Guns at Town Halls?

Clearly Politics

As a big adjunct to the health care debate, surprisingly another issue has arisen-- guns in public places. Why would someone wear a gun on their hip at a public meeting-- most especially an AK-47? They expect they might have to shoot someone? They fear someone might try to shoot them? They have a problem with self-worth and a gun makes them feel important? They want to intimidate others?

Our country was born in violence and the use of weapons has been a major part of its history with more than a few presidents shot at or even killed by a mad citizen with a gun. There is a kind of weird pride that many Americans feel at that violent history. Huge arguments arise regarding the exact meaning of the Second Amendment in our Constitution. Fear of sex in a television show trumps any fear of violence. Sometimes violent solutions to disagreements seem to be praised.

It is obvious nobody needs an assault rifle at a town hall meeting. A gun is not a toy. It's not an ego enhancer. It's a tool to kill, and it should never be carried or used lightly. Anyone who would swagger around with one has a problem that already has me worried.

This whole debate has revealed a nastiness in our people that, even at my age, has amazed me especially if it's really about medical care. Listening to Republican lawmakers justify the orneriness, the carrying of guns into public meetings, doesn't make me think they deserve leadership again ever. I don't know what has gone wrong in our country. Some people say it's the most rage they have ever seen.

Well, it's not if you are old enough. Trying to end segregation, trying to get Civil Rights for all Americans, that led to not only rage but murders, and my fear is this could also. The Vietnam War also led to violent demonstrations.

Whatever else our democracy should have learned from the many violent events in our past is you can't let mobs rule, but we are being threatened in this nation by a revolt of a physical nature because a certain group of citizens don't like who we elected president.

All it Lacks is a Spark-- Officials see rise in militia groups across US.

I am sure a few of you think, wow, great idea. Well think again. When Timothy McVey bombed the Oklahoma federal building, he didn't care who was inside or what political persuasion they had followed. He killed small children because he had a greater agenda. When militias turn violent, they are homegrown terrorists, the kind Homeland Security was forced to back down from warning were becoming a potential risk. If you read the above link and a lot more like it in the news, you see the warning was right-on.

Basically when the killer (and others like him) walked into the Omaha mall in 2007, he used an AK-47. I gather that those who defend gun rights feel he had every right to swagger around the mall up until the moment he would have opened fire?

On MSNBC, I heard a gun rights advocate defending just that. He was asked what about Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas. He said he would have shot him. He was asked how he would have known before Oswald opened fire. The guy had no answer because allowing people to walk around with weapons and wait until they fire is suicidal. If you openly allow them to carry the weapons in a state ready to use, then you can't do anything until they do fire. To me political gatherings of any sort are the kind where I think guns should be banned, and it looks like using metal detectors upon entering is needed.

As I have mentioned before in this blog, I have a concealed weapon permit which I keep up to date. As I type this, I know exactly where my .357 is located and make sure it's loaded except when the grandchildren come to visit. I also frequently carry a rifle out to the fields, but neither are part of some macho display. They are for self defense or a predator attack on my livestock.

What concerns me personally about this open carrying of AK-47s into Town Hall events, is the backlash to which it might lead from people already afraid of any gun use. Misuse of weapons could turn a right to carry into a lot of laws banning any ownership or carrying.

To me the disgusting swaggerers, who delighted in getting their photos taken at the town hall events, they don't care if the laws change. They will not give up their guns or be law-abiding if that should happen. It will only impact people who want to obey laws and who are not planning to use their guns against anyone who isn't invading their homes, businesses or otherwise threatening their property or lives.

My feeling is these gun-carrying men (and mostly they have been men), to deal with what appears to be their insecurity, should consider getting some of that product I see in emails and advertised on TV to increase the size of their-- you know what I mean.

I was at the beach last week. The sky and sea were rather gray but the coolness was welcome after the heat in the valley. Lighthouses make a great symbolism for this topic.