[The following was posted on Facebook on January 2, 2013, and I received permission from the person who posted on behalf of the author to repost it here.]
(Author unknown)
I have been a shooter and hunter practically all of my life. I got my first BB gun long gun at five years old, my first BB gun hand gun and my first .22 rifle at six years old, and my first shotgun at seven years old. I was raised in a family of sports men and women that was all about the outdoors. I progressed from gun safety, to target shooting, to hunting, to various forms of competition, to tactical training, to being a Civilian trainer, then to being a Tier One Civilian/LEO/Military Tactical Trainer for one of the top Tactical Training companies in the world.
I have spent forty six years in the shooting sports and the one thing that I simply could never understand is the fact that gun owners are their own worst enemies. In those forty six years the amount of elitism, prejudice, and backstabbing that I have witnessed makes me embarrassed to be part of a group of people that are so intentionally divisive. The vast majority of gun owners that I have met tend to divide themselves into groups and then latch on to the fallacy that somehow their chosen group is better than all of the other gun owners groups. It is one thing to be proud of what you do as a gun owner (pride), but it is an entirely different thing to look down your nose and talk smack about other gun owners that did not gravitate to the exact same form of “pursuit of happiness” that you did (arrogance.)
First and foremost, being a gun owner is a God given right. Every person has the God given right to protect themselves, their loved ones, and innocence from the evils of this world, with the best tools to be able to match the level of evil that is directed towards them. This is not a right given from one man to another! It is not a right to be judge by anyone except for the person that has prioritized their own responsibilities. This is not a right extended to a man by his government. That inalienable right is either substantiated or refused to be recognized by the government. Refusal to recognize does not overcome the fact that it is a God given right that comes from a much higher authority than the authority of men.
Second, being a gun owner is something that is substantiated by the United States government. They saw it as being so important that it is the Second Amendment of the Constitution. The right to bear arms was put into place as a form of “checks and balances” to protect the people from a tyrannical government. There is zero doubt on the intent of this. This has never been about “hunting heritage” or “sporting guns.” It is about putting in place a method of keeping those in power from trying to grab too much power. It is about protecting the very core principles of what the USA was originally founded on.
When we look at these two key points, where is the room, the reason, or the common sense to have gun owners infighting over such ridiculous things as “my chosen opinion on gun ownership is better than your chosen opinion on gun ownership?”
“My sport is better than your sport.”
“My hunting rifle is better than your handgun.”
“My target shooting is better than your tactical training.”
“I don’t know why anyone needs a handgun, those are just for killing people.”
“Sporting firearms are better than self defense firearms.”
“Hunting is the only purpose for a firearm.”
“Hunting is wrong.”
The lists of divisive comments just goes on and on!
The elitism, the arrogance, the ignorance, the prejudice, and the divisiveness is absolutely revolting! Yet, we see it all of the time and we cannot even stop ourselves from doing it even when we are headed down the very same road as Australia and England. These are countries that experienced the “divide and conquer” tactics used against gun owners. Are we so blinded by our biases that we cannot look to the facts of history and stand up and declare that “you are not going to do that to us!”
But no, we have gun owners backstabbing gun owners. We have gun owners tossing sacrificial lambs into a sea of fire in forms of appeasement. All of this done hoping that “if we give them somebody else’s guns, they will not come after mine.” Coward! “I do not know why anyone needs a standard capacity magazine!” Traitor! “I do not know why anyone would need an Assault Rifle.” Turncoat! I do not need them! It is my right to have them. It is a right given to me by God and is substantiated by the US Constitution. How can I protect myself and my loved ones at the level that I want, if the evil of the world has better armaments than I?
Yes I know, they are going to come after the weapons of guys like me first. Yes, I am asking you to look past your prejudice and help me keep what is mine in the eyes of God and the USA. But who are guys like me? I am a guy that has witnessed much violence and evil. I am a guy who has lost loved ones to violence and evil. I am a guy who has used the tools of death to save loved ones from violence and evil. I am a guy who fought his way out of the gutter to make sure that my children never have to do the things that I had to do. I am a guy who learned to be as deadly as he could possibly be because I know that if I am called on again…….I will be in the fight again. I am a guy that teaches this stuff to other people who find themselves in need of those type of skills. I am a guy who teaches good guys to be as deadly as they can possibly be, whether they are Civilian/LEO/Military. Some people say that what I teach is wrong. It is my belief that what I teach is as right as anything can possibly be. It is a God given right to be able to protect yourself, your loved ones, and the innocent from the evils of this world.
If you have never had to deal with the evils of this world……..God bless you…….I sincerely hope that you never do. “You do not know what you do not know” is a term that I use all of the time and if you have never had to fight for your life or that of somebody that you love, try to imagine what that must be like. Try to imagine, without ego, how good you would really like to be? How good of a weapon system would you really like to have?
If you still think, as a gun owner, that your chosen sport, hobby, activity, or method of “pursuit of happiness” is better than what I do, then I seriously question the type of person that you are and the amount of love that is in your heart.
We are at the beginning of a very long fight. Make no mistake, the Socialists that are in power right now want you to be disarmed. Their strategy will be to “divide and conquer.” If you sit back and do nothing right now, or even worse, if you back stab guys like me, when they are done with guys like me, they are going to move onto the next group of gun owners. If you do not think that your gun is going to be targeted, you are wrong. Look to the history in England and Australia.
If you think that you are above all of this……..you are wrong!
Jere Moore has been blogging about political matters since 2008. His posts include commentary about current news items, conservative opinion pieces, satirical articles, stories that illustrate conservative principles, and posts about history, rights, and economics.