Home of the brave?

“The home of the brave.” Well, if we’re the home “of the brave,” why does everyone need a gun? My family came West by covered wagon 160 years ago. Most became trail-driving cowboys (including my great-grandma). They were a tough breed. They carried guns because lawmen were scarce, and cattle needed protection from predators.

My dad and his brother were born here in the 1890s. They didn’t carry guns because they were rugged individuals who didn’t run scared, and by then the law had arrived. My husband was a decorated combat veteran. He was a reconnaissance machine-gunner in the infantry. After the war, he never touched a gun again. He didn’t run scared.

Besides ranchers, farmers and hunters, who needs rifles? Why do the people in this country run so scared that they need to have guns? Where are the brave?

Canadians have rifles for hunting, but they aren’t obsessed with guns. They don’t run scared. Why do we? Why do we need a gun to feel brave?

Sally Jackson

Spokane Valley