Today, I received a message from my cousin Rick. In it he sent me some educational material which I would like to convey to you. I learned three things:
The meaning of Molon Labe
A bit of Texas history which I was always curious about
The more I read arguments by various factions within our country the more convinced I am that Americans have lost the ability to compromise. This morning I opted to read the Freedom Fighter published by the NRA. Of course the opinion pieces all targeted why we should continue to own guns. My stance on that is they are right. I have owned a gun since age fourteen when my older brother, then in the army, gifted me with a Winchester .22 caliber rifle.
I had a lot of fun with that rifle, as did my family. Whenever we had a family gathering at my parent’s farm we used the rifle in a competition. It was all in fun, and my brother, brother-in-law, and I taught our kids the rules of gun safety. I am a firm believer in gun ownership, and the Second Amendment. I don’t think my pea shooter will go far against an army destined to put me down when I rebel against a tyrannical government, but I will die fighting for my rights.
Reading the arguments for and against gun ownership caused me to think of the splits in out country. All of us has something we believe in and we are all right. None of us believes the other guy is correct. None of us believes the other guy will compromise on any of our rights. The rights of people who believe in guns is as strong as the right of the person who believes no one should own a gun. There are other divides among us, like the current head to head clash between Christians and Muslims. Both groups believe there is but one God, but both believe their God is the right one, even though God is the same Being. Both groups believe their belief is the only one. Another major split is in our beliefs of government systems. Liberals want to be controlled by government while Conservatives believe in very limited government, and the arguments go one, but there is no compromise. The worst split is between those who believe in the rule of law and those who believe they should ignore any law that they think is stupid, like borders, and illegal immigration.
I truly believe that these people are all right. Not all of us are bad, but our belief systems collide. What then, is the answer?
The US Constitution is the controlling doctrine. It is the one compelling set of truths that has the power to neutralize all the dividing factions among us. Except of course those who don’t think the Constitution has any meaning. The result is that we will be fighting against each other endlessly. Hopefully, the country will hold together while we sort things out.
When President Obama took office in 2008, and all the liberal liberals appeared from nowhere I predicted the country would end the argument in civil war. We are having that civil war now. We are not shooting yet, but the arguments to take our guns away are a way to neutralize our ability to win the war.
Billed as the safest bar in America. This place is somewhat contrary to the gun abolishing anti-NRA Progressive government in Colorado. Clearly, the residents of the state are not in agreement with their politicians, at least not those who frequent Shooters Grill. Nevertheless, Colorado state elections come out different. The big cities of Denver and Colorado Springs must have a huge effect on the vote.
My blogging of late has been very sparse. There are many reasons for that which are too personal to discuss in open format. Today, however, I heard something on the news about the Oregon mass shooter. I couldn’t believe it, the guy is half-white and half-black. I laughed out loud, which puzzled both my wife and daughter who were in the car with me. “This guy has taken the prize from Trayvon Martin. This Mercer guy is really what Obama’s son would look like if Obama was capable of siring a son. I just got off Drudge report after reading a post by CNN covering Mercer’s white half. They actually made his skin white to bring out his whiteness.
Of course this black-white highly confused man has given Obama another opportunity to pontificate about the need to pass tough gun laws, and to confiscate guns. I’m a white guy living in the Chicago area, and I can tell you from very recent stats that tough gun laws don’t carry any weight with people who want to kill. The tough gun laws only make the victim an easier target. The laws don’t make buying a gun harder either. Thugs know where to get a gun on the street. If they are too stupid to know that they drive out of the city to buy one in a legal gun shop.
After all the school shootings I am really amazed at how few victims stood up to the shooter. I would think that if I faced death I would want to at least give the shooter a swing, kick, bite, or tackle before dying. Instead he killed sheep. The only logic that I can fathom is that I’m an old man and these victims are young kids. In this instance they were young adults fully capable of defending themselves, i.e. if they knew how. I’m afraid we are raising generations of victims. Kids living in the hood know how to react to thugs. White kids don’t. The only thugs they ever see are on TV. Our kids are such pansies they don’t even know what a bully looks like because our schools kick bullies out of school, and parents who defend their bully kids are drummed out of the neighborhood.
Obama will make a big deal about taking guns away, but I think the opposite should happen. Every gun free sign must be replaced with “We Encourage Guns.” The government should arm every citizen and teach gun handling skills beginning with kindergarten. Why not, we start sex education that early? Every school should have a gun range where kids can practice their fast draw skills, and marksmenship. Gun makers should offer a range of guns that would fit small hands graduated from age five through twenty-one, and baby rattles should look like guns. Graduation from pre-school would become a rite of passage from using a pellet gun to a full-fledged kid sized hand gun. Think about that one folks. To be equal the teachers would also carry. Discipline in rowdy class rooms would be easier to administer with a chrome plated forty-five pointing into the face of a class clown.
Any way, this post has been a joy to write. It offered me a brief respite from my daily life. I feel like the high pressure valve in my brain just popped open to relieve a couple of months worth of stress.
