It was late Sunday, and the air in the nation’s capital was thick with a new tension. Just as the Joint Task Force-DC announced that National Guard troops, deployed a week ago by President Donald Trump, would begin carrying firearms, the argument between Cathy and John reached its boiling point.
“All guns are barbaric and abominable tools. Guns cannot protect human dignity. With love and trust, we can overcome violence,” Cathy said quickly, slinging the holster over her shoulder. Her hand instinctively tightened around the grip of the pistol inside, a contradiction not lost on her boyfriend.
John, a member of the National Guard himself, looked at her, his expression a mixture of bewilderment and frustration. “Then why are you going to the shooting range so late at night?”
Cathy turned her back to him, putting on her skirt and a professional mask she wore for the world. “It’s cheaper at night, and you don’t have to wait in line.”
“You’re contradicting yourself,” John said, his voice rising with his exasperation. “You reject guns, yet you own one and fire it at targets over 50 times a week.”
The red of her lipstick, applied in two seconds with a practiced hand, was a stark contrast to the grim set of her mouth. “You’re a member of the National Guard, yet you don’t know anything,” she shot back. “The world isn’t full of wise people. There are more people who don’t understand no matter what you say. Preaching doesn’t work on them. Guns are accepted as a means to teach such people a lesson.” She fixed her lips in another two seconds, the gesture as precise and cold as a military order.
Cathy grabbed her car keys, ready to leave. “Why do you think crime has gone down in Baltimore? Is it because we own guns?”
The question hung in the air, a barbed point aimed at John’s military uniform hanging in the closet. The President had just claimed, without evidence, that there was “NO CRIME AND NO MURDER IN DC!” in a Truth Social post, a statement that clashed with the reality on the ground and the very reason for the troops’ deployment. He had even threatened to send forces to neighboring Baltimore, which he called “out of control,” despite Mayor Brandon Scott and Police Commissioner Richard Worley’s recent announcement of a double-digit reduction in gun violence and the lowest homicide rate in more than 50 years. The city had seen a 22.7% decrease in homicides and a 19.6% decline in non-fatal shootings in the first six months of the year, with homicide arrests and clearance rates well above the national average.
As Cathy walked to the door, John sighed, the sound heavy with disappointment. “When I first met you, your eyes were beautiful. But now they look like they’re possessed.”
Cathy paused with her hand on the doorknob, her back still to him. She didn’t respond, the silence an answer in itself. The new reality of armed patrols in D.C., and the conflicting narratives of crime and control, had become more than just a political debate; it had become a chasm between two people who once believed in the same things. The world outside, with its M17 pistols and M4 rifles, had found a way to seep into the most intimate of spaces, and the love and trust she preached about seemed more fragile than ever.
All names of people and organizations appearing in this story are pseudonyms
US National Guard troops begin carrying weapons in Washington, DC
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