I guess the answer to that question depends upon the legislator in question. Some would become even more rabidly anti-gun, their fear of firearms creating an emasculating form of dementia. Others would come to the realization that maybe, just maybe, they were wrong about the whole idea of gun control. These folks may even regret a previous anti-gun stance.
The Plain Dealer published a commentary on one such epiphany:
By Phillip Morris
It's funny how a gun can instantly change your perspective on things, make you wish you could rewrite history.Representative DeBose survived this encounter unharmed and just a bit shaken up.
State Rep. Michael DeBose, a southside Cleveland Democrat, discovered this lesson the night of May 1, when he thought he was going to die. That's the night he wished he had that gun vote back.
DeBose, who had just returned from Columbus, where he had spent the day in committee hearings, decided to take a short walk up Holly Hill, the street where he has lived with his wife for the past 27 years.
It was late, but DeBose, 51, was restless. The ordained Baptist minister knew his Lee-Harvard neighborhood was changing, but he wasn't scared. The idle, young men who sometimes hang out on his and adjacent streets didn't threaten him.
He is a big man and, besides, he had run the same streets before he found Jesus - and a wife. That night, he just needed a walk.
The loud muffler on a car that slowly passed as he was finishing the walk caught his attention, though. When the car stopped directly in front of his house - three houses from where he stood - he knew there was going to be a problem.
"There was a tall one and a short one," DeBose said, sipping on a McDonald's milkshake and recounting the experience Friday.
"The tall one reached in his pocket and pulled out a silver gun. And they both started running towards me."
"At first I just backed up, but then I turned around and started running and screaming..."
What was Rep. DeBose's stand on gun control prior to this incident? Good question.
DeBose twice voted against a measure to allow Ohioans to carry concealed weapons. It became law in 2004.I have not taken the time to look up his voting record on other RKBA issues, but I am sure that the Ohio Gun Bloggers will be right on it.
So how has this affected Rep. DeBose and his stand on gun control?
"I was wrong," he said Friday.This is one politician who can learn from experience, there is hope in the world after all.
"I'm going to get a permit and so is my wife.
"I've changed my mind. You need a way to protect yourself and your family.
"I don't want to hurt anyone. But I never again want to be in the position where I'm approached by someone with a gun and I don't have one."
DeBose said he knows that a gun doesn't solve Cleveland's violence problem; it's merely a street equalizer.
"There are too many people who are just evil and mean-spirited. They will hurt you for no reason. If more people were packing guns, it might serve as a deterrent.
"But there obviously are far deeper problems that we need to address," he added, as he suddenly seemed to realize he sounded like a gun enthusiast.
They say the definition of a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged. DeBose's CCW application will bear some witness to that notion.
Thanks to Kevin at The Smallest Minority for leading us to this article with his post Mugged by Reality .
Edit to add: Buckeye Firearms Association comments on this article here.
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