Conversion...  

Conversion, wherein one has a change of perspective when reality becomes clear.  Last week I posited a question re grading the "shelter in place" order in Boston, "What would it be like to be locked in without a means to protect yourself?" That question became reality for the author of an article entitled How I Evolved on Guns During the #BostonPoliceScanner Manhunt.

The author candidly begins with a confession. I’ve never owned a gun. I never wanted one in my home and, like a lot of moms, I wanted to raise non-violent children and thought keeping guns out of our home was one way to do that.

But I never wanted a gun in my home. 

All that was about to change.  Her attitude began to change when she was sheltering in place as ordered by the gendarmes.  She watched the very well armed "police" take to the streets.  A long night passed....fear became a companion.  The reality of the situation became readily apparent.

I realized at that moment that the police cannot protect me from the Dzhokhar Tsarnaevs of the world.

The best they can do is tell me to lock myself in my home while they search for the bad guy. Though the residents of Watertown (and the surrounding greater-Boston area) were held in a state of near-martial law, the best most of them could do was huddle in their homes, hoping the police would take their 3 a.m. call and come running to rescue them before the terrorist killed them.

....

In the middle of that night listening to the Boston police scanner, I evolved.

I realized right then that if I were holed up in my house while a cold-blooded terrorist roamed my neighborhood, I wouldn’t want to be a sitting duck with only a deadbolt lock between me and an armed intruder. There are not enough police and they cannot come to my rescue quickly enough. They carry guns to protect themselves, not me. I knew at that instant if Dzhokhar Tsarnaev showed up at my door while I was “sheltered-in-place” and aimed a gun at my head and only one of us would live, I could pull the trigger.

She's buying a gun this week. Read the entire article, it is compelling. How many others residents had similar thoughts? Get a gun....but educate yourself, join the NRA, take a class.  Be safe.

Self defense, self preservation.  What a concept.