I remember presenting as a lobbyist to a group of US Senators in 1998 about the safety of firearms when used responsibly and in the manner they were designed.  There was universal agreement that firearms were inherently safe.  As is any inanimate object (knife, car, baseball bat, etc), that had the possibility of causing harm when used irresponsibly or with an intent to harm.

I’ll never forget the voice of Senator Trenton Lott, with his strong southern drawl then saying, “Mr. Mullins, son you just don’t get it.  Daddy’s don’t take their kids shooting anymore.  Mamas drive them to soccer practice, and the media has convinced those mamas that guns are dangerous.”  And there it was, a life lesson I have never forgotten, that perceptions of the day often overrule rational understanding built over a lifetime.

This image takes me back to my teen years where it was quite common for a rifle or rifles to be displayed in the window of a pickup truck.  This was in my teen years the equivalent to the systems with huge subs of the early 2000’s, and today the loud exhausts found on many young men’s trucks.  Never once was did one of those rifles jump out and threaten or harm anyone…yet society deemed them dangerous.  

We live in a time where perception is driven by 24/7 news cycles designed to maximize viewership for the sole purpose of generating advertising revenue.  Common sense and rational thinking has been supplanted by psychographics from which reporting and information flow are decided.  

This is a long introduction to a short thought.  Rational thought requires loud defense.  Responsible lives are built through invested and consistent guidance.  Perception must be met with leadership that confronts and corrects information flow designed to align versus influence to the point of irrational radicalization.  Leadership arises from those who have experience that qualifies them to be a voice of reason and common sense, confronting the noise of unfounded and special-interest driven fear and phobia.

I’m not sure that I like where these thoughts have taken me.  But, I do know that there is still the opportunity to reposition love, guidance and understanding in this confused World and it begins with a willingness to insert ourselves into the fray.  A single voice can do magnificent things.  Silence is not golden.

I was involved in the outdoor sports and shooting industry for close to two decades.  I never once witnessed a gun attack someone offensively.  I read and heard of guns being used in wrong ways and these reports would echo throughout all forms of news and information delivery.  I also heard of guns being used for all types of family target shooting and for personal protection.  These stories were seldom to never reported.

I finish with this story of a single mother in Atlanta in her 20’s who prevented her rape and potential harm to her sleeping children because she was able to point the barrel of her .38 revolver in the face of her would-be attacker, whom she said outweighed her by more than double.  She told me that ‘she had always been taught that guns were dangerous and believed that until she found herself in an environment that left her vulnerable.’  Thankfully she did not have to shoot the human being threatening her.  More so, thankfully rational thinking overrode irrational teaching.  She became a leading advocate and spokesperson for responsible gun ownership.  

Please know it is not my desire to argue gun ownership pro or con with you.  My desire is to raise voices of common sense that drown out the noise of the irrational.  Recognize where real threat abides and its insidious desire to invade your life and mind.  Common sense is not so common anymore, but so, so needed.  More than ever before.

You are wonderfully and marvelously made.  So many people need the gift of you.  Share yourself and free others to soar.