(Originally posted 08/06/14. Reblogged 08/15/24.) Some weeks ago, I stood in line awaiting check-in at the shelter. This place charges $3 a night. I was holding my money in my hand, and someone playfully tugged at it. I snapped. I said, “You don’t value your life much, do you?” Minutes later, I explained this to someone else. I said, “Don’t take a man’s last dollar.” “Why not?” he asked. I said, ” ‘Cause that’s the one he’ll die for. That’s the one he’ll kill for.” Don’t tak

A Nation of Cowards Jeffrey Snyder suggests that carrying a handgun is both a right and a duty of every law-abiding citizen. This is hard for me to relate to; as, for all practical purposes, no such people exist in my world. Gun lovers’ slogans include, “When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.” Forget laws; in my world, only outlaws have guns now. I have no impulse to join them. Snyder offers a fair assessment of the failure of gun control laws to keep guns out o