Tag Archives: Guns

by | June 23, 2022 · 1:58 pm

Is It Really a Matter of Gun Accessibility?

President Joe Biden said today that he was “deeply disappointed” in the Supreme Court’s ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. The ruling struck down New York citizens from having to provide proof of need to have a concealed carry permit. As usual, he believes that this will only lead to more gun violence and death.

Biden believes that there should be less accessibility to firearms, not more. He is calling for all “Americans across the country to make their voices heard on gun safety. Lives are on the line.” Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) of New York is said to have stated that the 2nd Amendment was written when all we Americans had were muskets, and that she is prepared to go back to muskets.

But is the accessibility to and the availability of firearms in America the reason for recent violence? Will stopping a New Yorker from carrying a 9mm pistol under his stop the next teen in black from illegally obtaining an AR-15? Will changing laws that allow law-abiding citizens to carry legally obtained weapons convince the average criminal to lay down his? Of course not.

I would say that it’s not the availability and accessibility that’s the problem; it’s what’s causing people to use them in ways they never did 40 years ago.

If you were to remove all the guns from America overnight, you would still have people who are bent on killing as many others as possible. And when they do, they will become stars overnight.

As I was thinking about this today, I began thinking back to the 90’s when all this really started. What caused that shooting at Columbine? What have been the common denominators between nearly all mass shooters? Was it simply the fact that they were able to get their hands on a weapon?

What I see as common factors are depression, isolation, feelings of futility, low self-worth, bitterness and hate toward the innocent. Where is all this coming from? Are guns making people this way?

No. But when you remove intrinsic and objective reality and truth from souls in search of meaning, acceptance, and genuine love, what you get is a dark, hateful void where honor, duty, responsibility, and love used to be.

When America was a nation with a collective vision and understanding of right and wrong based on moral absolutes, mass shootings were unthinkable. But now we are rearing generation after generation without offering objective truth while also promoting a technological culture in which the individual becomes the center of his own universe. In this universe, the other people are only in the way.

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by | August 26, 2019 · 9:51 pm

Just a Little Reminder

Hey, friends!

Hey, creeps!

Hey, predators!

Hey, to anyone who casually assumes these preacher’s daughters will cower and pray – they sold a purse and bought a sword (Luke 22:38).

God bless America.

God bless the 2nd Amendment.

#notavictim

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by | February 23, 2018 · 3:02 pm

If You Don’t Want My Opinion, Don’t Read This Post – You Might Be Offended

My Opinions

My opinions are my opinions, and I don’t want you to feel like I’m forcing you to accept them.

Wait…If you feel like I’m forcing you to accept my opinions, what kind of mental midget are you? Good grief! I’m so tired of worrying about the fragile feelings of infantile adults who cry quicker than a baby who’s lost her pacifier. If you can be forced to accept my opinions, then you’re too weak to argue for your own and should just go back to kindergarten or take a nap in your cradle.

MY opinions are just that…mine. If you don’t like them, move on. Believe me, if I don’t like your opinions, I’m certainly not going to feel obligated to affirm their validity; I’ll just say “next” and move on.

So, what I am going to share in this post is not necessarily the views and opinions of other people with whom I associate. Take them for what they are worth, but you don’t have to approve.

Guns

I know I have friends in the UK, Australia, and other places where guns of all kinds are either forbidden or tightly restricted. It is not my intention to offend any of you guys, so stop reading right here if the subject content is apt to “trigger” you (pun intended).

But here’s a fact: Guns are not evil.

Guns are no more evil than alcohol, drugs, or automobiles. In the same way alcohol doesn’t pour itself down our throats and drugs don’t crawl into needles and attack us, guns don’t kill people without a human being getting involved. Automobiles? Well, who knows what self-driving cars will do?

Therefore, calling for the ban of certain weapons – or any weapon, for that matter – after a tragedy like a school or church shooting, does NOTHING to address the evil that does exist in the heart of the one who kills innocents.

Take away guns and you’ll still have murderers. You had them before guns were invented, didn’t you? Did Cain kill Able with a .45 cal.? No. Are we going to ban rocks?

Guns In America

Folks, I live in the United States of America. Like it or not, guns have been a part of our DNA since before the Second Amendment was penned with a quill. Guns will always be a part of our culture, no matter how many times Europeans try to chastise and shame us into getting rid of them. Remember, we would still be paying taxes to England if we’d not had them.

