Today was another sad day, another mass-homicide, with some anti-Christian guy opening fire at a bunch of unarmed students in Umpqua Community College in Oregon. President Obama wasted no time cajoling the "people" to elect officials who would do what he wants - enact "common Sense Gun reforms", although we clearly disagree on what "Common Sense" means.
The president is correct in one aspect - we have become hardened to the realities of people obtaining weapons and killing innocents. Whether it is white racist opening fire on a prayer group at a predominantly black church in the South, or a Gay, Black liberal man killing a white reporter and her cameraman, we have become calloused to the fact that lives are being taken.
President Obama blames the easy availability of guns for this. I respectfully disagree, and see that as a means of forcing his agenda on the American people. I see bad men doing what bad men do - act violently - in places where law abiding citizens have been disarmed. Before 9/11, the most deadly terrorist attack on American soil was Timothy McVeigh, who used his hate, some fertilizer, and heating oil to blow up most of a building in Oklahoma City. Andrew Kehoe used dynamite to kill 38 school children in Bath Township, Michigan. People who are planning to kill have no need of a specific weapon. Even the Jonestown Massacre was mostly carried out with poison.
What I see as the problem, especially in a well armed society like the US, is that most of these mass shootings take place in "Gun Free Zones", places that someone - The federal, state, or local government, the military, or the proprietor - has determined that law-abiding citizens must be unarmed. There is a famous picture taken after Muhammad Youssef attacked the Army recruiting office in Chattanooga, Tennessee, showing the bullet riddled front door, along with the "Gun Free Zone" sticker. Had the military been armed, he might never have been able to drive to the Navy facility and kill the 4 Marines and the Navy man.
I understand there are some places that should be gun-free. Jails, for example. Court houses, where emotions could - conceivable - take over a normally stable individual. But a Movie Theatre? A restaurant? A shopping mall?
Sorry, I don't believe they should be "Gun Free". See, I am an armed citizen, a LCH (License to Carry a Handgun) holder from Indiana. And I do, on almost all occasions, exercise that right. I understand the law - I know that if I pick my daughter up from school and stay in my car, my gun can remain in my holster (in Indiana - YMMV), but if I am walking her inside, I must secure it in my portable gun safe. I understand that some states do not honor my permit (called Reciprocity), while others do, and I plan interstate drives accordingly.
I also understand, because I am a law abiding citizen, that some people have a fear of guns. I choose to carry my weapon concealed, but I have friends who open carry. Since you, as proprietor, have a right to dictate what goes on in your establishment, I will - when possible - honor that. Denny's does not want any guns in their restaurant. I comply, by staying out of them. The local mall has a "Gun-Free sticker" on their doors, and I avoid going in there. Some movie theaters have the "Gun Free Zone" stickers, and I choose others.
What I will not do is disarm myself for the sake of convenience.
I see my job as father and husband to protect my family, and that includes against physical violence. I have never had to draw my weapon, and with the grace of God, I never will. I have, on two different occasions, placed my hand inconspicuously on my weapon's handle when there was commotion around me. Both times I watched, and the situation was diffused by either the participants, or me.
Being licensed to carry a weapon is not a license to be aggressive, like George Zimmerman. It carries with it responsibilities beyond what a normal citizen is expected. Two unarmed men shouting at each other is an argument. If one of them is me, I have a moral responsibility to diffuse the situation - walk away, give in, separate from the altercation. I am armed, and I know it - while the other does not. If I goad him into escalating the situation, I am - morally, and possibly legally - at fault for whatever happens.
But I will protect my family. A criminal bent on destruction would find me a fairly accurate shooter, and viscous in my defense of my children.
They just won't find me at Denny's.
The president is correct in one aspect - we have become hardened to the realities of people obtaining weapons and killing innocents. Whether it is white racist opening fire on a prayer group at a predominantly black church in the South, or a Gay, Black liberal man killing a white reporter and her cameraman, we have become calloused to the fact that lives are being taken.
President Obama blames the easy availability of guns for this. I respectfully disagree, and see that as a means of forcing his agenda on the American people. I see bad men doing what bad men do - act violently - in places where law abiding citizens have been disarmed. Before 9/11, the most deadly terrorist attack on American soil was Timothy McVeigh, who used his hate, some fertilizer, and heating oil to blow up most of a building in Oklahoma City. Andrew Kehoe used dynamite to kill 38 school children in Bath Township, Michigan. People who are planning to kill have no need of a specific weapon. Even the Jonestown Massacre was mostly carried out with poison.
What I see as the problem, especially in a well armed society like the US, is that most of these mass shootings take place in "Gun Free Zones", places that someone - The federal, state, or local government, the military, or the proprietor - has determined that law-abiding citizens must be unarmed. There is a famous picture taken after Muhammad Youssef attacked the Army recruiting office in Chattanooga, Tennessee, showing the bullet riddled front door, along with the "Gun Free Zone" sticker. Had the military been armed, he might never have been able to drive to the Navy facility and kill the 4 Marines and the Navy man.
I understand there are some places that should be gun-free. Jails, for example. Court houses, where emotions could - conceivable - take over a normally stable individual. But a Movie Theatre? A restaurant? A shopping mall?
Sorry, I don't believe they should be "Gun Free". See, I am an armed citizen, a LCH (License to Carry a Handgun) holder from Indiana. And I do, on almost all occasions, exercise that right. I understand the law - I know that if I pick my daughter up from school and stay in my car, my gun can remain in my holster (in Indiana - YMMV), but if I am walking her inside, I must secure it in my portable gun safe. I understand that some states do not honor my permit (called Reciprocity), while others do, and I plan interstate drives accordingly.
I also understand, because I am a law abiding citizen, that some people have a fear of guns. I choose to carry my weapon concealed, but I have friends who open carry. Since you, as proprietor, have a right to dictate what goes on in your establishment, I will - when possible - honor that. Denny's does not want any guns in their restaurant. I comply, by staying out of them. The local mall has a "Gun-Free sticker" on their doors, and I avoid going in there. Some movie theaters have the "Gun Free Zone" stickers, and I choose others.
What I will not do is disarm myself for the sake of convenience.
I see my job as father and husband to protect my family, and that includes against physical violence. I have never had to draw my weapon, and with the grace of God, I never will. I have, on two different occasions, placed my hand inconspicuously on my weapon's handle when there was commotion around me. Both times I watched, and the situation was diffused by either the participants, or me.
Being licensed to carry a weapon is not a license to be aggressive, like George Zimmerman. It carries with it responsibilities beyond what a normal citizen is expected. Two unarmed men shouting at each other is an argument. If one of them is me, I have a moral responsibility to diffuse the situation - walk away, give in, separate from the altercation. I am armed, and I know it - while the other does not. If I goad him into escalating the situation, I am - morally, and possibly legally - at fault for whatever happens.
But I will protect my family. A criminal bent on destruction would find me a fairly accurate shooter, and viscous in my defense of my children.
They just won't find me at Denny's.
