I love the friends I've made over here; they're great folks, and I think the world of them. But there's something wrong with their brains. Talking to various people of different nationalities over here in Doha, I am continually amazed at the unquestioning acceptance many of them seem to share of the philosophy that having firearms in the hands of private citizens is a bad idea. They're highly intelligent otherwise, which makes this issue all the more puzzling.
For example, Mark and I were talking with a Lebanese fellow about crime in America, and how some sections of certain large cities are like war zones, where even the police keep their distance. He blamed the problem on American gun ownership.
Let me get this straight...criminals, who have obtained firearms illegally, are using them to commit further crimes, and these crimes are my fault because I own firearms? Believe me, if I could somehow stop the actions of violent criminals by destroying my firearms, I'd be all for it. The trouble is that there's simply no connection between my firearms and those crimes. In fact, if there were any connection at all, it would be that my firearms deter those crimes from being committed in my neighborhood. Private gun ownership is a deterrent to crime, not a cause of it. That's not a feeling I have; that's a statistical fact. You can read about it.
Back to my Lebanese friend. I asked him what he thought about the guns in Qatar, which (supposedly) are carried only by the police and military. He actually denied that the police carry guns! I'll have to mention that to the policemen who are posted 24x7 at the gate of my housing complex, armed with AK-47s. Maybe they'll give one of those nonexistent AKs to me. Speaking of policemen, I've never understood the logic that says a policeman with a gun is beneficial to society, but a private citizen with a gun is a danger to society. I daresay I'm a better shot than at least two-thirds of the Qatari police force, and I'm not all that great a shot (ask Beck)! Now, I'm quite glad that our guards are armed; I think even my Lebanese friend would agree that, otherwise, they wouldn't be much use as guards. All the same, I'd be much happier if I could hang an AK-47 over my shoulder as well, if and when I felt the need.
Again, I digress. I turned the conversation away from guns to what I see as the core of the problem in America, which is that people no longer fear God. In Qatar, they don't really know who God is, but they still have a healthy fear of Him...and the knowledge that "God is watching" is a great restrainer of crime in this country (well, that, and their Wahhabi Islamic law). Guns in the hands of God-fearing people are instruments of peace and justice. Ask an Iraqi about that sometime.
I mentioned the conversation to another friend, who shook his head and made the comment that guns were bad because "it's easier to kill someone with a gun than with, say, a knife." Well, of course it is, and that's why I generally prefer guns over knives for self-defense! If I am in a situation that requires me to defend my own life, or the life of my family, I don't want to have to stick someone. I want to be able to shoot him. The truly amazing thing to me is that this particular fellow is a German. You'd think they'd have learned their lesson about being disarmed.
Americans seem to be unique in their healthy distrust of government. Think about that. The U.S. Constitution, and specifically the second amendment, have effectively prevented the U.S. government from committing any truly egregious acts against the American people (with the possible exception of the Civil War). But these folks are from parts of the world where, throughout history, governments have repeatedly oppressed, even massacred, their own people, shortly after disarming them. These people should be teaching me the meaning of distrusting government and hoarding weapons. Instead, they seem to have an inexplicable blind faith in the government, preferring to place their personal safety completely in its hands rather than be personally responsible for a "dangerous weapon."
Are they deliberately ignoring the fact that Jesus told His disciples to arm themselves for self-defense? Has their culture become so feminized that even full-grown men are trained to cringe at the very thought of one of those loud, dangerous gun-things? Have they been brainwashed by a leftist educational establishment bent on controlling the world? God alone knows the answers, but I can at least offer Santayana's famous words: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."