Today(Tuesday,2/09) afternoon, I met Abigail at the commons. I met her at Coffee Hour last year, and we have kept in touch for over six months. We talked about the right to have a gun in America. Koreans cannot have a gun except policemen and soldiers, so we don’t know much about that. Actually many Koreans have some misconceptions about guns in America, and before I came to America, my friends told me “be careful with guns!” as a joke. Therefore I was curious about using a gun in America, so we talked about that. When I told her that Koreans don’t have a right to have a gun, she was surprised and she said she didn’t know that. Her opinion is that tha gun is not dangerous. She thought that it is how people use it. She told me a joke Americans have-“If guns kill people, do pencils misspell words?”

She said that the gun is just an object, and it can either be used well or used badly. So I asked her that people should have the right to have guns. She thought we should have the right for it because if dangerous people have guns, and we don’t, then they have the “upper hand.” However, in my opinion, I thought that If nobody has a gun, then anybody can use the gun, so we don’t have to worry about that. She said that it could work, but the problem is always break the law. 

She thought there will always be someone with a gun, so she thought that we should have the right to have a gun to protect ourselves. Then we talked about some accidents because of guns. We agreed with that a lot of people can have guns, and so lots of them abuse the guns. We thought that one bad problem we have is with people who are sick in the mind. However she said that if the law was that no one could have guns, then criminals would get guns in the illegal market, and no one would have defense. Therefore, she thought it would be harder to stop the criminals. We also talked about how to solve the problems because of guns. I suggested that if people want to get a license, they should take lessons how to use it wisely. She told me an interesting news that some gun dealers had new requirements. She explained that they do a background check, to sell the guns more safely, so anyone with a crimian record, or with a history of mind sickness, can be found more easily. Thought it was still under discussion, I thought it was really good idea. It was really interesting to talk with her, I felt more comfortable than before to talk with her because she respected my opinion. and I could learn many things from her. I recognized that I had some prejudice about America, and I could learn more about America.