A PROFILE WITH

SHAWN
By Mitch Anderton
Sept 23, 2016
ENGL 2010

Good Day! Today I would like

to introduce you to my great
friend Shawn (pictured right)
who is a great guy! Shawn
works as a detective for a
local city police force in Davis
County. Weve had many long
talks about Gun Control and I
would love to share some
insight Ive personally gained
from him on the subject!
Enjoy!

About Shawn
So that you know Shawn a little better here is some information about
him and his career as a detective.
Shawn has dealt with multiple types of people. As a detective he
has to conduct interviews with many individuals. This has given
him an uncanny ability to know who people are. Shawn says that
he can most often tell what kind of person someone is just by
talking with them for a while.
As a detective, Shawn has gone into many places that he felt
uncomfortable or fearful. The experience he gained in these
situations as given him as he said, a unique perspective on what
types of situations citizens can be in and how they might react if
they were in them.
Shawn has had to handle both criminals and law-abiding citizens
that have had guns on them or in the home. His connection to
owning guns himself and getting to see how many other people
handle their guns gives him a wide range of experience to draw

The Right
To Bare
Arms

As a Police Officer, Shawn is a rigid supported

of the Law. He lives to protect and serve
mankind. Whenever I talk to him about guns
and gun control, one thing he is always
passionate about is allowing citizens the
opportunity to bare arms. His body language is
statute, his voice is plain and stern, he looks
you in the eye and says, Our citizens need
this right.
With that type of attitude, I have no doubt he is
serious!

Principle of Defense
Jeff Cooper said, Before World War II, one could stroll in the parks and streets of
the city after dark with hardly any risk, he wrote. But in todays world of
permissive atrocity it was time to reexamine ones interactions with fellow
citizens. (Osnos, Making a Killing)
In todays world we never know who may turn out to be a criminal. In that fact,
everyone should have the right to defend themselves. Guns are the only thing
that can be superior in any other way compared to things like knives and the
human body. A gun could be the only way to overpower and be superior to an
attacker.
As a police officer, Shawn explained this to me as his reasoning for citizens to own
firearms. With his experience in law enforcement, he feels that certain situations
are unable to be resolved with the show of force. Shawn told me that a citizen
deserves the right to be protected in those situations.

Why should
we let them
have em?

Whenever I ask Shawn about the purpose of

letting citizens own and carry firearms he
always tells me it promotes order and
provides protection.
He has told me of the many times that a
citizen has drawn his firearm and prevented
a crime or protected life when an office of
the law wasnt there.

Shawn said that he enjoyed knowing that are

responsible citizens around him who have
the ability to protect others just as he would
as a police officer.

We Need
Training

Shawn isnt like most gun control advocates. He

wants to see some changes in how we let
citizens handle firearms.
He tells me often that the only reason people
trust police with guns is because of their
training. Give citizens appropriate firearm
training and people will start to trust them as
well.
While Shawn likes citizens to own firearms. He
doesnt like people to be around him and out on
the street without proper training. He said, a
person without training can cause more harm
than good, especially in stressful situations
where they have to use their firearm for
protection.

More than a
license
Shawn has said, we need our gun control system
to be like our driving system. What I believe he
means by that is that he wants to see everyone
have a license, know as much about guns as
possible, be authorized by the federal government
to own one, and make sure that we know what we
are doing (hence the training aspect mentioned
earlier). He would also like to see guns regulated
like we regulate our cars for better tracking.
Just like one bad driver on the road causes traffic
jams, one irresponsible gun owner causes problems
for other gun owners.
Shawn feels this way because he has seen many
accidents that could have been prevented if
firearms were tracked, people were trained and had
the appropriate knowledge about their firearm.

Why a License Matters

People intent on harm dont care if guns are legal or notand those
with permits tend to be responsible. Jack Parker (Mangan, Under
the Gun)
Shawn wants more regulations on how people are able to obtain a
firearm permit. He told me of many situations, such as accidental
shootings, where if we had more steps to be accomplished (such as
training and mental evaluations) those situations could be avoided
because it would increase the responsibility of the people who had to
obtain the permit. .
One aspect that I didnt agree with but that I found interesting was
that Shawn wants more regulation by requiring anyone who would like
to own a gun (wither for concealed carry or not) to have a permit,
similar to how we regulate hunter safety permits before someone can
go hunting.

Do we
really know
someone?

One thing that Shawn and I both agree on

heavily is the need for mental evaluation
before owning a firearm.
Shawn has related many times to me of
meeting people while on patrol that just didnt
seem to have the proper mental awareness to
own a gun, and yet they were authorized to
carry a firearm.
Shawn said, We dont really know what is
going on up there. Its just a puzzle, and until
we understand that puzzle better, someone
shouldnt own a firearm.

Treatment for Violence

Shawn is in favor of mental evaluation before someone could own a firearm.
I would go a step further and say that we could prevent violence and let
someone own a firearm.
A recent study showed that individuals predisposed to violence could be
treated and when done so they saw a 67% decrease in shootings in one of
Chicagos most violent areas. (Sanburn, Can We Curb Gun Violence by
Treating It Like A Disease?
A mental evaluation could enable us to not only prevent gun violence but
help people become better so that they could own a firearm. Shawn was
also of the strong opinion that this could be possible, but that it would take a
lot of work and resources; resources that He knew as police officer arent at
the appropriate level at this time.

The value
of Life
When I showed Shawn this picture and asked
what he thought about it in relation to gun
violence he had two different perspectives.
Shawn said that it could be the death of a
loved one by a violent criminal, but then he
also said that it could be the death of loved
one because that person couldnt defend
themselves against that violent criminal.
This is what I love about Shawns perspective.
He knows that life is precious, and that there is
violence out there, but people need to have
the right to defend against that violence. Who
knows the situation, but what if a law abiding
gun owner could have saved this persons life?

Respect
Shawn let me know through our discussion that
have a high regard for each other is really what
will stop gun violence. The regulations that he
would like to see changed is just a step
towards that.
Thats all it is. Respect for life, respect for each
other, respect for ourselves. Teach people that,
and gun control wont be a problem.
Its about respect! While I was on the force I
met a lot of un-respectful people, but those
who were respectful to me, I was thankful they
were out there watching my back.

Works Cited
Sanburn, Josh. "Can We Curb Gun Violence By Treating It Like A
Disease?."Time188.1 (2016): 23-24.Academic Search Premier. Web.
21 Sept. 2016.
OSNOS, EVAN. "Making A Killing."New Yorker92.19 (2016): 3645.Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.
MANGAN, KATHERINE. "Under The Gun."Chronicle Of Higher
Education62.41 (2016): B8-B10.Academic Search Premier. Web. 25
Sept. 2016.