My Rant on the Gun Issue

Ok, I was asked to give my opinion on the issue of guns. Let’s start with the fact that my mother, my aunt and my sister all died at the wrong end of a gun. I am a descendant of the Hatfield and McCoy families. My grandfather’s first cousin was sent to the electric chair in 1917 for a mass shooting. I cannot even begin to count the number of family members throughout history that have been on the wrong end of a gun. And yet when I feel that myself or my child is being threatened the first thing I will reach for is a gun. My family is what I call gun happy nuts. My mother’s favor saying was “don’t talk to your father’s family because they will shoot you as soon as they will look at you.” And my mother’s advice when she taught me how to shoot a gun was, “Never point a gun at someone unless you are planning on killing them.” The sad part is those statements are true.

Now what do I think personally should be done:

A national gun license with the following rules:

• Gun Training with a test
• Background check:         
                  No felony record
                  No domestic violence history
                  No violence toward animals   
                  No issue with correct storage of guns owned-reporting in a timely manner any gun stolen. Correct storage of all guns owned.
• No disability that could cause an issue with the proper usage of a gun. I.e. being blind or violently mentally ill.
• Each gun owned must be registered with a record of rifling of each firearm owned.
• No private resale of guns to third party without doing so by a registered gun sales company.
• You are held legally responsible for your children’s usage of your guns until they turn 21 years of age.

Now I know that these types of laws would upset the gun nuts but it would not take any guns away from law abiding citizens.

Guns are not a God given right! Nowhere in the Bible does it say thou shalt own guns. Nor does it say thou shalt kill thy neighbor.  Anyone that has a problem with these suggests clearly is too stupid to own a gun. Many of these suggestions would keep guns out of the hands of criminals.

Nature Abhors a Vacuum

With the departure of President Obama and the filling of the leadership vacuum of the Republican Party, is our country fated to see the end of our current form of government. Has the pendulum finally swung too far?  

Currently we are facing the possibility of Nuclear War with North Kora. Nothing is being done to attempt to pull our nations back from a war that could have major effects on our population and our environment for generations to come.

The environment is being endangered by a president who has no idea of the damage his policies could cause in the near future. Our country is doing nothing to prepare for major storms and other natural environmental hazards that are being created by global climate change. The damage caused by these events are costing our country larger sums of cash because we are not prepared for them in advance.  Even the wall that the president wants on our southern border could cause serious damage to wild live in that area.

The hate that is being promoted by the current president is causing serious damage in human relationships between individuals in our society. People are fighting and yes even killing others all in the name of culture and politics. Even the church has started to understand that in order to keep the peace they must keep candidates and their supporters away from each other when getting to know how they stand on issues. The fighting never ends within the parties. Some would love to see our society destroyed and replace with an extreme version of their ideal society.  

Hope is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Unity is a fine idea but I question if it is obtainable at this point in history. It is sad to see extreme individuals who would not have been taken seriously in the past rise to power and control both in our party and in our government.