“The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.“
Didja recognize that? If not, my friend, it’s time to go back and read the United States Constitution. In fact, I think our nation would be quite a different place nowadays if more people (especially in Washington) were familiar with that document. I think some people may read my title and think, Yeah man, rights! Of the people, dude! It appears that some people think a “right” is anything the government will pay for.
But I digress.
The phrase above is from the Second Amendment of the Constitution, and I take it literally. These are two of my most valuable tools, hung above the back door—within our reach when necessary, but away from curious hands. In my neck of the woods, being armed is an essential part of our security. On top is my 30.06, on the bottom is my 12-gauge shotgun with a short (18”) barrel. (On the right is my hunting knife.) I have over 200 rounds of shotgun shells and a healthy supply of shells for the rifle.
Last Friday night I called all the kids around and took the rifle down. The bolt was open, the safety engaged, and the gun always properly handled; but I let each of them take a turn holding it and looking through the scope. I want them to respect guns, but not fear them. That way their curiosity is not aroused, and they do not even seem to notice these hanging above the back door.
This picture may disturb some of you, but that might be because your nearest law enforcement is not an hour away. It might be because you don’t have bears and cougars (and now wolves) in your neighborhood. It might even be because you believe “the government will keep us safe.” I don’t believe that; I believe in the Constitution.
The fact is that this country of ours would not exist if some yokels like me did not keep a gun in the house.
We call them “minutemen.”
We have always had guns in the house and the kids learned to shoot very young. It is good to go out the first time with full jugs of water (we used orange juice jugs. Exploding one of those we got the point across that they are dangerous. We target shoot as a family, but, when we lived in the mountains, every one of us could defend our home from a bear or mountain lion.I have no problem with the right to bear arms. Our children are in the service now- they continue to be good shots. My son now can shoot well while flying a helicopter!
That's great to hear, Janette. I especially like the idea of target practice on jugs full of water. One of these days I'd like to get the kids a .22 for plinking; the oldest four have shot them, but they need to stay in practice.
Whole pumpkins (or other semi-hard produce) are pretty educational, too. Good for you, for taking responsibility for your own safety at home.The wolf issue is one that surely gets me riled. (Although I'm probably preaching to the choir.) There's a group now who say that since the wolves are living creatures that it's wrong to kill them–as though their introduction here provides them with an automatic right of existence above and beyond those creatures and people who already live here. The species of wolf is not native to these parts, and is more threatening than the one that originally was exterminated. Bears and cougars earn their niche by not regularly hunting human beings.You can believe that I'll have a wolf tag as soon as we're out of town . . . and our plans for "a dog" have changed to "the dogS", to better mitigate the threat. {/rant}Have a great day!