Guns, Tears, Tragedy and Change

The Rock was patrolling the well-to-do neighborhood,he might have at least been able to scare them
which bordered a high crime area in the majoraway by firing a shot at them. "They may have
midwestern city. The veteran policeman felt relaxedturned or ran away instead of trying to fight-gun-to
as he drove through the beautiful tree lined streetsgun" the Rock said. He also told him that with a gun
that were home to some of the grandest houses inhe could have made a powerful stand in the
the country. His relaxation ended quickly whenbedroom as they were breaking down the door.
Dispatch cracked out a call of a possible homeThankfully, the four criminals were caught a few
invasion right around the corner. Patrolman Thomasweeks later and sentenced to around 15 years in
Rakoczy was only seconds away. He was known asprison. Later, the father told Rakoczy that all through
the Rock because he was as hard, strong and toughhis life he was against guns and thought they were a
as one. He was the kind of cop you wanted at yourterrible problem in our society. However, after what
home if you needed serious help.he and his family went through and after a lot of soul
The Rock arrived at the home and began tosearching and thought, he had changed his mind. He
evaluate the scene as he walked toward the door.said he now understood the need and availability for
He entered the house and soon found two adultsthe best protection available for people, which are
and two teenage girls tied up. Other officers alsofirearms. He eventually bought a gun, received
arrived and no one else was found in the house.training and said he was ready to protect himself and
Rakoczy began untying the family, starting with theothers if need be, for the rest of his life.
man first. As he was untying him the disheveledThere are of course horror stories on the other side
middle-aged man hurriedly spouted out what hadof the gun controversy. Ones such as children gaining
happened. Four men had broken down the front dooraccess to unsecured firearms and accidentally injuring
(in broad daylight) and started up the long staircaseor killing others or themselves. And of course there
leading to him and his family.are the stories of troubled individuals using firearms
He said he saw the men coming up the stairs withto cause mass casualties and deaths in public places.
guns in hand but he couldn't do anything to stopHowever, there are the very real stories of people
them. So he quickly gathered his family and lockedprotecting themselves with firearms against burglars,
them in the master bedroom. He said they foundrapists and other predators. There's no doubt
them hiding there in less than a minute.firearms are the best self-defense tool available for
As he continued, he started to cry and told howthe private citizen. However, and this is a big
they all were immediately tied up. Then they startedhowever, firearms come with many different levels
leisurely burglarizing the home, seemingly in no hurryof serious responsibility.
whatsoever. After they bagged-up everything theyThe father who changed his views on firearms
deemed worthwhile, things really got bad.shows us there is more than one side to an issue,
They took turns raping both daughters in front ofwhich may change as time, circumstances,
him and his wife. The man was beside himself as heknowledge and experiences evolve. This story can
told what had happened. The Rock told me thehelp us understand, that all of us, no matter what are
mother was so bad off she was almost totallyfeelings are on this controversial subject, should step
incoherent. She hadn't been physically touched, butback and listen to those with differing views with
she witnessed what happened to her daughters.dignity and respect. All differing people have viable
The father kept repeating that he just couldn't dothoughts and ideas and should be reasonably listened
anything to help them. Nervously he asked, "Officer,to. Whether it's the hugely important issue of how
please tell me, if I would have had a gun do youmentally unstable individuals can be weeded out from
think I could have helped my family"? Rakoczy didn'towning firearms to the many other issues people
want to render his opinion at such an emotional time,differ on. Respect and true empathy for others
but the man pushed him. "I want the truth, could Iviews are the cornerstones to building workable
have helped"? After more and more prodding, thesolutions for all.
Rock finally told him that if he would have had a gun