As an avid shooter, collector, student, and defender of firearms, I view the reaction to recent tragedies with a truly torn heart. Our country is being torn apart by it and we mourn, cry and ask why. I understand the need to fill the void with “DO SOMETHING”! But blaming the inanimate object makes no sense to me. How can you blame the gun, when the gun has always been there?
Since the birth of our nation, guns have been there. They created our nation, protected our homes, put food on the table, and gave every man and woman personal freedom. As they said in the 1870’s “God made man, but Sam Colt made them equal:” Guns were there during civil unrest, during economic disasters, during social upheavals that have turned other countries upside down.
…But there never were the unspeakable horrors that have occurred in the last 15-20 years even though the guns were there.
So what’s changed if the gun has ALWAYS been present?
Many say, blame the technology, blame the modern rifle. The military style magazine fed semi-automatic rifle has been in civilian hands since the early 1950’s. In fact their use by civilians was fostered by President Kennedy during his presidency with his support of the Department of Civilian Marksmanship and its rifle competitions using military arms including civilian versions of the M14 known as the M1A, and the AR15 known as the SP-1. He understood the need for a trained, armed citizenry.
So what’s changed if the gun has ALWAYS been present?
The gun has always been there. So how can you blame the gun? Or worse make criminals of the tens of millions of law abiding gun owners who just want to feels safe, target shoot, or not rely on big business to put food on their table.
I’ll tell you what changed:
It is parents not doing their jobs as parents; be it their fault or not. Propping kids in front of ultra violent movies, TV shows and video games for 8-10 hours at a time with no social interaction, or worse, giving them no attention at all. drugged up on the latest boutique “kid calmer” drug. As the lines between reality and fantasy fade, what is the fantasy we have given them?
It is Hollywood and the acting community taking no responsibility for their portrayal of wanton mass murder. How sickening is it to see an actor calling gun owning citizens the “bad guys” when they just cashed a 30 million dollar check for portraying gun horrors that sicken gun owners. How can I say that? Because gun owners understand and respect the lethal force and responsibility of gun ownership.
It’s the media for only showing the dark side of firearms ownership and not the thousands of citizens that use them to defend their family and property every year.
It is a society that accepts hundreds of scenes of gun violence on television in a given day, but is flabbergasted at the sight of a bare breast.
What do you call endless hours of drug induced subjection to scenes of mass murder, glorifying gunplay and it’s social acceptance, Hollywood glorified and celebrated for their wealth and fame as they portray blood soaked murder, and media flooding you with bias reporting against gun ownership?
I call it brainwashing.
And if you think one more gun law will change our society, I think you’ve been brainwashed, too.
Thanks for reading.
I need a vote. Should I send this in as an opinion/editorial
1Fearing tomorrow and regretting yesterday makes for a very short ride....Carpe Diem!
