Take a Deep Breath, and Think This Through
In the wake of the horrible criminal act where so many precious lives were lost at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, several emotions immediately ran through my mind. The first and foremost was how much I love my family. When you are a parent you evolve to a point where your feelings, wants and concerns fail to exist in the same level of
In the wake of the horrible criminal act where so many precious lives were lost at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, several emotions immediately ran through my mind. The first and foremost was how much I love my family. When you are a parent you evolve to a point where your feelings, wants and concerns fail to exist in the same level of
previous priorities and your life revolves around the safety and well
being of your children. Sadness for the parents that must endure the
unthinkable pain of losing their children was the first thing to hit
after hugging my own.
In the firearms community I saw posts, videos, comments, statements and request for prayers for the families immediately affected by this heinous criminal act. Out of respect for those involved, the normal chatter, banter and cheerfulness was essentially halted.
Unfortunately, as has been demonstrated in the past, those hell-bent on destroying the Second Amendment were up front and brazen in calling for bans on everything that has a trigger, suspending the Second Amendment, wishing for a painful death for those in the National Rifle Association and gun owners in general, and wishing harm towards them and their children. Real Classy.
In a time for families to reflect and grieve and for communities to heal, the rhetoric was flowing full speed ahead with no compassion for the victims or the million of innocents not involved in any way. Any defense of this foolishness was immediately met with more rhetoric asking how anyone could be so heartless to have the nerve to defend lawful firearms ownership “……at a time like this….”
So I ask; how long do those of us who wish to mourn properly and respectfully, allow everything we believe in to be torn to shreds around us before it is the right time to defend ourselves? After all, the “fight” is being brought to us, not the other way around. The fact that there is a heated debate on lawful firearms ownership falls at the feet of those heartless enough to believe the right time to have this debate is immediately following such an act.
I have been listening to one incorrect report after another being reported as breaking news and corrected later in the fine print. The factual details are still unknown but forward they move in their lust for “breaking news.” Being FIRST has become more important than being CORRECT in the media today. I have listened to “Experts” explain how certain firearms and ammunition function that is absolutely WRONG while no one corrects them. I have listened to political hacks beat the drums of war to ban the ownership of firearms that they do not understand but their hired security carries to allow them the defense and protection they are hungrily working to strip from everyone else. I have listened to the people who are supposed to be intellectuals and scholars try to make a case that the solution to an evil mad man victimizing innocent people is to further disarm the rest of the innocent people.
I can stand quiet no longer. While there is no “time limit” to heal and grieve for the gun grabbers before jumping at every tragedy like a school of sharks to blood soaked water, there is also no accepted “time limit” to defend what we know to be right. It is a fight they want and have chosen, and if a physical fight how many times would we allow ourselves to be punched in the throat before it is acceptable to raise our hands to defend ourselves?
We do not have a “Gun Problem” in this country. We have had guns in plentiful numbers in the United States for well over a Century and horrific events like we have all just experienced do not happen with any regularity. When they do, it is not a gun that creates the difference between intentions of a deranged lunatic following through or not. No guns were used in the bombing in Oklahoma City yet the objective to kill and injure innocents was no less tragic. No guns were used in the school bombing in Bath Township, Michigan where 45 people were killed and 58 more wounded but the maniac who perpetrated the event was successful in his will do harm and kill innocents. We have a problem with evil people committing evil acts against innocents. Disarming the innocents is NOT the way to deal with any problem.
Solutions that float from different communities include people taking more responsibility to defend themselves and their loved ones. Evil does not make an appointment and being prepared at all times is a common way of life for many people. Unfortunately it is lambasted by those opposed to firearms as being “too dangerous” or “Paranoid”. We are told that those who carry a firearm on a daily basis, and train with it are “…asking for trouble….” This is because those parroting the propaganda they hear are so far from their own comfort level in actually having to admit there are Evil people lurking among us it is easier to put their head in the sand and pretend they will never be subjected to such horrible acts. Since they wish to live in a fairytale world the only way to justify their blindness is to demand we all do the same.
If having a firearm and the ability to protect your family is asking for trouble and is “paranoid” because it seldom happens, is having a fire extinguisher in your home and running fire drills also “paranoid” and asking for a fire? I doubt most people have been burned out of their home yet it is good practice to be prepared. If having a firearm and training with it to protect your family is “paranoid” and asking for trouble, is having a spare tire in your vehicle and learning to use a tire-iron and jack being “paranoid” and asking for a flat tire? I bet most people have never had a flat, yet almost every vehicle has this security measure as standard equipment. This whole “paranoid” argument is a way for those who will not face reality to justify the simple fact that THEY are not prepared nor are they even comfortable understanding what so many of us already know to be fact. Be it a spare tire, a fire extinguisher or a firearm, it is just a tool to help in an emergency situation. A situation you hope to never have to deal with but will be better prepared to rise to the occasion should it occur. Taking the spare tire and fire extinguisher away only makes you far more vulnerable than having them available in the unlikely event you will need them and it is the same thing with a firearm.
When Evil rears its ugly head there are few warnings but there are also a few things we know for fact. They almost always perpetuate their acts in areas they are unlikely to meet resistance. Of all the horrible acts of violence in recent history the vast majority (if not all) are in places designated as “Gun Free Zones.” These should be redesignated as “Victim Disarmament Zones” because the only thing known is there will be no one who can stand up to this Evil and have no choice but to let the bad guy(s) run their course and determine who will live or die, when it will stop, and how. The Evil doers pay no attention to the laws (this should be obvious) and are allowed by our own laws to have their way with their intended victims at their discretion. As sick and twisted as it is to many of us, this is just further proof of those with their head in the sand pretending they are “safe” by placing a sign on a door and not having to confront Evil if and when it should rear its ugly head. When this argument is made the propaganda flows like a river with talk about “The Wild West” and “Untrained Individuals taking unsafe shots and possibly injuring an innocent.” The years of legal CCW records shows that EVERY community where CCW is allowed has a lower crime than their restrictive counterparts and there is absolutely no “Wild West” scenarios happening. The second part about someone accidently injuring an innocent is equally foolish. If I have a choice between an Evil person shooting women, children and honest men at will, until THEY decide they have a body-count they are satisfied with, or someone stepping up to stop the attack with equal force and accidently injuring someone in the process, I will happily take the ability for resistance. Anyone with a functioning brain in that situation surely would.
The real crux we have is not firearms, but the inability to be truthful and accept the responsibility to protect ourselves. We have become so afraid as a society to face the facts and replace them with fantasy it has become the norm. Until people educate themselves and accept the uncomfortable truth and learn to deal with it, nothing will change. Gun laws, restrictions and “gun free zones” only affect those who do not perpetuate the problems while the Evil men are allowed to create their own scenarios, at will. Firearms are firearms; there are no “good vs. bad” guns. A good guy with the largest firearm to protect and defend his or her family will be no problem while the Evil man or woman with any tool at their disposal is a threat. Taking away the firearms of a good man accomplishes absolutely nothing except to make the world a more dangerous place for the Evil men who do not follow any laws.
As long as Evil is allowed to roam the Earth the necessity for self defense will be of the utmost importance.
In the firearms community I saw posts, videos, comments, statements and request for prayers for the families immediately affected by this heinous criminal act. Out of respect for those involved, the normal chatter, banter and cheerfulness was essentially halted.
Unfortunately, as has been demonstrated in the past, those hell-bent on destroying the Second Amendment were up front and brazen in calling for bans on everything that has a trigger, suspending the Second Amendment, wishing for a painful death for those in the National Rifle Association and gun owners in general, and wishing harm towards them and their children. Real Classy.
In a time for families to reflect and grieve and for communities to heal, the rhetoric was flowing full speed ahead with no compassion for the victims or the million of innocents not involved in any way. Any defense of this foolishness was immediately met with more rhetoric asking how anyone could be so heartless to have the nerve to defend lawful firearms ownership “……at a time like this….”
So I ask; how long do those of us who wish to mourn properly and respectfully, allow everything we believe in to be torn to shreds around us before it is the right time to defend ourselves? After all, the “fight” is being brought to us, not the other way around. The fact that there is a heated debate on lawful firearms ownership falls at the feet of those heartless enough to believe the right time to have this debate is immediately following such an act.
I have been listening to one incorrect report after another being reported as breaking news and corrected later in the fine print. The factual details are still unknown but forward they move in their lust for “breaking news.” Being FIRST has become more important than being CORRECT in the media today. I have listened to “Experts” explain how certain firearms and ammunition function that is absolutely WRONG while no one corrects them. I have listened to political hacks beat the drums of war to ban the ownership of firearms that they do not understand but their hired security carries to allow them the defense and protection they are hungrily working to strip from everyone else. I have listened to the people who are supposed to be intellectuals and scholars try to make a case that the solution to an evil mad man victimizing innocent people is to further disarm the rest of the innocent people.
I can stand quiet no longer. While there is no “time limit” to heal and grieve for the gun grabbers before jumping at every tragedy like a school of sharks to blood soaked water, there is also no accepted “time limit” to defend what we know to be right. It is a fight they want and have chosen, and if a physical fight how many times would we allow ourselves to be punched in the throat before it is acceptable to raise our hands to defend ourselves?
We do not have a “Gun Problem” in this country. We have had guns in plentiful numbers in the United States for well over a Century and horrific events like we have all just experienced do not happen with any regularity. When they do, it is not a gun that creates the difference between intentions of a deranged lunatic following through or not. No guns were used in the bombing in Oklahoma City yet the objective to kill and injure innocents was no less tragic. No guns were used in the school bombing in Bath Township, Michigan where 45 people were killed and 58 more wounded but the maniac who perpetrated the event was successful in his will do harm and kill innocents. We have a problem with evil people committing evil acts against innocents. Disarming the innocents is NOT the way to deal with any problem.
Solutions that float from different communities include people taking more responsibility to defend themselves and their loved ones. Evil does not make an appointment and being prepared at all times is a common way of life for many people. Unfortunately it is lambasted by those opposed to firearms as being “too dangerous” or “Paranoid”. We are told that those who carry a firearm on a daily basis, and train with it are “…asking for trouble….” This is because those parroting the propaganda they hear are so far from their own comfort level in actually having to admit there are Evil people lurking among us it is easier to put their head in the sand and pretend they will never be subjected to such horrible acts. Since they wish to live in a fairytale world the only way to justify their blindness is to demand we all do the same.
If having a firearm and the ability to protect your family is asking for trouble and is “paranoid” because it seldom happens, is having a fire extinguisher in your home and running fire drills also “paranoid” and asking for a fire? I doubt most people have been burned out of their home yet it is good practice to be prepared. If having a firearm and training with it to protect your family is “paranoid” and asking for trouble, is having a spare tire in your vehicle and learning to use a tire-iron and jack being “paranoid” and asking for a flat tire? I bet most people have never had a flat, yet almost every vehicle has this security measure as standard equipment. This whole “paranoid” argument is a way for those who will not face reality to justify the simple fact that THEY are not prepared nor are they even comfortable understanding what so many of us already know to be fact. Be it a spare tire, a fire extinguisher or a firearm, it is just a tool to help in an emergency situation. A situation you hope to never have to deal with but will be better prepared to rise to the occasion should it occur. Taking the spare tire and fire extinguisher away only makes you far more vulnerable than having them available in the unlikely event you will need them and it is the same thing with a firearm.
When Evil rears its ugly head there are few warnings but there are also a few things we know for fact. They almost always perpetuate their acts in areas they are unlikely to meet resistance. Of all the horrible acts of violence in recent history the vast majority (if not all) are in places designated as “Gun Free Zones.” These should be redesignated as “Victim Disarmament Zones” because the only thing known is there will be no one who can stand up to this Evil and have no choice but to let the bad guy(s) run their course and determine who will live or die, when it will stop, and how. The Evil doers pay no attention to the laws (this should be obvious) and are allowed by our own laws to have their way with their intended victims at their discretion. As sick and twisted as it is to many of us, this is just further proof of those with their head in the sand pretending they are “safe” by placing a sign on a door and not having to confront Evil if and when it should rear its ugly head. When this argument is made the propaganda flows like a river with talk about “The Wild West” and “Untrained Individuals taking unsafe shots and possibly injuring an innocent.” The years of legal CCW records shows that EVERY community where CCW is allowed has a lower crime than their restrictive counterparts and there is absolutely no “Wild West” scenarios happening. The second part about someone accidently injuring an innocent is equally foolish. If I have a choice between an Evil person shooting women, children and honest men at will, until THEY decide they have a body-count they are satisfied with, or someone stepping up to stop the attack with equal force and accidently injuring someone in the process, I will happily take the ability for resistance. Anyone with a functioning brain in that situation surely would.
