Journalists Go Gun Shopping

It is always somewhat interesting to watch what happens when a journalist decides to explore the dark and evil subculture of gun ownership. Sometimes, they actually seem to be trying to be fair and honest! Anyway, you might find this series of articles from the Lawrence, Kansas Journal interesting. The first one is titled, "Buying into the Gun Culture," where the reporter tells us of going out to buy a handgun for concealed carry, since he is going to be going through the process of buying a handgun, getting a carry permit, carrying a gun for a few days, and seeing how it goes. From his description, it sounds like the various gun dealers he talked to (and who didn't know he was a reporter) were upfront and sensible people--which is what I would expect.

This other article from July 1, 2007 interviews a local person who was an opponent of the new Kansas concealed carry law--and unlike a lot of these reports, it really captures a lot of why this gal is so hostile to gun ownership:

When Marilyn Roy talks about parts of her past, she clutches her purse tightly. She rocks with it in her chair as she talks about the times that turned violent. Her life in Barstow, although isolated — or acultural, as she describes it — wasn’t necessarily serene.

“I grew up in a troubled family,” Roy said. “My family wasn’t hunky-dory.”

Roy, 57, found hard times on her own, too. She was forced to put her son up for adoption when he was 5, for reasons she did not disclose. Afterward, she went to Kansas City to try to start over, but instead she found a dead end. She was homeless in Kansas City and Texas for about four years.

On the streets, she saw the drugs, she saw the guns, she saw the violence. Some of it found her, too. Roy said she’s been the victim of domestic violence and physical abuse on multiple occasions.

The violence left her with a choice to make. She said a person can either choose to fight violence with violence, or take the tack that violence begets nothing good.

“The consequence of violence being fought with violence just doesn’t appeal to me,” Roy said.

Since 1974, Roy has been spreading that message in Lawrence. That’s how long she has lived in the city, spending part of the time as a student. She has a degree in psychology and runs a small home-based business called Simplify, a home/office organization business that has a motto of “supporting peaceful lifestyles.” She’s also on a Social Security disability related to some of the emotional scars from her past. She’s likely best known to many Lawrence residents as a frequent advocate at City Hall and elsewhere for people who are disadvantaged.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that I was just born a pacifist,” Roy said.

I feel bad for Ms. Roy, but it is a reminder that a lot of the more extreme anti-gun sorts are engaged in projection. They confuse themselves with the average person.

There's also a very fair article about one of the gun rights activists in Lawrence.