After Nikolas Cruz killed 17 individuals at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., calls for stricter gun laws ramped up in the most predictable ways.
The only problem with those formulaic calls to confiscate guns and label the NRA as a terrorist organization is that more people fell victim to those calls. One of those people was an 18-year veteran and a responsible owner of 10 guns Chris Shields.
After weighing the pros and cons to gun ownership, Shields told Mic that he’s giving away his AR-15, the besieged weapon used in the Valentine’s Day attack in Parkland, Fla.
“I love my family and in that spirit, I can do without that item in my life,” he said in a Mic video. “I’m tired of seeing people die. My view on the AR-15 at this moment is that until we as a country can make common sense gun laws controlling them, then we don’t deserve to have them,” he later said.
Because of the Parkland teens, Chris Shields just decided to give up his AR-15. Now, the 18-year member of the military and owner of 10 guns, is calling on fellow gun owners to give theirs up too. pic.twitter.com/Xow6yy9uQg
— Mic (@mic) February 24, 2018
Shields’ big show here might come along with the most ridiculous thought process I’ve ever encountered in my life. This guy spent 18 years in the military and is likely a pretty good shot. He seems perfectly well balanced, even mild mannered. He says he loves his family more than anything and he wants his kids to feel safe at school. Call me crazy, but that is exactly the kind of person I want to have a gun.
I never want another mass shooting to happen again. I’m tired of them too. But the way to combat the issue is not to make soft targets softer. The solution is to harden security, harden the good guys, and to arm people like Chris Shields. Sure, turning in an AR-15 sounds symbolic and meaningful but it’s not going to do anything in the long run except make public spaces more dangerous. AR-15s are a part of the modern era now. We’re can’t put everything back in Pandora’s box. The solution isn’t keeping guns out of good guys’ hands. It’s preventing more hands from turning into bad guys’ trigger fingers.
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