Friday, April 12, 2013

Kids, Parents, 'The Village' and Guns

This is one of those 'blanket' posts where I try to tie things together as I see them.  There's LOTS of consternation on the 'Obsession with Guns' going around in the Media.. as well as that of what it takes to raise a kid.

When I was a kid, I loved shooting guns, especially .22's but I never cared much for hunting. My first game kill at about age ten, was a sitting rabbit at about six feet. I blew half of the bunny's head off. My dad chided me for that; I thought 'what;s the big deal.. it's for the table and less shot to pick out'.
The last incident was of a family hunting party at Thanksgiving in my early teens.  We were 'sweeping' a cornfield, A rabbit jumped up and I led him around, fired, and the shot kicked up dirt about ten feet in front of my uncle.  I immediately, and without comment from anyone, took myself and my shotgun back to the house and never hunted in a group again.  Now... even though I was young, I thought about those incidents a lot. And I came to wonder why I joined in hunting when I didn't even like the taste of game, either Pheasant or Rabbit.
But I kept shooting.  Using both rifle and pistol to kill rats around the farm.  I loved to shoot and frankly spilling a Norway Rat's guts or brains all over never bothered me one bit.  Bear in mind the context, folks. If you were raised on a farm, and yet it would bother you to do or see that, there is something wrong with you.  Or your parents.
Now you have my mindset; hunting wasn't for me but I never begrudged others based on my preferences and distastes.  I also understood the propaganda value of 'Bambi' and how it was misused by the 'Urban, Informed Elite' LONG before the deer population became a nuisance.
Fast forward to trying to raise my own kids.  Never a gun in the house. Why would there be.. lived in a nice secure whitebread suburb, with no rats of any consequence to shoot.. only squirrels and possums and that's not allowed in the village limits. And if I needed a gun for some reason, Dad lived only a couple blocks away.
Looking back, I consider that a parenting failure on my part.  Leading, perhaps, to one of my kids getting shot by air rifle making a dumb video and a pellet embedded perilously close to his eye.  If I had done my duty as a father of boys, I would have instructed all of them on the responsibilities surrounding using and playing with guns.

But to this day, I still don't have a gun of my own. I see no need for it as long as my neighbors and friends have the right to own and carry.  And as long as it is confidential as to who  actually HAS a firearm in their possession at any time.  There is strength and protection in that.
I posed a rhetorical question to a 'Progressive' former friend of mine some time ago: "If you knew there was a man or group going around your neighborhood and robbing /killing, would you try to do them harm to stop them?"

He replied that he would not, implying "Turn the other cheek".

Note that I said 'former friend'. He is at the most a liar, and at least selfish in his negligence in duty to his community.  But then he's a Progressive and lies with impunity; probably not even realizing it.  And whoever is preaching in his church that he claims to attend every Sunday does not understand the Bible.
So let's look at this and decide who is absurd and who is 'correct':

 Note that Ventura was not prepared for the question regarding Western Europe or he COULD have pointed to the 'Lethal Weapon' Assault rate. Where there is not so large a difference.
I'm selfish, too. I don't care for doing my part to protect my friends and neighbors, so I still don't have a firearm handy.  But I will support the rights of others to do so and place my trust in them to manage them responsibly.. and without registering with the federal government.
Anti-Gun Conspiracy?  No!
There is no need for a 'conspiracy' when there is a well established narrative promoted by those who have never had to live in the 'Real World'.And you know what I'm talking about.
In the halls of academia, talking and verbalizing is the same as 'doing'.  And if the dialog becomes too contentious, then the majority of voices tries to still the lesser viewpoint.  Reason is based on 'the obvious' postulated by those who have been in the classroom all their lives.  Thus we have Freedom to Follow, instead of freedom of belief.

And of course, the least must be protected and managed by taking away the right of the majority, even if they have proven beyond doubt to be responsible.
It's time for us to give up on the 'reasoned' approach to dialog and start doing as Progressives do.. there are not TWO versions of the truth.  Twisted fact and narrative is an intentional lie, even if the speaker does not realize it.
Lies of the Progressive Hive-Mind: 
Young Gun Expert Pictured in Rolling Stone: ‘Inaccurate, Biased Article’
Note that the evocative opinion-twister didn't even bother to find and ask the subject.

and..
the current storm over a mush head from MSNBC, parroting her academic based reasoning to advocate the community taking over the kids from the wrong-headed influence of their parents:

MSNBC Host Elaborates on Her Claim That Children Don't Belong to Their Parents

 Her points are well-taken, and they are prima-facie correct.  What she doesn;t seem to understand is that we have learned to see beyond the 'facts' and look at the extrapolation of it.  We already consign our kids to the public education system where their young skulls full of mush are subjected to the whims and whimsies of those with no experience in real life business, economic, or survival situations.   And where the 'safety net' is so broad that the young are raised to believe that their success depends on 'Big Brother' in Washington, rather than their own ambitions and initiatives. 

In that, we have all failed as a 'village'.
 
But I ask you to consider my opening story.  I was raised to be independent. When I saw that my hunting might put someone in danger, I made a decision. It wasn't made FOR me. When I elected not to be a gun-owner, it was my decision.  And, for the moment, it still is my decision.  
Are you going to tell me that I am smarter than most people?  
If so, pay attention to my other opinions!
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