Accidental Shooting in Kentucky Questions Gun Possession

For the last two years of my life I have struggled with whether or not to get rid of my gun. I own a small .22 caliber rifle that my father owned before he died. It always sat in my mother's closet where dust collected on it, spare the few times I sneaked in and touched it as a child. Luckily I lived in a home where ammunition was not located anywhere near the gun, or else I might have been ignorant enough to hurt myself or someone else. When I moved away from my mother I took the gun with me, and have used it several times over the last few years. I even took it out last winter and on a dark cold night shot soda bottles off of a fence post in the back roads of Kentucky. But as a pacifist I have always struggled with the idea of owning a firearm.

Recently a story broke in Lexington Kentucky which made up my mind. Andreas Lobsiger, 36, of Lexington Kentucky, was shot dead a few weeks back after he drunkenly knocked on the door of "the wrong house" as police are calling it. Lobsiger had been celebrating the opening of his new tattoo parlor in combination with his birthday. It is believed that Lobsiger decided to walk to a nearby friend's house to sleep and began pounding on the door of what he thought was his friend's house. Inside the house Tadavaris Gardner was awoken by the noise and thought Lobsiger was attempting to break into his home. Gardner fired a shot through his front door striking Lobsiger and killing him.

Incidents such as the tragedy which befell Andreas Lobsiger are the reasons why this CP has decided to rid himself of his gun. It is true that guns have a use in many situations, but perhaps the cons outweigh the pros, such as is the case with my father's rifle.