Freedom is
not free. Freedom comes with a
price. Living in a military town
the immediate price that comes to mind is the price paid by those who place
themselves in harms way to secure that freedom. I am eternally grateful for their sacrifice.
Freedom comes
with other price’s to be paid. For instance, my freedom of expression comes at
the price of enduring someone else’s freedom of expression. Freedom of religion
means that the price is others will practice religion in accordance with their
beliefs.
This
morning I picked up a facebook stream from my friend Jimmy Hagar regarding the
President’s upcoming speech regarding gun control. Jimmy made it clear that his comments were open and able to
be shared. I have chosen to share
them in this manner because I want to highlight a dangerous precedent that
could potentially be set in these next days.
*From
Facebook:
On
the eve of the President's big speech on gun control at 11:45 tomorrow morning
I want to make one last personal opinion statement about gun control. After
this I'm only going to be posting statistics which can be verified by the court
system.
Here
is a fact we in Columbia live with every single day of the year. Not a day goes
by up here that somebody doesn't rob or kill somebody, or hold up some place of
business using a stolen gun. And those are just the ones that either make the
news or get reported to the authorities. But the news has at least one a day.
Here's
another fact some people will find very difficult to believe: Most violent
crime in the Columbia area is vanity related. It's all about being a big shot,
a tough guy, a gangster. Hang with me on this.
Here
is another fact. Nobody, not one soul, who robs a store, home, car, bank or
holds up someone at gun point in a parking lot, rest area, or bank drive
through or on a street, or walks into a bank with a gun, is committing these
crimes because they need money to put food on a table or feed their hungry
children or because they are on the verge of starving unless they rob you or
somebody else. Not one, not a single solitary act of armed robbery in South
Carolina over the last year has been proven to be or even linked to a
"basic human need" related issue. Why? Because all that stuff is free
for the asking. Not one person charged with a violent or gun related crime has
claimed hunger or homelessness as a part of their defense. It is all vanity/
When
a person gets robbed in Columbia these days it is for one of only four reasons:
1.
So the robber can buy drugs, then go home, get high and play video games (which
means he has to win the game to be considered cool in front of his friends) and
they play until he runs out of dope or money or both, then they just go out and
hit another home or car or store and do the same thing day in and day out or
until they get caught. These are the juvenile idiots.
Or
2. So they can dress up and go down to the strip club, and stroll into that
club like gangsters and act like big shots while stylin' and profilin' and
shooting off their mouths in a cheap polyester imitation of a copy of a shadow
of their version of their favorite video role model. These are the ones between
18 and 27
Or
3. If they are too old to be staying home playing video games, and have access
to a car, they can take your money, or sell your belongings to get the money
they need, so they can act cool enough and act bad enough in front of their
friends, by flashing your money down to the nightclub, or over at the crib, so
they might actually possibly get laid by some girl who is so impressed with the
money they stole from you she just can't say no regardless of how ugly the dude
is. This time. These are the ones who are between 25 and 35. The average age of
an armed robber in South Carolina between 18 and 20.
Or
4. They owe their supplier more money than they have on them because they spent
too much acting cool and being a bad ass down to the club where the stripper
hustled them out of that fat roll they were either too drunk or too high to
keep up with and now they have come up with the cash or get whacked.
That's
it. Four vanity related reasons, account for 99.9% of all robberies in
Columbia. Violent crime in our city happens everyday for one or more of those
four reasons. You won't find these stats on any web site. You get these stats
from talking to the public defenders and lawyers assigned to defend or
prosecute them.
I
would love for someone out there to tell me I'm wrong, but I doubt very
seriously anyone will. Because the evidence I've gathered in my study of this
epidemic of radical street terror narcissism is everywhere. One need only look
at the court records.
So,
if it's not too much trouble would some anti-gun advocate out there please tell
me why I, as a senior citizen, who can no longer defend myself with my bare
hands against the violent actions of these narcissist gangster hoodlum
wannabes, why I am supposed to give up my personal gun, my only real defense
against a gang of predominately 18+ year old males (there's very seldom only
one and the average is three) who are armed to the teeth when they break in or
try to rob someone, because even they, stupid and ignorant as they are, are not
crazy enough to break into a house or try to rob someone unarmed, why should I
be required to voluntarily disarm myself because some politicians (who are
themselves protected by some of the most heavily armed people on the planet,)
think we would all be safer if people like me were unarmed when everyone but
these idiot gangsters,drug dealers and ignorant narcissistic fools have guns
and nothing to lose by either killing me or beating me half to death.
The
number of elderly victims of violent crime in our area is on the rise yet
again. Seniors in their 80's have been beaten senseless and even killed over a
flat screen tv which was pawned for $200.
Please
tell me how my death at the hands of hoodlums like these will serve anything
even remotely akin to a higher good. I really want to know how many of those
who oppose guns would be willing to lay down their lives in the privacy of
their own homes or see their children, grandchildren or parents or grandparents
become victims of these scum for the sake of providing drug and stripper tip
money to these poor, well fed souls who just can't seem to scrape together
enough self esteem to go out and earn all the "ones" they need to
stick in a g-string while high on blow, or tripping on X and shooting their
mouths off while carrying an illegal loaded gun. Does anyone out there really
think that "please take anything you want, just don't kill me," is a
good defense? If so, why doesn't the President try going out without his
security detail. Why heck, he just gave himself life time secret service
protection. What is the Secret Service armed with? The latest edition of Miss
Manners It's Impolite to Whisper at the Dinner Table? Is it really about curbing
gun violence? Or is it really more about disarming as many law abiding citizens
as possible so the gangsters can rule the streets? Does drug and tip money
really sound like a cause worth dieing for?
