Would Jesus Carry a Gun??? Part II | Eastern North Carolina Now

    This is a serious subject. It is drawing some good early response. It is not the kind of subject you can write a definite final "thus saith the Lord" treatise on. I would like to be the leader of discussion rather than some arbitrator.

    I am formulating my own opinions as I study more closely what the Bible says. If a woman with a small child in her cart was packing heat at Wal Mart, many more will be soon following. I'm not into disarming pissed-off women at Wal Mart. I might feel the need to carry, myself for sure!

    Have you ever been in a situation where a gun would have been helpful?

    Yes I have!!! I was a nurse's aide on the Alcoholic Ward at Dorothea Dix in 1967. It was a low security ward with around 60-70 men and I was one of 3 aides on the night shift. My first night to stay alone while the other aides accompanied the ambulatory men to the Dining Hall became a nightmare. I had done a bed/room check and come back to the Nurse's Station to do paperwork. It was peaceful and quiet awaiting a full ward shortly.

    As I sat a man came in. Suddenly he moaned and clutched his stomach leaning over. I stood to help him and he grabbed my arm as hard as he could. I can still feel it in my memory. "Give me your keys! I am getting out of here," he said with a menacing sneer. He had my right arm. I looked down to see a pair of barber scissors 2" from my liver! The worst part was black holes for eyes with no soul. It was like a shark within a few feet ready to bite you. He meant business!!! He had a plan. It involved hurting and killing, if I did not comply.

    Your mind goes to slow motion eyesight as it races for a solution to possible death. My first thought was, "If I had a gun I would blow your brains out!" Absent the gun, I thought about bashing his brains out against the concrete block walls! Then some logic crept in: "There are 4 locked doors between you and any help--if you miss / you're only making minimum wage and this is your life / it's not worth getting hurt right now / be cool and try to live."

    Long story short: he made me unlock the fire door so he could escape / locked me in a linen closet / footsteps faded down the echoing stairs / I was alive! He did his stunt to someone getting in their car on Campus / stole it / went out into Raleigh / ran a stop sign / got chased by Wake County Deputies / wrecked / was back in about an hour between 2 big armed Officers in hand cuffs! He had the privilege of a transfer to the Spruill Building for the criminally insane. No aide there is under 250#, and most look like they played linemen for NC State. It is nothing but an extension of Central State Prison with big bars on every cell. His hidden drug addiction (we had no clue about) was now properly "under control." Nobody was dead or wounded, thank God!

    Had I been carrying a weapon, he might have gone for it and then in the struggle one or the other of us could have been killed. Blood on the floor and brains splattered on the wall are not worth minimum wages, in my view. Without a gun I was forced to use common sense, a calm voice, and a smile to keep from getting hurt. My worse injury was an ego bruised being locked in a linen closet.

    Have any of you had such a life-or-death encounter????

    Had I walked over to the lady and taken her gun as a citizen protecting others in the store, what would she have done????

    What would Jesus do????