Pistol in the trunks?

The only way we can be safer in our country is to have guns everywhere, we are told. We need to have guns at church, in bars, at ballgames, in movie theaters and on college campuses, gun rights advocates say. We need armed teachers in all of our schools prepared and ready to defend their students and themselves, they argue. We need “stand your ground” laws so people can shoot others when they feel threatened, they insist.

And almost everyone should be allowed to have a gun, including those who are certifiably mentally ill, many gun rights advocates insist. Kids need to be trained to use guns safely and that training should start at the earliest possible age, gun rights supporters say. (Huggies With Holsters, anyone?)

I have made it clear that I would never have a gun because I have a crazy temper and wouldn’t trust myself with one, but I don’t have a problem with hunters having guns, target shooters owning guns to do their thing, or sane people having a gun at home to protect themselves and their families … as long as that gun is locked away from kids and/or volatile members of the household.

As I have written before, I think a family would be safer with a loving German shepherd or Rottweiler to protect it from harm from strangers, but not everyone feels that way or even likes dogs, so if a safely stored shotgun makes you feel more secure, go for it.

I heard at least a couple people say that if the party-goers at a pool party in the University City neighborhood of San Diego, a high-rent area, earlier this month had been armed, they might have been able to stop one angry, frustrated dude with a handgun who shot eight people, killing one, before being shot to death himself by police officers.

One of the people who said guns on party-goers might have helped stop the rampage is a friend who might have been just trying to provoke me. The other person, though, is someone I don’t know who seemed completely serious in saying that if more of the people at the pool party had been strapped, the shooting spree might have ended earlier.

Maybe that guy was right, but is that how far we have come in this country, that folks have to be armed at a birthday pool party in a ritzy area of San Diego in order to be safe? Has the danger from guns become that omnipresent in our society?

And since open carry is not allowed in California, where exactly is one going to conceal a weapon at a pool party? In her tiny bikini? In his swim trunks? (“Is that a Glock in your Speedo or are you just happy to see me?”) And what happens when people go in the pool? Who holds their pieces?

The National Rifle Association, one of the most powerful and intimidating lobbying groups in the country, and other guns rights groups are largely funded by firearms and ammunition manufacturers, so it is the best interest of such gun rights groups, and their main financial supporters, to advocate for guns being everywhere and with everyone in our country.

I, though, think it would take the fun out of a birthday pool party if open carry were allowed in our state and many of the party-goers were holstering guns. That would be a sad, sad birthday party … a safer one, maybe, as long as no one accidentally shot someone, but a deeply depressing one indeed.

If gun rights advocates have their way, though, the sad scenario may not be that far off.

Bret Kofford teaches writing at San Diego State University-Imperial Valley. His opinions don’t necessarily reflect those of SDSU or its employees. Kofford can be reached at Kofford@roadrunner.com