Like · · Unfollow Post
5 people
like this.
Tamalyn Lee Is is okay
to share this with "all"?
5 hours ago · Like
Jimmy Hager Share it
with anyone you like. That's why I posted it.
5 hours ago · Like
Tamalyn Lee
Great...thanks!
5 hours ago · Like
Paul
Allen But Jimmy no reasonable person (yeah, the liberals have their
teabaggers too)--no reasonable person I've heard says you give up your gun.
" tell me why I, as a senior citizen, who can no longer defend myself with
my bare hands against the violent actions of these narcissist gangster hoodlum
wannabes, why I am supposed to give up my personal gun, my only real defense
against a gang " Nobody says you're supposed to give it up. That's not
even on the table. Living on the road as I do, and a senior as well, I know I'm
vulnerable, and I do have two guns. Since I'm either usually in my truck or my
camper, I have them within a few feet of me. Neither shoots more than 6 rounds
which is the most you could get off before the shootout is over one way or
another--seconds. If you have an assault rifle, it's probably not leaning on
the couch; it's probably in the closet. "Gangsters" kick your door in
and they are in the room with you before you can put your coffee down. You
don't have a chance of getting at an assault rifle. But to your good argument:
you're arguing against a straw enemy--the issue is not about taking away your
protection or your hunting weapon.
5 hours ago · Like · 1
Jared Jackson No one
in Washington is looking to take away your outdated right to protect yourself
with a gun(unless you are trying to protect yourself with an ak-47 with a 30
round clip).
2 hours ago via mobile · Like
Timothy Byler @ Jared
- or do you mean, "No one in Washington is looking to take away your
outdated right to protect yourself with a gun..." TODAY?!? An age-old
adage in life and in Washington is that you eat an elephant one bite at a time.
This issue is not about automatic weapons. It is a bite out of fundamental
rights long established for our country. This bite sets a precedent that will
allow for another bite, then another, them another. If the rule of law
antiquates the right to bear arms, the precedent set can later antiquate the
right to freedom of speech, or expression...or religion. The issue is not guns
but control. Laws have not stemmed the tide of said illegal weapons from
entering our borders through cartels. Those criminals will as always find a
way. Other criminals choosing to be armed will simply find new sources. They do
not care about the law now and won't care about this one. This law will not
disarm criminals. It will only drive the more determined criminals into the
hands of organized criminals. All the while, our freedoms are stripped from us
one bite at a time.
42 minutes ago via mobile · Like
Doug Nelson I still
maintain that 99.9 percent of gun owners are not involved in gun violence. The
guns are already out there and a buyback by the gov't. is not on the table with
an estimated 300 million guns in America. Tighten up the reg's on gun show
purchases, background checks, etc. but focus on mental health screening and a
vigilant society.
16 minutes ago · Like
Doug Nelson By the
way, I love having a reasonable discussion about this since my views continue
to evolve and listening to intelligent pov's of others is helpful.
5 minutes ago · Like
This is a debate that will obviously continue and as you
look to what fellow fb’ers posted, you get the idea of the thoughts people are
considering surrounding this issue.
My blog, so my point gets priority…
I am greatly concerned about what happens when those who we
elected to govern our land take it upon themselves to render useless the very
foundation of that governing.
The attack on gun owners is an attack on the law, not on
those who own a gun. Those who own
a gun for the purpose of violating the law and the rights of others already
have no respect for the law. They will find other means to acquire the weapon
they want in their hand to perpetuate their crime. The only ones truly affected
by this change will ultimately be those for whom the law currently protects. The law is in place to allow
law-abiding citizens to protect and defend themselves.
Look at the presidential oath of office:
The Oath of Office:
I do
solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of
President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve,
protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Preserve, protect and defend the Constitution that has been
and remains the process of freedom.
To do all within your power to render that Constitution antiquated is to
fail to preserve, protect and defend it.
Worse, if a President takes it upon himself to initiate such changes
through executive order, he violates the very core beliefs that went into the
architecture of that Constitution.
It becomes the beginning of a return to the mindset that people left in
order to form this great nation – or worse…it becomes the beginning of the same
sort of governing structure that served “oh so well” in the Soviet block,
China. Every educated civilization
that has fallen, fell through the corruption of power established by
regulation.
This is a battle about power. It is a battle against
freedom, for it is battle to render “outdated” the freedoms established and
constitutionalized by our founding fathers. It is a battle being waged – in the
name of civility and humanity – but being waged by those who have decided for
themselves that the freedoms that set this country apart from every other are
arrogant, undeserved, unreasonable, and uncontrollable. The day they are able to take one bite
out of the Constitution, they will take steps to take the next bite…and the
next…and the next.
We need to pray for our country. We need to value its
liberty. We also need to guard that liberty with diligence. This is not about
guns. It is about freedom.
Remember that.
