Do you know where I grew up? Arkansas. Laugh it up. Har-dee-har. <em>"You married to your sister, Ray?"</em> No. My cousin. But thanks for asking.

In Arkansas, just like the current state I live in (Kentucky), guns are a huge part of life. The majority of gun use is by hunters who love to shoot ol' bambi between the ears every deer season. And duck hunting is huge. From what I understand, Duck Dynasty is a big show. I refuse to watch it. I live in it.

Same reason I won't watch most reality television. The Kentucky Turtle Man, housewives yelling at each other, Honey Boo Boo, COPS, Dirty Jobs, filthy hotels, Single Moms, and the what have you. Know why I don't watch? All I have to do is cruise around in a forty minute radius and I can see it in stinking person.

Do you know how many times I see people post on their Facebook page: "Got me a picture with the Kentucky Turtle Man! Highlight of my life!" Keep shooting for the stars, bro. Oh, in case you have no idea what I'm talking about and you're living on an insulated coast:

http://youtu.be/qOXyxLJna1c

Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh yes, gun control.

Just about every person I know owns a gun. Up until six months ago, I had a 9mm Glock in my drawer for home protection. Then something clicked in me. I didn't want it anymore. I had a flashback to a U2 concert I had been to back in 1999. They are pro-gun control or something. They showed a video of a little girl getting access to a gun out of an old Kroger bag or something.

It took me this long for that to sink in. What if my kids got a hold of my guns. Yes. I teach them all gun safety. They know how to shoot and hold a gun. They know proper respect for weapons. But what the heck?

A firearm capable of destroying the life of one of my family members in my own home? Apparently you have a better chance of dying in a car accident. Twice. That was my excuse.

So don't start calling me a liberal. Seriously. I'm a Libertarian.

The article that got me thinking was one about <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19641398#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&amp;ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa">why the police in Great Britain don't carry guns</a>. They just don't. Well, <a href="http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/brpol.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-7774" src="http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/brpol-199x300.jpg" alt="" width="199" height="300" /></a>they're obviously morons, right? Those cops must be getting their heads blown off at an enormous rate. Poor people. Armed with popsicle sticks and a bullhorn, they are walking dead meat.

<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19641398">This article says no.</a> In fact, most British police are fine with the way things are and don't want to carry firearms. They subdue their criminals who are not allowed to carry guns and throw them in the paddy wagon. Really? Really? Surely some of the rough people over there carry some sort of weapons.

They do. And they're subdued. But that's not to say that policepeople aren't killed. It's tragic. But not as many policepeople are killed overseas as they are here.

In 2011, 72 United States policemen were killed on duty. That's 72 too many for me. I honestly couldn't find a record for a British police officer who died in 2011.

Now hold up before you get mad, Bible Belt. Those of you on the opposite coasts are probably applauding. There's nothing to applaud. I don't want police officers, military or anyone to die. Do I think hunters should be able to hunt? Yeah. But I think the restrictions should be a bit more.

I think each state should have a say in what happens on that level as well. It bothers me that there are extremists on both sides. We can never have a happy medium.

On the one hand I get the gun guys. The truly law-abiding gun guys who are taking out their 12 year old-daughters to the Land Between the Lakes to shoot their first turkey. They will dress it, cook it and eat it. The father and daughter will have an experience they will never forget. The father and son who sit in a deer stand waiting for six hours waiting for that perfect buck to walk by. Then he does. The son takes the shot.

But what I don't understand is how ex-felons are able to put a .32 special in their hand and threaten a store clerk

On that side, there are extremists. They will point to the second amendment. Listen, we all know that the right to bear arms has to do with tyranny, not shooting deer. HOWEVER, I will hire one of you to shoot the deer who jump in front of me every night on my country ride home from work before it hits my $800 bumper.

<a href="http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/trebek.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-7775" style="margin-left: 6px; margin-right: 6px;" src="http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/trebek-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>Extremists you say? There's another side who says do away with all firearms. Burn all of them. In a Great Britain society, I see where it works. Fewer cop deaths. And listen to this stat from a <a href="http://www.juancole.com/2012/07/300000-violent-gun-crimes-a-year-in-the-us-poster.html">good site</a>: <em><a href="http://www.juancole.com/2012/07/58-murders-a-year-by-firearms-in-britain-8775-in-us.html"> 59 people are killed every year with firearms in Britain, but 8,777</a> are killed by guns in the US (per capita, the rate in the US is 30 times higher).</em>

What's the answer? Just burn all the firearms? No, I don't think so. Get the government involved? Nope. The government is already too involved. Personal responsibility. There's more, but I'm not a politician, so I don't have the answers.

But I know for me and my house, there will be no guns here. No firearms that can damage or kill a child by accidental misfiring. I don't care how powerful it makes me feel or secure. I trust in my God, I trust in the odds. I trust that there is a decent shred of American morality left.

Heck, that and I've still got mace...