Anger and Guns

           

When our kids were young, my husband and I made the decision to enroll them in a karate class.  My son was six when he started and my daughter was thirteen (she was training in gymnastics when she was younger.)

            We both agreed down through the years that this was the best decision we ever made for our kids.  It gave them confidence and self-discipline and they never had any really bad physical confrontations during their time in the public schools in Manhattan.  Now when I read about the young men who were the perpetrators of gun violence down through the years I am even more thankful about the karate lessons.

            Karate also teaches how to deal with anger and fear through meditation and lessons in self-defense.  Everyone gets depressed from time to time, but the Buddhist philosophy supporting the martial arts enables people to live from day to day without letting these emotions get out of control.

            When I read how many people have committed suicide using guns, I think about my own kids when they were teenagers.  My daughter, especially, seemed angry during most of her teens and my son suppressed his anger by keeping to himself and writing poetry.  Both of them focused on martial arts to energize themselves and learn how to deal with pain.

            The NRA insists that there are no bad guns, only bad people.  But some of those same good people seem to be very angry now that the federal and some state governments are pushing for more gun control.  They say the new laws being proposed would force people to give up weapons they need to protect themselves.  Protect themselves from whom?  People who are angry like they are?

            I say let’s keep angry people away from guns any way we can and I’m relieved that I live in New York State, a place where the governor feels the way I do.