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The Fright to Bear Arms

By Darrell Bushnell

I suppose this article will get both sides riled up. It is no longer possible to intelligently discuss abortion, universal health care, religion or gun rights. You all already have your minds made up and facts will not affect the outcome. But let’s sally forth and discuss the need for a firearm in Nicaragua. These are simply my thoughts and opinions.

Amy and I are moving to the countryside just outside Granada and we have been wrestling with the idea of purchasing a firearm. It is fairly safe anywhere in Nicaragua and the rural parts are probably safer though opportunity theft does run rampant. The people of Nicaragua are a gentle people but the poverty creates a divide that we really cannot always understand. Hence the bars on all the windows and doors.

I grew up on a farm in northern Illinois and as a normal farm boy I had a .22 rifle and a 410 shotgun. Often, before school, Dad and I would go hunting for a pheasant or a rabbit which Mom would prepare for dinner that night. Sometimes, if there had been enough rain, we would walk to a neighbor’s low-lying fields and get a duck or goose. We had our rules, you would never shoot a pheasant, duck or goose unless it was in flight. Just didn’t seem right otherwise. Having a gun for defense was such a foreign thought. Robbing a farmer was considered the highest of stupidities since everyone knew almost all farmers had several guns and knew how to use them.

As I grew older it seemed there were guns everywhere. Over time I purchased several more guns including revolvers, lever-action high-caliber rifles, various pistols and even a pair of Colt 45 revolvers from the 1890s. It seemed so normal even though my love of hunting diminished over the years since we no longer did it for food and it just didn’t feel like a fair fight anymore. Never had an urge for military level firearms due to their overly destructive nature and three years in the military removed any further desire to just shoot things up. Upon leaving the states for Nicaragua I gave all my guns to my brother-in-law.

Over the years I did not become anti-gun but saw less and less reason to have one. Other than for hunting and perhaps target shooting competition I no longer understand a need for rifles and I frankly do not understand the need for anyone to have a military style firearm or weapons that can shoot more than six times without reloading. I might understand more if there were a zombie apocalypse but the end is near when you have to start shooting friends and relatives before they infect you. The problem with guns is like the right to vote, if it is a human right then you have to let stupid people have the same rights. And the people who demand their rights are often those who least deserve them. Frankly, if I had god-like powers I would destroy every weapon on this earth.

There are very few guns in Nicaragua though some expats have them. Hearing about a gun being fired in a Nicaraguan crime is a very rare thing. The gun permit regulations here are stricter than in the states though seem reasonable. Gun permits are good for five years and you must have one for each firearm you own. The details were covered in last week’s article: https://expatguidenicaragua.com/registering-firearms-nicaragua/.

Let me explain a little about my value system. I would never shoot anyone trying to steal my TV or phone. I would probably not shoot anyone even if they were stealing my vehicle. I could not do it and being an expat I would not trust the legal system here to exonerate my actions even if I was in the right. Now if someone was physically threatening me, my wife or my dog then I would probably display the gun or shoot into the air to demonstrate I have a gun. Only in the most dire of situations would I fire at the attackers and even then, probably aim for a leg. If more than five zombies had me surrounded then I might use the gun on myself.

Knowing all this, why am I considering purchasing a firearm when we move to the country? Again, it would take a very dire situation for me to use the gun but I would like the people in the area to know I have a gun. Every few weeks I will probably shoot into the air just to remind any newcomers there is a gun in the house. We have almost no neighbors where we are moving and living in town, we have a lot of trust in our neighbors for protection.

To show my docile nature, for the longest time I considered just getting a pellet gun, the type you cock by breaking the barrel. The new ones are almost as powerful as a 22 pistol but they cost nearly as much as a real gun. In the end, I decided I needed a real gun that has a sharp unmistakable report for obvious reasons. I wanted a low caliber gun since it would be used as a deterrent, not as a weapon. Several people suggested a shotgun but the pistol allows me to keep it in the vehicle if need be. In the states I had a 22 caliber Beretta and I found that a Granada friend was interested in selling something similar to that model so I began the gun permit process.

I used a lawyer’s assistant to handle most of it and no problems yet. I doubt I spent more than couple hours on it myself with the assistant getting the forms, filling them out, going to the bank to pay the various fees and finding a doctor that would state I was physically and mentally capable of using a gun. While I was writing this, the police came to our door to do the personal background check with us and our neighbors. No problems, thank goodness. They even asked Amy if I had ever abused her and that she agreed with the decision of getting a gun. Note to myself – if we ever have a serious argument, don’t use the gun.

So the only thing left is to turn the gun over to the police for them to check it out such as seeing if it had been involved in a previous crime. Also, you are supposed to go to a government approved shooting class to ensure you are familiar with the weapon and I may not need to do that since policemen and anyone that was in the military may be exempt. Those three years in the Army finally paid off.

OK, that’s my story and I’m sticking with it. Now I need to prepare for the onslaught of emails from both sides of the fence. There will be those that will disagree with anyone having a gun and there will be those that think I should have gotten a bigger gun. Such is the world we live in.

 

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