ONE MORE TAKE ON SENSIBLE GUN CONTROL

The argument that the Second Amendment was to allow citizens to have guns to protect themselves against their own government is blatantly false.  

I know this bothers some gun supporters that have heard this from the NRA and used this as their argument for no gun laws.  But, in 1791 when the Amendment was past, America did not have a standing army and the intent was to guarantee citizens could own guns so in time of crisis a militia could be quickly raised – not armed for an insurrection against the government.

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

In 1792 the Congress went one step further, passing an act requiring all male citizens to arm themselves in order to be able to quickly raise a militia:

Each and every free able-bodied white male citizen of the respective States, resident therein, who is or shall be of age of eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years (except as is herein after excepted) shall severally and respectively be enrolled in the militia… every citizen so enrolled and notified, shall, within six months thereafter, provide himself with a good musket or flrelock, and sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints, and a knapsack, a pouch with a box therein to contain not less than twenty-four cartridges, suited to the bore of his musket or firelock, each cartridge to contain a proper quantity of powder and ball: or with a good rifle, knapsack ,shot-pouch and powder-horn, twenty balls suited to the bore of his rifle, and a quarter of a pound of powder; and shall appear, so armed, accoutered and provided, when called out to exercise, or into service, except, that when called out on company days to exercise only, he may appear without a knapsack.

Today we have a standing army and the requirement for all citizens to arm is not necessary – neither is the argument that we must arm ourselves so we can overthrow our own government.  

We fought a Civil War against the idea of anarchy – the point should be well established. 

The need to line up at Burger King with assault rifles and pistols defies common sense and places the general public in danger.

The Ol’Buzzard

A SENSIABLE STEP TO CONTROL GUN VIOLENCE.

 Maine has always been a wilderness state, and back in the 1960’s most Maine men owned guns: deer rifles and shotguns for hunting.

  

There was no killings epidemic going on back in those earlier days.   There were no military assault weapons, the country was not flooded with handguns and there was no open or concealed carry for the average person.   Occasionally a man might be shot by his brother-in-law while out deer hunting, and later you find out he beat his wife - and there would be suspicions.   That was pretty much it for gun violence.

 

It is not just about the availability of guns.   Today there is also a kill mentality, a kill mania that goes along with the purchase of military style assault weapon and hand gun.

Most of the people that buy guns today are not hunters; they are buying a gun with the specific intent to be able to kill other human beings.    Many of these people live in a mindset where they fantasize a situation where they could use their weapon on another person, believing it would make them appear macho.

  

So how could we control this gun mania without confiscating guns?

Back in the sixties, in most New England states, you could not transport a gun unless you had a valid hunting license and there was an open hunting season.  If you wished to transport a pistol or rifle to a firing range, you had to drop by the police station and pick up a transport chit for that specific activity.   There was no open carry and you could not get a concealed carry license without a specific need.    You did not have to register you guns and you could have as many as you wanted in your home; you just could not carry or transport them in public without a reason. 

An assault weapon band sounds logical, but there are already too many assault weapons in circulation; and gun confiscation is not an option.   What we need is a federal law limiting the carry and transportation of firearms.   It would not be popular but it would solve the problem.

Why do these men need to carry their weapons in public?   They don't.

Kids dying in elementary school is a step too far.   We need serious federal gun control on the transportation and carry of firearms.

the Ol’Buzzard

  

GUNS IN OUR SOCIETY

STAND YOUR GROUND AND CARRY A GUN: THIS IS THE PERFECT SCENARIO TO ENCOURAGE SOCIALLY INEPT INDIVIDUALS TO ACT OUT THEIR FANTASIES

Yet another shooting this week: two police officers and a double suicide.   This type of situation is no longer considered bizarre, but now has become an accepted norm in our society.    Children killing parents, social terrorist killing cops, and even children butchered in elementary schools will garner a few minutes in the news on the day it happens; and then we move on.  

