Gun restrictions could hurt hunters

Now that Christmas is past, I’ve decided to comment about the shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Like everyone else, I am saddened by what happened there, but I am not surprised or even shocked.

Is this my country?

Do you remember the Truman Capote book In Cold Blood about the 1959 farm house murders in Kansas? Or the Tate LaBianca murders 10 years later?

Since then, cold blooded murders of completely innocent people by madmen have accelerated at about the same pace as our culture has declined.

In my youth, killers didn’t shoot up crowds of innocent people in theaters, military mess halls or classrooms. Most of the massacres we heard about then were committed by gangs who used Tommy guns to kill off their rivals.

Unless you were involved with alcohol, gambling or prostitution, you felt reasonably safe even with Bonnie and Clyde on the loose.

Not anymore.

Is this your country?

For whatever reason, and I can propose many, we have too many people who simply don’t value life. They are crazy nuts who happen to have access to guns.

When they decide to pull the trigger, they will kill or maim whomever happens to be in front of the barrel.

We can’t stop these whackos by banning guns or by taking aim at so-called assault rifles or clips that hold dozens of rounds. Guns don’t kill people. People kill people and such killers must willingly pull the trigger multiple times to kill as many as Adam Lanza did in Newtown, Conn.

Had Lanza seen a black and white in front of Sandy Hook Elementary that day, I dare say he would have put on the brakes.

We all do it, don’t we?

The mere sight of a Highway Patrol car causes everyone to slow down. Yet, the gun haters among us claim having armed officers or even armed teachers in schools will only cause more harm. The lawmen of the Old West would laugh themselves silly at such a claim.

According to CBS News on Dec. 21, Lanza was a computer geek who loved to play violent video games. He acted extremely weird in high school and rarely spoke to his classmates.

Is this not the kind of nut job for which we should be on guard? Of course, but our progressive leaders would call that profiling, wouldn’t they?

Instead, they call for more gun controls, as if all those laws they have passed over the last half century have done any good.

Why so many Adam Lanza’s in today’s headlines? The answer is clear. Our culture has changed dramatically.

This kind of incident wasn’t happening in this country 100 years ago. People had too much to live for back then. They valued life and they respected themselves and others. Their lives had purpose. Living held a promise of hope and prosperity and the freedom to pursue their dreams. And killers were executed promptly.

Contrast that with today’s culture and it becomes obvious why we have crazy people who will pull the trigger on first-graders.We’ve lost our moral compass!

Worse yet, what does the future hold for many of today’s youth? Is the future a smarter phone, a more exciting video game or a more violent movie? Is it a broken home, a single parent or no successful grandparents to set an example?

Today’s youngsters also face massive debt they didn’t run up, runaway inflation they didn’t cause and few exciting careers, let alone jobs.

Get real! There’s really only one viable employer in too many places: The government.

That’s not much of a future, but those in power got into power by feasting on the decay of our culture. They will be the last to admit we need a cultural about-face.

Does this kind of government deserve our allegiance?

Now we’ve come full circle; our welfare state is bankrupt. The freebies are about to run out. When they do, the crime committed by Lanza will pale in comparison to what the mobs will do to the rest of us.

To combat such a wave of crimes we will need an armed citizenry, a hastily trained militia if need be, composed of dedicated and brave men and women ready to protect their Concords. The mere presence of arms already in those hands is our best deterrent.

If, as the Founding Fathers predicted, we need weapons to defend ourselves from outside invaders or a government grown oppressive, then we must be ready to fight any tyrant who would enslave us. Otherwise, all we’ll be is men without a country.

Until next time, I hope you have the wind in your face if you have a rifle in your hands or at your back if you’re trying to cast a fly.