November 10, 2015

Gun Control

Some years ago my wife and I, along with our two children and the friends they each brought along, were vacationing at our Time Share in the Bahamas. About 9 PM in the evening, two thugs with stockings pulled over their faces broke through our second-floor balcony door with guns in their hands.

I had to lie on the floor with my family and friends while these predators robbed us of all our cash and electronics. This was in a country where no one has guns, including the police who came to investigate the crime. Right!!!

The feeling of anguish from being unable to protect my family was overwhelming. I had no choice; I had to trust that these thugs would not hurt my loved ones or our friends! We got lucky and no one was hurt.

Well we sold that Time Share never to return to the Bahamas.

However, our Virginia neighborhoods are becoming less safe due to the scourge of drugs. Druggies don’t rob people to make payments on their home mortgages; they steal to feed their irrational craving for drugs. The decision-making parts of their brains are significantly impaired making their behavior highly unpredictable.

I have handguns readily accessible from any room in our home and my wife and I have concealed carry permits. We never want to be in the position again where we have to trust a criminal not to harm us as they steal from us.

If you don’t want guns in your home or on your person, don’t have them. But respect my right to make that choice for myself. I have experienced the dark side of criminal conduct and pray I will never experience it again. But if I do, I want choices.

Rex A. Hoover
Sumerduck