I feel sorry for the anti-gun crowd.

After our candlelight vigil on the 8th there has been a lot of back and forth on the web. Joan Peterson (yes the link goes to her post) and others of the anti-gun community were not thrilled by our effort to hold a vigil for the victims of violence. There has been lashing out at many of the bloggers we all love and read.

Do you know what gets me? The sheer sadness of it all. Truly. When it comes to wanting to see less victims we are on the same side. The difference is that some have let their hatred of an object obscure any other thing.

I think we can all agree that horrible things happen to people who don't deserve it. Scary terrible things. Every day lives are lost senselessly. Our goal has never ever been to take away from any victim the trauma they went through. It has been to empower them. If you have read our blog for long then you know that my posts have only really entered the realm of  gun blogging over the last year. I am fairly new too this. Even having a very close call with an armed gunman didn't immediately change my views. I came to this pretty gradually but once I did I embraced it and I read everything I could. I asked questions. The more I discovered the more empowered I felt and the more I wanted to share that with others. I learned that this community is all about protecting people. It is about helping someone defend themselves.

So I am sad. I am sad that hatred for an object that is just metal and sometimes plastic can create so much discord. Demeaning those who do something to protect themselves in a way different than you does nothing but make you out to be a jerk. Making those who faced the demon and came out alive and then decided they were going to up their personal odds out to be some sort of villain is as shameful as the accusations being hurled around. I know that pain and loss and violence have touched lives on both sides of that fence. The difference is that we want EVERY person to have the choice and the right to protect themselves irregardless of the violence they meet and you are so blinded by the object that the victims that are trying to talk to you get nothing back but hurtful words. If you care about victims then LISTEN. Truly listen.

People like Jennifer and A Girl and yes even Weer'd are trying to tell you that there is more to the story than the object.