Face it, folks…even if you tried to outlaw guns in America, you’d never get rid of them all. Never. Besides the fact that there would be so many immediately hidden, you’d have to go door-to-door to confiscate the majority of them – and there are tens of millions of them – and a lot of folk wouldn’t take too kindly to that.

If, by some stretch of the imagination, you were able to outlaw guns of every shape, size, and caliber…and if all law-abiding, patriotic, God-fearing citizens decided to comply with the insanity and surrender their weapons…who do you think would still have access to millions of pistols, rifles, shotguns, and those dreaded AR-15s? Those who already refuse to submit to or abide by the law! The criminals!!

If criminals and murderers already don’t care about the law, what’s a new law going to do to stop them?

As I have written previously…

You could take away all the guns, but you’ll still have a disease that’s going to find a way to steal, kill, and destroy. No law, no matter how strict, is going to turn a lawbreaker into a law-abiding citizen.

Until you address the heart and soul issues, your only solution will end up being totalitarian control. When the law of God is written on the hearts of men, there’s no need for external restraints; the constraints are internal. But when the only law written on the heart is the law of Self, there’s no restraint sufficient to make a man love his neighbor.

So, ban all the guns you want, but in the context of this country, combined with the facts of human nature, you will never stop gun violence, only encourage the violent lawbreakers to prey on the law-keepers.

Protecting Our Students at School

Folks, I’m about sick of the way the media is controlling the conversation. They don’t want real answers; they want gun control, pure and simple. If it wasn’t about gun control and the opportunity to take advantage of a tragedy to achieve it, then why don’t they encourage protests and walk-outs over a thousand other things?

How much money is spent on sports? How much money is spent developing new ways to teach diversity? How many billions of tax dollars do we spend each year to produce inferior graduates? Where does all the money go? How much money is spent on actual safety upgrades?

As for arming teachers, YES!! Absolutely!

I recently heard an idiot on CNN claim that President Trump wants to put guns in the hands of every teacher. The lying, misleading, fact-twisting, Trump-hating propagandist then began to call it “insanity!” No, what’s insane was his clinically deranged hatred being allowed to suggest that a properly-trained, devoted, life-sacrificing teacher wouldn’t be effective in saving the lives of children when a killer’s on the loose. Insanity is thinking that throwing erasers at a shooter is no less effective than a courageous teacher with a concealed 9mm.

No one with any common sense is suggesting that ALL teachers in schools should be given weapons. What IS being suggested is that willing and qualified teachers should be allowed to carry a concealed weapon for the purpose of defense and deterrence. There is nothing crazy about that.

A Prediction

Before I go – and I must – let me make a prediction. Actually, I’ve made this prediction several times in the past, but no one will listen to me.

Before you ever make any progress on getting rid of guns, one day there will be a shooting with a gun carried into the school inside a band instrument case. Some kid is going to bring in a stash of weapons hidden inside his trumpet or tuba case, and no one is going to see it coming. He or she is going to walk right through all of the safety measures and bring loaded firearms into the school and right into the classrooms.

Why? Because it’s illegal in most schools to do random searches of lockers and personal items. Therefore, some kid is going to figure this out (I’m sure they already have) and someone is going to die. All because we are too scared to hurt a child’s feelings, or appear to be profiling.

Those are my opinions for the day. I hope we’re still friends.

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by | February 15, 2018 · 11:35 am

In Response to Another School Shooting

Our hearts break when we think of the students and parents and staff, but now that the dust is settling, and the political forces have already spoken out, I’d like to say something about the most recent school shooting.

It’s not a gun problem; it’s a heart problem.

I’ve heard all the gun control arguments, but regardless the Constitution or the right to defend oneself, the root of the problem is what should be addressed. The question should be “why?”, not “how?”

Why did this teenager want to kill his fellow students? Why did the other murderers, maniacs, and monsters want to kill people? We’ve had guns in this country long before Columbine. Heck, we used to have shooting clubs in the schools! But what changed in society? What changed in the heart of our culture?

You can take away all the guns, but you’ll still have a disease that’s going to find a way to steal, kill, and destroy. No law, no matter how strict, is going to turn a lawbreaker into a law-abiding citizen.

Until you address the heart and soul issues, your only solution will end up being totalitarian control.

When the law of God is written on the hearts of men, there’s no need for external restraints; the constraints are internal. But when the only law written on the heart is the law of Self, there’s no restraint sufficient to make a man love his neighbor.

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by | January 6, 2016 · 11:10 am

In Response To Our Glorious Leader

It Is Written

By now most of you have already watched or listened to President Obama’s tearful speech announcing his new executive mandates regarding guns and background checks.

