Bits and Pieces

Open Carry and Concealed Carry: Entering a diner or café, a man wearing a holstered gun makes me nervous. If he (or she) were uniformed, I might rest easy. But the gun toter is not sheathed in a uniform. I have no way to trust his intention or stability. Why does he need a gun? Why didn’t he leave the gun in his vehicle? More to the point, why does he feel it is necessary to have a gun near him at all? Concealed or in the open, the presence of a gun is not protection. It is tragedy waiting to happen. It even is prepared for, on the mind.

Why does Iowa, Texas or any other state need open carry or conceal carry legislation at all?

Voter Suppression Onslaught: The land of the free and the home of the brave. This is the land of freedom, of liberty and where pursuit of happiness is celebrated. Yet the system that guarantees all this is democracy which relies on voters voting.

Apparently, some politicians worry that too many people may not vote for them, or worse, they might vote against them. The solution? Voter suppression legislation. Make it difficult to vote. Discourage people from voting. 

We the people elect representatives to do our work and speak our minds. If they are not doing that, we must remove them. Of course, that means voting them out. If we are not allowed to vote or have unreasonable barriers erected against that action, then the politicians are safe.

What do we do about this? Seems obvious to me. And you?

Mass Shootings: It is catching. One shooting begets another shooting. Killing more than one person in one event is defined as a mass shooting. They beget other mass shootings. This is a behavior. Yes, it often yields to copycat behavior. But one thing is present in all of these shootings – guns. If guns were not present, shootings would not happen. Maybe mass stabbings? Mass bombings? Mass terror by automobile? All of these have occurred but then they are more difficult to pull off. Their numbers are few. But with guns? They are many and the shootings are over the moon in number. What is wrong with this picture that we allow it to go unchecked?

Violence: We are a violent nation. Mass shootings. Guns carried in public. Police authority rebuffed openly. Angry voices in public, demonstrations, on Facebook, in private and public places. Wherever we gather, voices are raised.

It doesn’t take much to move from angry voices to violent action especially if guns are present. More and more guns are present. 340 million guns or more in a nation of 320 million. More than one gun for every man, woman and child. Yet this is not a militia. It is not a well-regulated militia, and yet many believe this is our right – to own and bear arms whenever, wherever we please. The prelude statement in the constitution in Article II is ‘to maintain a regulated militia…’. Enough said. We are not permitted or guaranteed unlimited firepower in our homes or in our barns. Certainly not our cars or covered wagons. A time date is showing. We don’t need a militia today as we did when the constitution was written. We have police, national guard and the military.

Beware, freedom in America evidently does not mean peace of mind or safety. Think about that when you are out and about next time. And when you vote.

April 9, 2021