To put my post into perspective, I want to iclude some background.
My mother is a public school teacher, and my father is pushing his 30 year mark as a police officer. When I was in JH we had would be bank robber with "assault" weapons decide that he wanted to go shooting across town. Hearing that any membe of your family is a part of that type of chase is not fun. Especially in JH. My Dad was fine, and miraculously no one was hit.
However, I am firmly a believer that MANY of our elected officials, especially on the federal level have lost respect for us as a people. As diverse and beautiful as the Melting Pot is. Many of our opinions and thoughts don't matter to them, rather their personal agendas of ideologues.
Guns function more as a deterrent to people in power. When people have weapons available to them for whatever use, they then will be able to do their best to protect themselves from oprression. This is not a new thing, dust off the Bible and read the book of judges. Back then it was taking away swords in order to keep the Israelites under oppressing. They still rose up and fashioned Garden tools into weapons on par to challenge their oppressors.
Last year I had the opportunity to go to Rwanda spend a week in several orphanages there with Children of the genocide.. A whole class of people there was nearly exterminated with the primary weapon being blunt instruments which had been stockpiled by a group of people on par with the Hitler youth. Close to 600k machetes were acquired for the sole purpose of destroying the Tutsi. Father after father was killed unable to protect his family because there was no method or means of protection. Mothers were killed while their children helplessy watched in the bushes trying not to make any noise for fear they might themselves be next.
There were factions within the government as well a civil war peace treaty, and very rough elections. There was a Tutsi Army, but it took a LOT of time for them to gain control and oust the PLANNED genocide ordered by the Hutu govt. The French were stationed there under UN leadership and were DENIED 4000!!!!!!! troops to break up the road blocks and end the genocide. 100 days of Genocide produced somewhere between 500K and 1 million deaths or close to 20% of the population. As it currently stands EVERY single person there lost someone they knew.
I know, some will say "Well, we aren't third world, we are above that as a society." The part that made me the most sick while in country was that it was Belgium who colonized the country. They set up the class warfare by calling everyone with more than 10 cows Tutsis, and everyone with fewer Hutu. Yup, you got it, the whole thing was over social standing set up by a Western power during Europe's colonization of Africa based on cows. Go look up the propaganda used for yourself, Hitler would have been proud.
My plan is not to own what someone would deem as an Assault Weapon for the purpose of mounting an insurrection against my government, or to mow down a police officer. I want it as a deterrent, so they know that their constituents have the ability(not the want JOSE).
Would it have been less bloody in Rwanda if the Tutsi had been armed? I don't know honestly. My guess would be yes, many deaths could have been averted in self defense.
We must be cautious as we enter this debate on the level of contention we allow ourselves to reach. We must be careful overall how we label each other, and not create classes of the armed and unarmed. Weapons in the hands of civilians will be misused, even if its a club or a sharp object. I have been to a place where Children were clubbed, maimed or strategically raped to stop them from producing children.
Let us not in our stupidity divide ourselves to the point where we hate each other or hand over freedoms in such a way that our government no longer respects us as a people.
My mother is a public school teacher, and my father is pushing his 30 year mark as a police officer. When I was in JH we had would be bank robber with "assault" weapons decide that he wanted to go shooting across town. Hearing that any membe of your family is a part of that type of chase is not fun. Especially in JH. My Dad was fine, and miraculously no one was hit.
However, I am firmly a believer that MANY of our elected officials, especially on the federal level have lost respect for us as a people. As diverse and beautiful as the Melting Pot is. Many of our opinions and thoughts don't matter to them, rather their personal agendas of ideologues.
Guns function more as a deterrent to people in power. When people have weapons available to them for whatever use, they then will be able to do their best to protect themselves from oprression. This is not a new thing, dust off the Bible and read the book of judges. Back then it was taking away swords in order to keep the Israelites under oppressing. They still rose up and fashioned Garden tools into weapons on par to challenge their oppressors.
Last year I had the opportunity to go to Rwanda spend a week in several orphanages there with Children of the genocide.. A whole class of people there was nearly exterminated with the primary weapon being blunt instruments which had been stockpiled by a group of people on par with the Hitler youth. Close to 600k machetes were acquired for the sole purpose of destroying the Tutsi. Father after father was killed unable to protect his family because there was no method or means of protection. Mothers were killed while their children helplessy watched in the bushes trying not to make any noise for fear they might themselves be next.
There were factions within the government as well a civil war peace treaty, and very rough elections. There was a Tutsi Army, but it took a LOT of time for them to gain control and oust the PLANNED genocide ordered by the Hutu govt. The French were stationed there under UN leadership and were DENIED 4000!!!!!!! troops to break up the road blocks and end the genocide. 100 days of Genocide produced somewhere between 500K and 1 million deaths or close to 20% of the population. As it currently stands EVERY single person there lost someone they knew.
I know, some will say "Well, we aren't third world, we are above that as a society." The part that made me the most sick while in country was that it was Belgium who colonized the country. They set up the class warfare by calling everyone with more than 10 cows Tutsis, and everyone with fewer Hutu. Yup, you got it, the whole thing was over social standing set up by a Western power during Europe's colonization of Africa based on cows. Go look up the propaganda used for yourself, Hitler would have been proud.
My plan is not to own what someone would deem as an Assault Weapon for the purpose of mounting an insurrection against my government, or to mow down a police officer. I want it as a deterrent, so they know that their constituents have the ability(not the want JOSE).
Would it have been less bloody in Rwanda if the Tutsi had been armed? I don't know honestly. My guess would be yes, many deaths could have been averted in self defense.
We must be cautious as we enter this debate on the level of contention we allow ourselves to reach. We must be careful overall how we label each other, and not create classes of the armed and unarmed. Weapons in the hands of civilians will be misused, even if its a club or a sharp object. I have been to a place where Children were clubbed, maimed or strategically raped to stop them from producing children.
Let us not in our stupidity divide ourselves to the point where we hate each other or hand over freedoms in such a way that our government no longer respects us as a people.
