Feeling Safe a First Step Towards Making You Safe: And Other Common Sense Answers for a Nonviolent Society

By James McNenny

The author is a retired attorney who has spent a lifetime in Americas society peacefully resolving controversies his clients had with other persons and companies. Since retiring at the turn of the century, he, like many others, have observed a definite trend in Americas society toward violence. The causes for this unwanted trend are many and obvious but not the subject of this book. Instead this book was written as an awakening to the fact that this trend is leading us all down the road to a sick violent society and it is up to us all to oppose the trend with common sense. Some suggestions for taking a stand against this trend, highlighted in this book are (a) Lets encounter strangers as potential friends with a smile and not a sneer with one hand pressed against a concealed handgun; (b) Lets get rid of lethal handguns altogether and make them as unaccessible to the ordinary citizen as explosives; (c) As parents and grandparents, lets be careful what we teach our kids by word or example. For instance, hate being a word to avoid along with negative feelings toward others who are diff erent; (d) And most importantly, lets put a stop to all killings; in war zones abroad as a way to peace; and on our streets and highways here at home by speeding. And much more! The Author knows that if you follow the suggestions of his book you will not only feel and be safer, you will feel good about yourself and what you do.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 23, 2010
• ISBN: 9781453573891

James McNenny

The author is a retired attorney who has spent a lifetime in America’s society peacefully resolving controversies his clients had with other persons and companies. Since retiring at the turn of the century he, like many others, have observed a defi nite trend in America’s society towards violence. Th e causes for this unwanted trend are many and obvious but not the subject of this book. Instead this book was written as an awakening to the fact that this trend is leading us all down the road to a sick violent society and it is up to us all to oppose the trend with common sense. Some suggestions for taking a stand against this trend, highlighted in this book are: a. Let’s encounter strangers as potential friends with a smile and not a sneer with one hand pressed against a concealed handgun. b. Let’s get rid of lethal handguns altogether and make them as unaccessible to the ordinary citizen as explosives. c. As parents and grandparents, let’s be careful what we teach our kids by word or example. For instance, hate being a word to avoid along with negative feelings towards others who are diff erent. d. And most importantly let’s put a stop to all killings; in war zones abroad as a way to peace; and on our streets and highways here at home by speeding. And much more! Th e Author knows that if you follow the suggestions of his book you will not only feel and be safer, you will feel good about yourself and what you do.

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Copyright © 2010 by James McNenny.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2010914188

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4535-7388-4

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4535-7387-7

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4535-7389-1

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Contents

OPENING STATEMENT

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII

SUMMATION

OPENING STATEMENT

This book is not for the timid. It is not for those who cling to old, well-used crutches for security. Nor is it for those who fear any change in the way we deal with crime and disorder in our society. This book is for those who recognize that the United States of America is one of the best of societies of this world and got that way through the active participation of its citizens, from the bottom up, not from a leader down. In its 200 plus years history the good old U.S. of A. has come a long way in providing a safe and non-oppressive environment for every individual to make a living, raise a family, enjoy life and feel secure. Sure we have made mistakes along the way, but the overriding movement of our society is for a tolerance of diversity and a world without violence.

As the title of this book reflects, safety in our homes, in our neighborhoods, on our highways, as well as worldwide, begins with each of us feeling safe mentally. This feeling of safety is to replace the concealed weapon. Then when we encounter, confront, or deal with other fellow human beings, our safe feeling will display to them a spirit of friendship, which causes them to reciprocate with a spirit of friendship towards us.

As a retired attorney from the State of Ohio, I have chosen to write this book in the first person. And I am without shame in mentioning that I was an attorney during my earlier years. I know that the word lawyer stirs up an adverse connotation with many people. I had a barber once who boldly proclaimed that all the wrongs of our society were caused by lawyers. When I heard this, I stopped letting him get close to my neck with his scissors. But, seriously, lawyers are not all bad. Outside of the ones who bring frivolous claims into court and get ridiculous jury verdicts that make them rich and serve no other good purpose, most lawyers are motivated by only one thing, and that is to solve the legal problems of their clients. It is, overall, a noble and challenging profession and I was proud to be part of it.

Although I am all in favor of one-sided editorials, having written some myself, this book is not a collection of editorials. To the contrary, this book treats some very controversial issues of the day with complete neutrality. I approach no issue with a pro or con slant. I respect the positions of both sides to major issues. But, in discussing the issues I try to stay away from the emotional reactions people have to them and stick strictly to a logical, common sense analysis of them. As the title to this book says, I am looking for common sense answers for a nonviolent society. Thus, if you, as a reader, believe that violence is a necessary or an unavoidable element of any society, then this book is not for you. However, if you believe, as I do, that our society, America, has moved and is moving towards less violence, and this is a good thing, then this book is for you. This book is based upon the principle that we can live in this world free from fear and violent acts. And, the book suggests several ways to achieve such a world.

The first promoter of violence the book tackles is handguns. There are many who sincerely believe that our established police protection is not enough and we need to arm ordinary citizens to protect against violent crimes. The problem with this is that history has shown that the more guns on the streets and within reach, the more violence and killing, deliberate or accidental. So, this book introduces a non-lethal alternative to handguns that will accomplish the same thing as arming ordinary citizens. As introduced and explained in Chapter I, this alternative to handguns will provide supplemental protection to our police protection and reduce violent crimes without adding to the violence of our society.

