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| Edmund Burke, painted 1767-1769 by Joshua Reynolds. |
I have had two firearms instructors. One trained me to use a handgun before I received my concealed weapons permit, and he reviewed proper rifle use with me. He also taught me the legalities of our state, and called my attention to some of the pitfalls in home defense law. The next instructor taught home defense, refined some of my skills, and refined some of the legal aspects of carrying and actually using a concealed weapon, if it ever becomes necessary. The first man is decidedly an "under the wire" kind of guy. He believed that no one should know that I carry a concealed weapon. He thought I should shoot only at his range so my neighbors wouldn't know I had firearms. The second instructor is much more NRA. He gives out the bumper stickers, the buttons, and had the largest area radio station do a remote broadcast with prizes from his training establishment. He believes that people who are pro Second Amendment need to be loud and clear about it, and make sure that our politicians know it too.
This leaves me in a difficult position. I believe fully and completely in Second Amendment rights, not just because I think I ought to be able to kill a rabid wild animal on my farm when it's necessary, but because I don't believe that our system of government will last, without the people themselves being armed. Any invading force, the Chinese, the Russians or anyone else would have a hard time taking most of the United States with its citizenry armed as is presently. However, the Obama regime with its penchant for keeping records on its opposition and for punishing them at their convenience makes some people who want to join the NRA express fear in doing so. I can't tell any of you what to do. I know only that in the words of Edmund Burke, the British author, statesman and orator,
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
So, all I can do, is speak what I believe to be truth while I sit here somewhere between staying under the wire, and shouting over it. Some days, it feels more like I am tripping over it.
