The trouble with guns is that they kill...

There was an interesting and troubling cover story in a recent Time magazine about Olympian Oscar Pistorius and the culture of violence (and guns) in South Africa.

Lots of people in South Africa are fearful of crime, which is likely related to high levels of poverty, as half of the population earns less than $65 per month. So, people there buy guns in hopes that they will be safe. Pistorius lived in a fortified mansion... in a rich, white neighborhood with electrified 8-foot security walls, barbed-wire, and guarded security forces, and still he kept guns and was fearful of burglaries.

South Africa has a high crime rate and is ranked as the fourth most inequitable country. It is sixth in gun homicides, after Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, and the United States.

Pistorius had a lot going for him--inspirationally rising about the obstacle of a disabiity, gained worldwide fame at the Olympics, and had a beautiful model in his bed. And while the details are murky, at guilty worst, Pistorius deliberately and violently killed his girlfriend. And, at guilty least, he fearfully but unintentionally killed his girlfriend.

But, because he had the guns to do it, he was apparently mindset willing and ready to kill whoever was beyond the bathroom door--whether that meant a dangerous criminal out to hurt him and his girlfriend or a foolish teenage burglar with no intent to harm people. Because someone was in the dark (I don't know where light switches play into this story) and on his property and he was fearful and he says he didn't think it was his girlfriend and one major addition--he possessed guns--, he felt the need to kill the intruder, not look first or threaten or even wound them.

And whether an act of guilt or accident, it was still a violent response, a life-changing reaction, a crutch mentality about faith in guns as an answer...and he will have to live with it for the rest of his life.