by Sean Haugh

OK, so I'm not really quite a pacifist. But I'm close, I think. The truth is, I honestly don't know if I would use force to defend myself or my loved ones. Before one can really label themselves as a pacifist, one has to be able to answer that deeply personal question. I thank God I have never had to answer that question for myself, and I have arranged my life so that I can avoid ever having to discover that answer.

I can say that I don't own a gun, and I don't ever want to own one. I do not allow them in my home or my car. I'd prefer not to be within 10 feet of one, but hanging out with Libertarians as I do, I can't always have my way.

I say this not out of fear of guns. I know most of them have a range of over 10 feet. No, it's an aesthetic thing for me. I'd rather guns didn't exist. I'd love nothing more than to wake up tomorrow morning and read the headline that all guns and other weapons have disappeared from the face of the earth, never to return.

My job as Mr. North Carolina Libertarian is chock full of delicious ironies. One of my favorites is that this self-styled pacifist is one of the most prominent Second Amendment advocates in the state. I don't care who you are, now that's funny.

So why I am such a passionate defender of the right to keep and bear arms?

The short answer to that question is that I am a Libertarian. This question is about choice. I do not desire to force my choice on others.

Besides, it would never work. The only way to actually send the world in a more peaceful direction is to persuade people to choose peace. Trying to force people to disarm only breeds resentment and rebellion among the law-abiding, and worse, doesn't seem to have any effect at all on the people who aren't so law-abiding. Forcing people to be peaceful is one of those ironies that is not so delicious.

I will defend every person's right to make their own peaceful choices with ever fiber of my being. Just because I defend that choice doesn't necessarily mean I'd take it myself. I've just made my own choice. And if you like, I'll be happy to tell you all about it.

Through my association with Libertarian gun owners, I have come to learn that owning a gun, in and of itself, is a peaceful choice. I am surrounded by wonderful people who fully understand that individual choice and personal responsibility go hand in hand. I see that the vast majority of gun owners take the same attitude in making their choice.

Over time, I have become comfortable with someone wearing a sidearm sitting next to me at a meeting, or being a passenger in a car when I know there's a gun stashed in the glove box right in front of me. It's even gotten to the point when a friend tells me about how much fun they just had at the shooting range, I feel genuine happiness for them, just as I would if they were telling me about how much fun they had at the amusement park.

I can see how other people's choices to arm themselves, in today's modern world, makes for a more peaceful society. My dream is that humanity will mature enough some day that we have grown beyond the need to resort to deadly force for any reason, but I have to admit that this day is not today.

Let me give you an example. I've lived in the same house for eleven years now. I've seen my inner-city neighborhood go from bad to worse to better, over time. At one point, the crime rate on my street was rather high. And yet, my home has never been violated.

There are probably a few reasons for this. One is that my wife's truck sports an old NRA sticker. Another is that I am a dog owner, which is the best alarm system you can buy. A would-be robber isn't worried about the dog itself, but he is definitely worried that the dog will wake the owner. And down here in North Carolina, you don't know what the owner is packing.

And then there's the big local story, from when I was still new to the block, and one of the very few white people on it. A white homeowner in a much nicer neighborhood was on trial for shooting two of four black teenagers as they were fleeing his home after breaking into the garage. One was killed, the other was paralyzed. They did not count on this fellow being home from work that day to take care of his sick infant daughter.

Of course, this case was the talk of the neighborhood. I found it fascinating that none of my neighbors saw this as a racial issue, despite some very loud public agitation by a few local self-appointed black political leaders to make it one. No, they all saw the conflict as homeowners versus criminals, not black against white.

My neighbor across the way, Wayne, said it best, "You bet if I caught those boys in my garage, I'd cap their ass!"

Anyway, the point of this tangent is that I made my Libertarian position on guns clear to my neighbors at the time, while not caring to mention my own personal choice. My views were not seen as controversial, but I imagine the point of them is still not lost on my neighbors.

By the way, the homeowner was acquitted. Up to the time of this incident, his neighborhood had suffered about one burglary a week. For a few years afterwards, the rate plummeted to about one every six months. These points were also not lost on the people of Durham.

So, nobody knows whether I am packing or not, but folks around here have some reasons to think I just might be. And I notice that this keeps me and my family safe in our home.

But really, the main reason why I am such a pro-gun pacifist is that I see the same principle at work with our government. I am enough of a student of history to know that the reason for the Second Amendment is not to keep criminals from breaking into your home. It's to keep the government from doing it. Our Founders added that amendment to our Constitution because they knew excessive government power can only be checked by a strong citizenry, ready to defend and enforce their natural rights.

One day, I do believe that we will outgrow Chairman Mao's statement that "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." Everything I do for Liberty is working for that day. But until then, we are stuck with that truth, so I might as well make the most of it. I'm just glad that there are so many responsible gun owners on the side of Liberty.

Sean Haugh is the Executive Director of the Libertarian Party of North Carolina. Sean is married to longtime Libertarian Pam Adams, and they have a family of three dogs and five cats. Besides them, Sean loves God, Liberty, and Oklahoma Sooners football.

Write to Sean at seanhaugh@mindspring.com.