By Dan Shea
Rush Limbaugh has stated that he “Loves it when the liberals are out of power, because that is when they act the looniest”, or some variation of those words. He has it spot on- and we are seeing the results.
Fortunately, for those of us with an understanding of the Constitutionally guaranteed Rights that we have, we also understand how easily they can come under assault- and be lost- many times due to the Madness of Crowds. So we are watching the treeline, looking for movement. While this might lead to some false alarms, it also leads to a warning about what might be coming.
The Loony thing I am speaking about is the recent assault on the Hiram Maxim Historical Society’s Machine Gun Shoot and Gun Show up in Maine. Today I learned that a small group of women in Maine, calling themselves the “Million Mom March”, is calling for the end of this event. Their “Logic” is that this must be stopped “For the children”. Of course.
The left knows a lot of catchphrases, all of which assume that the American people are a bunch of mindless sheep without the ability to think for themselves.
The “Children” will grow up to be adults. These same adults build countries, defend those countries, protect their families, build businesses, and do good works. Some will certainly go “Bad”, but judging from past generations, the ones who were raised with a healthy interest in firearms, military history, and shooting, inevitably grow up to be strong, reliable people.
With all the talk lately of the “Greatest Generation”, revering those who fought World War II and the society that sacrificed and supported them, it seems disingenuous to leave out the fact that these freedom fighters were with few exception- lovers of firearms. They were raised shooting squirrels for stew or tails to hang on their hats like Dan’l Boone. They watched Cowboy movies. Cops n’ Robbers, Cowboys and Indians. Guns were an indistinguishable part of their upbringing. If they could see our modern concerns, our politically correct world would seem a bizarre parody to them.
Certainly you will find some who never touched a firearm, or after the war couldn’t or wouldn’t go around firearms. However, the vast majority of the men who fought, brought home shared values, and one of those was passing on to future generations the freedom that they had preserved through sacrifice.
That freedom is seen at many shooting matches around the United States. We are not alone. The French have a horrible time accomplishing firearms registration as do many other European countries- there are still many old men and women who have Sten guns hidden in the floorboards- they remember when they were invaded. They work to pass on the knowledge to their children.
While the popular culture says that “Guns are Bad”, “Guns kill People”, “Guns are scary”, what is going on in the heartland is very different. While a few misguided liberal activists can “Make a difference” by starting fax trees and using social positions to effect a loss of liberty, we can do so as well to preserve it. The “Million Moms” are usually not “Moms”, nor are they in the “Millions”. Generally they are savvy social activists, who have deeper agendas than gun control. Some few would qualify, but most are virtually professional left wing activists- I don’t know who to attribute this quote to, but it is also spot on: “They call themselves the Grassroots, but they are more like Astroturf”.
More importantly, while they are “Visualizing Whirled Peas”, and teaching kids to “Grok” with their feelings, we can take a kid to the range and teach them safe, fun shooting sports. We can also keep having safe, family friendly machine gun shoots, where we bring the veterans, historians, and enthusiasts together with the future generations, so they know what Freedom is, where it came from, and how to keep it.
See you at the ‘Creek! – Dan
| This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V5N1 (October 2001) |
