Boundless Freedom
Guest Post by Michele Savaunah Zirkle
I stared at the revolver on the coffee table knowing I’d better not touch it. Dad had said not to. I was eight years old. I took a few steps, inching closer to the shiny, black object. I peeked around and sure enough, there he stood in the kitchen doorway watching to see if I was going to obey his orders or dare risk getting a spanking. I learned to respect the weapon and his rules about it.
A loaded gun was then, and has been since, a household item just like the thick Bible with a bearded Jesus on the front that adorned my grandparent’s living room table.
Grandpa insisted no one set anything on that Holy Bible—not a tissue—not a tablet. It was respected . . . so were guns . . . so was the premise of protecting those you love, by force if necessary. Every day, guns in the hands of trained, diligent and law-abiding citizens do just that. These caring citizens often use guns to stop people who are full of rage and hatred from killing others.
Those same firearms, in the hands of those with malevolent intent, inflict limitless injury to the innocent and unsuspecting—to random individuals and to massive crowds. Every hour, every day, guns are used to defend freedom and to blast it to smithereens.
Depending on your perception, guns symbolize protection or violence. It’s both of course, because there are as many types of people as there are motives behind their actions. For me, guns show that we respect our family, our neighbors, and our communities enough to protect ourselves.
My eldest son, Gabriel, who had completed two police academies, Military Police training with the National Guard, responded to a call in Columbia, South Carolina where he shot a man who was brandishing a weapon at a Walmart parking lot full of people and who’d just shot an elderly gentleman who refused to give him the keys to his truck. The elderly man survived and so did the criminal. I’m thankful Gabriel wisely used his training and his gun to prevent this criminal from harming anyone else.
I have no doubt Gabriel’s tattoo speaks his intent, “Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for a friend.” I’m exponentially thankful he didn’t have to lay down his.
Here in the U.S.A., we enjoy the freedom to travel, speak, worship, and live pretty much unencumbered. There are exceptions to this freedom, but in various other countries, our exception is their norm. Our laws, as constricting as they often are, form a perimeter within which we can enjoy boundless freedom. Compared to other countries whose dictators oppress the masses and whose laws prevent freedom, Americans enjoy a multi-faceted array of freedoms.
These freedoms have been protected by not only guns but faith and prayers of hope by people dedicated to creating public safety and personal freedom. This invisible boundary exists which allows us to run full-throttle through the fields, chasing whichever dreams we want—dreams that begin as an idea—dreams that allow us to cultivate the seeds of curiosity, explore our world, and experience each day with fresh yearning.
Freedom within is certainly enhanced by our freedom without. Thanks to everyone, both uniformed officers and guardians in plain clothes who, whether bearing a gun as a weapon or not, ensure we have boundaries—boundaries that are “Indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”
