The two subjects that I have written about the most since I started my blog has been guns and racism. When I write about those two subjects it seems that people really shy away from the discussion. What makes people so uncomfortable talking about race or guns? These are conversations that we have to have daily, not just every once in a while. If a person tells a lie often enough people begin to believe that lie as the truth. We have to be reinforcing the truth everyday so people know what the truth is. The truth is that the two things that will rip America apart in Racism and Guns and to me that is the truth.

In the last couple of weeks we have had a couple more mass killings in this country. We are getting to the point where other countries are posting warnings about coming to America because of all the violence here. I thought that was only issued for 3^rd world counties not the United States of America. Growing up in the 50s and 60s even though we had riots and civil unrest because of the war in Vietnam and the Civil Rights marches I never felt unsafe in America. Of course, I was white so I didn’t experience the racism and fear because of the color of my skin back then. Today things are way different. What is the biggest difference? Guns! White Communities, Black communities, all communities are being threatened by guns. You can say that guns don’t shoot anybody, that people do. I will then say that people with guns shoot other people. So maybe we have to ban both. People and guns or better yet people with guns.

The big push now is to ban Assault Rifles like the AR15. I agree with that and not that they are any more dangerous than any hunting rifle because they aren’t. What is most dangerous is the people that want to buy that style of rifle. They don’t want to buy them to go hunting. They don’t want to buy them to protect their home and property. They buy them to intimidate other people. They buy them so they can pretend that they are is some sort of militia that will save America from the communist hoards that don’t exist. Kyle Rittenhouse wanted to buy one because he was the type of kid that beat up girls and wanted to be tough. He wasn’t a hunter. He belonged to no legal militia. 2 people are dead because he thought because he had a gun he could play militia man. He also had a tainted judicial system that protected him. You can bet your bottom dollar if he would have been a Black 17 year old that is supposed to have the same rights; Judge Schroeder would have made sure he was convicted.  My 16 years old grandson could not hunt in Wisconsin with his 12 gauge shotgun without a hunter safety course and this kid is walking around with an Assault Rifle and that was legal?

We have to get serious about gun control and that is coming from a gun owner. I do find it strange that a lot of pro-life people are also pro-gun people. A study from the Pew Research Center showed that in 2020, there was a record-high of 45,000-plus gun-related deaths in the U.S. Around 79% of murders in 2020 involved firearms, the highest percentage since 1968. Banning the so called Assault Weapons is a start but that is mostly a superficial move that doesn’t do enough to address the problem of guns.

How did a person purchase a gun and then shoot up a Wal-Mart in one day? I had to wait 3 days for my gun so an impulse shooting didn’t occur. We have to get the guns off the streets. This good guy with a gun is just a crap scenario. I think I am a good guy with a gun but one bad decision turns a good guy with a gun into a bad guy with a gun. Gregory McMichael and his son thought they were good guys with guns when they shot Ahmaud Arbery but that one bad decision meant a life sentence in prison for those two. A gang member protecting their turf thinks they are the good guy with a gun. Too many think a gun will turn them into a good guy but too many wind up being bad guys. We have to get guns off the street period. Open carry should never happen. A person wears a gun in public for everyone to see is trying to intimidate and look tough. It has nothing to do with personal protection. I have a conceal and carry license but I never carry my gun out in public. Even though I have the license I just don’t see the need. Our streets should not be like the OK Corral.

The police are the people that I don’t understand. The more guns on the street and the harder and scarier their job becomes. The thing that I don’t understand is there is unwavering support from the Police Unions for the Republican Party that helps put all those guns on the streets that make their jobs so dangerous. Police seem to be being killed in records numbers but people seem to blame the Democrats stating that they are soft on crime? The people that are soft on crime is the party that is putting all those guns on the street. That almost seems insane that police support the people that put more guns on the street when those guns are killing policemen. The more guns just make us less safe.

Some people say that the problem is mental health. Well that is an easy one to analyze but now tell me how do you control that? The kid in Colorado seemed to me to have huge anger management problems but yet he was able to legally have a gun. You can say mental health all you want but that is not solving the problem. In fact to me that is a statement that just allows you to put your head in the sand so you can ignore the whole thing.