Thread by @RestoreHonor

People with blue checks behind their names who assume "everyday" people have no need of a weapon for protection are terribly naive. Maybe it's time to finally tell my own story. Even if no one reads it, I'll feel better for finally saying it.

I grew up around guns. My dad was a hunter, and I learned to fire a shotgun and handgun at an early age. I was taught that guns are to be respected, that they aren't toys.

Unfortunately, my father was also an alcoholic whose disease got worse as I got older. My parents got -

divorced when I was twelve. When I was thirteen or so, there was an incident at my home. Mom had put a restraining order on my dad, but he was driving by the house all the time. We'd call that stalking now.

I woke up to my mom screaming, and when I got to the living room, -

I saw my dad throw my mom across the living room by the throat. He was over six feet, around 250 lbs, and she was 5'1", and about 95 lbs soaking wet.

I ran to my mom's bedroom to call the police, and to get the revolver she kept back there. I told the police I'd use it if I -

had to. Then I went and told him I called the police, and that I'd shoot him if he touched her again.

He left, but then something strange happened. He came back, and he sat on the porch and waited for the cops. He let them take him to jail.

There comes a time in almost -

every personal downward slide when a person hits rock bottom. That was my dad's rock bottom.

Through the grace of God, Alcoholics Anonymous, and a great family judge, my dad turned his life around. He stopped drinking, accepted Christ into his life, and he and mom got -

remarried when I was fifteen. They were happy until he passed away from cancer in 1995.

I didn't have to use that gun that day. But am I thankful I had it? Yes I sure as hell am. No one deserves to feel unsafe in their own home.

So, don't tell /me/ that I don't /need/ my -

own personal weapon for protection. You don't know what I, or anyone else, has lived through.