I can not believe how many whiney-@$$ed people there are loose out there in society!!! Again, I refer you to the EAGLES’ song "Get Over It". DAMN how people just love to put their two cent in!!!! (Just look at this page, for goodness sake!)

People seem to feel as though they need to get involved in the latest hot topic and choose the popular vote. Either the general populous is too stupid to think for themselves, or they refuse to see past their noses. And speaking of their noses, they seem to think they have the right to look down them while they speak their peace. It makes me just want to reach out and touch someone in a way that would make them hear bells. And I don't mean because there are any phones ringing either.

Ok, in my infamous (if not appreciated) fashion, let me stir the pot a little…

Let’s take a look at gun control. BIG, UGLY subject. But one I feel strongly enough to piss you off about today.

Have any of you Americans ever heard of something called the Constitution of the United States of America? (Don’t be shy. Just jump right on in there. Raise you hand if you’ve heard if it.)

Specifically, I’m asking if you’re familiar with Article II of the Bill of Rights. Ever hear of it? You know!!! The one that says we have the right to bare arms!!!! Let me ask you something… Are you under the impression that they were referring to sticks and stones? (Again, just jump right on in there!) Who out there thinks that those words were in reference to the right for the people to gather a militia, a.k.a. US Armed Forces? Who out there has forgotten what this piece of paper, which is taken for granted and used daily by so-called Americans to wipe their @$$es, is meant for? Which one of you thought that the words on that document were put there for you and you alone and ONLY when it supports your right to whine?

Who can’t remember that this document was written for people who were trying to free themselves from a government that was suppressing them with taxation, little or no representation as to the needs of the common man, and the taking of land from its developers to be given to politicians who were just coming into town from the other continent. Who there didn’t know that people were being run off of their property, their farms, so that military policing forces could use that property as shelter? Those forces would abuse and destroy that property until there was nothing left to accommodate them. When they were through, they would simply abandon it. If the owners were still alive, they could re-claim it and have to get through cold winters without any food stores to last them through the winter.

Am I saying that you can’t trust the government? Yes and no.

Plain and simple, the powers that be are no more human than you and I. They make mistakes (just ask Mr. Clinton and the FBI), they follow the popular consensus (ask any political journalist), and they have to keep their voters happy. But there’s another thing you have to ask yourself… Do they have to work on issues that directly involve our country that they don’t tell us about? (Come on, think!) YES!!! And what would happen if we were made aware of issues relating to politics that they try to hide from us? Could the “other side” get wind of it? Could the enemy use that information against us? Would your mouth drop in astonishment when you find that those decisions would upset you??? The answer to those questions my short-sighted friend is YES!

So where is this going? Am I changing the subject? Not one iota. What I’m getting at is that if the government convinces you that guns are the bane of our society, couldn’t they, in theory, one day implement martial law for something that may be absurd? Might something one day happen that our rights are taken away and we could be left defenseless to defend our property?

Forget that…. I know I’m stretching the bounds of imagination, but it’s only because I’m trying to stress the point that our forefathers intended that we have the final say in what’s best for our country… Checks and balances.

Let’s deal with the facts.

In today’s society, we have children killing children, husbands killing wives and family members killing loved ones. Children have just gone to school in Columbine and shot fellow classmates who made fun of them . A former Marine has just shot up the grocery store for no apparent reason. Someone just committed the gravest sin by shooting the most religious of us in a church.

Thieves abound. Rapists lurk. Muggers hide in shadows. The killers wait for the right time to strike. Why not make it more difficult to get a gun?

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

The answer, my narrow-minded reader is simple. The criminal mind will always find access to a gun. All you need is money or motivation and you can find/buy/steal/make one. Plain and simple. Have any doubts? Where do crack-heads get their fix?

Ok. So that guy that shot up the grocery store just went into gun shop and purchased his weapon over the counter. What of it? Had those innocent victims been carrying weapons of their own, would he have chosen that location to unleash his anger? Could they, perhaps, have defended themselves and ended the assault by pointing their own firearms and shooting him down. Wouldn’t that have saved lives?