Next, the book suggests a way to eliminate from the minds of our next generation the hate, prejudice and negative thinking many of us grew up with. Not that our parents deliberately intended to poison our thinking. Our parents did not realize the influence their hate had, and that there is a better way of raising children. Raise children to love all life and that will be the best inheritance we can leave them. And, with us old folks living longer, it is bound to make our lives safer and free of violence as the next generation takes over.

Religion is one of mankind’s most effective ways of getting along with other folks nonviolently. Unfortunately, religion in America seems to be on a decline. More and more churches, of every kind, are losing members. So, this book again looks for alternatives and suggests secular ways of getting along with other folks, nonviolently. Nevertheless, we religious folks can always use a little reminding. A few Sundays ago I was praying to God silently as requested by my minister during the service. My thoughts and feelings were directed to my wellbeing, for I had just experienced a cool reaction from others when entering my church that morning. I was praying that God would forgive me if I had done something to those others to deserve the cold shoulder they gave me. Suddenly those thoughts were replaced in my head with this: What other people think of you is not important. What you think of other people is what is important to make your life safe and happy.

Law and the courts are our way of settling disputes. Disputes in any society are inevitable. This book recognizes that fact and highlights present day trends to more amicably settle these inevitable disputes, through the court systems and outside of the court systems.

Finally the book hits upon a subject dear to my heart—noncompetitive driving. Since the motor vehicle has become supreme and as long as we do not run out of fuel for them, we can look forward to many hours of driving upon crowded roads and highways. This being so, we, as a nonviolent society, have a duty to not only make the driving safer, but to make it less stressful. I left this to the last chapter, but I feel it is just as important as the first chapter of any book on nonviolence.

So, there you have it. Enjoy!

Chapter I

HANDGUNS CAN BE REPLACED

Following the 9/11 attacks on us, there have been a number of suggestions on how to make airline passengers safer, but, interestingly, no one, not even the NRA, has suggested arming the passengers with handguns. The obvious reason is that if the passengers are allowed to carry guns aboard a plane, so can the hijackers. And, also, following a scuffle in the aisle, the beginning of a takeover, if a passenger pulls a gun, how do other armed passengers know whether he is one of the hijackers or one of them. And, if the hijackers did not board with guns because they did not qualify as permissible carriers, what would prevent them from arming themselves with the guns of qualified passengers, at the point of a knife, once aboard? But, the overriding reason for not arming the passengers is less obvious. Less obvious, because the concealed handgun is not there to be used in defense of its owner, but for the more subtle purpose of deterring an attack upon its owner. This works against the ordinary criminal, but does not work against suicidal skyjackers. The suicidal skyjacker is unconcerned about the concealed weaponry of his victims, for he intends to die along with his victims. The concealed handgun in the pocket or purse of one or more of his victims is not a deterrent to him.

Packing a handgun wherever one goes has a manly flavor to it. And, ask those who do or who want to, why, and you will probably get the answer—to defend oneself or one’s family against an attack of any kind. We all fantasize on self-preservation, at times. The most common scenario is when we are walking along a street at night, with or without family members at our side, and are accosted by a large ugly man, never a woman. He wants something from us and we do not want to give it to him. So, we back up a ways, out of his reach, and pull a loaded handgun tucked into our pants, behind our belt. Then, as the large ugly man, now totally angry beyond control, because of our refusal to hand over to him what he wants, reaches for his concealed gun, we blast him where it hurts the most. He staggers, takes one or two more steps towards us, and then falls dead at our feet. We then casually step over him and continue our way down the street. Of course, later the large ugly, now dead, man, never a woman, is identified as a criminal with a record of robbing and sometimes killing people and the authorities agree with us that society is better off with him being dead and not just a resident of a state prison. This is one ideal result when law-abiding citizens, like ourselves, are allowed to carry concealed handguns wherever we go, but, realistically, it will not happen anymore often than winning the lottery.

Fortunately, however, acting out one’s fantasies is not the reason for arming law-abiding citizens. The objective is not to reduce the prison population by killing the criminal instead of prosecuting him; the objective is to deter the criminal from physically attacking his victims. This is accomplished simply by passing laws permitting potential victims to carry a concealed, loaded, handgun on their persons. Criminals, knowing their intended victims may be armed, will think twice before attacking them. And, this is true whether the intended victim is actually armed or not. These criminals, who I will refer to as ordinary criminals to distinguish them from homicidal maniacs, want to acquire something of value from their victims and want to survive to enjoy their booty. They naturally will avoid taking any unusual risks, such as being shot by their intended victim. And, the best way to avoid being shot by a victim packing a gun is to choose another profession or at least a non-violent way of robbing his victim.

On the other hand, having everyone packing a gun works only to deter the ordinary criminal. The ordinary criminal being one who is after some kind of gain and who wants to survive in order to enjoy the fruits of his criminal act. If his intended victim is, by law, permitted to carry a concealed handgun, the ordinary criminal may assume his victim is armed. The criminal knows that even if he can get the drop on his victim, a struggle may ensue and the victim’s gun could go off and injure him, if not kill him. Why take the chance? So, it arguably follows, that type of crime is being committed less and less in those