The World Is A Dangerous Place

I’ve been reluctant to write this blog entry but I cannot hold it in any longer.  If you are a friend of mine who is anti-gun you may want to stop reading now if you value our friendship.  I’ll not bring this topic up to you in person but consider this your fair warning.

This year we’ve had two high profile mass murders in our country.  First in Aurora, Colorado at the Batman movie where seventy-one people were shot or otherwise wounded.  More recently in Newtown, Connecticut where the senseless slaying of six innocent teachers and twenty children took place.  There are other shootings that have taken place this year that have not had such a dramatic presence in the media.   There actually have been a total of sixteen mass shootings with total casualties of at least 88 victims.  Honestly, this sickens me.

·      February 22, 2012—Five people were killed in at a Korean health spa in Norcross, Georgia, when a man opened fire inside the facility in an act suspected to be related to domestic violence.

·      February 26, 2012—Multiple gunmen began firing into a nightclub crown in Jackson, Tennessee, killing one person and injuring 20 others.

·      February 27, 2012—Three students at Chardon High School in rural Ohio were killed when a classmate opened fire.

·      March 8, 2012—Two people were killed and seven wounded at a psychiatric hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when a gunman entered the hospital with two semiautomatic handguns and began firing.

·      March 31, 2012—A gunman opened fire on a crowd of mourners at a North Miami, Florida, funeral home, killing two people and injuring 12 others.

·      April 2, 2012—A 43-year-old former student at Oikos University in Oakland, California, walked into his former school and killed seven people, “execution-style.” Three people were wounded.

·      April 6, 2012—Two men went on a deadly shooting spree in Tulsa, Oklahoma, shooting black men at random in an apparently racially motivated attack. Three men died and two were wounded.

·      May 29, 2012—A man in Seattle, Washington, opened fire in a coffee shop and killed five people and then himself.

·      July 9, 2012—At a soccer tournament in Wilmington, Delaware, three people were killed, including a 16-year-old player and the event organizer, when multiple gunmen began firing shots, apparently targeting the organizer.

·      July 20, 2012—James Holmes enters a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises and opens fire with a semi-automatic weapon; twelve people are killed and fifty-eight are wounded.

·      August 5, 2012—A white supremacist and former Army veteran shot six people to death inside a Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee, Wisconsin, before killing himself.

·      August 14, 2012—Three people were killed at Texas A&M University when a 35-year-old man went on a shooting rampage; one of the dead was a police officer.

·      September 27, 2012—A 36-year-old man who had just been laid off from Accent Signage Systems in Minneapolis, Minnesota, entered his former workplace and shot five people to death, and wounded three others before killing himself.

·      October 21, 2012—45-year-old Radcliffe Frankin Haughton shot three women to death, including his wife, Zina Haughton, and injured four others at a spa in Brookfield, Wisconsin, before killing himself.

·      December 11, 2012—A 22-year-old began shooting at random at a mall near Portland, Oregon, killing two people and then himself.

·      December 14, 2012—One man, and possibly more, murders a reported twenty-six people at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, including twenty children, before killing himself. 

I’ve included in this list the two mass shootings I mentioned in the opening of this blog entry.

There is one thing that most of these, if not all of these, shootings have in common.  They took place in a gun-free zone.  Murders and other criminals do not obey laws…this is why they are murders and criminals.  

Some business place a “no concealed weapons” sign on the entry to their businesses. On a side note, if the weapon is properly concealed, how the hell is the business owner or employee going to know that there is a weapon on the premises?   While I respect the right of people to control, or try to control the presence of weapons on their property it simply isn’t smart.  It is basically like putting out a “ROB ME” sign.  It lets criminals know that your business is a soft target for robbery or worse.

To make things clear, I am a responsibly armed citizen of the United States of America.  Why do I carry a weapon?  For quite a few reasons; I have the right to protect myself, I have the right to protect my family and the world is full of nut bags (see the above list) that may show up at any moment to try to hurt people for no apparent reason.  Granted the chances of this actually happing to me and my family is pretty small, but once again, see the above list…those people who died needlessly probably thought the same thing.  Not to mention that there are many people out there who don’t like Americans and realistically they are among us.  Granted, my personal chances of witnessing and stopping a terrorist attack are pretty small, but they chances of me stopping one without being armed are absolutely zero. Many people don’t like guns…and that’s perfectly fine.  Don’t buy one.  That is your choice.  Personally I carry a 40.cal with a total of nineteen rounds pretty much everywhere I go. It is a rare time when I am unarmed and not prepared to defend myself against someone threatening my life, the life of my family or even someone stranger who is in the wrong place at the wrong time.  As a responsibly armed citizen of our nation I have no criminal record, not psychotic tendencies, I'm not a drug addict and I know my weapon inside and out.  Who better to have on your property in case something happens?

