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. 

Lovely visitor.

Today I got to realize the risk that a garage sale can bring. When you think garage sale you think little old lady or a stay at home mom looking for a deal or even a couple out to find a good bargain. You think friendly people and cheap prices. At least I do. Today my neighbor across the street was holding one from 7-11. Makes sense as we are still pretty hot and our sunshine is wicked. Anyway about 1:45 I am chilling in my loft area will Monkey, music on the comp and just hanging out with her. My office/loft area windows are over the driveway. Suddenly I hear some major yelling. This guy is screaming every name in the book. Talking about how he isn't a dirtbag and how little rich women need to be nicer and all sorts of pretty billigerant things. Going on about how he used to have millions but gave it away and the least she can do is help other people out. Of course by this time her garage is closed up and such. She has little ones and is home alone like me during the day.

I have learned to put people on a scale when they are jerks.
You have the drive/walk away from types. They are jerks but just getting away solves the issue.
You have the call the cops types. Yeah you have to deal with them for however long it takes to have police get there but it can be done.
Then you have the " I am probably going to need to get my gun to be protected if I even am in this guys vicinity and quite possibly use it to A- defend or B- scare the dude off."

Dude is hitting the walls of her house as she remains behind her door. He then takes off screaming for his car with very purposeful steps and I am thinking he is going from a contact the cops to a get armed kind of situation. Luckily her husband came home and screamer stops mid trunk pop and instead starts to scream some more. He manhandles his woman and gets into the car and rolls away. I had to leave the house to pick up Bug. Luckily I park in my garage. I make sure my gun is in the car and we are loaded in before I even open the door to be safe. As my door goes up I see my neighbor's husband standing against their SUV. The Jerk is still on our block. His car is not running and he is now down the road. Luckily she had called the police and as I left I saw an officer arrive. Apparently this guy was pissed she was no longer selling anything and would not give him anything. I warned the husband that men of that type very likely could return, especially since his car is still here, and might try to break in. We are making sure the security is armed and the gun is close by. Hubby feels that because this guy maybe needed more a scare and show that we could defend ourselves that having some bean bag rounds might be smart. I think I agree. It is also making me realize that when the neighbors closest to us are doing these sales we need to remain on high alert because they give jerks a great way to case us for theft.

Over reaction of a paranoid woman or spot on? Thoughts?

Scaries!

We are big on teaching gun safety to the girls. If weapons are in the house they need to know the rules. They have seen all three of us adults carry when we are desert combing and Bug has her rifle. We answer questions when asked. So..........


Today while walking through the house to the bathroom for the 5869203486945 time (potty training is awesome) Monkey smacked the front door. *Our front door has a large window with this bubble stuff so it is not see through but does show shadows and the outlines of things on the other side.* She then dashed in to do her business with me right behind her. While on the toilet she looks at me with huge brown eyes and says, "Mommy you shoot dem scaries!"


For a while now the trees in the yard moving around have given my sweet very sensitive 2-year-old the creeps and apparently she has reached the point where knowing that Mommy is the protector from bad things I am now to shoot the scary trees so they no longer are scary. Sweet angel. I wanted to just scoop her up! I told her that as long as the scaries stay out of the house they can't hurt her but if anything scary comes in to hurt her she has my promise to protect her every way I can.

Armed and fabulous.

So recently we started our gun collection. My husband almost died from joy when I not only said yes to buying weapons but gave him a higher monetary number than he expected. So we bought 4 weapons. A .308 which my husband is in heaven over. I think if we had a fire he would grab the girls with one arm and the .308 with the other. We scoped it and I think it makes him drool seeing the red, green, or black crosshairs, lol. We also bought a .17. I have been told that this one will be easier for me to handle as I am 5'4" and more lower body strength from my ballet days. We bought me a .40 for personal protection. I haven't been out to shoot it yet but the Hubs lovs it and I like how small and manageable it is. Our 4th is another drool worthy gun in the Hubs eyes as it is known as the Judge. It is a .45 Long Colt. I have never seen a revolver with a barrel like this. Talk about scary. Plus at 5 lbs it isn't nearly as light as my .40. We bought a few hundred rounds for each gun as well.

Now this is only the start of the collection. I want a 9 mm for my conceal carry weapon. We want a few shotguns, probably a rifle for me, and a semi-auto for Hubs at the very least. I also recommend something not requiring ammo. We have a compound bow for that reason. We will probably buy me a bow as well so that I have something I can pull. Hubs' bow takes a bit more strength than I have.