Did anyone watch "60 Minutes" on CBS Sunday? Good grief. They paraded many of the parents of the Sandy Hook massacre in front of the camera. Now I DO sympathize with those people and the gut-wrenching losses they suffered at the hands of a madman. I really do. But when CBS latches on to their raw emotions to further its obvious lust for more gun control, it really ticks me off. For 30 minutes, we were subjected to teary-eyed parents - emotional, sure, who wouldn't be? But how many of them realized and understood thoroughly that they were being played, for all they were worth, by gun-banners who will seize on any tragedy to advance their agenda? Again, 30 minutes of beating the drum for gun control. And was there so much as ONE minute devoted to an opposing point of view? Nah.
Sandy Hook parents: I'm so very sorry for your incredible loss. I feel deeply for you as a parent myself. I understand entirely that you would want to "do something." But being used as emotional ploys for knee-jerk, feel-good "solutions" that punish 99% of gun owners who are law-abiding for the crazed actions of one person is way over the line. Our God-given rights, protected by the Second Amendment are NOT to be infringed.
Are we to be emotionally swayed into destroying the Second Amendment, piece by piece, infringement upon infringement, until it is no more? Or are we willing to examine the root causes of violence in this country? Are we willing to look at mental health awareness and reporting, inner-city gangs, poverty, drugs, racial strife, violent entertainment media, etc., etc. as contributing factors? Forcing the law-abiding to get government permission to buy, sell, gift, or loan a firearm would be a slap in the face to the public at large. Big Brother, we REJECT the premise that you are smarter than we are. It is the INDIVIDUAL who should make simple decisions like loaning a shotgun to a neighbor for dove hunting, gifting a grandchild with a .22 rifle, or selling a gun to a lifelong law-abiding friend. Government should stay the hell out of these decisions.
Criminals, by definition, do not obey laws. And like our national experiment with Prohibition proved, passing more laws will have no effect, and only criminalize innocent behavior.
I will NOT be made a scapegoat and made to feel ashamed, nor will I be made to take the blame for the actions of a madman. I am a responsible, law-abiding gun owner who values my individual rights and will fight to my last breath to keep them for myself, my fellow citizens and our descendents. I know that the keystone of the Bill of Rights is the Second Amendment. It is the only guarantor of all our other enumerated rights. When it's gone, the stage will be set for a third-world government that can rule its disarmed subjects with an iron fist. Our system of government of, for and by the people will go down to ruin, perhaps forever. The best alternative is calm, logical reason to prevail by clear-thinking citizens and their representatives in government. Not to do so would almost certainly foment another unwanted and disastrous civil war, fulfilling Jefferson's admonition that "The tree of liberty must be refreshed, from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants." God forbid that this should happen while we have the means to prevent it.
Each of us, and by that I mean YOU, have a responsibility to fight through our elected representatives, for our freedoms. Then, hopefully, we will never have to face the specter of the government knocking at our doors in the dead of night and demanding that we turn over our last means of personal protection and resistance.
Know this: Using the victims of a tragedy for emotional leverage to progressively disarm the public at large is a detestable practice. CBS should be ashamed of itself for doing something so blatant. And so should certain politicians whose gun-banning anti-freedom agendas are all too obvious.
John
Sandy Hook parents: I'm so very sorry for your incredible loss. I feel deeply for you as a parent myself. I understand entirely that you would want to "do something." But being used as emotional ploys for knee-jerk, feel-good "solutions" that punish 99% of gun owners who are law-abiding for the crazed actions of one person is way over the line. Our God-given rights, protected by the Second Amendment are NOT to be infringed.
Are we to be emotionally swayed into destroying the Second Amendment, piece by piece, infringement upon infringement, until it is no more? Or are we willing to examine the root causes of violence in this country? Are we willing to look at mental health awareness and reporting, inner-city gangs, poverty, drugs, racial strife, violent entertainment media, etc., etc. as contributing factors? Forcing the law-abiding to get government permission to buy, sell, gift, or loan a firearm would be a slap in the face to the public at large. Big Brother, we REJECT the premise that you are smarter than we are. It is the INDIVIDUAL who should make simple decisions like loaning a shotgun to a neighbor for dove hunting, gifting a grandchild with a .22 rifle, or selling a gun to a lifelong law-abiding friend. Government should stay the hell out of these decisions.
Criminals, by definition, do not obey laws. And like our national experiment with Prohibition proved, passing more laws will have no effect, and only criminalize innocent behavior.
I will NOT be made a scapegoat and made to feel ashamed, nor will I be made to take the blame for the actions of a madman. I am a responsible, law-abiding gun owner who values my individual rights and will fight to my last breath to keep them for myself, my fellow citizens and our descendents. I know that the keystone of the Bill of Rights is the Second Amendment. It is the only guarantor of all our other enumerated rights. When it's gone, the stage will be set for a third-world government that can rule its disarmed subjects with an iron fist. Our system of government of, for and by the people will go down to ruin, perhaps forever. The best alternative is calm, logical reason to prevail by clear-thinking citizens and their representatives in government. Not to do so would almost certainly foment another unwanted and disastrous civil war, fulfilling Jefferson's admonition that "The tree of liberty must be refreshed, from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants." God forbid that this should happen while we have the means to prevent it.
Each of us, and by that I mean YOU, have a responsibility to fight through our elected representatives, for our freedoms. Then, hopefully, we will never have to face the specter of the government knocking at our doors in the dead of night and demanding that we turn over our last means of personal protection and resistance.
Know this: Using the victims of a tragedy for emotional leverage to progressively disarm the public at large is a detestable practice. CBS should be ashamed of itself for doing something so blatant. And so should certain politicians whose gun-banning anti-freedom agendas are all too obvious.
John