I was pre -school age when I received my first toy gun.   My mother returned on leave from the Waves (Navy) and gave me a present of a plastic gun that clicked when I pulled the trigger.  This had to be in the early 1940’s during World War II.      

The first movies I remember were Cowboy and Indian movies that were all about gunfights. 

As a pre-teen I watched Army movies and read GI Joe and Battle Brady comic books.

I do not remember a time before mid-teens that I did not have a toy gun.

I received my first BB gun around ten years old; and my first 22 rifle (which I still own) about thirteen.

During my teens I owned two shotguns (double barrel 410 and single shot 12 gauge) and a 22 rifle.

Since that time I have owned numerous riles, shotguns and pistols.

And then there was the military…

I do not think my background is so different from other men of my age who were raised in rural communities.   Guns have always been a part of my life – but not an obsession.  

This new age of gun obsession has brought out people on the fringe of social normality.  The people who dress up and openly display a firearm are acting out fantasies.  They feed on the disquiet the public feels in their presence when they appear in a normal social setting brandishing a deadly weapon.     The obvious truth is these gun totters are not particularly bright, which adds to the aura of danger in their presence.  Without a gun they would otherwise be invisible.

This lunacy has been encouraged and condoned by politicians until now the inmates are running the asylum and we are past the point of no return. 

I do believe, at this point in time, there is no gun disaster so atrocious that sanity could prevail, resulting in common sense gun laws enacted and enforced.     

It is we the people who continue to elect politicians that do not serve the best interest of society that have allowed this genie out of the box, now we must inherit the wind.

the Ol’Buzzard    

DON’T SHOOT THE WAITRESS IF SHE GIVES YOU BAD SERVICE!

It takes all kinds to make a world; and I am pretty tolerant of people until they get in my space.  I really don’t have a problem with gun ownership and I can even forgive stupid people; but when stupid people are packing firearms in my vicinity I don’t like it. 

I have lived for seventy plus years and I have never felt threatened in a restaurant or a grocery store or Wal-Mart or Home Depot. 

If a person is so insecure they feel they need a firearm just to leave their house, perhaps they should just fortify their home and bunker down.  

It seems to me the real reason for people carrying firearms openly in public places is attention seeking.    Just like the militia, grown men and women pretending to be paramilitary; people carrying guns in public are living in a fantasy world of Road Warrior, where they are waiting for the world to go to shit so they save the day with their gun – automatic badass heroes – and it is all in their head. 

 Most of these people, if not all, are not screwed down tight.   They don’t actually see conspiracy theories around ever corner – they invent them.   It is a mind game.   They are badass wannabees and they think openly carrying a weapon impresses people.   And they are right: but the impression they are making is that of nut case with a gun; somebody best not to be around; an accident looking for a place to happen. 

I live in a community of about six thousand people – a small college town.  It is a quiet, safe and intellectually stimulating place to live.     About four months ago my wife and I went into the local supermarket.  Down one of the isles we happened on a mother and her son: he appeared to be thirteen or fourteen years old.   He was in dress pants, a dress shirt and tie, shined shoes and carrying a holstered Glock on is belt.   What kind of mother takes her armed teenager into a grocery store?  0bviously she was someone not playing with a complete deck of cards.    Considering the unusual way he was dressed, with his mother, and carrying sent up red warning flags and we left our half filled cart and departed the store. 

I have owned guns all my life.   I am probably more proficient than the average gun owner.   I was a member of the Quonset Point Navy pistol team and fired scores high enough to compete in All Navy competition.  I had an allotment of one thousand rounds of 45 cal. per month for practice.  I was awarded Navy Expert Rifle and Expert Pistol ribbons.  So I am not anti-gun: I am anti-gun nut. 

We have let the idiots take over the asylum and they are armed and packing and dangerous.   They are a greater dangerous to public safety that the people they claim they need protection from. 

If you want to go to a grocery store, a restaurant or a movie, leave your fucking guns at home; because you armed presence will definitely run my day and every other person in the area with common sense.   Stay out of my space with your fucking fire arms.   I have a right to live threat free and you are a public threat.