Why I Carry a Gun

Why I Carry a Gun

by Bear Vinson

12/15/1999
 
My old grandpa said to me 'Son, there comes a time
in every man's life when he stops bustin' knuckles
and starts bustin' caps and usually it's when he
becomes too old to take an ass whoopin.'

I don't carry a gun to kill people.
I carry a gun to keep from being killed.

I don't carry a gun to scare people.
I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be
a scary place.

I don't carry a gun because I'm paranoid.
I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world..
 
I don't carry a gun because I'm evil.
I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to
see the evil in the world.
 
I don't carry a gun because I hate the government.
I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.
 
I don't carry a gun because I'm angry.
I carry a gun so that I don't have to spend the rest of
my life hating myself for failing to be prepared.
 
I don't carry a gun because I want to shoot someone.
I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age
in my bed, and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.
 
I don't carry a gun because I'm a cowboy.
I carry a gun because, when I die and go to heaven,
I want to be a cowboy.
 
I don't carry a gun to make me feel like a man.
I carry a gun because men know how to take care of
themselves and the ones they love.
 
I don't carry a gun because I feel inadequate.
I carry a gun because unarmed and facing three armed
thugs, I am inadequate.
 
I don't carry a gun because I love it.
I carry a gun because I love life and the people who
make it meaningful to me.
 
Police protection is an oxymoron.
Free citizens must protect themselves.
Police do not protect you from crime, they usually
just investigate the crime after it happens and then
call someone in to clean up the mess.
Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die
and too old to take an ass whoopin'.