From Indifferent to Pro-2A. In the past year, I went from thinking…
In the past year, I went from thinking I would never need a gun to owning more than one firearm. And I am not alone; 5 million Americans are first-time gun owners in 2020.

Sales began to spike in March when the pandemic hit. NSSF reports that protests, calls for defunding the police, and threats of forcible gun confiscation also contributed to record-breaking sales.

Image via Lutsenko Oleksandr

I never thought I needed a gun. Growing up in rural Iowa, I was never in a situation where I feared for my life. We left our cars unlocked in the town square. I left my computer at the table in a coffee shop while I went to the bathroom. Though I was smart with my safety, I took no significant precautions for a night out. The need for self-defense never crossed my mind.

Guns scared me. Not because of how they are portrayed in the news or the increase in mass shootings, but because they are powerful machines, and I was afraid I would hurt myself. What if I mishandle it? What if I hurt someone else? What if it accidentally went off?

I think part of that fear came from the movies. As soon as a character pulls out a gun, the dramatic music plays, and something terrible happens. Action movies show that guns cause lots of damage; seeing blood and gore on the big screen let me know how powerful and destructive a firearm can be, especially in the wrong hands.

I didn’t know or see the positive side of the gun.

Image via Getty Images

The last reason I didn’t think I needed a gun was that I was prideful and naive. I thought since I’m 5 foot 10 inches and 180 pounds, about the size of the average college football player (give or take position or division), no one would try to mess with me. Being above average, I thought no attacker would take on that kind of challenge; they would go for the smaller, easier target.

Again, I was just naive. Just because I’m above average in size does not mean I will be stronger than my attacker. It doesn’t mean I’m automatically going to know what to do if something happens.

Image via Getty Images

Long story short, I didn’t respect guns, and I was uninformed. I didn’t see guns as a tool for good, but as something used to destroy. Gun owners, I thought, only used them for hunting or collected them. I bought into the media narrative that modern society didn’t require guns.

Now that I have learned more about guns and how people use them, I own more than one.

My attitude started to change when I shot a gun for the first time last year. My husband wanted to shoot, and I was along for the ride. He helped me load, taught me the proper safety, and provided all the materials.

My husband’s attitude towards guns changed after the church shooting in White Settlement, Texas, last year. Before that, he didn’t think he needed a firearm. But with church shootings are on the rise, a good guy with a gun is now essential for religious gatherings.

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Shooting for the first time, I found out that guns aren’t scary and I shouldn’t be scared of them. With the proper instruction, I understood how to handle the machine properly and not hurt myself or others. A specific culture surrounds gun owners and gun ranges: safety first and foremost.

I felt weak, clumsy, and awkward during my first time at the range, just like I did when I started kickboxing or a new job. Shooting a gun is a skill, something you can get better at. Now, when I go shooting, I feel sophisticated and dignified because it’s a skill not a lot of people have, especially women.

Now since I have done more research, I know that the gun is the great equalizer. A skilled woman with a gun can put herself in the game. Guns prevent robberies, rapes, and assaults, the crimes of which women are frequent victims. In states with high concealed gun owners, crime rates are low.

We registered the first gun we purchased in my name. In April 2020, we bought a camping/survival rifle. Partly because we wanted a home defense gun and partly because the gun store shelves were pretty bare.

My husband and I decided to buy a gun because the future was unknown. With the threat of supply chain disturbances, food shortages, and widespread sickness, we thought the best solution would be guns. We weren’t the only humans that came to that conclusion.

Image via Getty Images

We planned on getting more guns eventually, but the election results triggered us to buy our second and third firearm. After it became clear Joe Biden (and let me phrase this correctly) would be sworn in as the next president, we felt his policies threatened our rights.

LOCKDOWNS.

Biden’s plan to address COVID-19 involves a strict lockdown for six weeks. Set the science of this aside, shutting down the economy and locking people in their homes for six weeks will create mass chaos, looting, and riots, even worse than the first lockdown did. If people can’t work and go about their daily lives, they aren’t happy about it.

MANDATORY GUN “BUYBACK” AND BAN.

Part of Biden’s gun control plan is a buyback program for “assault weapons” or weapons of war. The government can’t buy back something they never owned or sold in the first place. Criminals don’t abide by the rules; how do I defend myself against a burglar with a gun if I don’t have a gun?

Biden wants to ban the manufacturing and sale of assault weapons. The problem is “assault weapons” have a different definition depending on the gun’s accessories; an “assault weapon” isn’t a term used by gun owners or gun experts. Politicians developed the term to persuade the public for more gun control laws.

DEFUND THE POLICE.

The call to defund the police has been echoing around the nation for the last few months. Crime rates in cities that took money from law enforcement have skyrocketed. Without the police, our safety is at risk. If there isn’t an authority between the bad guy and me, I need a way to defend myself.

What I want to know is, did you buy your first gun in 2020? Why did you buy your firearm? How have your views changed?
['Renae Nicole']
['Elections', 'Guns', 'Firearms', 'Second Amendment', 'Safety']