That is why I took up the gun — not to shoot, not to kill, not to destroy, but to stop those who would do evil, to protect the vulnerable, to defend democratic values, to stand up for the freedom we have to talk … about how we can make the world a better place.

Van Uhm frames soldiering as a morally constrained use of force: the weapon is not an end in itself but a means to prevent greater harm. The repeated negations (“not to shoot, not to kill, not to destroy”) reject a simplistic association of military service with violence for its own sake, and pivot to positive civic aims—protecting the vulnerable, defending democratic values, and safeguarding freedoms such as open debate. The quote thus presents armed service as a paradoxical guardian of nonviolent goods: security that enables public discourse and collective improvement. It also functions rhetorically as a justification of military legitimacy in a democracy, grounding coercive power in protection, restraint, and accountability to shared values.