We live in a world where murder has become mainstream and guns have become the center of attention. Mass shootings are on a rise, terrorist use our own weapons against us and the veil of war is very thin globally. When our forefathers had written the constitution they had given the people the right to bare arms under the 2nd amendment. What they probably did not see coming is that the same arms they had given us the right to bare have been used against one another in some of the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. History.
Shootings such as the one that transpired in Las Vegas that killed 58 innocent people injuring 515 concern goers by a deranged 64 year old man. A man that was a millionaire and had no history of mental illness. If you walked into a supermarket and he was buying milk, eggs and bread you would have never known in a million years that this would be the individual who would commit one of the worst shootings in American history. While the government had put a ban on Bump Stocks to satisfy the American people the fact remains that nothing can bring back those that were loss due to another individuals hate.
I can imagine when our forefathers had written the constitution they did so knowing that the arms they granted us could be used for hunting, survival and even to rise against a tyrannic government. During WWII Hitler had taken the guns away from the people because he was aware that if they had them they might rise up against his regime. In many countries warlords, dictators and tyrants have purposely not allowed its citizens the right to bare arms so that they could commit acts of genocide.
Before firearms were even invented weapons have always existed in some way, shape or form. In the medieval times knights and peasants fought with swords, during the revolutionary war muskets, in ancient times spares and in modern times it is guns. While we need to sit down politically and have this discussion gun control in American may sound appeasing but it is a myth not a reality.
Since the Civil War millions of guns have been put in the hands of American Citizens. On a positive note if ever a country were to invade the U.S. no matter where they would invade their would be Americans ready to defend the homeland. No country has as many firearms as the citizens of the United States Of America as a matter in fact being a Nevadan resident guns have become part of the culture here. Everybody at least has one firearm while I know others who own a couple dozen of them.
While some feel guns are responsible for the deaths of there loved ones it is people that kill people. Sure congress can ban firearms entirely but the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. An example of that statement would be with the shooting that transpired Nov. 5th 2017 in Sutherland Springs Texas when a man walked into a church killing 26 men, women and innocent children. If it were not for a good Samaritan who lived near the First Baptist Church who owned a rifle who ended up shooting the suspect causing him to feel it is quite possible that the death toll would have been much higher.
The problem is with gun legislation is that their is absolutely no way to ban, remove or stop every American citizen from owning a firearm. Each year thousands of people are arrested for illegally owning a firearm and that is only a small percentage of black market guns ever apprehended. Outlawing firearms will only lead to a larger black market therefore it will be even more difficult to track them. As a matter in fact if you ban Rifles, Shotguns, Handguns you can bet that a mentally deranged person or terrorist will find another means to commit murderous acts.
A prime example of this would be back on July 14th 2016 when a 31 year old Tunisian drove at a high speed through a crowd at the Promenade Des Anglais in the coastal city of Nice killing 84 people celebrating Bastille Day. If its not a vehicle its a bomb like the one Timothy McVeigh set off with his ammonium nitrate fertilizer and nitro methane truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City April 19, 1995 which killed 168 people injuring over 600. McVeigh was a Gulf War military veteran and did not use a gun to commit his honorific act. While most seem to think that by banning firearms will solve the mass shooting problems it will only lead down a much darker road.
I would be horrified to live in a society where we as US Citizens did not have the right to bare arms. This would mean that if war came to American soil I would not be able to fight those invading my country back. It would mean that if someone were to break into my house holding us at knife point I would have no way to bring down the perpetrator and it would also mean that those with power who were allowed to have firearms would use that to terrorize those without them as Hitler did during WWII.
I have to admit that for a third of my life I been a gun owner as a matter in fact I own quite a few firearms myself. Often I take my son out to the wilderness and we shoot tin cans we have allot of fun. I spend some of that time teaching my loved ones how to use a firearm safely. But we also relish the fact that were able to go up in the mountains of California and have additive security in case a rabid bear were to indulge in making us a meal. Every day I wake up I wake up with my handgun next to me. When I go to the supermarket or even out to dinner somewhere my sidearm is always on me visible for the public to see.
I have been open carrying my handgun now for nearly three years thankfully I have not had to use it. But the way I see it is open carrying is simply doing your civil duty. We live in a paranoid society where some may see anyone carrying a gun as a threat. But in the case of a mass shooting it is up to us as Americans to protect our loved ones including ourselves and anybody who is innocent that is being harmed. Lets face it in the cases of mass shootings by the time law enforcement arrived it was to late death tolls rise and most shooters end up committing suicide by the time they do arrive.
