We Are All In God's Hands

 Over at Bearing Arms, Tom Knighton has a piece entitled The Atlantic Has a Piece Premised On Long-Debunked Argument for Gun Control. Gentle readers can read the Knighton's article for themselves, and can also read The Atlantic article. I want to write about the basic premise itself, that the idea that your neighbor has a gun makes you feel unsafe, and that this 'feeling' gives you the right to oppress your neighbor.

The "feeling" of being safe or unsafe is a matter of your internal emotions and is entirely unrelated to the actual environment that surrounds you. Some people feel unsafe if they step out of their home. We tend to call these people agoraphobic and treat them as needing help. Others may feel threatened by being in a wood where suspected wild creatures may attack them at any moment. In both cases, a more realistic evaluation of the surrounding environment, coupled with additional knowledge of how to cope in these surroundings would have made them feel safer.

I have been in a room with 100-150 concealed carriers and felt perfectly safe. This is because I know that before granting a concealed carry license, the state vets a person to some degree. At least they haven't committed a violent crime. But in all cases, the feeling of safety is an illusion. You cannot know when a disaster may strike. You may feel safe driving down the road until another vehicle causes an accident that leaves you paralyzed. You may feel safe in your home until a home invader kicks in the door and threatens you and your wife and children if you don't comply. As these examples show, one's feelings of safety or vulnerability are an illusion.  You may want to emphasize your vulnerability, but that way lies insanity. 

Recognizing that our feelings are a matter of internal emotions, and do not necessarily reflect reality, they do not make a good basis for public policy. Rather than make one more law, which the criminals won't follow anyway, take reasonable precautions, evaluate your surroundings as realistically as possible at all times, and realize that we are all in God's hands. His will be done.