GUN-CONTROL

The topic of gun control has been in the media a lot lately.

One person made the remark that all guns should be outlawed. "No one should be allowed to own guns except law enforcement officers," she stated. "If guns were illegal there'd be no violent crime, children would not be accidentally killed by careless gun owners, and for a fact our schools would be a much safer place for our children."

I reckon I have to admire her logic and I agree that it would work admirably if we mixed in a whole lot of good religious teaching. Unfortunately, for every good person there's half a scumbag out there eagerly waiting to turn our other cheek.

First of all, we have a constitutional right to "have and bear arms" and secondly, bad people do not abide by the laws of the land.

There may be many urban citizens who loathe the thought of hunting animals for food but there also exist a large number of country folks who like to supplement their diet with native critters. Most of us have not hunted wild game with a spear in a quite a while and we do not have the ability our ancestors perfected.

The law requiring felony checks on citizens before they can purchase a handgun is a very good idea; however, it doesn't exactly work for many reasons. Foremost among them is the fact that a criminal is not going to abide by the law in the first place, unless they're really-really dumb.

Law enforcement officers are now spread so thin, by the time they managed to come to our assistance to get rid of the bad guy, the bad guy is already in the next town assaulting another innocent family who doesn't own a weapon for protection.

There are many good reasons for gun control, but there are also many good reasons for NO Gun Control!

In my Airborn Ranger days I may have been able to kick some patootie, completely unarmed, because I was a black belt in a number of the martial arts. However, today I am getting on up in years and am not exactly a carbon copy of Chuck Norris.

The irony of this entire essay is the fact that I (a decorated combat veteran – who fought for our right to have and bear arms) am no longer allowed to own a firearm due to PTSD. Big Brother has spoken!)

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both. Benjamin Franklin.

The following words are written in clear English in the Fifth Amendment to the US. Constitution..."nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation."

Also written in the Second Amendment to the US. Constitution are the words…"the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

And, in the First Amendment is written..."Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

The question I place before you is; how can our government justify denying to any of us the above 'Rights' so ordained by 'Our Constitution?'

I reckon it boils down to just how government interprets those rights. As a political leader once stated - "that depends on what the definition of is, is...” so our government in effect states, "that depends on what the definition of taken is, the definition of keep and bear is, and the definition of exercise is."

Let's consider these few examples of government violation of our 'rights:'

J.T. of Mount Vernon, VA, was forbidden to build a small house on his lot for his wheel chair-bound wife because big brother said it would interfere with a bald eagle's nest 90 feet away. The endangered eagle took precedence over the endangered wife.

R.M., a North Carolina farmer, shot a red wolf that was threatening his cattle. He was charged with killing a federally protected endangered species, and fined $2,000 and required to perform community service building wolf houses and feeding wolves. The lives of his cattle and his means of income did not count.

A & M.S. of Oregon were ordered to set aside 37 acres of their privately owned commercial property to protect the northern spotted owl. Part of their income was derived from the land they cannot use. What happened to these people's Fifth Amendment Rights?

D. R. of Denver, Colorado, held a bible study and prayer meeting at her home each week. There was no loud music, no loud speeches or other loud noise. She was ordered to end the meetings due to a municipal ordinance prohibiting more than one 'prayer' meeting a month in a private home.

We all know the US. Supreme Court has ruled no more public prayer in schools or at sports games.  What happened to our First Amendment Rights (and the free exercise thereof?)

These are a few examples but there are literally thousands. (Information from the National Center for Policy Research).

As for American justice, it's pretty clear how our judicial system works… it doesn’t!

As for denial of our, right to have and bear arms, there are so many examples of government violations it would take a volume of books to list them all. And, this is the one government violation that gives me the chilly-willies.

As for preventing such things as school shootings, mall, movie massacres, etc, it's difficult if not impossible. With over 300 million people in this country, we're bound to have a few certified fruitcakes.

The fact that so many young people are mollycoddled from life to adulthood, doesn't help any. Instead of getting little Johnny psychiatric help, they drug them to high heaven and when they can no longer cope, they blow up. Placing trained ex-soldiers in our schools drawn from local people might help.

The great leaders who wrote our Constitution gave us the Second Amendment so that 'We the People' could have a fighting chance against big government taking away our liberties. Our right to keep and bear arms is the only thing preventing Big Brother from violating those rights.

The strongest advocates of gun control are the very same people who seek greater and greater control over our lives from the cradle to the grave. They're the same people who want to take away our rights to property, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and all our hard won liberties.

They're the same bleeding heart liberals, the hug a thug, take a punk to lunch bunch, who want to squander our tax dollars on unworkable, unwanted, unneeded, unprecedented and wasteful government programs.

But, they're cowards at heart and believe the only way to achieve their goal is to completely disarm the American public.

After all, people without the means to fight back are sitting ducks, easy targets, and juicy victims. They can't understand that it's criminals who don't abide by the rules, not law abiding gun owners. (Of course to them criminals are not bad but simply poor unfortunates. Horse biscuits!)

The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of the federal government, and we should all trust in God that it will forever remain in the hands of the people, for only under such circumstances can government tyranny be contained.

Tyranny can be described in many ways, but the most prevalent and obvious manner in which it is seen today is Big Brother's belief that our government knows what is best for us. And, in that munificent belief is that criminal rights, foreign rights, pornography rights, atheist rights, government rights, IRS rights, judicial rights, etc. etc., take precedence over - Our Rights.

Unfortunately too many of us have come to believe that big government can and should be all things to all people and therein lies our greatest fallacy, especially to those in government today who want to distribute the wealth and socialize us like they did in Nazi Germany.

Most of us are unaware of how our neighbors are being victimized by our government and not noticeably concerned. But, if big government can destroy one family, who's to say you're not next on their list?

Ben Franklin wrote; if government becomes big enough to give everything to everyone, it is also big enough to take everything from everyone!

I fought and bled for the ‘right’ to say this! Unless my right to freedom of speech is gone too!

Here are some interesting tid-bits on the subject I dug up with which I firmly agree.

* An armed person is a citizen, an unarmed person is a subject.
* A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.
* Gun control is not about guns, it is about control.
* Free people do not ask permission to bear arms.
* If you don't know your rights, then you don't have any.
* Those who trade liberty for security have neither.
* What part of "shall not be infringed" do you not understand?
* Ninety four million firearm owners killed no one yesterday.
* Guns have only two enemies, rust and politicians.
* Know guns, know peace! No guns, no peace!
* You don't shoot to kill, you shoot to stay alive.
* Assault is a behavior, not a device.
* Criminals love gun control, it makes their job safer.
* You have only the rights you are willing to fight for.
* The American Revolution would never have happened under gun control.
* The Second Amendment is in place - just in case they ignore the others.
* If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything!