Got this from my friend, Scott Parks.
It's so strange to live in a world where someone commits an atrocity, and society blames his methods instead of dealing with his intent. It's the same mentality that believes society can tax its way into prosperity without dealing with the root issue of government waste, inefficiency and fraud. The same mentality that wants to punish junk food instead of acknowledging that food-based obesity is quite often the result of individual choices.It seems like we once took the issue of "personal responsibility" seriously. Now, we're a knee-jerk society of finger-pointers desperate for scapegoats, each one trussing up his/her soapbox under the thin veil of compassion. We swat at the symptoms forever as the virus itself remains unexamined and unchecked. I remember the scapegoats of my own youth...video games and rock music...the obvious "reasons" for society's ills. (Anyone see those old videos where they destroyed thousands of pinball machines?)You'd like to make firearms illegal for the law-abiding? Congratulations. You'll have disarmed tens of millions of responsible citizens, and the black-market will tip its hat to you as the non-law-abiding operate without missing a step. Oh. You'd like home-to-home searches to ensure that all weapons are confiscated? That sounds like a wonderful way for a free nation, by the people and for the people, to operate. Perhaps we can take a few extra minutes and enjoy tea with the ATF agents as they tap on the sheet rook looking for hidden stockpiles.On this issue, I like the words of Thomas Jefferson, "Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."The utopia of a world free of guns and gun violence is a noble enough notion. It's also a happy-clappy, Utopian fantasy that will never, ever happen. Perhaps it's time to see through the haze of peace pipe smoke and realize that 1) you'll never get 250 million weapons confiscated 2) even if you get the licensed weapons from the law-abiding, guns will continue to be the domain of the criminal and 3) even without guns, you'll still (and always) have all manner of killers, rogues, psychopaths and instruments of horrible death. These things are not new to humanity, and it's a hard fact of life that society's most unstable can and will snap at any moment. And as I understand the desire of good people to find solutions, I'm convinced those solutions should deal with root issues and be based in reality.There are over 300 million people living in the USA. Almost half of all American homes have firearms in them. With that many firearms in that many hands, if they were indeed the cause of all of this trouble, this nation would have, within moments, shredded itself under a blanket of gun smoke. This obviously hasn't happened, and those who can't see the millions of peace-loving (yes, peace-loving), responsible gun owners as more than caricature are obviously not looking (or not seeing, anyway). They want a kum-bah-yah planet where good intentions trump all, a world without aggressors and those who defend against them, a world where a politician's signature on a piece of paper will cure all hearts of darkness, a world where ribbons on our lapels actually solve planet-wide problems, a world where humanity can go to sleep at night with unlocked doors and unconcerned minds. A beautiful fantasy. And a ridiculous one. We can and should find ways to make our world safer...but it will never be safe. I own a Smith & Wesson MP9. I've been trained to use it and often target-shoot for recreation. I keep the weapon secured. It is treated with a healthy respect and is readily accessible for reasons of home defense. Some are skittish about the use of deadly force to protect loved ones. I am not. This doesn't make me a warmonger or nut, a conspiracy theorist or agent of blood lust. It makes me a free, law-abiding citizen who happens to take the first line of responsibility for the protection of his family.Individual responsibility. Within the law. It's how I roll.There are millions like me. Ask yourself...are we really the problem? And will disarming us prevent the next tragic headline? Absolutely not.
It's so strange to live in a world where someone commits an atrocity, and society blames his methods instead of dealing with his intent. It's the same mentality that believes society can tax its way into prosperity without dealing with the root issue of government waste, inefficiency and fraud. The same mentality that wants to punish junk food instead of acknowledging that food-based obesity is quite often the result of individual choices.It seems like we once took the issue of "personal responsibility" seriously. Now, we're a knee-jerk society of finger-pointers desperate for scapegoats, each one trussing up his/her soapbox under the thin veil of compassion. We swat at the symptoms forever as the virus itself remains unexamined and unchecked. I remember the scapegoats of my own youth...video games and rock music...the obvious "reasons" for society's ills. (Anyone see those old videos where they destroyed thousands of pinball machines?)You'd like to make firearms illegal for the law-abiding? Congratulations. You'll have disarmed tens of millions of responsible citizens, and the black-market will tip its hat to you as the non-law-abiding operate without missing a step. Oh. You'd like home-to-home searches to ensure that all weapons are confiscated? That sounds like a wonderful way for a free nation, by the people and for the people, to operate. Perhaps we can take a few extra minutes and enjoy tea with the ATF agents as they tap on the sheet rook looking for hidden stockpiles.On this issue, I like the words of Thomas Jefferson, "Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."The utopia of a world free of guns and gun violence is a noble enough notion. It's also a happy-clappy, Utopian fantasy that will never, ever happen. Perhaps it's time to see through the haze of peace pipe smoke and realize that 1) you'll never get 250 million weapons confiscated 2) even if you get the licensed weapons from the law-abiding, guns will continue to be the domain of the criminal and 3) even without guns, you'll still (and always) have all manner of killers, rogues, psychopaths and instruments of horrible death. These things are not new to humanity, and it's a hard fact of life that society's most unstable can and will snap at any moment. And as I understand the desire of good people to find solutions, I'm convinced those solutions should deal with root issues and be based in reality.There are over 300 million people living in the USA. Almost half of all American homes have firearms in them. With that many firearms in that many hands, if they were indeed the cause of all of this trouble, this nation would have, within moments, shredded itself under a blanket of gun smoke. This obviously hasn't happened, and those who can't see the millions of peace-loving (yes, peace-loving), responsible gun owners as more than caricature are obviously not looking (or not seeing, anyway). They want a kum-bah-yah planet where good intentions trump all, a world without aggressors and those who defend against them, a world where a politician's signature on a piece of paper will cure all hearts of darkness, a world where ribbons on our lapels actually solve planet-wide problems, a world where humanity can go to sleep at night with unlocked doors and unconcerned minds. A beautiful fantasy. And a ridiculous one. We can and should find ways to make our world safer...but it will never be safe. I own a Smith & Wesson MP9. I've been trained to use it and often target-shoot for recreation. I keep the weapon secured. It is treated with a healthy respect and is readily accessible for reasons of home defense. Some are skittish about the use of deadly force to protect loved ones. I am not. This doesn't make me a warmonger or nut, a conspiracy theorist or agent of blood lust. It makes me a free, law-abiding citizen who happens to take the first line of responsibility for the protection of his family.Individual responsibility. Within the law. It's how I roll.There are millions like me. Ask yourself...are we really the problem? And will disarming us prevent the next tragic headline? Absolutely not.
