my more fact-free posts, in which I try to make connections without a heck of a lot of research. \u00a0But I wrote about guns the other day, and as a result of the comments to that piece, and some other things I\u2019ve been reading, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nGuns, vigilantism, and original sin<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is, as you're likely used to by now, one of my more fact-free posts, in which I try to make connections without a heck of a lot of research. \u00a0But I\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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