Pamela Loxley Drake

I had just seen the optometrist.

Eyes were doing great. Put anything in front of me and I could read it. As I waited by the elevator, I tried out my clearer vision. I read the postings above the elevator doors. I read the words around the elevator buttons. I turned around and read the sign on the closed door next to me.

“No guns past this point.” Hmm. Hmm. (Yes, it was a double “hmm.”)

We settled into chairs at our table in the restaurant. My granddaughters were still in
elementary school. Stacey sitting across the table whispered, “Mom.” She then pointed
to the table behind me.

I turned and my stomach took a nose dive. (I wonder if I can put my stomach in the same sentence as my nose. Hmm.) The man sitting behind me had a pistol tucked into his belt in back. Now I’ve seen rifles in the back of trucks, but never have I seen a pistol or any weapon in my everyday life.

Not wanting to panic the girls, I excused myself and went to find the manager. The manager in turn talked to the gentleman asking him to put it where it wasn’t seen by the children.

Yes, open carry is OK here in Oregon. Yet I looked at that gun and wondered what would prevent loony from grabbing it and begin shooting. I hate guns. I probably say that too strongly for many, but I see nothing a gun does but threaten, maim, kill. They are a deadly weapon.

So why are the laws so lenient? Why haven’t we had enough dead bodies to make our lawmakers create stronger restrictions on the purchase of these weapons? Laws that protect, not those that allow.

As I looked at that door with the “no guns” sign, I wondered how many people in the building were carrying guns. How many guns pass by me and my family every day residing in someone’s belt, purse, holster? How many unseen?

Many people want a gun for protection. In all my life, no one has ever given me reason to need a gun, let alone shoot someone. I’m content to allow those who are paid to protect us to carry, but I feel sorry for them when so many guns are everywhere.

Guns maim and kill. I don’t want to walk through that door, but I want to ask the person who turns away from it why they carry one. For to me a gun is a kill sign in itself.

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Pamela Loxley Drake is a Beaverton resident and self-described lifelong “farm girl.” You can contact her at pamldrake@gmail.com.