I went to a “carry” class the other night for one reason: For years I loved to walk the many isolated wildlife areas of Iowa, usually alone — until twice when separate “big cats” were spotted within 10 miles of the refuge where I grew up. (Thanks to a state Department of Natural Resources that dotes on a diseased deer over-population while reticently welcoming new felines with sizable claws and long fangs for culling and cleanup.) I was doubly convinced of my purpose when the deputy sheriff instructor said I would need at least a .357 caliber bullet to make a dent in the carnivore’s thick hide.
Yet I’m not a hunter or lover of guns. But I am perplexed by the anti-gun rant of NBC’s David Gregory, who can afford to send his kids to the same school as the president’s, where students are protected by 11 guards, and by the arms-control statements of New York Mayor Bloomberg, who has a contingent of armed personnel who oversee his vacation jaunts and compound in Bermuda.
The poor are no less fearful of a criminal’s intent than are the very rich. Paramount for both, it’s not only about feeling safe but staying alive.
— Gerald R. Eberle, Pocahontas