Gripe - “I don’t carry a gun…”
November 15th, 2008 by Syd
Last year about this time, I wrote a piece called “I don’t carry a gun…” and it goes like this:
I don’t carry a gun…
November 13th, 2007 by Syd
… to kill people. I carry a gun to keep from being killed.
I don’t carry a gun to scare people. I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be a scary place.
I don’t carry a gun because I’m paranoid. I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world.
I don’t carry a gun because I’m evil. I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the world.
I don’t carry a gun because I hate the government. I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.
I don’t carry a gun because I’m angry. I carry a gun so that I don’t have to spend the rest of my life hating myself for failing to be prepared.
I don’t carry a gun because my sex organs are too small. I carry a gun because I want to continue to use those sex organs for the purpose for which they were intended for a good long time to come.
I don’t carry a gun because I want to shoot someone. I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed, and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.
I don’t carry a gun because I’m a cowboy. I carry a gun because, when I die and go to heaven, I want to be a cowboy.
I don’t carry a gun to make me feel like a man. I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the ones they love.
I don’t carry a gun because I feel inadequate. I carry a gun because unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am inadequate.
I don’t carry a gun because I love it. I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful to me.
The piece struck a nerve with a lot of people and it proved to be very popular. It was copied to blogs, websites and forums hundreds of times and it remains the most linked to and copied piece of writing on the blog. The reception of this piece has been deeply gratifying. I never objected to any copying or re-posting of the piece anywhere. I was glad to make the contribution to the cause.
Recently, people have begun to do something with it that is driving me nuts: they are changing a couple of words and presenting it without attribution, as if it were their own work. Believe it or not, I have actually received three different versions of it in e-mail this week, each one slightly modified but carrying the core of the original piece. I should be flattered, I guess, but I’m not.
What’s the problem with this? First of all, it is copyrighted material that I own. I could sue over this if I were the litigious kind. More importantly, this is a signature piece of creative work that I did, and it’s not right for people to change a few words and present it as their own or as an anonymous internet piece. It would be like taking Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven,” changing the name to “The Big Black Bird,” and circulating it as your own. Put yourself in the author’s place and I think you will see the problem.
These things take on a life of their own, and I know that there is no real way to put a stop to it. In many ways I am delighted that I created a “viral” idea. I would ask from those of you who are readers and friends of mine that when you receive one of these or see one posted on a forum, that you refer the sender back to this page so that they can see the way the piece was originally written, who wrote it, and how it should rightfully remain.
Thanks.
I’ll be honest, this was the first time I’d seen it. (I guess I need to read more of your fine archives
It’s a powerful piece.
In any event, it’s worthy of being spread and if I get it forwarded to me I’ll make sure they know where it came from.
Plagiarism sux, but it’s a fact of life…
That little thing will be my Sunday post, but of course I will give YOU proper credit…
I loved this piece the first time I read it, and when you did it on your podcast I thought it was great!
I can’t come up with a single decent reason why somebody would “modify” what you wrote. I’m with you, right down to wanting to be a cowboy when I get to heaven! The only thing I can do is offer a lame attempt at consolation. If I ever receive an email like this, of course I’ll reply to all with the truth and try to find the originator. But think how many people it must strike a chord with for it to become an email forward! That’s something I’m still aspiring to.
I have it posted now, and I am hoping the track back came in, I did a couple of links too… And Syd, this IS a great piece!!
I found your site through a link back from a copy of your poem.
It’s great work and whenever I use it I’ll be sure to provide your name, now that I know what it is.
[…] Why This Woman Carries a Firearm By Kellene Categories: firearm, gun, human rights violations, self defense, women and women and guns Tags: 911, children, confidence, estrogen, firearm education, firearm safety, freedom, front sight, ignorance, just in case, mother, physical limits, prepared, press, responsibility, snubnose.info, why i carry a firearm This is a derivation of a very well written piece by “Syd” on a fellow blog. I felt that it was very indicative of many of the reasons why sensible people do carry a firearm, but I felt that it needed some insight spiced with a tad bit of estrogen. J […]
Don’t worry too much about the copyright issues. Had it been me, I’d just be happy that the ideas behind your words were being heard. In this day and age, those ideas of liberty and freedom are priceless.
It can be frustrating that people take the work of your blood, sweat and tears and claim it for their own. Yet if there is one thing of which I am certain, is that they copy because they don’t have what it takes to create something true and meaningful. I pity them more than anything else.
Albert Jay Nock talks about this a bit in Isaiah’s job when he talks about how people who hear an idea at times forget where they heard it and come to think of it as their own. That’s the thing about ideas, they don’t belong to anyone. So take pleasure in the fact that you wrote something good enough to strike a chord with many people and in doing so have enhanced the concept of liberty.
I am flattered, and I could stand it better if they had not added the horse shit at the beginning and end of the pirated version that is going around, “My grandpappy told me that there comes a time to quit busting knuckles and start busting caps…” or something to that effect. “Busting caps” is ghetto slang. My grandfather was born in 1887 and no one of that generation said “busting caps” and even had they known it, they wouldn’t have used it.
[…] Why This Woman Carries a Firearm Posted by Kellene March 16, 2009 @ 9:32 pm Preparedness | firearm education | firearms / guns | human rights violations | police | rape prevention | self defense | weapons | women and guns This is a derivation of a very well written piece by “Syd” on a fellow blog. I felt that it was very indicative of many of the reasons why sensible people do carry a firearm, but I felt that it needed some insight spiced with a tad bit of estrogen. J […]
I’ve been a cowboy, a hard and honorable job. Fun while it lasted. I wonder why so many who have never even met a cowboy, especially politicians, denigrate that career choice. I went on to be an engineer and now retired, own a gunshop.
Anyway, I received what looks like your “I don’t carry a gun…” piece in an e-mail with no attribution and admire it a lot. I will now be able to give credit when I quote it again. Thanks