Like all Americans I was horrified and deeply saddened at the events that unfolded on Friday, a mass shooting at an elementary school that resulted in 28 deaths. 20 of them 6 and 7 year old children.
This kind of unspeakable evil is the worst kind of tragedy to endure, even 3000 miles away, because it is certainly at the top of every parents list of worst nightmare scenarios. As a parent myself I cannot help but have a visceral reaction, a physical revulsion at the details of this mind numbing series of events.
I have prayed every night since the shooting - prayed for the peace of the souls that have passed on and even more so for the permanently damaged souls of those left behind.
I have been awestruck and humbled by the courage displayed by both the teachers who acted heroically to save lives and by some of the parents of killed children who have bravely stepped forward to pay tribute to their fallen angels and comfort a nation.
As a person of faith, I am always reminded in these the darkest of times, of God's love, as the very worst of one person inevitably and quickly brings out the very best of everyone else, regardless of how closely they are connected to whatever atrocity has occurred.
But this time there have been a few exceptions.
I hoped, prayed and even assumed that the media vultures and ghouls that prey on fear and seek to politicize rather than to pause, grieve and reflect would stay their hands for at least the weekend. Unfortunately, in this age of instant information and gratification, I was very wrong.
The shrill cries began almost immediately, both from media outlets and even on my facebook feed. An infantile petulance, like a toddler who doesn't like broccoli - "Guns are nasty and mean and I don't like them - therefore no one should have them!"
Never mind that the number of mass shootings in the US has dropped in half over the past ten years as compared to the 1990's.
Never mind that EVERY SINGLE ONE of these events in the US with the single exception of the Gifford shooting in Tucson has taken place in a "Gun-Free Zone".
Why did the Aurora shooter pick a theater that was farther away from his house than the ones closer to him? Because it was the only theater in the area that banned concealed handguns.
Never mind that the odds of getting caught up in a mass shooting are about the same as being struck by lighting.
Never mind that the worst mass shooting in recent history took place in a country where private citizen ownership of guns is highly restricted to only sport and hunting firearms.
Never mind that the worst mass school killing in US history didn't involve firearms and took place nearly 90 years ago.
Never mind that until last Friday the two worst mass school shootings ever took place in Germany and the U.K.
No, never mind facts, reasoning or logic.
Once again, the liberal brain damage, the regressive infantilism of intellect has broiled to the surface, bubbling over in shrieking absolutisms that have no basis in rational thought.
Where are the highest murder rates in the country? Oh yeah, that would be Chicago and Washington DC, two of the strictest gun controlled cities in the world.
Already I can hear the whining and indignation. Take a breath and untwist your panties.
I'm not saying that gun control shouldn't be part of the national conversation - but get this fact through your head -
You aren't taking our guns. Be they high capacity magazine pistols or semi-automatic assault rifles.
Read, rinse and repeat.
It just isn't going to happen.
Not because we are "crazy" Americans who LOVE our guns. But because we are Americans who understand the fundamentals of history and of freedom.
An armed citizenry is essential to liberty, period.
The first thing the USSR did was disarm the populace.
The first thing the Nazi's did was disarm the populace. The Chinese. The North Koreans. And on and on.
It ain't going to happen here.
"Well by that logic we should all have nuclear war-heads and aircraft carriers!"
Sorry. This is simply stupid. And not true. It wasn't true in Vietnam and it certainly isn't true in the middle east.
If my government decides to run rough shod over my home and family, I can fight back with an AR15. That is a plain fact.
And I speak as a non-gun owner. A child of Berkeley who has never had firearms in his life and had never actually fired a gun until well into his adulthood.
I have never really felt a desire to purchase a firearm, until the last 10 years of my life.
I feel that pressure more and more now, as the childish cries of outrage from the left increase. Mostly from buffoons who surround themselves with gun packing body guards.
If this insane rhetoric about banning hand-guns or high powered rifles starts to look like it's turning into actionable and serious restrictions on firearm ownership, you will quickly see this gun-free flower child in front of you heading to the gun store - without hesitation.
And once I'm armed then you can try to take my guns away.
Just try.
