Can I talk about guns?

Yes with the orange, and I can also march for causes that require fuchsia.

This isn't an anti-gun post, though that might be what you'd expect of me.

We had a robbery before Christmas, and afterwards a couple friends asked me if it changed how I thought about guns. I gave it some sincere thought and said no, that I still would not be willing to have a loaded gun in the house. And I wouldn't shoot someone over property.

I'd like to say that I can't imagine shooting anyone, ever, under any circumstance, but if someone were hurting my kid, I believe I could do just about anything.

I'm not actually completely anti-gun, in that I think people who hunt have the right to own hunting guns. I have, it turns out, a number of friends with guns, who, as I understand it, keep them locked in a steel case, and keep the ammunition separate. They don't have a loaded gun sitting around the house or in their purse when they go to Walmart.

I'm not trying to take their guns away. But I don't think anyone has the right to own machine guns or assault weapons. And I believe the NRA is an evil organization.

So.

Recently we discovered that a skylight had been opened. Like, unscrewed and taken off and then put back on, but not completely. As it turns out, our skylight was never properly installed. So it had been take-offable for years. It just hadn't happened before.

Was this connected with the robbery? Had someone come through, coincidentally on the day we had contractors here? Or had someone opened it and decided that the drop to the floor would just be too far and too dangerous?

I was freaking out. What if we went to bed one night and someone came in? What if they encountered my mom or one of the kids and hurt them?

We got alarms put on, and then had steel bars installed. 

But prior to that, I felt so vulnerable. How would I protect my mom and my kids if someone did come in? I could see the lure of owning a gun.

I still do not want one, and would not be OK with having one. But I do understand the appeal of knowing you had a loaded gun and wouldn't hesitate to shoot. Someone enters your home and threatens your family? You have a trigger to pull.

I see how this idea would promote a sense of safety.

And that's where I am, which is a place I never was before. I will never have a gun in our house, but I think I understand it.