One little, two little, three little gun laws.

Four little, five little, six little guns laws.

Seven little, eight little, nine little gun laws, we have 10,000 gun laws now!

Catchy jingle, huh?

Maybe, but a very sad testament to what was once an America that respected the absolute natural Right of the individual to protect themselves, their families, their communities, and yes, even their country.

For a long time, I would click over to a website that was simply a camera trained on a configuration of steel and wood. I think it was or is called "357.com". I would watch carefully for any sign of movement, maybe I'd be the one to witness the moment when it would jump up and wreck havoc upon the whole of mankind.

No such luck. Darn thing just lay there, unflinching not betraying the horrible inherent evil depravity of its' existence. It never even blinked. After a while, I gave up.

Did you know that there are actually people out there who believe an inanimate object is capable of monstrous atrocity? It's true. These misguided souls have been conned into a very unreasonable fear of firearms and actually believe that the laws of the animate, that is human beings, can in any way affect the harm wrought by their use or misuse. Take a moment, and think about that.

The way firearms are portrayed, you'd think they form little bands and rove the countryside in search of someone upon whom they might inflict harm or injury. This strikes me as so very odd.

The simple fact is that firearms are very much a part of our modern society. Just under half of the homeowners in America admit to having one, or more. How many do you suppose just don't mention it? Rosie O'Donnell maybe, but she's a hypocrite of a different sort. I'm talking about those law-abiding 'normal' peace-loving neighbors of yours who just don't want to be vilified for such ownership, but have resolved to take responsible precautions in case one should be needed, God forbid.

Remember those old Westerns, where the little guy and his gal would walk down the wooden sidewalks of Tucson arm in arm? Do you remember what every man who approached would do when he approached? Why he'd tip his hat of course. Why? Because the firearm on the little guys' hip said, "Don't disrespect the Lady". Hence the phrase, 'an armed society is a polite society', and so it was.

I had the opportunity to lolligag around in a town just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Its called Kennewick. You may have heard of it, it's the town where every home is required to possess a firearm and ammunition (unless the homeowner doesn't want one). You should not pass up any opportunity to go there. It's a comfortable place, where you rarely see an actual piece, but everybody knows they are there..even those of a criminal bent, so they go someplace else to ply their trade. It's simple human nature; criminals are by and large a cowardly lot seeking only to prey on the helpless. I think this is why our public schools have become targets for the homicidal, they know they are the only ones with destructive devices there. Fairly simple stuff.

The Truth is, guns are here to stay, like it or not. If we continue to avoid teaching our children respect for and the safe handling of firearms, what are they going to do when they are playing at their friends' house and one is introduced into the situation? Will they know enough from instinct to walk away? Are you sure? Are you willing to risk it?

These are our children, common sense begs that we teach them not only the safe handling of firearms, but also proficiency in their use. We teach our children to swim even if we don't have a pool, don't we?

I might propose that if we have to have public funded schools, that we might seriously consider requiring a course in riflry at the very least. After all, the 110 children aged 0-14 who the National Health Safety Council reported died in 1998 due to unintentional injury from firearms do count, don't they?

Fact is, we only need one firearms law. How about something like: "No person shall use a firearm for any unlawful act"? And then let a jury decide to what extent violators should be punished.

I'm tellin' ya, if we keep heaping on the guns laws, soon it'll be knives (which are used to kill more people), the ball bats, then who knows, frying pans, rocks?


Barry Hess is an accomplished public speaker, writer and lecturer for the Freedom movement who has spoken in 43 States to date, and is currently a Libertarian candidate for Governor of Arizona. He can be reached by e-mail at, [email protected]

Quoted: Remember those old Westerns, where the little guy and his gal would walk down the wooden sidewalks of Tucson arm in arm? Do you remember what every man who approached would do when he approached? Why he'd tip his hat of course. Why? Because the firearm on the little guys' hip said, "Don't disrespect the Lady". Hence the phrase, 'an armed society is a polite society', and so it was.

He tipped his hat because the director told him to, or the script directed him to. The speaker takes his  cues on American history from movies? TV? Does he think life was the Cartwrights and Matt Dillon and Miss Kitty?

Fact is, we only need one firearms law. How about something like: "No person shall use a firearm for any unlawful act"? And then let a jury decide to what extent violators should be punished.

Wont cut it in the modern 21st century world.
And yeah, I know you borrowed this little speach from someone else. Makes for a great little snippet and great hoo rah from the stage, but life is more than a snippet from a  speech.

