Real people know more than fanatics about guns

As Joan Rivers used to say: "Can we talk?"

About guns? Not the ranting and raving from the "show-guns" and the "no-guns," but reasonable, rational, common-sense talk?

Let's be realistic: Concealed weapons are the Viagra of social dysfunction. And firearms trigger political acid reflux among certain socially supercharged activists.

But most of us fall somewhere in between. We don't need a shouldered pistol to feel comfortable in a crowd. Still, we appreciate a rifle or a sidearm at appropriate times and places. We don't look to the Constitution to justify our attitudes, and we certainly don't consider it a moral obligation to carry heat.

Many of us own guns, but we don't carry them around. We know enough about the dangers of firearms that we don't showcase them in holsters or the back window racks of our pickups. And we're concerned about those who carry guns near our family or friends. We suspect that anyone who needs a gun to feel safe is probably nervous enough to do something foolish with it.

Most of us can't imagine how anyone feels justified carrying a gun into a school or church. It just doesn't make sense. Churches are supposed to be peaceful places, where conflict is anathema. Schools are supposed to focus on education, not confrontation.

Many of us enjoy hunting. We don't need the food, and hunting trips are costly. But hunting is more than a sport; it's a special social experience. It's fun to sit around the campfire with family and friends, swap tales and escape the pressures of daily living. We understand the dangers involved in a hunting trip, but we know the risk of getting to and from the hunting camp is higher than the risk of being injured while participating in the hunt.

A few of us thrill to non-lethal firearms sports -- target shooting, skeet, trap shooting and so on. Some load our own ammunition. Others build or retool our own firearms. We look upon guns as precision instruments, exhibiting the skills of master craftsmen -- machinists, woodworkers, refinishers. Hobbyists among us collect guns to better understand the historical development of firearms, or the kinds of arms used in specific conflicts, or the unusual survival tools employed by American frontiersmen.

All are legitimate and meaningful uses of one of mankind's most important inventions.

We know guns can be lethal. We should not be and cannot be complacent about their lethal potential. (Those who say "Guns don't kill; people kill" are both naive and foolish. Given the same situation, any rational person would prefer one's attacker had a knife or a baseball bat instead of a gun.)

Anyone with an I.Q. over 50 caliber knows that waving a gun at a criminal is foolish. Criminals aren't like the guys you see in the movies; criminals are more like the belligerent drunks you might see at a bar. Criminals do not act rationally; if they did, they wouldn't be criminals. Actually firing a gun in such situations is even more foolish. Only a few things can happen -- all negative, except one. First, you can miss everything and everyone. That's the only positive outcome. Second, you can get yourself shot. Third, you can shoot or cause to be shot an innocent bystander. Fourth, you can wound your target and get sued, even if the target has a gun himself. Fifth, you can kill the target and end up in jail for manslaughter.

None of these outcomes is attractive to sensible gun-owners.

Most of the problems with guns can be handled with modest laws and regulations. We don't need to eliminate guns -- although it might be wise to voluntarily reduce their numbers. It's obvious the more guns we have, the more likely it is that someone will be killed or injured. It's also obvious that we must keep guns out of the hands of children, since children have not yet developed the decisionmaking abilities necessary for sensible gun use.

CAN we talk? Sure. But most of the talk these days comes from fanatics at one or the other end of the gun knowledge scale. It's about time someone listened to the people, most of whom know more about guns than the fanatics who make our laws.

G. Donald Gale is president of Words, Words, Words Inc. He was formerly editorial director at KSL. He earned a Ph.D. at the University of Utah and was awarded an honorary doctorate by Southern Utah University. E-mail: dongale@words3.com

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