I Haven't Murdered Anyone

To Bob Costas and the rest of those who are dancing in the blood of the innocent, again.

I didn't murder anyone today. Or yesterday. Or the day before that on back to the day of my birth. And yet I've been a gun owner since my early twenties and handled/fired guns since I was a boy. I will never murder anyone because I'm not an Evil Murderous Bastard.

I have never even been tempted to murder the mother of my child. And yet I have been a gun owner virtually all of our married lives.

I have never been tempted to commit suicide with one of my guns in spite of some difficult times in my life. Shooting yourself in front of witnesses says a lot about their mindset and precious little about the solutions to mental illness and depression. I have handled such scenes in my professional life and they always left me with the firm conviction that they were more about the narcissism of the suicide than their inner turmoil. My mother committed suicide with a gun but I don't blame the tool and I don't blame society. I understand that choices are personal and the responsibility for those choices resides with the individual.

I have used a gun in my professional life to defend my life and the lives of others. Without having to fire a shot as it turned out. Yet the very presence of my gun and my willingness to use it has de-escalated more than one violent encounter. Multiply that by a few million times and you get an idea of the value of an armed society.

I have never murdered anyone and yet have seen many in my life. Most were committed by means other than a firearm and yet all were horrific, violent and tragic. The presence or lack of a gun means nothing. Dead is dead.

I have never committed violence against my wife or child and yet I saw it virtually every day of my professional life. Almost exclusively perpetrated by men. That doesn't mean all men are violent brutes but it does mean that if you're a woman or a child and the man in your life decides to become violent with you your chances of being hurt or killed are lessened if you have the means to defend yourself and guaranteed if you don't. Kindly spare me the woman beats up man anecdotes. They are the exception not the rule.

Evil walks the face of the Earth and it takes many forms. Even that of a supposed loved one. Murder is evil. Period. A woman is dead, her child orphaned and her murderer dead by his own hand in front of witnesses who had at least friendly feelings toward him. That makes the murderer (I for one refuse to utter his name anywhere) Evil. I keep hearing tragic and sad and 'in his memory' but what I'm not hearing is Monster and Murderer and 'screw that evil bastard'. Why is that? Because a gun was used. Dead is dead and murder is murder. It's the intent and the result, not the weapon.

Many objects can be used to commit evil or good but that depends wholly on the intentions of the person doing the committing. It is not my fault nor the fault of any other law abiding gun owner what the evil ones do with a gun. Just like it's not every motorists fault what an Evil Bastard tanked up on legal intoxicants does behind the wheel of a 4000 pound ground missile.

I keep hearing the gun control activists say some variation of the theme that for the greater good of society we need to give up on the idea of individual liberty and hence the Second Amendment. That the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. It's the survival of the state and not the individual. That may be arguably correct but it's certainly 180 degrees out of phase with reality. If logic were followed and the needs of the many were actually the desired result then every adult would be required to go around armed because such societies, as new studies are constantly showing, are safer for everyone, especially the weakest members. If more CCWs means less crime then if we were truly a logical and caring society, shooting and gun handling would be taught in school and permits would be unnecessary because open and concealed carry would be expected and encouraged. Even societally mandated.

There is no such thing as a gun culture. That's just jargon invented by folks who believe that no one really has a right to Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness. It's a buzz phrase used by ignorant journalists to cover for the fact that they're too lazy or too prejudiced to do any real investigation. There is a Self Defense and Constitutional Rights culture. They're called normal, everyday Americans. 

I didn't murder anyone. Where are the lurid headlines? I have guns and ammunition and shooting skills and yet no one cares that I did not shoot anyone. I'm a lawful, tax paying, gun owning citizen. When is my interview? I'll even wear a suit.

My right to possess and carry a gun isn't dependent on what anyone else has done with one. I am an individual not a statistical member of a demographic subset.

The NRA isn't the KKK but if you want to point that particular finger liberal Democrats are definitely close family. If you don't believe me then talk to poor blacks living in inner city gun free zones and ask them about their quality of life. Try Chicago first. The NRA wants to empower everyone and acknowledge their individuality and basic human rights. The Liberal KKK wants everyone to live in shooting galleries where the only ones with guns are the criminals and the state who, heroic individual members notwithstanding, has no duty to protect anyone. Do an internet search for Woodrow Wilson, Orval Faubus or George Wallace some time if you want to see who the real racists are and understand that gun control is just another word for people control.  The modern progressive is nothing more than Wilson with an I-Pad and a Prius.

I haven't murdered anyone and it's not because my guns are somehow nicer than other peoples. They're not possessed by some magical pixies who are warm and fuzzy as opposed to the magical pixies inhabiting other guns that are dark and violent. It's because I'm not an evil murderous bastard. That's why.

Evil  murderous bastards are everywhere and they always will be. No law, no War On Evil Bastards will ever change that. It's as much a part of human nature as Heroism in the face of danger. Evil bastards are evil and in most cases nothing but death will ever cure them of that particular malady. It's not the gun that kills, it's the evil bastard who wields it who kills. Just like they kill with hands, cars, knives, frigging bathtubs and most anything you care to name off. Anyone who wants to engage me in a gun control debate can start by acknowledging that fact and go from there. Otherwise there is nothing to discuss.

Please stop celebrating the Evil Bastards and using each and every instance of their murderous insanity to push your Collectivist, Progressive, Hive Minded agenda. It's offensive and only serves to convince me and others like me that your real goal ends in chains and death for the bulk of mankind while you continue to live in palaces, surrounded by security denied to the rest of us.

I see no real difference between those who commit atrocities and those who use them for their own political purposes. Both of you are Evil Bastards.

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