What I’m getting to is that if everyone were to have the right to carry (with the exception of the former criminals, insane, and juveniles), wouldn’t it seem as though the stalker would be more likely to look someplace else? Would an armed person wonder into a police station and try to hold up the entire precinct? That’s absurd! Not because the intended victims are police, but because they’re all armed and he wouldn’t stand a chance!

Idiot: But they have special training!

Me: How much training does it take to pull a trigger?

Idiot: That’s exactly my point! Too many people out there are just too quick on the draw and people would get trigger-happy!

Me: How? The first person to draw a weapon would have to consider the other seen and unseen weapons aimed at him and make a decision. Does he want to find out that he’s not bullet-proof?

Idiot: But what about vigilantism?

Me: Even the vigilant would see that they have unseen guns to contend with.

Idiot: Why not just try to talk the assailant out of shooting?

Me: We can see how well that works already. Just look at the dead and their families. It didn’t work then, and it won’t work tomorrow. Besides, ever talk a bullet into not making a hole in you? (If you have, please share that little tidbit of information. I’m sure that there are those of us out there who would love to have the same abilities both you and your friend from THE MATRIX share.)

Idiot: What proof do you have?

Me: What I say wouldn’t prove a thing. On the other hand, read RTC in Florida. (RTC stands for Right To Carry, referring to state laws.)

‘Nuff said about that!

What other proof do I have that the idea would work? Well, to tell the truth, I only have common sense on my side. But there are those who have the proof I don’t.

Take, for example, Judge Sam R. Cummings, who said, "In retrospect, the framers designed the Second Amendment to guarantee an individual's right to arms for self-defense. Such an individual right was the legacy of the English Bill of Rights. American colonial practice, the constitutional ratification debates, and state proposals over the amendment all bear this out. Id. at 162. The American Second Amendment also expanded upon the English Bill of Rights' protection; while English law allowed weapons ‘suitable to a person's condition’ ‘as allowed by law’, the American right forbade any ‘infringement’ upon the right of the people to keep and bear arms. Id”.

Then there’s “Research by award-winning criminologist Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz reveals Americans use guns for self-defense as often as 2.5 million times a year. That's three to five times more often than they are misused by criminals”, as written by Paul H. Blackman, Ph.D.

And then there’s data collect from the FBI that points out that, “States with Right To Carry laws have lower violent crime rates. On average, they have a 24% lower total violent crime rate, a 19% lower homicide rate, a 39% lower robbery rate, and a 19% lower aggravated assault rate, compared to other states and the District of Columbia. The nine states with the lowest violent crime rates are all Right To Carry states.”

Also, John R. Lott, Jr., who teaches criminal deterrence and law and economics at the University of Chicago, wrote, “More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws”.

And there’s more. Just go to your local library, Web browser, newspaper, or teacher/professor. Just make certain that they aren’t anti-gun activists. I’d prefer you learned facts than listen to the gibberish babbled by biased people who only think they’re informed when they’re really just opinionated.

But then again, what do I know? That’s Just…

In My Opinion!

"Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed."
Anonymous

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In My Opinion! is a opinion page that I'll be updating from time to time with different opinions I have towards things in general. I guess you can call it a vent. These opinions are my own. They do not necessarily represent the opinions of GEOCITIES or anyone else for that matter. Heck, I'm not concerned with who agrees or disagrees, I'm just putting my two cents in to who-ever wants to read this stuff. If you like it, KOOL. If not... debate it in my NUKES' I/O page or make your own page. =)

I acknowledge that there are people out there who are intelligent and don't subscribe to my opinion. It is not to you that I refer as an idiot nor do I intend any other derogatory comment to you, but to those who argue with nothing to support their theories other than narrow-mindedness. To the intelligent among you, PLEASE reply to my ramblings. Many of us love a good debate.

This page was last modified on 09/25/99

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