On a sunny day this summer, floating in a swimming pool beneath an azure sky, the topic of guns came up. A man who is a friend and relative by marriage, let’s call him Roy, made a declaration.  He said something like, “They’re already taking people’s guns away, but the government will never get mine.”

I am not a gun lover. When I visit Roy’s house and he’s cleaning his guns, it freaks me out. I’ve seen an AR-15 in real life, and to me, it looks like an instrument of death. He owns a variety of firearms, and he’s not a hunter. There is no federal law or state law limiting the number of guns you can own, and guns are ridiculously easy to obtain.

Roy is not unique in West Virginia, where gun lovers are as common as Christians in Idaho or millionaires in Texas. Many people I know personally own guns and are proud of it. It’s not a friendship deal breaker for me, as long as we can still have inane conversations about subjects as meandering as termites, the best beach in America, work, or colonoscopies, while we float in a perfect swimming pool on a sunny day. We eat grilled foods and imbibe beverages, sometimes moonshine, the flavored liquor store kind. There are guns in Roy’s house. I’m pretty sure every time I leave home that a civilian somewhere in my vicinity is packing a concealed weapon. Sometimes in the grocery store I look around and try to guess who it is.

Guns are ubiquitous, legal to carry concealed without a permit in West Virginia, and also in over 50% of other American states. The theory is, civilians are free to self-regulate when it comes to carrying a concealed, loaded gun. It is absolutely illegal for felons, alcoholics, addicts, and violent offenders to carry or possess a firearm in West Virginia; they shouldn’t do it, or they risk severe consequences. Only if you are over 21 and not a criminal or an addict, then concealed carry is allowed. We could name self-regulation a freedom, at least for the person concealing a weapon, but what about me?  

What chaps my holster is when a gun lover starts complaining about “guns being taken away.” Firearms are not being confiscated anywhere in America. Find me a single news source that documents the government removing weapons from a law-abiding individual or household. It’s just not happening. Around 44% of Americans own a gun or live in a household with a gun, and it’s even higher in West Virginia, where 58% of households have guns, the highest rate in the nation. Guns are not being taken away. They’re actually proliferating, as if when an AR-15 mates with a Glock G19, they spawn a litter of pistols.

Guns are all around us, continuing to circulate and wreak mayhem in the form of tragic suicides and mass shootings, not to mention murders, criminal networks, and militia groups. I strongly doubt the social benefits of laissez faire gun ownership and secretly armed civilians in public spaces, but I’m only one woman. To be clear, and just so you know, if anyone wants to take your guns away, it’s me.

May we all swim in peace.

FACTS:

The NCIS estimates more than 4 million guns are owned by private individuals in the U.S. About half of all households own a gun, with many owning more than one.

Only 6.06 million guns are registered, about 15%. Gun lovers fear that registration would be used against them if the U.S. government decided to confiscate guns.

No state reports a shortage of ammunition or available firearms. That’s just not happening.