Criminals are cowards. They use the threat of violence to get what they want.  Murderers, especially those who are responsible for mass shootings are just plain scum.  They are the ones causing problems, not the millions of legal gun owners in our country, yet our Commander in Chief is now threatening more gun control instead of enforcing laws already on the books.  On that note I have a serious problem with the concept of gun control.  The Supreme Court of the United States has already ruled that gun ownership is an individual right.  If a right is regulated or limited by legislation it is no longer a right…it is a privilege.  We are forced to get a permit to protest, have to get a permit to carry a weapon, both are constitutionally guaranteed rights.  What is next; a permit to exercise our right to be protected from illegal search and seizure or to plead the 5^th Amendment if we are being prosecuted? Will we soon have to secure a permit to worship? But I digress.

Some will argue the Vigilante Justice angle.  As cool as I think it would be for people to dress up like a super hero in full body armor and help clean up our streets, that too is illegal.  These folks that do that (in plain clothes or costume) are just as much of a criminal as those they are trying to stop.  Being an armed, responsible citizen whose desire is to protect him/herself and their friends/family is not the same as a vigilante.  Get over it.  The same goes for the Wild West argument  That's just a flight of fancy.  Chances are that while you are walking at the mall probably a good number of the people you see are carrying a weapon of some sort…mace, a knife or a firearm.  Realistically there are 600,000 + people in the State of Georgia alone who have been issued a Georgia Weapons Permit and others carry using the Second Amendment as their permit…not to mention all the thugs out there who carry automatic weapons that were purchased illegally.  Welcome to the real world kiddies.

Bluntly our nation has become a load of fainthearted, gutless, spineless, jellyfish, lily livered malingerers who expect to be protected by the government and refuse to take personal responsibility for their own protection.  After all, isn’t that what you pay your taxes for?  Wake up everyone...the cops don't carry a gun for your protection, they carry one for their own protection.


While I, like many, would love for all of us to be able to live as one, sit around a campfire and sing Kumbaya, in our world it is probably never going to happen.  While many think that people are peaceful by nature, the reality is that many individuals are selfish, greedy and violent and they don’t care whom they hurt is as long as they get what they want.   For those of you who think otherwise you are truly naive.  If you don’t believe me, go to some of the seedier areas of your community.  Hang out there…see what happens.  If you don’t have a firearm I wish you good luck.  So, you don’t go to the bad part of town?  Oh well…that won’t save you.  Violence isn’t limited to the seedier areas.  It can happen next door.  It can happen as you’re walking to your car and it can happen in your home.  My neighbor’s house was robbed not long ago.  Dialing 911 isn’t going to save you.  Being prepared to defend yourself and your family will save you.  This generally means a well-maintained firearm that you have been trained to use and practice with on a regular basis. What is more intimidating to a criminal?  A cell phone and cops 20 minutes away or a barrel of a gun pointed directly at them?

Banning firearms isn’t the answer.  We’ve tried that with drugs…yet people still get stoned.   We tried it with alcohol and it lead to a huge rise in organized crime.  Personal responsibility and responsibly trained people carrying firearms is the answer.  Yes…even in schools.  Arm the teachers much like they are doing in Texas.  Yes, I know…some of you don’t want guns around your children.  Well, neither did those families in Connecticut.  One or two armed and trained teachers could have possibly stopped the situation before it became as bad as it did.  We already see the results of no one being armed but the gunman.  Am I saying that everyone could have been saved?  I am not; but I’m willing to bet that there would have been fewer victims if someone were able to take out the gunman quickly.  Same thing goes for the Aurora, Colorado mass shooting in a gun-free theater.  One or two people, well trained with a firearm could have possibly saved the lives of many people.  Is this a guarantee?  No, it isn’t…but its more likely than not that an armed citizen could have saved lives.  I know that many of you will balk at this idea, but let me show you some examples that rarely, if ever, make the national news.

·      Motel clerk shoots robbery suspect in east Harris County Texas.

·      Resident Shoots and Kills Armed Intruder Protecting His Girlfriend and 2 Yr Old Child

·      [Video] Utah Pastor Uses Laser Sighted Gun to Protect His Family From Intruder on Drugs

·      Gunman Attempts to Open Fire at Crowded Movie Theatre, Is Shot by Off Duty Cop, No Deaths

·      [Video] Employee at Internet Cafe Fights Off Shotgun Wielding Robbers Using his Own Gun

These are just five examples out of hundreds.  If you add up the numbers, there are more than 88 people saved because of the judicious use of firearms.  If you don’t believe me, try Google, it is your friend.  Yes, you may think that some of the sources are biased…however you should recognize that at least the five sources (which I found in 15 seconds) are reports from local news agencies.  Bottom line, armed civilians save lives.  These facts are irrefutable. 

Police won’t protect you unless you happen to be mugged right in front of a police station and then there is still a chance all they’ll be able to do is take a report.   I hate to belabor the point but people must take responsibility for their own security and safety.  If you don’t, when you become a victim it is your own fault.

Rant concluded.  Comments welcomed