Hello everyone.
I am jewish by birth, though my mother no longer practiced by the time I came around. Nonetheless, Pittsburgh really effected me and reaffirmed my convictions. My condolences to everyone who was effected or knows someone who was effected by this tragedy. I guess what it means to me is that I was sadly right, that evil will always exist. In this case it was targeting a group I am a part of, and tomorrow it will be someone else's community. Much like how we are told to "trust, but verify", we should believe in the peacefulness of those around us, but not solely rely on blind faith and have a way to defend if our beliefs are misplaced.
For a long while I have wanted to work in the gun industry and one day open a store under that guiding principle. I am turning 21 soon so I have quite a bit of time ahead of me to make this real. I believe anyone of sound mind should arm themselves and learn to use such arms to the best of their capabilities to prevent or mitigate such unspeakable events. Having grown up in a place where guns are not common place, I have seen that the majority of those who fear guns are those who do not have any first hand experience with them. I want everyone to at least attend a safety course or go to a range so that they can really get all the facts before making a more informed decision on personal gun ownership. If they still don't like them, that is fine. I don't want people to be at more risk than they would otherwise accept for themselves. I would love your perspectives on how one could make a place where anyone, including the stereotypical "anti-gunner" would feel comfortable coming in to just look around or ask some questions. It is my hope that through providing that space, more reasonable people would consider arming against hate like this. Regardless of whether I make any money on sales, changing opinions and maybe even changing lives for the better is more than appropriate compensation.
Thank you and I wish everyone strength in light of dark events,