On Guns

Sonya: But there was just another shooting in Florida.
Me: But the Texas shooting was stopped by an NRA instructor.
Sonya: But Japan is gun-free and has no virtually no mass shootings.
Me: But Switzerland is armed to the teeth and has virtually no mass shootings.
Sonya: . . . Does it seem like we both have some facts on our side?
Me: I guess so.
Sonya: I was really hoping we could wrap this up before lunch.
Me: Well, you're very young. I'm afraid the truth is that when it comes to complex issues, if your argument fits easily on a bumper sticker, it's probably lacking something.
Sonya: I think we all get that. But we're Catholics, we believe in Truth. There's such a thing as an actually right answer to every question.
Me: We also believe in both Free Will and Providence. Not just your will and mine, but the wills of seven billion people, all smashing into each other all the time, and all interwoven with the super-temporal Plan of God. It's insane to think that we can stuff the whole of the Truth into our brains and bring it bear on each individual question like a flashlight. What we can do is take an individual question and try to drag it out into Truth like the sunlight.
Sonya: So—that means, in practice, what?
Me: There is an actually right answer, but any given one of us might not be able to see every single side of it. You know the story about the blind men and the elephant?
Sonya: Of course. I have a lot of free time in the womb, you know.
Me: Yeah, about that: you could pretty much come out of there any time now.
Sonya: We're getting sidetracked.
Me: Right. As you know, I'm a strong advocate of respecting the position of one's opponent and talking things out rather than shouting slogans from behind police barricades.
Sonya: And that's awfully nice, but while you're politely listening to all sides of the argument, people are being shot every single day.
Me: If you're in a hole, it doesn't always help to dig faster. Part of the problem is that we tend to forget how tightly this issue is woven with larger issues. A conservative is coming from the subconscious premise that the defense of his home and family is ultimately his own responsibility; a liberal, from the premise that the State exists in order to defend those who can't defend themselves. Neither is wrong, but it's hard to point out the assumed premises of either without sounding as though you're making an ad hominem attack. In such a heated debate, it's easy to hear the other side calling you (respectively) a bully or a weakling, even if that's not what they mean.
Sonya: You're still very dexterously walking on the tips of the fence-posts.
Me: Would you really like to hear my own personal opinion?
Sonya: I'd like to, yes.
Me: I think life is beautiful and also horrible. The fundamental problem with both sides of this debate is that, deep down, people think there's a solution that will make everybody safe; but the truth is, the only safe place is the coffin. I think if we keep our guns, we're going to keep slaughtering each other. I think if we give up our guns, our own government or someone else's will start slaughtering us soon enough. No matter who wins, people will get shot and the losers will blame the winning side. The one thing we can count on for sure is that, in the end, gun violence will be stopped by the same thing that stopped sword violence: someone will invent something worse.
Sonya: Fuck, dude.
Me: Watch your language, young lady.
Sonya: Sorry, Dad. It's just. . .
Me: Yeah.
Sonya: So what are you going to do?
Me: I love my daughter. I'm keeping my guns.