The Sandy Hook School Shooting: The tragedy and the lesson. Part 1 of 4
I was born and raised in a small town in Northern California in a home with conservative views which I adopted as I grew up. After leaving home those views were combined with more liberal ideas and experiences that helped me make sense of a complicated world around me. My early Christian faith included an evangelical perspective and it too has experienced change, because although I grew up Protestant I am strongly Catholic today. As a result, I’ll admit my faith tends to be a bit conservative and my politics tend to be a bit liberal; and they both tend to meet in the middle.
I don’t appreciate the rant against all liberals as “gun grabbers” because although I identify myself as a liberal I am a gun rights advocate in agreement with the rant that makes me uncomfortable. In fact, until recently I didn’t even realize there was a divide between gun owners.
You’ll be glad to know that my identity crisis hasn’t prompted me to re-evaluate my interest in firearms, or my support of the 2nd Amendment, or my concern for the future of our country, even though some of my family thinks I’m slipping over the edge.
I’ll admit that plenty of liberals are trying to take advantage of recent events and they do fit the gun grabber label closely, but there are lots of other liberals (like me) who own and appreciate firearms, and I think it’s time for me (and for them) to stand up in defense of the Second Amendment.
I believe that credible people (should) suspend judgment when considering another person’s perspective. This doesn’t mean they don’t have passion and strong beliefs; but everyone should be open to other opinions, even if they are quite different. We don’t see this much today, it’s rarely seen in government and so far it’s been absent in the gun debates.
