Hmmmmm? It looks like I've created an interesting little thread here?
I noticed in one of the post that a member was wondering why I started this thread and why I hadn't made many other post about this topic. There is a two-fold answer to that question:
(1) I like to read other peoples post more than I like making my own.
(2) I spend much of my internet time cruising the rec.guns and the talk.politics.guns newsgroups. I don't spend the majority of my time at the firing line and, again, I would rather read the newsgroup post more than make my own.
The reason I brought the subject up, to begin with, was simple. I was just curious. Nothing more and nothing less. I was not (and I am not) advocating a rebellion. However, times have not been good for the pro-gun movement this year. Kids are killing other kids and somebody hollers for more gun control because, you know, "it's for the children". A pyscho goes nuts in Atlanta and (you know the rest of the story) somebody hollers for yet more gun control. We (supposedly) have this "conservative", pro-gun majority in both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, yet more efforts to restrict us law-abiding gun owners from excercising our Second Amendment rights continues to march on without hardly skipping a beat. And then we have the situation in California. Yes, people, I'm referring to SB23 and other bills like it. I know what it means (i.e. registration does, in fact, lead to confiscation) to gun-ownership (across the country) and I don't like it.
I vote. I vote whenever we have an election. Well, I should say "almost" whenever we have an election. I think I may have missed (at the most) 3 elections in the past 9 years. They were all run-off elections as I recall. I have voted in every major election since I became old enough to vote. I am almost 28 years old now.
I've done more than just vote. I have lost count of the times that I have called or emailed my Congressman and Senators. Actually, I shouldn't complain about (some of)the people who represent me. I have one Senator who has been very faithful to the Second Amendment (and to conservatism in general). My other Senator and my Representative are both Democrats. Guess where they stand on the Second Amendment?
I don't want to get off the topic here but let me tell you a story about my congressman (or, rather, the staffers that work in his office). Back when the Brady Bill was up for debate, I called my congressman's office to let him (or his staff) know where this lone constituient stood on the Brady Bill. Obviously, I was against it and I informed the staff employee how I wanted his boss (my rep) to vote when the debate ended and the voting began. The staffer questioned me about the bill and said, something to the effect, that all it required was a waiting period and a background check. I knew that, already, and I didn't need him to tell me something that I already knew. I told him I was a law abiding citizen and that I didn't need the governments permission to exercise a Constitutional right. To make a long story short, this guy tried to make a half-hearted attempt to get me to change my mind. I didn't like that, either.
What I'm trying to say is is that no one can accuse me of not being involved in the political process. Yet, despite this, two of my representatives (1 senator and 1 representative)have all but ignored the Second Amendment (and conservatism, in general). To put in bluntly, I don't see any real progress coming from Washington, DC. I see the Constitution being trampled upon (on a daily basis) and not just in the gun control debate.
I love this country. I love being an American. I love being conservative and being a Christian and being a gun owner. I love the "Star Spangled Banner", Old Glory, Mom and Apple Pie. If America was attacked today, I would like to think that I would be brave enough to lay my heart and my life on the line to defend Her. I don't want to lose my courage and fell from giving my all for my country. If it did come right down to it, I don't think I would run or lay down without a fight. I've tried to "do my duty" and be a good, productive member of society. Yet, it breaks my heart to see the people of this country lose our precious freedoms because of crooks,cowards, idiots and power-hungry politicians (who are supposed to be our leaders).
Maybe I'm paranoid. Maybe things aren't as bad as they seem to be but I don't see how we (as a country) can continue, on the path that we are on (more laws, more this, more that, everybody becomes a criminal, sooner or later, simply because there are so many laws on the books) and still remain free and at peace. Hence, the reason why I started this thread. I don't want a war and I'm not going to advocate starting one but if the government continues to push and push and push then, sooner or later, we are going to have to push back. Otherwise, we will wind up like the frog in the pot full of slowly, boiling water. Dead. If our choices are to either fight (and remain free) or lay down (and become a slave and, eventually, a dead slave) then we must fight to preserve the honor and freedom of this country (and ourselves).
Okay, I'm done and I'm getting off of my soapbox now.