The real crux we have is not firearms, but the inability to be truthful and accept the responsibility to protect ourselves. We have become so afraid as a society to face the facts and replace them with fantasy it has become the norm. Until people educate themselves and accept the uncomfortable truth and learn to deal with it, nothing will change. Gun laws, restrictions and “gun free zones” only affect those who do not perpetuate the problems while the Evil men are allowed to create their own scenarios, at will. Firearms are firearms; there are no “good vs. bad” guns. A good guy with the largest firearm to protect and defend his or her family will be no problem while the Evil man or woman with any tool at their disposal is a threat. Taking away the firearms of a good man accomplishes absolutely nothing except to make the world a more dangerous place for the Evil men who do not follow any laws.
As long as Evil is allowed to roam the Earth the necessity for self defense will be of the utmost importance.
Article by Jeff Zimba
Well written. Thanks. Unfortunately, you're preaching to the choir. Your eloquent blog won't change any hears & minds because the anti's won't bother to read it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for what you do.
Excellent Post... I do think they will go for broke this time. Dark times certainly ahead...
ReplyDeleteYour assertion that "The years of legal CCW records shows that EVERY community where CCW is allowed has a lower crime than their restrictive counterparts and there is absolutely no “Wild West” scenarios happening" is problematic. Correlation does not equal causation and there is no way to prove that CCW actually impact crime rates at all. I like to make the other side of the "more CCW meant less crime" argument and say that more access to CCW permits demonstrably did not cause crimes rates to spike nor did we get the Wild West scenario that was predicted. From a strict scrutiny point of view, this makes denying the right to bear arms unconstitutional.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post. I will be sharing it with my friends. We have a up hill battle ahead of us. Lines are being drawn within community's of friends. All based on ideas that the media has given them that guns are evil. The right to own and carry a firearm may have saved my life and that of my soon to be 5 year old son on St. Patricks Day this year. A man asked me for my wallet, while holding a knife to my back, while I was buckling my son into his car seat, after I left friends at a near by restaurant. Had I not had my firearm that day, I might not be typing this.
ReplyDeleteI firmly believe that "gun safe" zones are the hunting grounds for evil and it is one of the first steps we are going to need to review moving forward. These people are "hunting" in those places because they know there is little to no resistance to them accomplishing their acts of terror. My sons daycare has guards. Truth be known, they are more dangerous to a box of donuts that to an armed intruder. The same can be said for the school system as well.
Thanks again for posting this. I look forward to more of your posts.
George Washington's address to the second session of the First U.S. Congress:
ReplyDelete"Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty, teeth and keystone under independence. The church, the plow, the prairie wagon and citizens' firearms are indelibly related. From the hour the pilgrims landed to the present day, events, occurrences and tendencies prove that, to ensure peace, security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable. Every corner of this land knows firearms, and more than 99 and 99/100 percent of them by their silence indicate that they are in safe and sane hands. The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil influence. They deserve a place of honor with all that's good. When firearms go, all goes. We need them every hour."
Still rings true today
"Taking away the firearms of a good man accomplishes absolutely nothing except to make the world a more dangerous place for the Evil men who do not follow any laws"
ReplyDeleteI believe you meant it makes it safer for evil men if you take the firearms of good men. Love the post though.
Its so true about the preparation for the unexpected. We prepare for flat tires and house fires. We buy insurance for car accidents, death, and home damage or destruction. We are not labeled paranoid for this, we are labeled prudent and wise.
Very well written! Now to get it published in the mainstream media ....
ReplyDeleteCopy and paste it everywhere and make sure that he takes credit for it! Make sure that his name is there! This was an excellent article and very well written!
ReplyDeleteThe real crux we have is not firearms, but the inability to be truthful and accept the responsibility to protect ourselves. We have become so afraid as a society to face the facts and replace them with fantasy it has become the norm. Until people educate themselves and accept the uncomfortable truth and learn to deal with it, nothing will change. Gun laws, restrictions and “gun free zones” only affect those who do not perpetuate the problems while the Evil men are allowed to create their own scenarios, at will. Firearms are firearms; there are no “good vs. bad” guns. A good guy with the largest firearm to protect and defend his or her family will be no problem while the Evil man or woman with any tool at their disposal is a threat. Taking away the firearms of a good man accomplishes absolutely nothing except to make the world a more dangerous place for the Evil men who do not follow any laws.
ReplyDeleteshootingtargets7 targets