Quoted: Quoted: Remember those old Westerns, where the little guy and his gal would walk down the wooden sidewalks of Tucson arm in arm? Do you remember what every man who approached would do when he approached? Why he'd tip his hat of course. Why? Because the firearm on the little guys' hip said, "Don't disrespect the Lady". Hence the phrase, 'an armed society is a polite society', and so it was. He tipped his hat because the director told him to, or the script directed him to. The speaker takes his  cues on American history from movies? TV? Does he think life was the Cartwrights and Matt Dillon and Miss Kitty? Fact is, we only need one firearms law. How about something like: "No person shall use a firearm for any unlawful act"? And then let a jury decide to what extent violators should be punished. Wont cut it in the modern 21st century world. And yeah, I know you borrowed this little speach from someone else. Makes for a great little snippet and great hoo rah from the stage, but life is more than a snippet from a  speech.

Are you saying that since this is the 21 st Century we need more firearm laws than the 20 century. How about the next Century. More firearm laws?????????Keep piling them on until confiscation is that the plan?
How about less firearms laws and more actual enforcement of laws for people who commit crimes with them. Some people can never figure it out that more gun control doesn't necessary mean less crime.
NY gun laws-No thanks

Quoted: Are you saying that since this is the 21 st Century we need more firearm laws than the 20 century. How about the next Century. More firearm laws?????????Keep piling them on until confiscation is that the plan? How about less firearms laws and more actual enforcement of laws for people who commit crimes with them. Some people can never figure it out that more gun control doesn't necessary mean less crime. NY gun laws-No thanks

We are not some third world 18th century nation. We are a closely settled, industrialized, complex society. That sort of arrangement requires laws, and not just in the area of firearms. We are not untamed wildreness where no law exists.

I am all for convicting those who commit crimes with guns. That doesn't mean that we can just do away with all gun laws.

Yes, an armed society IS a polite society.

Dr. Roger McGrath now retired professor of history at UCLA (also a former Marine grunt and pilot) wrote this book describing our frontier society:


In his book he makes the VERY good point that an ARMED society was a very polite society.  Men were gentlemen, to ladies anyway.  Men were pretty polite to each other since a conflict just might escalate into a shootout.

Good read and available on Amazon.  Roger used to require it as a textbook in his California history classes.  

Quoted: Quoted: Are you saying that since this is the 21 st Century we need more firearm laws than the 20 century. How about the next Century. More firearm laws?????????Keep piling them on until confiscation is that the plan? How about less firearms laws and more actual enforcement of laws for people who commit crimes with them. Some people can never figure it out that more gun control doesn't necessary mean less crime. NY gun laws-No thanks

We are not some third world 18th century nation. We are a closely settled, industrialized, complex society. That sort of arrangement requires laws, and not just in the area of firearms. We are not untamed wildreness where no law exists.

I am all for convicting those who commit crimes with guns. That doesn't mean that we can just do away with all gun laws.[/quote
C

Closely settled industrialized society. You ever get out of New York City? Doesn't apply to the part of the country where I come from. We have more guns per ca-pita than New York and one hell of a lot less crime. Keep piling on those gun control laws in New York. I could care less.

You were in the wrong town. It's Kennesaw. (home of TAPCO, by the way)

I had the opportunity to lolligag around in a town just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Its called Kennewick. You may have heard of it, it's the town where every home is required to possess a firearm and ammunition (unless the homeowner doesn't want one). You should not pass up any opportunity to go there. It's a comfortable place, where you rarely see an actual piece, but everybody knows they are there..even those of a criminal bent, so they go someplace else to ply their trade. It's simple human nature; criminals are by and large a cowardly lot seeking only to prey on the helpless. I think this is why our public schools have become targets for the homicidal, they know they are the only ones with destructive devices there. Fairly simple stuff.

You shoulda checked first.

Quoted: You were in the wrong town. It's Kennesaw. (home of TAPCO, by the way) I had the opportunity to lolligag around in a town just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Its called Kennewick. You may have heard of it, it's the town where every home is required to possess a firearm and ammunition (unless the homeowner doesn't want one). You should not pass up any opportunity to go there. It's a comfortable place, where you rarely see an actual piece, but everybody knows they are there..even those of a criminal bent, so they go someplace else to ply their trade. It's simple human nature; criminals are by and large a cowardly lot seeking only to prey on the helpless. I think this is why our public schools have become targets for the homicidal, they know they are the only ones with destructive devices there. Fairly simple stuff. You shoulda checked first.

Good read!!!!!!!!

Yup, Kenewick is in Washington state. Lots of gunonwers there too!

Quoted: Closely settled industrialized society. You ever get out of New York City? Doesn't apply to the part of the country where I come from. We have more guns per ca-pita than New York and one hell of a lot less crime. Keep piling on those gun control laws in New York. I could care less.

I go through NYC MAYBE once every 2 years. The population of the entire country back then would fit into one of our major cities. You have that many people living together, it creates a different social dynamic than when you have a thinly populated country where most people live and die within a days ride of where they were born.

Keep living jammed together with your different social dynamics. I will stay out here with the cattle ,coyotes and my guns.