I couldn't help it, I commented:
This article is so full of fail, my hands are shaking; and my adrenaline is surging.
"Finally be prepared to use it for protecting myself at home or in public." If you don't know how to check if a firearm is unloaded, you are not prepared to use it for protection. You are also not prepared to use it, if the mere presence of the thing makes you nervous. You have a right to carry it, not a requirement.
"Why? Following the Newtown massacre in December, the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre, told the country, “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” I wondered what would it be like to be that good guy with a gun?"
You are not a good guy with a gun if you don't know how to use it, protect it and use it safely.
" What would it be like to get that gun, live with that gun, be out and about with that gun."
It is a huge responsibility, I do it every day, and I am not as reckless as you!
"Finally, what happens when you don’t want that gun any more?" Sell it. Firearms retain value more than anything right now.
"Getting the permit to carry a concealed weapon was simple. I filled out a form, had my fingerprints taken for a background check and paid $56.50. No training required. It took far longer to get my dog a license."
First, you shouldn't need a permit, it is a right not a privilege. Second, you shouldn't be stupid enough to purchase anything that you do not understand how to use that is potentially lethal. I don't think I would want you anywhere near a chainsaw either. Third, really, did they take paw prints, charge you more than $50, and run a background check on Rex?
"I settled on this model because it was a smallish gun and because Tony recommended it for my stated purposes of protecting myself and my home."
Good for concealed carry, but an AR-15 or shotgun would have been better for home defense. But not for you, since you are unwilling to learn how to safely operate them, in which case you should not have purchased the handgun either. (notice a trend here, YOU are responsible for learning how to safely operate, not the government. Mommy, Daddy, or your late coach cannot always be there to hold your hand.
"It was obvious from the way I handled the gun that I knew nothing about firearms. Tony sold it to me anyway. The whole thing took 7 minutes. As a gratified consumer, I thought, “Well, that was easy.” Then the terrifying reality hit me, “Holy hell, that was EASY.” Too easy. I still knew nothing about firearms."
It isn't Tony's job to assess your abilities. If he refused, you would have probably written an article on how gun dealers discriminate against women. It's a catch 22. In order to learn how to operate firearms, you need to operate firearms. If you were responsible, you would have sprang for a class.
"Tony told me a Glock doesn’t have an external safety feature, so when I got home and opened the box and saw the magazine in the gun I freaked. I was too scared to try and eject it as thoughts flooded my mind of me accidentally shooting the gun and a bullet hitting my son in the house or rupturing the gas tank of my car, followed by an earth-shaking explosion.."
Ok, first thing you did right. Treat all firearms as if they are loaded. If you followed the other rules, like keeping it pointed in a safe direction, away from your son or gas tank, you would have been fine. Oh, and you have seen too many movies, a bullet will not make your car explode, good call not shooting it, but really you are reaching here.
"This was the first time my hands shook from the adrenaline surge and the first time I questioned the wisdom of this 30-day experiment."
I question it as well. You are asking for trouble because you aren't wiling to actually learn.
"I needed help. I drove to where a police officer had pulled over another driver. Now, writing this, I realize that rolling up on an on-duty cop with a handgun in tow might not have been fully thought through."
You are lucky you didn't get shot. If you lived in MA, NJ, or NY you certainly would have been. That is wrong too, but people like you have made it so.
"I told him I just bought a gun, had no clue how to use it. I asked him to make sure there were no bullets in the magazine or chamber. He took the magazine out and cleared the chamber. He assured me it was empty and showed me how to look. Then he told me how great the gun was and how he had one just like it."
He was right good for him.
"The cop thought I was an idiot and suggested I take a class. But up to that point I’d done nothing wrong, nothing illegal."
Correct, idiot. Correct, nothing illegal.
"So here I sit at Starbucks, and the irony couldn’t be thicker. On March 12, 2010, I was surrounded by big hairy men with guns on their hips, yelling at me as I led a protest against Starbuck’s gun policy. Today, I’m surrounded by five-year-old boys sitting with their moms at the next table. Now I’m the one with a gun on her hip. The gun makes me more fearful than I could have imagined."
Thanks to your protests, I actually went to Starbucks. Now I love their coffee. I carry a 9mm pistol in Starbucks legally every day. Guess what, all the children are safe when I do it.
"In some way, I feel a certain vindication. I was right to protest Starbucks policy. Today, they have a woman with absolutely no firearms training and a Glock on her hip sitting within arm’s reach of small children, her hands shaking and adrenaline surging." You only feel vindicated because you love the smell of your own flatulence. You are so far behind you think you are ahead. Take a training course. Open your eyes and recognize that it is not the governments responsibility to ensure that you go through your life safely.
Those idiots that shot your coach were idiots, they committed their crime during the height of the "assault weapons ban." If the policy at the time would have allowed security to engage the perpetrators, your coach may have been alive today. A good guy with a gun could have minimized the death toll.