It’s interesting the conversations I have had with people over the topic of guns. I somewhat used to the occasional handgun on a police officer, which I have had many encounters with due to my previous job. I remember when police would come to our offices I always found myself staring at their belts and all the gadgets they had hanging from it, what they were for. My eyes would move to their Tasers and when I would get a glimpse of their the gun I would become transfixed. I found myself thinking about how heavy it might be, what it would feel like in my hand. And how I would be one of those people who accidently shoot themselves by mishandling it. Its funny the paranoid thought would cross my mind: I hope they do not notice me staring at it, and think I am going to reach for it. Perhaps it’s been an obsession of mine. I recall being around 8 years of when a police officer came to my school assembly. I asked him if he had ever shot anyone before. Kids say and ask the darnest things.
In my travels I have seen weapons quite a bit, men standing outside of banks with shotguns or soldiers at checkpoints, so the image of a semiautomatic rifle was not too big of an issue in the past. I never liked when they stood around with their guns pointed straightforward rather than having them pointed at the ground. So what was it about this trip that made me uncomfortable when seeing security forces with a weapons? Was I playing too much into the hype? Was I dramatizing my visual experiences? The answers to these questions are yes and yes.