Posted on 07/04/2009 5:05:44 AM PDT by marktwain
Tomorrow, Saturday, July 4, we celebrate American independence! During this time I hope that Americans will take a few minutes to reflect on how we gained our independence … while so many, to this very day, are still unable to achieve liberty.
The fact is, we can thank our success on one thing — the individual right to bear arms. If it were not for the firearms owned by private citizens in the late 1700s, the British would have easily defeated us.
Yet so many today are willing to give up this basic right in the hope that government will be there to protect them and will never become oppressive.
Thomas Jefferson wrote “… that even under the best forms, those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny …”
A couple weeks ago the issue of limiting private gun ownership reared its ugly head again when a piece of human excrement — who I will not give the honor of mentioning by name — got drunk and killed a duck next to Tim’s Rivershore Restaurant.
This act elicited an Our View editorial by the News & Messenger that queried: “It makes one wonder why people should be allowed guns in restaurants, period.” With the follow-up rhetorical question “Do we really want a criminal and a patron exchanging gunfire in a crowded restaurant?”
I have heard many accounts of murders in restaurants — I still remember the incident (late ‘70s I believe) of a massacre that took place inside a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant on Rt. 236 (Duke Street) next to Interstate-95. Someone walked in and killed many patrons, and no one was armed and able to stop him. Or the event where unarmed people were massacred in a New York subway train, again where the citizens were unable to defend themselves. So yes … I would rather have a fighting chance than be a helpless victim.
Criminals are going to obtain weapons. If more laws are passed reducing private ownership, crime will increase as evidenced in places like Chicago, New York City and Washington, D.C. Even in countries where private ownership is outlawed, criminals acquire weapons.
If guns were the problem, then thousands of deaths would be reported at gun shows. Anyone who takes a minute to shrug off the fear indoctrinated into many by the liberal media will rightly conclude that most gun violence occurs in areas where people have been disarmed — universities, public schools, places of employment, restaurants, etc.
The Our View piece from June 20 also states that “Guns should be banned from restaurants, plain and simple.” It goes on to suggest that if the government won’t ban guns, then restaurant owners should post signs banning guns as the law provides for establishments to prohibit them if they desire.
This would only serve as an invitation to anyone wanting to rob a restaurant or its patrons.
The fact that we need a “permit” to carry is already a serious infringement of the Second Amendment. We don’t need to ask the permission of government to practice a religion, speak our minds and peacefully assemble. Every step that is taking to remove our God given right to protect ourselves moves us one step closer to tyranny. Many are fighting very hard to remove the private sale of guns, requiring the government become involved in every transaction … as well as requiring that all individuals register their guns. The latter has been used numerous times throughout history to confiscate guns once those governments realized that their tyrannical nature was inciting a citizen revolt.
From a document issued by the Second Continental Congress on July 6th, 1775 titled Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms: “From thence the troops proceeded in warlike array to the town of Concord, where they set upon another party of the inhabitants of the same province, killing several and wounding more, until compelled to retreat by the country people suddenly assembled to repel this cruel aggression.”
These people did not reply to tyranny by throwing stones. Our government is currently diving headlong into financial ruin. You can’t just magically produce trillions of dollars and not have significant repercussions. You can’t have the government take over huge parts of the private sector and not have significant repercussions. It will not be long before our government turns oppressive.
Freedoms, once lost, are very difficult to regain. Please try and remember why we celebrate July 4 as you are watching the fireworks.
James Simpson lives in Lake Ridge.
This act elicited an Our View editorial by the News & Messenger that queried: “It makes one wonder why people should be allowed guns in restaurants, period.”
Yeah, restaurants are never robbed..
"I hate to disappoint you Ringo,
but his isn't the first time
I've had a gun pointed at me."
Woot!
Thanx for the post.Good arguement.Off topic but....reading the article i envisioned a perp going into a restraunt to rob the cashier,then turning around and seeing a half dozen armed patrons with firearms drawn and ready to shoot.BTW-i just woke up:)
Fifty some odd million voters fell for this last election.
Well you sure are gonna have a Happy 4th :-)
“Gun Free Zones” INVITE criminal activity!
Chicago and D.C. are just two prime examples.
More convincing are the states and municipalities that have relaxed gun laws and recorded REDUCTIONS IN VIOLENT CRIME!
Only in the last 50-60 years has the right of the American people to keep and bear arms been the subject of such overwhelming doubt and contempt. And the reason has nothing to do with the desire to protect the public from a growing criminal class. Rather the left has determined that it will be too difficult to enslave 100 million gun owners.
It really does give you comfort knowing that those you care for and love have, on their own, sought out the training and knowledge to become true CITIZENS.
Women, IMHO are the KEY to future RKBA rights preservation, and I teach in my class that the more that women carry firearms, the safer men are (well, the good ones anyways).
My niece is in college in NYC and is known as "Anne Oakley" because she has pictures in her dorm with me and her shooting title 2 firearms on our farm. She says that she has been able to convert alot of liberal thinking to being pro-firearms in the dorm.
My sister in law has converted two liberals (her sister and her sister in law) to not being anti-gun, but more libertarian...even though they choose not to carry (1 more Anne Pressly incident here, and I bet that changes).
Anyways, happy 4th, and I appreciate you sharing my exuberance and enthusiasm.
God Bless America! Land of the Free!
My sister was a cop in Hollywood. One weekend I went to visit her and while I was waiting for her to go end of shift, I went to a cop bar just a block or so from the Hollywood sub-station.
As usual, the place was full of off-duty cops having a cold one before heading home.
I ordered a beer and was chatting with some of the cops I knew, when a drifter, who had just gotten off the Greyhound bus, walked in and pulled a gun on the bartender. Myself and all the cops in the joint jumped up and made like we were heading for the door. The drifter, obviously thinking to himself, "Damn, Hollywood is easy", demanded the bartender give him all the cash in the till. The bartender complied and the perp pocketed the money and put away his gun and turned to leave.
There was me and all the cops in the joint, in a semi-circle in front of the door, pointing guns at him.
The perp peed his pants and raised his arms in surrender.
The funny part was when one of the off-duty cops called the sub-station asking for an officer to transport the prisoner. The dispatcher didn't believe him that they had a prisoner, and the perp had to sit in his own pee for about 90 minutes till the dispatcher finally sent a unit out to take him away.
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