Why I Refuse to Own or Carry a Gun

In the wake of the tragedy in Orlando, many in the queer community have begun to adopt the belief that carrying guns will prevent future attacks on us as outsiders in an unflinchingly heteronormative society. Groups like the Pink Pistols aim to inspire feelings of safety by not only helping queer people get armed, but also teaching them how to use said weapon. In an ideal world, carrying a weapon would create some sort of protective barrier around us at all times, but the reality is that guns aren't the solution. In fact, I adamantly refuse to arm myself because I know it isn't the solution.

It's not all that complicated, really. I could write an essay analyzing the homonormative influences that inspire gay men to compensate for the manhood that is perceived to be taken away from them. I could write about how queer people of all ages, colors, genders, and backgrounds are beyond sick of being the victim and how maybe this is our chance to change the narrative. I could write lots of things, but the ultimate point is much simpler than any of the aforementioned. Arming the queer community would do little aside from making America more toxic than it already is.

This isn't me trying to be an anarchist, anti-American punk (although I am). This is the truth. Do light research on gun violence in other countries. I'm not going to do it for you because you might not believe the sources I pick anyway. (Plus, Google is a thing.) See for yourself and then tell me how, supposedly, more guns are the solution.

The problem is bigger than us not having guns to protect ourselves from other deranged gun-users. The problem is that our country gives out guns to basically anyone and then wonders why guns are such a problem. Maybe a solution could simply be to not let people legally own automatic weapons, or, and this might be a stretch, making the gun purchasing process longer and more thorough?

If we also arm ourselves like crazy, we'd just be enabling the culture that excuses legal ownership of guns that no one has any business owning. The gun-toting, radical right is not interested in protecting us and the National Rifle Association literally doesn't care about any life on this planet. We can't allow ourselves to become their pawns.

I completely understand why people in the queer community, particularly the queer people of color, would be filled with rage and fear. But what kind of place do roads of rage and fear usually lead to? Can you ever get peace and happiness from rage and fear?

I can't speak for how effective guns are or aren't across the entire country, because I'm no gun expert. But what I do know is that there are stories every day of people accidentally shooting themselves or children accidentally shooting themselves or others. I don't hear stories about armed citizens protecting themselves from danger nearly as often, and you probably don't either unless you subscribe to pages and publications whose specific aim is to make guns seem better than they are.

An even bigger part of the 'let's go get guns' argument is that it probably would only work for a small portion of us. The cis, white gays, lesbians, and bisexuals might be fine. But what about queer POC? Ultimately, this "solution" might be signing the death certificates of some of our black community members who don't even need to be armed to be murdered by police, as proven over and over again. We need change that works for all of us, not some of us.

We can't live our lives in fear. People get shot. People die. We all die. We can't control everything, as much as we might want to. We can feel like we're in control, but really, what we feel does little in the real world. Carrying a gun may protect you or it may not. But what is guaranteed is that the longer the United States looks at guns the way it does, the more innocent people we will lose long before their time.

I refuse to arm myself. I don't believe in guns, and I know the people encouraging us to arm ourselves, rarely (if ever) intersectionally gave a shit about us.