If you believe, I mean truly believe, that the President of the United States was born on foreign soil; that any version of any healthcare reform bill that is now, or ever has been, under consideration by the United States Congress includes provisions for euthanasia of the elderly; that the current democratically elected government of this country bears any resemblance to the nazi regime of the Third Reich; that the current democratically elected government of this country is drafting secret plans to come and take your guns away – then you are in the lunatic fringe of political and social thought in this country, and you should get comfortable with that label.
If you are so frightened by legitimate and vigorous debate of the issues facing this country that you feel the answer is to shut down the debate altogether, and simply not allow all voices to be heard, then you are undemocratic, unAmerican, and undeserving of the freedoms and the liberties that this country affords you. If you would rather see the government of this country fail and collapse, than be allowed to implement policies with which you disagree, then you are not fighting the “enemy within,” you are the “enemy within,” and you are a danger to this country.
And, by the way, if you truly believe all of the above, then someone should come and take your guns away, because you’re too fucking crazy to own one.
David Perkins
I pity the fool who would be foolish enough to attempt to take my guns! They may at some point be all we have to protect us from “them”.
Good point. We must always keep a vigilant lookout for “them.”
When I was a child, the NRA was this really wonderful organization that taught gun safety, responsible hunting practices, and encouraged good citizenship. Somewhere along the way it transformed itself into this entity whose sole purpose is to keep its constituency frightened into thinking that left-wing radicals want to take their guns away from you. Trust me on this: Rational people will never call for the abolition of private gun ownership as long as irrational people are still allowed to own them as well. Nobody has any interest in seeing Charlton Heston’s flintlock thrown into a landfill.
The only thing that is ever discussed is assault weapon possession. Nobody at the NRA wants to explain why anyone needs an AK-47 to shoo raccoons away from their garbage cans, a MAC-10 to defend themselves from an unarmed intruder, or armor-piercing rounds to take down a 10-point buck. Instead of saying, “Yeah, OK, those are stupid things for people to have in their homes”, the NRA keeps coming back with, “OMG, they’re coming for your legally-purchased single-round .22 target pistol!!! The only way to protect yourself is to renew your NRA membership RIGHT NOW!!!”
I grew up in a house filled with guns. All of them were purchased legally, and I was taught from a very young age to respect them. I don’t worry about people with guns, I worry about stupid people with guns. I always say: If you’re stupid enough to think that people will believe you when you tell them that your gun went off accidentally while you were cleaning it, then you’re too stupid to own a gun. If your gun really DID go off accidentally while you were cleaning it, then you should probably set it down gently on a table and step quietly out of the room.
The problem today is that people who buy guns go through a waiting period to see if they’ve ever been convicted of a felony, but there’s no waiting period for determining if the new owner is knowledgeable in the proper handling of a firearm. There’s no place to go to prove competency, and there’s no incentive to learn. More people die from gun-related accidents in this country than from actual gun-related homicides. As long as we live in a culture that embraces private gun ownership, there needs to be an advocate who promotes responsible gun ownership.
Like the NRA used to.
Maybe Kevin has missed the obvious point here. Maybe we need the AK47 to defend ourselves against “them.”
I don’t believe any of that stuff but I must point out that he is the Devil….Says so in the Bible!!!!
Who’s the Devil? Kevin?
I actually like the requirements for training, etc… in the Texas concealed carry law. When grandpa passes away, but grandma leaves the gun in the nightstand and grandchild finds it, etc… I wish there was a way to test responsibility for guns, cars, parenting, etc…, but who controls it if you do and how to you keep them honest? Thus we fall back to liberty and the pursuit of happiness, etc… as guiding lights. The ever increasing criminalization of the US is stifling and a drag on dreams, liberties, and tax rolls. More and more is made illegal (sometimes with regulation as a first step) until we’re in vanillaland and paying for the privilege of speeding small amounts, being first in line at parks, having better schools, etc… and split along class lines. In the mean time our prisons are filled at world-record-setting levels and taxes have to go up to cover things.
I don’t care who’s book you read, we all have a right to exist and we’re all better-off when folks can work to fulfill their dreams and better their lives relatively free from oppression and ignorance.
I only saw two phrases in this that pertain to guns… and all the comments seem to key on that topic. Hmmm.
Anyhow. Nice writing. And I agree.
Yeah. Not hard to spot the “hot button” issues, huh? And thank you.
Are you aware there is a new law coming close to being passed which will force all gun owners in America to list their guns on their 1040 tax returns, and to pay a $50 tax per weapon? Failure to do so would be tax fraud. This is being slipped in without allowing the voters to decide whether it’s a good idea.
Is this what we can expect from the new era of change? And is it positive change?
I only ask the question. David, clear your throat and answer that one. Thanks.
Wow. You would have thought that I had written a post about gun control.