SELECTIVELY CITING THE FOUNDING FATHERS

I would also remind the Second Amendment advocates the founding fathers wrote more than just the Second Amendment. If you look at the Declaration of Independence, written by the founding fathers, it contains the following words:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

There are then, many rights guaranteed to U.S. citizens by the founding fathers, including the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” I would remind the Second Amendment advocates the Declaration of Independence predates the Constitution. The right to life was first and foremost on their minds; the right to bear arms came later.

Even in the Amendments to the Constitution, the first deals with freedom of speech.  It would appear the founding fathers put the right to life and free speech ahead of the right to own guns and the right to bear arms was meant to defend life and personal safety, not to be used by neighborhood vigilantes to take lives.

It deeply bothers me that the Second Amendment advocates never mention the rights of those killed or wounded in our nation’s schools, shopping malls, theaters, or just going about their daily routine. (To be continued)

SECOND AMENDMENT ADVOCATES--NO RIGHTS FOR VICTIMS OF GUN VIOLENCE

I would also remind the Second Amendment advocates the founding fathers wrote more than just the Second Amendment. If you look at the Declaration of Independence, written by the founding fathers, it contains the following words:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness

There are then, many rights guaranteed to U.S. citizens by the founding fathers, including the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” I would remind the Second Amendment advocates the Declaration of Independence predates the Constitution. The right to life was first and foremost on their minds; the right to bear arms came later.

Even in the Amendments to the Constitution, the first deals with freedom of speech.  It would appear the founding fathers put the right to life and free speech ahead of the right to own guns and the right to bear arms was meant to defend life and personal safety, not to be used by neighborhood vigilantes to take lives.

It deeply bothers me that the Second Amendment advocates never mention the rights of those killed or wounded. (To be continued)

SPEAKING AT THE BOYS HOME OF VIRGINIA

I will be speaking to the students, faculty, and staff of the Boys Home of Virginia in Covington, Virginia on October 2nd. My talk be on the importance of written communications. I will talk about the use of analytic writing principles as the basis for all writing including memoirs and fiction.

CORRUPTING THE CONSTITUTION

We do not use the First Amendment to ensure that the media makes a profit or to keep newspapers, radio and TV stations in business. We should not use the Second Amendment to ensure profits for gun manufacturers, yet that is exactly what is happening.

I find it hard to believe that if any of the founding fathers came back to life they would support allowing those who are threat to themselves and others to own assault rifles and weapons with high capacity clips. Those weapons were designed for the military and the police, those weapons are designed to kill people, not to be used for home defense. (To be continued)

BASTROP, TEXAS--SADLY, IT'S NOT A JOKE

When I saw newspaper stories in the Boston Globe and Chicago Tribune in the spring and summer of 2015 reporting the people of Bastrop, Texas believed the Obama Administration and the U.S. military were coming to take their weapons, I thought it was a joke. Sadly, it was not.

Some politicians in Bastrop, Texas warned their fellow citizens to prepare; the U.S. government was coming to seize their weapons in connection with a large-scale military exercise covering several western states.  Yes, the U.S. military was preparing to conduct the largest multi-state exercises in its history. Yes, the exercises were and did take place from July 15 to September 15, 2015. No, the government did not confiscate anybody’s weapons.

Before the exercise, the press quoted a right-wing politician as saying that a U.S. military’s exercise was part of an Obama Administration “plan to spy on them, confiscate their guns and ultimately establish martial law.”

Just how paranoid can people be? Are there that many people who are emotionally disturbed who would believe these absurdities?  

According to the press, Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape tried to reassure the county’s approximately 78,000 citizens that the federal government was not coming to take their guns. He tried to reason that the exercise was routine. But his efforts were met with placards reading, “No Gestapo in Bastropo.”

Really? Has anyone told the people of Bastrop that the U.S. government has heavy artillery, drones, and nuclear weapons? The U.S. government is coming after Bastrop, Texas? Bastrop residents are going to take rifles and pistols to a drone and missile fight?

And then there is the question, why would anyone (outside of the town residents), especially the U.S. government, cares about Bastrop? The President and Washington politicians have to worry about al Qa’ida, ISIL, the Greek financial crisis, the North Korean nuclear threat, drug trafficking, growing strains with Russia, this country’s huge China debt, closing the earnings gap in this country, and a truck load of other major economic and political problems. Does anyone really believe that President Obama and Washington politicians were willing to put those problems on the back burner so they can concentrate on Bastrop, Texas? Does anyone outside of Bastrop even know where the town is? 

Then there is the question of just how many enemies do these people in Bastrop have that they need to be armed to be teeth?

The people of Bastrop should not be afraid of Washington; they should be afraid of some of their neighbors who appear to be hell-bent on living in an armed world of self-aggrandizing paranoia. Furthermore, some of Bastrop’s politicians appear to be 40-watt appliance bulbs—they are the real threat to public safety and citizen’s rights, not the politicians in Washington.

Bastrop has become an advertisement for the importance of heavy spending on better education and mental health care. (To be continued)

SHOOTINGS: MANIPULATING PATRIOTISM

The Second Amendment advocates appear oblivious to the fact that there are other Amendments to the Constitution and all of them have limitations. There are limits on my freedom of speech. I cannot slander someone or go around using foul or offensive language without paying a price.

Those who play the patriotism game don’t stop to consider what weapons were available in the latter half of the 18^th century. For the founding fathers, muskets were the state of the art guns. It is impossible to carry out a mass killing with a musket. The founding fathers, in their wildest dreams, could not have imagined today’s guns.

The Second Amendment advocates don’t realize they are being manipulated. The word games and lies are being used against them to make the gun manufacturers rich. The NRA and gun manufacturers promote fear that the government is coming to get everyone’s guns. This isn’t a word game; it is a lie. (To be continued)