mewasn’tfodderforclarity, I feared
nothingeverwouldbe.I
nFebruary2018,a fewdaysafter
34 highschoolstudentsandfaculty
staffweregunneddown, 17 fatally,
inParkland,Florida,mygrandfather
calledmeinWashington,DC,where
I nowworkasa congressionalreport-
er.Hewantedtotalkaboutwhathad
happened.
We’dneverdiscussedguncontrol
before.AfterI gotshot,wetalked
aboutme. We talkedabout the
reportersandTVvansparkedoutside
mydad’soffice.Wetalkedaboutthe
dead-endpoliceinvestigation.Never,
though,aboutthegun.
AfterParkland,wedid.Mygrand-
fathersaidthat“something”had
tobedoneabout“allthis”,andit
didn’tlooklike“anyoneupthere”- meaningWashington– was“go-
ingtodoa damnedthingaboutit”.
I couldpicturehisbrowfurrowed,
hisheadshaking.
Hesaidthatwhenhe’dlearned
thekillerinParklandhadusedan
AR-15-style semiautomaticrif le,
he’daskedoneofthestore’sman-
agerstocalltheBureauofAlcohol,
Tobacco,FirearmsandExplosives
tofindoutwhetherthestorecould
stopsellingthosetypesofweapons
topeopleundertheageof21.The
womantheresaiditcould– itwasa
privatebusiness– butitwouldrisk
age-discrimination lawsuits.My
grandfather told me he didn’t care
muchaboutthatrisk,sohe’dordered
thechange.
He’dalsoconsideredpullingAR-
15sfromtheshelvesaltogether,but
firsthe’dhadhisemployeeslookinto
whoregularlybuysthem.Turnsout
mostcustomersarelandownersand
farmerswitha wildhogissue.Thepigs
barrelontotheirproperty,diggingup
rootsandacornsandgenerallytearing
uptheground,makingitdifficultto
runequipmentovertheland.Because
theanimalsoftentravelinherds,a
semiautomaticrifleisa particularly
efficientmeansofstoppingthem.For
thatreason,mygrandfathersaid,he’d
continuetosellthegun.
Wetalkedabouthowraisingthe
ageforAR-15purchaseswasunlike-
lytostopthenextParkland.Still,it
feltgoodtodosomething,anything.
Theproblemwasa complicatedone,
hesaid,andtheonlythingmostpol-
iticiansseemedabletodowasserve
upbroad-stroketalkingpoints,orsay
nothingatall.
OnCapitolHill,I’dwatchedup
closeasapathyhadsettledinafter
earliershootings.I couldpredict
theresponsesofeachparty’slead-
ers.I couldrecitethethoughtsand
prayers,allofwhichhadbegunto
feellikeamockeryofGod,ofthe
brainshe’dgivenustofigurethis
out.I foundmyselfthinkingof1 Peter
4:10:“Eachofyoushouldusewhat-
evergiftyouhavereceivedtoserve
others,asfaithfulstewardsof God’s
grace in its various forms.”39
The View From Gun Country