I understand that right now were living in a non partisan country and gun control issues are currently divided. On one end you have the people who want guns simply banned or out of the picture because in theory they feel that this would have saved loved ones. While you have another party of people who are conservative and the second amendment means something to them. Which is those who feel we have a right to bare arms. Regardless of what either party thinks the truth is we live in a violent world where killing is mainstream whether that is via bomb, knife, vehicle or simply a firearm.
Statistically most mass shootings are not committed by those with mental illness but rather those who are methodical and tend to have violent past. In some cases most mass shooters pre meditated the violence before it even happened as they have hundreds of rounds of ammo, multiple guns, escape plans, bullet proof helmets and even vest. In some cases the mass shooters often where tactical gear when a married couple in San Bernardino California on December 2, 2015 opened fired at a Regional Center Christmas Party killing 16 people. The couple had become radicalized online therefore not only was this an act of terrorism but it was a hate crime.
I know that it would be wonderful if we lived in a peaceful utopia where no weapons were ever needed but that is living a lie perhaps even a fantasy. You can only imagine how easy it is to buy a gun like the gangs that get a hold of them on the streets of Chicago. I believe that people who are criminals should never be allowed to own a gun however the issue we are running into when it comes to mass shooters is they have no priors and no order from a judge declaring that an individual is mentally incompetent. So feasibly most individuals in American are able to own a gun and unfortunately their is no way to know how that gun will be used.
We live in a fragile world at anytime war could come to the homeland maybe a gun is all some of us will have. Statistically there are more deaths across the nation in vehicle accidents, drunk driving and drug overdoses then gun deaths. While their is nothing I can possibly say to ease the pain for those who lost loved ones what I can say is that it is up to us to fight back. None of us can ever blame guns but we can blame a mass murderer and how can we prevent this from happening? Simple! We as Americans must exercise our right to open carry and every single time a mass shooter open fires it will be up to us to stop them. Most terrorist and mass shooters target soft targets such as schools, restaurants, parades and even church. What we do not need is a hero but rather those willing to defend our homeland even places that we should not carry a gun in today’s times it is not only a solution but a must!
Over the past few years many have said the reason why mental shootings occur is due to mental illness and that mentally ill people should not own a firearm. While in some cases this is true I know many vets who suffer from PTSD or other disorders and they go hunting for elk as a way to cope with the pain they suffered in war such as a buddy of mine who was in Vietnam who suffers from agent orange. Should he not own a gun to hunt deer with? Should I not own a gun because I suffer from PTSD because many years ago my friend was killed? I mean we live in a society where we think we have all the answers or that by creating more laws that this will stop mass shootings but in fact it will allow more mass shooters to commit more crime because everywhere in America will then be considered a soft target because their will be nobody to stop them!
In Orlando Florida on June 12th 2016 a man entered a nightclub killing 48 people and wounding 58. The individual was a terrorist but also this was a hate crime against those that were gay since the nightclub was for lesbians and gays to mingle. Sadly those having a good time had there lives abruptly end as the shooter went into the bathrooms opening stalls killing his victims. Not one person made an attempt to stop him and by the time law enforcement had tried it was already to late. Hate is evil and it comes in every form guns is not the discussion in American we need to address. What the issue really is perhaps is hate whether that is against religion, sex, color or personal beliefs it exist everywhere and until we can solve it evil will continue to thrive in America.
In some cases some mass shootings were due to the carelessness of the gun owner. Lets face it humans make mistakes we might run a stop sign or in some cases not secure our firearms. Does this mean that parents should not own firearms because Adam Lanza’s mother did not appropriately lock them up? Lanza had serious mental health issues where he ended up murdering his own mother then moved on to a elementary school in Newtown Connecticut where he killed 28 children and teachers. Lanza was not a gun owner but his mother was therefore even if a ban was placed on denying guns to the mentally ill in most cases those individuals end up using a firearm that a relative owns. How do we stop that? Banning guns entirely nor gun control would have never stopped this from happening even if believe it would.
