I previously had written an article for this date based on the violence involving guns in our area, in particular Miami Gardens. You will see that soon enough, but as I was preparing it for submission the horror that took place in Orlando came on the news.
By now you have heard many points of view regarding this tragedy and you might guess where my point of view will come from. Let’s begin: Until recently I was a supporter of Donald Trump because, like me, if he thinks it he says it. That all went well with me until he offered his support for the National Rifle Association, a group I have been opposed to for many years. He stands behind the Second Amendment as though this were a very patriotic thing to do in supporting the United States Constitution.
Want to have some fun? Go to http://openSecrets.org and see just how much money is being given to politicians by the NRA so that no legislation goes against them.
I love our Constitution, and even like the original intent, as I see it, of the Second Amendment. That is to be able to raise a well-regulated militia from the citizens allowing us to thwart any possible invasion or attempt to take over our government. It certainly was not made for the likes of Omar Mateen.
By now we all know the story of this nut job who simply was able to walk into a gun store and say “give me one of those,” pointing at a Sig Sauer MCX, similar to the AR15 assault rifle. Those of you not very familiar with guns might say, “big deal,” but I am familiar with this weapon and know that its prime purpose is in its name, and that is ASSAULT RIFLE. Remember that in 1789 when the second amendment was approved, loading and firing a long gun meant pouring powder down the barrel, placing the ball on top and then tamping it down. How many people do you think could be shot before someone did the shooter in? I doubt that our founders anticipated AR15s and AK47s back then.
Do yourself a favor and visit the next gun show in your area. See what they are offering. I saw a 50 cal. sniper rifle available for sale to the public. This weapon can pierce an engine block with ease. They also sell books on converting semi-automatic to full automatic, in other words a machine gun, something hunters really need if they are a terrible shot.
The main purpose of these modern weapons is to allow the military to go out to the field and fire many rounds of ammunition to either kill or suppress members of a violent group such as ISIS. etc. This is not a weapon that you would go hunting with because chances are with its rapid fire configuration you could be killing other hunters rather than your actual target.
Would you keep one under your pillow for self protection? If I should someday lose my mind and decide that a certain class of people deserve to die, I would want to have an AR15 ready to go.
How in blazes was someone as obviously violent as Omar Mateen able to walk into a store, and walk out with this extremely dangerous weapon even though the FBI twice had reason to investigate him for possible terrorist connections? I would guess that anyone could secure this weapon.
Yes, I believe that we have said that we as citizens have a right to protect ourselves, which may involve a weapon of some sort but certainly not like this. I expect to be getting calls and emails from my gunster friends (yes, I have some) telling me that if everyone in that Pulse nightclub were armed the death toll might not have been so large. Yeah, sure! The Donald already has begun spouting this. I have heard it all before, even when proposing “open carry” for kids in school.
Look at some of the news photos of the nightclub and look at the damage this semi-automatic weapon can do without even hitting anyone.
The other thing that concerns me is that this murder, along with many others, are done in the name of Allah or some other god these people worship. Somehow I can’t picture Omar Mateen meeting Allah for the first time and having this god congratulate him on what a wonderful job he did killing 49 innocent people because of his beliefs and then presenting him with 72 Dark Eyed Virgins and an assortment of prepubescent young boys as it is written.
I have been watching this Stephen Hawking program, called Genius, and learned a great deal about where we came from and where we may be going. One thing is for sure, this planet that we are on is but a tiny speck in our Milky Way galaxy and the Milky Way galaxy is just a speck in the overall universe.
Knowing this, I frankly find it hard to believe that there is some big man up in the sky with a long beard and white robes directing all this activity down here on our tiny speck and rewarding those who go about killing his creations. I may be surprised someday when I meet my maker and he is very cool to me because I never killed anyone on his behalf. I have been wrong before, I just don’t remember when!
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