Ready To Kill

The National Rifle Association and like-minded individuals and organizations are trying to convince Illinois legislators to pass a law that would allow people to carry concealed guns on the streets, in their cars, and just about everywhere else. They think that people should be ready to kill one another everywhere they go.

I have no interest in killing anyone, no matter where I am. But apparently there are a lot of people who always want to be ready to kill. They want to be ready to kill when they take their dogs for walks, when they see their kids off to school, when they take their lunch breaks from work, when they go out for dinner and a movie, when they go shopping for groceries or clothes, when they ride on bicycle trails, and when they sit on the beach.

I don't ever want to be ready to kill anyone, no matter what kind of day I had. But there seem to be a lot of people who want to be ready to kill people at the end of a long day, when they are tired. They want to be ready to kill when they have been cut off in traffic. They want to be ready to kill when their bosses have given them a hard time, when they have had a few drinks, when they have headaches, when they think the plumber charged them too much, when they have had to wait in line at the bank, and when their airplane is delayed. They want to be ready to kill someone when the vending machine doesn't return the proper change, and when their hamburger isn't served the way they ordered it.

I don't carry much on me. I carry a few dollars and a little change. I sometimes carry a pen or my reading glasses. I never carry a gun. I am ready to catch a bus, but not to kill anyone. I know of women who carry band-aids, emery boards, moist-towelettes, mirrors, lip-balm, rubber bands, paper clips, needle and thread, and countless other items in their purses. They are ready to deal with all kinds of situations. They are ready to go on “Let's Make a Deal,” but most of them don't carry guns, so they're not ready to kill. Nonetheless, they manage just fine.

I don't carry a cell phone, so when I want to make a phone call, I have to find a pay phone, which has gotten to be difficult. Most pay phones have been removed from public buildings. The result is that I don't make as many calls as I used to. Sometimes if I really need to make a call I borrow someone's cell phone. People are pretty nice about lending me their phones. I don't think they would lend me a gun if I asked to borrow it because I wanted to kill someone.

It seems obvious to me that the more people who carry guns and are ready to kill someone, the more killing there will be. Maybe the NRA thinks we need to be killing more people. I don't think so, so I don't want more people walking around with guns. I'd rather that when someone decides they want to kill someone, that person would have to go to a little trouble to find a gun.