I see the other thread has been locked. I didn't find that out until I typed this. So - while it may not last long - I'm gonna post it!
You can lock it too Al, I've had my say.
I’ve followed the discussion about the so-called ‘gun show loophole’ with considerable interest. I’ve noticed that the consensus seems to be against Tennessee Gentleman regarding this issue. Still, he sticks to his position frequently reminding us of his status as a life member of the NRA and as a military man – as if to give more weight to his opinions. It has become increasingly apparent he will not alter his opinions so we might as well give up. But, being the hard-nosed guy I am, I want one more chance.
Like the shills of the Brady Bunch and the VPC, he waves the deaths of unarmed students in our faces while touting the possible benefits of governmental oversight of private gun sales. I’ve heard the phrase so much he may very well have used it in one of his posts – though I’m not going to go back and look – “If it just saves one life…”
First, let’s get some facts out in the open. Out of the 32 people killed at VT all were going to die anyway. Just as you and I and our parents and children, they were going to die someday, somehow. Two or three would have died in automobile accidents, one or two might have drowned and another one murdered. The rest would have died from “natural” causes such as disease or even old age. Those left behind mourn – not because the dead are gone, but because they who are left are diminished by the passing.
Next, no amount of governmental control, short of some Uber-Orwellian regime, could ensure that the guns used would not be acquired in some other way, allowing the perpetrator to do what he wanted. Without an agent of an all-powerful and benevolent government involved in every transaction and in every room all the time, someone, somewhere could and would get a gun and commit a crime. I believe the Third Amendment might come into play here.
So what are we left with? Well, we can let the government keep track of our private sales in the faint hope they’ll keep things like VT from happening again. All the while we know it’s a false hope and that sooner or later the system will break down or develop a glitch and another mass murder will occur calling for even more stringent regulation.
But we can FEEL good because we tried.
In the meantime, what have we actually accomplished? Well, we’ve given up more freedom for a bit of perceived security. Worse, we’ve made the idea of giving up freedom more popular; so popular it’s now being touted by life members of the NRA. Kinda makes you wonder why they joined in the first place - and whose name was on the check.
Of course this brings us to another problem (I’m on a roll here!) A free country is its own worst enemy. Look at the record: Britain tried to defeat us as did Spain, Germany, Japan, Russia and now we’re under attack from Islam. None of them has prevailed or will prevail until we let them. We are rapidly doing that now by giving up this bit of freedom or that one or some other right we don’t really use that much anymore.
What are we getting in return? Security? Assurance that we’ll be able to keep the toys we’ve amassed? Sure, but for how long? The crocodiles are getting hungry again. Who’s next in line? No one? Oh, you mean it’s up to me now? Isn’t there a government agency to take care of things like this?
Whittier wrote something about ‘the saddest words’ but it took Bret Harte to say it right:
If, of all words of tongue and pen,
The saddest are, ‘It might have been,’
More sad are these we daily see:
It is, but hadn’t ought to be!’
Bret Harte
You can lock it too Al, I've had my say.
I’ve followed the discussion about the so-called ‘gun show loophole’ with considerable interest. I’ve noticed that the consensus seems to be against Tennessee Gentleman regarding this issue. Still, he sticks to his position frequently reminding us of his status as a life member of the NRA and as a military man – as if to give more weight to his opinions. It has become increasingly apparent he will not alter his opinions so we might as well give up. But, being the hard-nosed guy I am, I want one more chance.
Like the shills of the Brady Bunch and the VPC, he waves the deaths of unarmed students in our faces while touting the possible benefits of governmental oversight of private gun sales. I’ve heard the phrase so much he may very well have used it in one of his posts – though I’m not going to go back and look – “If it just saves one life…”
First, let’s get some facts out in the open. Out of the 32 people killed at VT all were going to die anyway. Just as you and I and our parents and children, they were going to die someday, somehow. Two or three would have died in automobile accidents, one or two might have drowned and another one murdered. The rest would have died from “natural” causes such as disease or even old age. Those left behind mourn – not because the dead are gone, but because they who are left are diminished by the passing.
Next, no amount of governmental control, short of some Uber-Orwellian regime, could ensure that the guns used would not be acquired in some other way, allowing the perpetrator to do what he wanted. Without an agent of an all-powerful and benevolent government involved in every transaction and in every room all the time, someone, somewhere could and would get a gun and commit a crime. I believe the Third Amendment might come into play here.
So what are we left with? Well, we can let the government keep track of our private sales in the faint hope they’ll keep things like VT from happening again. All the while we know it’s a false hope and that sooner or later the system will break down or develop a glitch and another mass murder will occur calling for even more stringent regulation.
But we can FEEL good because we tried.
In the meantime, what have we actually accomplished? Well, we’ve given up more freedom for a bit of perceived security. Worse, we’ve made the idea of giving up freedom more popular; so popular it’s now being touted by life members of the NRA. Kinda makes you wonder why they joined in the first place - and whose name was on the check.
Of course this brings us to another problem (I’m on a roll here!) A free country is its own worst enemy. Look at the record: Britain tried to defeat us as did Spain, Germany, Japan, Russia and now we’re under attack from Islam. None of them has prevailed or will prevail until we let them. We are rapidly doing that now by giving up this bit of freedom or that one or some other right we don’t really use that much anymore.
What are we getting in return? Security? Assurance that we’ll be able to keep the toys we’ve amassed? Sure, but for how long? The crocodiles are getting hungry again. Who’s next in line? No one? Oh, you mean it’s up to me now? Isn’t there a government agency to take care of things like this?
Whittier wrote something about ‘the saddest words’ but it took Bret Harte to say it right:
If, of all words of tongue and pen,
The saddest are, ‘It might have been,’
More sad are these we daily see:
It is, but hadn’t ought to be!’
Bret Harte
