THE GUN CUPBOARD
By the woman who was able to leave with the help of community support
Abusive behavior can be subtle neglect, an inability to understand the ramifications regarding one's behavior...or lack of.
Ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the law! One shotgun in a house of three children...where's the harm? One shotgun in a cupboard built into the wall on the stairs...One shotgun unloaded with slugs left on the floor of the cupboard, but NOT IN the gun...where's the crime in that?
Three children under 10...But they don't go in the cupboard, they don't even care about the gun cupboard...But how does a parent know the moment their child begins to wonder about the weapons in the house?
Then in court the judge asked “Is the closet locked?” Silence, then a reply..
“No,” he replied regretfully, “but the bullets are in my desk...”
“And under the mattress, and in the hall closet,” I said.
“How old are your children?” the judge inquired...
“Six,” he replied...
I spoke up, “the youngest is 2 and the oldest is 8.”
The judge shook his head, as he silently wrote.
“I want to be heard, I want to speak!” he cried out. It must have been a surge of confidence, he felt he had to plead his case.
The judge said, “Fine, we will go to trial right now...Deputy, swear them in...Speak!”
As he spoke in his own defense his own words betrayed him.
“I never even hit her, I aimed it at her, without bullets in it, I never was really going to shoot her, I was just cleaning my gun...I was angry, she made me angry...”
Loss of control is never acceptable. Threats of violence are as powerful as a blow to the face. They strike hard and fast and they sting for a very long time after. Telling someone they are going to be brutalized, pierces the human heart, it deflates the trust and love that it once was filled with, and any breath of hope is suffocated.
ANGER IS THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE ONE WHO IS ANGRY.
