Do you have any scary experience with guns?

[AndyS]

2. Well now that you asked . . .

In 1971 on my way through W Virginia I was pulled over by Highway patrol. As he approached the car I reached for my wallet and heard a distinct 'click-click' followed by 'don't move and put both hands on the wheel'. I was staring into the barrel of the largest gun in the world with a very frightened cop behind it.

The second was on a hunting trip. On of the company had a rifle jam and he was jerking on the gun trying to clear the jam, all the while pointing the gun directly at me. He did clear the jam and the gun did fire but I was prone on the ground being very small so the shot went over me.

Beyond that there was the nephew who took his own life with a gun and the 17 year old daughter of an acquaintance who attempted suicide with her Dad's pistol. She survived because he had military experience with sucking chest wounds and kept her alive until the paramedics arrived.

Finally there have been three active shooters in the school district my grand children attend. Fortunately none of them directly impacting my grand children but I didn't find that out for hours.

The ones directly affecting me weren't intentional or done in malice but nonetheless it's a frightening experience. I can't imagine what you dealt with in your case.

I guess the moral of the story is if you haven't been touched by gun violence it's only a matter of time.