I am Joe’s Gun,

I’m as much a part of Joe’s daily outfit as shoes or socks. In fact, Joe goes without his socks more often than he goes without me.

Joe keeps me hidden away whenever he can. Few people outside of Joe’s most trusted friends know I exist. I can’t think for myself, I can’t reason and I can’t act on my own. I’m just a simple machine with few moving parts — about as complicated as a stapler.

I have no brain, no muscles and am neither good nor evil.

Now I am a dangerous machine, I’ll have to give you that. Like Joe’s lawnmower, chainsaw, hedge clipper and automobile I can be very dangerous in untrained or irresponsible hands.

Fortunately Joe and the other law-abiding citizens who take their duty of self defense seriously are committed to their responsibilities as gun owners.

Joe knows and obeys the law. He takes me to the shooting range to practice on a regular basis — a lot more often than most policemen do.

Joe would never allow me to fall into the hands of a child or other irresponsible person and would never use me unless there was no possibility of ready escape or retreat.

Joe thinks of me much like his insurance policy. He hopes and prays that he will never have to use me, but knows that if he has to, I could save him or his loved ones from death or injury at the hands of evil people who don’t care about, much less obey laws.
(Handguns are used defensively almost 2 Million times every year, most often with no shots fired.)

I don’t know why some people hate me and want to get rid of me without really knowing anything about me.

If they concentrated on the subhuman criminals who misuse tools such as guns, automobiles, chain saws, ice-picks, baseball-bats, pocket knives, hammers, machetes and authority, regardless of any law, and left law-abiding people like Joe alone you would all be more secure.

At the very least Joe does no harm, as demonstrated in the 40 plus states where the citizens are ‘permitted their right’ to carry firearms. In these places crime rates have dropped and are still dropping far faster than the national average — much faster than places where firearms are essentially banned.

According to the FBI, states with right-to-carry laws have a 22 percent lower total violent crime rate, a 30 percent lower murder rate, a 46 percent lower robbery rate and a 12 percent lower aggravated assault rate compared to the rest of the country.

Similar FBI statistics show total violent crime rates drop once states adopt right-to-carry laws.

It’s obvious that when I’m owned and carried by law-abiding citizens like Joe I do far more good than harm.

It’s also sad that many laws keep honest people like Joe from defending themselves while no law or regulation has ever, nor will ever keep me out of the hands of criminals.

Since it is a demonstrated fact that the best defense against bad people with guns is good people with guns, I’m glad my sisters, brothers and myself are carried by people like Joe

— you should be too.