It's 1952. The Soviets are knocking on our door. The threat of nuclear war is rampant! What are we going to do in case of a nuclear attack? Well... Duck under the desk and cover yourself. If you have a white blanket, perhaps going on a picnic with your family, get under the blanket and cover yourself. It will protect you.

Those thousands of Joules of energy and heat being spewed out by a nuclear fission or fussion bomb are just going to go right over you. It's true! If you hide under the desk you will be safe.

The fact is, in the U.S. we have the worst solutions to real problems. We think a "pro-active" passive solution will undoubtedly solve our dilemma. A good example? Gun rights.

Carrying a weapon is an active solution to the problem. Statistics do not lie. Carrying a gun actually reduces crime. Criminals are not stupid, the Department of Justice probed this, if someone is armed they will back away. If they know a house owner has a gun they will not go in there.

However, our government and "passionate" people do not follow statistics or reason. So, let's get rid of all guns! Yes! That's a great idea! When we see the long lines of people turning in their guns to be melted, it will show a potpurry of interesting criminals. I can guarantee, none of those people will be a criminal. The only people who abide by the law are law abidding people, not the criminal element.

Since when do Americans think criminals follow the law? This is a preposterous assumption. If we say, "Everyone turn in their guns!" Not a single criminal will do it!

Another point is gun shows. People are vehemently against them. Probes by the Department of Justice and the Department of Corrections found out criminals will not go to gun shows. They will not risk being spotted or being called in to the FBI. Actually, a lot of government workers attend gun shows. From your lowly postman (I've seen all of my postmen at the shows), to cops buying a new gun, to a soldier buying a gun to take to Iraq, to ATF agents.

It's almost like going to a police station to buy a gun. Think about it, how many criminals will go to a police station to buy a gun? None!

So, why carry handguns? No reasonable study without an obious bias has proven guns are bad. Simply, it is just a piece of metal and wood. I am more afraid of my water heater getting too hot and exploding than I am a gun going off and killing me.

I have the utmost respect for guns. Keyword there, respect, not fear. I was in DC when the sniper was picking people off and I was there when the first few people got shot (unlike Hillary Clinton I have been under sniper fire), I have been in drive by's, shootings, etc.

Learning how to shoot is an important skill. A lot of people want to know how to shoot. A lot of people on campus from students to professors are expert marksmen and competition shooters. Shooting is a fun hobby. It teaches you an incredible mental and physical discipline.

Case example, my mother. She is terribly afraid of guns. To death. She worked in an Emergency Room in Puerto Rico. If you want to see rampant criminality and lack of carrying power go to Puerto Rico, you will see criminality like no other. Regardless, my mom said she did not want to shoot a gun, and she was terribly afraid for me for owning them. She did not read the study by the state of Florida, the Department of Justice, the ATF which proved without a single reasonable doubt that carrying a handgun actually does reduce crime.

So, I took my mom and dad to the range at Huntington Reservoir. The people there are the friendliest people you will ever meet. They will show you the tricks of the trade, and if you are really interested they will tell you their special forces stories from Viet Nam.

So I gave my mother a Chinese SKS. I told her, "hold it against your shoulder and fire down the range. Let it rip, mom!" She was terrified, my dad told her, "look it will be ok, just shoot!" She would not.

So, I took the gun from her and then I put it by my hip and and put 10 rounds of copper jacketed lead down the range to the paper target. I took a stripper clip, reloaded the gun, put the safety on, and handed it back to my mother. After she saw me fire it, she was a little less scared. So, I told her, "hold it snug against your shoulder" and l told her to shoot the rifle. Just one round, then you'll see how fun it is. One round. So, she put the lead down range. Then I told her, empty it. She did.

She had a ton of fun to say the least.

Another example would be my neighbors next door. He always wanted to learn how to shoot. He was even in the Navy and they never taught them. So by chance he saw how many guns I had. He asked me if he and his wife could go shooting with me. Of course, I said yes. So I took them to the range. My neighbor was pretty good at shooting, but my neighbor's wife was terrified just like my mother. So, the first shot she fired hit the top of the outdoor range and actually blew a giant piece of concrete out.

The range master came out and they got scared. They thought they were in trouble. I was behind them laughing so hard. The range master was nicer than me. He laughed at her too. Then he told her, don't worry we'll get it fixed. Don't give up. Keep shooting. Then we just sat back laughing. She got to keep the piece of concrete as a souvenir. Now she wants a gun.

The feeling of shooting lead precisely at a range with your friends is like no other.

On a more serious note, carrying a gun is a very responsible thing to do. It will save your live one day. It's something you carry and you hope to G-d you never ever have to use. Everyone who carries prays they never ever have to use it. It's a fact.

Utah allows everyone to carry guns on campus. If you are afraid of that fact, then you are saying in essence, you would feel more comfortable with a criminal who will violate you at will, than a law-abidding citizen who will save your life. Actually, a lot of the times people draw is to save a life. A lot of cops owe their life to law-abidding citizens carrying guns. Even a lot of women owe their dignity to a man or woman carrying a gun; obviously saving them from rape or even worse.

Here is a poem about the Nagant revolver (I have one made in 1945, the last year of production) by Vladimir Nabokov to his fiancee, Vera Slonim.

I know, with certainty that in that lacquered purse of yours nestled against powder case and mirror sleeps a black stone; seven deaths