It occurs to me frequently, and especially this week, that guns can quickly and needlessly complicate situations.

I was reminded again this week when David Pettersen of Madelia pleaded guilty to reckless discharge of a firearm in the Jan. 28 shooting that resulted in the death of 19-year-old Nicolas Embertson.

Embertson and two other young men had gone to Pettersen’s rural Madelia home, apparently with the intent of breaking in and burglarizing the home. When Pettersen woke up to the sound of someone on his deck trying his doors, he surprised the trespassers, who started to flee. One jumped off his deck and broke his ankle. As they tried to drive away, Pettersen came out the door with a gun, which he fired at the car, trying to hit the tires, he said. Instead, he hit Emberson, who died of his wound.

I’m not blaming either Pettersen or Emberston for their actions, or comment on whether the plea bargain this past week was the right thing for Watonwan County prosecutors to offer.

I just want to say that the presence of a firearm in this case added a deadly complication to the situation.

Imagine Pettersen had grabbed a baseball bat on his way out the door instead of a gun. He might have thrown it at the car as it drove past him. He might have dented a fender or crunched a taillight. It might have helped police identify the suspect’s vehicle. Nicolas Embertson and his friends might have been found and arrested, but Nicolas would still be alive.

Guns have that power, to turn an argument into a shooting. I also saw an article from Cleveland this week. A woman had taken her son to a barbershop for a haircut. But she thought the barber was cutting too slowly, so she pulled a gun out of her purse and threatened to shoot him if he didn’t speed up.

How many times have you read about someone getting into an argument in a bar, going out, then coming back in with a gun and opening fire?

I’m not saying people shouldn’t own guns. In this world when everyone else seems to have one, they can provide a sense of security and protection. They have save innocent lives as well as taken them. Take the St. Cloud Mall stabbing last year that was ended before anyone else was killed by an off-duty police officer who killed the assailant.

All I’m saying is that guns are complicated pieces of machinery designed to do one thing — to send a bullet flying through the air at deadly speed. Once the trigger is pulled the bullet goes where it was pointed and can’t be recalled. There is no time for a second thought, or a do-over, and whoever or whatever the bullet hits will suffer.

People who own guns are aware of this, for the most part. They need to think about what they are doing when they use a gun. Because guns can really complicate things, they can change people’s lives in an instant.