It's a phallic symbol. It's long, cool, hard, and ready to explode. It's synonymous with dominance and power. It's masculine, butch.

Some people think that just because they have the gun, they have the power. That it's instant ownership of everyone within their range. So many people believe that, too. They think that a man with a gun is a powerful man. Guns hurt, kill, so the man with the gun can hurt, kill. It's not as simple as all that. The gun is nothing more than a tool. It's an inanimate object with potential energy. It takes a living thing, a person, to turn that potential energy into something. Most bullets do nothing more than punch through paper and wood to bury into a dirt berm. Few bullets ever hit the living target they're aimed at. Even fewer still hit a human being. Enough poetic bullshit.

I'm not afraid of guns or people who carry them. I know enough to respect the weapon's potential and the general stupidity of people who wave them around.  I've seen people wave guns around, thinking that made them king of the hill, the guy with the power over the land only to see that gun taken away. Okay, that's kind of hyperbole-ic. It's been three people, but that's more than most people.

Trying to figure out if I want to get a concealed carry. The only benefit to me is that I'd be legally allowed to carry a single, registered weapon. I've gone the last fifteen years without getting into a physical confrontation with anyone, despite my generally aggressive nature. Shocks me, yeah. The problem is that I've never had any desire to carry a gun around. My only need for a legal means to conceal firearms is to transport them to a gun range. I can do that now, anyway.

*sigh*