In 1966 over fifty years from today 18 innocent lives were taken which includes the shooter which became known as the University of Texas Tower shooting. Nobody knew the motive except that authorities believed Charles Whitman was mentally ill till later a brain tumor was found in his brain which could have attributed to his irrational behavior which led to this mass shooting. In other cases a man in Killeen Texas in 1991 killed 23 women and those who were considered an ethnic minority at Luby’s Cafeteria. This was considered an act of hate nothing more nothing less. If individual would have been denied a gun it is more then likely he would have ended up kill women and minorities using another method or possibly even becoming a serial killer. Â
In 1986 14 postal employees were killed including the shooter when a postman was reprimanded by his supervisor. He was seeking revenge so he came back with a gun and as the phrase goes “Going Postal” is where it derived. A government employee committed a mass shooting which was an individual with no mental illness, criminal background and at the time they purchased a gun they were at the time law abiding. Therefore, would it be a reality to also to ban guns from federal employees such as postal workers for example?
With that being said the more we put it into perspective Gun Control in America is a myth not a reality. We live in a society where there are more laws and government control then anywhere in the world yet not one of those laws has ever stopped hate, violence, murder, theft or rape in America. The only way to stop it is with a rope for those who commit treason against humanity itself. No law, ban or any form of gun control will ever prevent violence as this is not the root of the problem. We as humans are the issue and murder is committed by all walks of life more so then even guns statistically.
We the people may never be able to find a solution as to why or how mass shootings even happen. In some countries this is not an issue in Japan last year only one gun death had occurred. Therefore, we know that mass shootings are more prevalent in American then anywhere else in the world. So perhaps the problem is not firearms but rather we are living in a society that lawmakers are more worried about what we eat or our sexual orientation. Meanwhile, the government has lost firmness that the death penalty has nearly been eradicated therefore those that harm children, rapist, kidnappers, mass shooters and murderers now get life in prison instead of being hung. This is not a gun issue it is rather failures by the government to get a hold on hate and crime as a whole.
Being a fellow Nevadan I study allot of wild western history and back in the day every single citizen carried a side arm. Mass shootings did not occur because those that would even dare try were dead before they could do any serious harm thanks to the good citizens who took pride in their towns and were doing there civil duty. Most boom towns in the west did not waste time putting shooters in prison where the American people were taxed just to feed, cloth and provide that prisoner with warmth. Instead you were walked up a hill and sent to the gallows. Hanging and death by shooting put fear into most men therefore statistically mass shootings and crime was not a serious issue as it is in today’s modern times.
Unfortunately you nor I will ever have all the answers except that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy. We must take our country back were at war not just with mass shooters but those who have committed less then human acts of evil. We can not allow this to continue to happen nor will laws change the mind of a murderer. Sadly, more then likely good gun owners will be punished some might even lose the very firearm that might end up stopping a mass shooter in the future. Living in a world without firearms is terrifying knowing that at any time we as Americans could face tyranny caused by another invading country or even from the very country we have sought to protect for over 250 years!
Which brings me to another story about my years of open carrying I have found out that most people thank me. A lady once chased me through the grocery store and I had no idea what it is she wanted from me. But she said to me can I shake your hand and I said to her sure but can I ask why. She said to me I want to thank you for open carrying and having the courage to do your civil duty. She told me that she felt safer knowing that another citizen is carrying a firearm to protect everyone.
Despite those that shun me many actually spend their time shaking my hand and thanking me. I have never hid my gun and always made it available for everyone to see. Generally, in the case of most crimes or even mass shooters the shooter always hides their firearms because they do not want to get caught by law enforcement or want to commit a crime with the element of surprise. Those that open carry would not do so if they were robbing a gas station or looking to cause someone harm. I refuse to be shot on the sidewalk or while dining out with my family. No innocent person deserves to live there life and be harmed for absolutely no reason.
I know their is nothing I can say to the victims of the mass shootings but I know that their is something all of us can do and that is exercise our second amendment rights. If we are going to change the outcome we must take action into our own hands which is what our forefathers would have wanted. Tyranny comes in many forms and evil has many faces. Where do we begin? How do we stop it?
I know gun control will not alleviate the situation therefore it is merely a myth not a reality that half of our nation believes is the main issue. Owning firearms is a god given civil right and the only judgement that should be passed on is those who abuse them. It would be a moral sin to take away the only thing that in today’s time that protects law abiding citizens! Yes we need to have the conversation but its not about guns it is about what can we do to stop violence, hate and terrorism in America? If we can solve those issues we can live in a free America one without fear or loss!
Lord Rick Rowe
Editor & Chief