Since he specifically mentioned the “gun lobby” and “the lies” they supposedly tell, I thought it fair to post this video, not just on Facebook and other social media, but on my blog as well.

On Paper?

In his speech Mr. Obama said that he understood we have certain rights because they are written down “on paper.” Interesting, especially coming from a self-acclaimed Constitutional professor, don’t you think?

Our rights are not written on “paper,” but on parchment – and it’s called the Constitution of the United States.

I feel sorry for those who took his classes; they probably didn’t learn much.

 

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by | October 1, 2015 · 3:13 pm

Oregon 

Can my opinion change the way people think or how they react to a given situation? Only if they are willing to listen. 

Listen to me, people. Even though many will jump at the opportunity to use today’s tragedy in Oregon as a tool to remove weapons from the hands of law-abiding citizens, don’t jump on the wagon; think differently. 

Sadly, the most insidious determiner behind today’s loss of life is not the fact that someone was able to get a gun; it was the depravity of sinful man. And, sadly, that simple, yet profound element will be overlooked, denied, and even mocked. 

Today was not the result of a gun problem, but a heart problem. It always is. But no one wants to face that, do they? It might bring up a subject much worse – 

God. 

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by | August 29, 2015 · 11:18 am

Gun Control (An Imaginary News Conference)

The News

As most of you have surely heard, a crazy, angry, self-described gay black man, festering Vester, shot three innocent people while on live television, killing two. All of the ones shot were white, and that was no coincidence; the killer described his reasoning for the shooting as racial in nature.

The last I heard (although I may be mistaken), Roanoke, VA is not burning. No, the only thing burning was the emotional currency in the pocket of gun-control advocates such as Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration. As a matter of fact, before either one had time to delete an email or get in a round of golf, both were demanding for more “common sense” gun legislation… to keep us safe.

Even FOX News, the relatively pro-conservative cable news network, had one of their top people, Megyn Kelly, interviewing the father and fiance of the slain reporter, Allison Parker. In less than 24 hours removed from the murder both were on national news pouring out their broken hearts – AND calling for more gun control… because, of course, “crazy people” should not be allowed to buy guns.

How I wish someone would interview me. Oh, but they can! At least in my imagination.

The Interview

News Anchor:  Today we have the Reverend Anthony Baker here with us in the studio. Reverend Baker is a pastor, an author, a father of three, a pet-lover, and a proud gun owner.

Me:  Thank you for having me.

N A:  Pastor Baker, with all the gun violence right now, how can a father and a pastor be pro-gun? How can you claim to be a role model in society, and yet own a gun?

Me:  Well, first off, I don’t claim to be a role model; those are your words. But with regard to your main question, I am “pro gun” the same way I am pro-tools.

N A: Excuse me? Can you clarify?

Me:  Absolutely! I am all about having the right tool for the job when it comes down to home repair, vehicle maintenance, etc. For example, I hate it when I get into a project, such as replacing the brakes on my car, only to find out I had the wrong tool to finish. Guns are nothing more than tools.

News A:  Tools for murder, you mean.

Me:  No, that’s not what I mean.

N A:  But just the other day innocent people were murdered by a crazy man with a gun. That was the tool he used. Don’t you think if we had more laws in place banning easy access to guns  then less people would have to suffer this horrible fate?

Me:  There are already more laws on the books than you can shake a stick at, but that doesn’t stop bad people from breaking them, does it?

N A:  And what is your point, exactly, Mr. Baker?

Me:  A gun is just a tool. Bad people use them to do bad things; good people use them when they have to. And if a bad person was trying to kill me or my family, then I’d prefer to have the best tool for the job. There’s nothing evil about the tool, only how it’s used.

N A:  Do you not think there should be more laws to keep crazy people, people with mental issues, from buying guns?

Me:  There are already laws that prohibit that, but they are only effective when you know who the crazy people are. Are you going to start testing everybody? Do you have a “crazy test” in mind?

N A:  A crazy test? Anyone diagnosed with a mental illness, for example. Should they be allowed to buy a gun like the shooter did?

Me:  No, a person who is legitimately mentally unstable should not be allowed to purchase a handgun. I have no problem with that. What I do have a problem with is where do you draw the line at “crazy,” especially when you emotionally push an agenda to “get guns out of the hands of crazy people”? How do you define what is crazy?

N A: What do you mean?

Me:  Isn’t it true that recent studies published by leading psychology journals have suggested that people of faith, like Christians, are brain damaged?

N A:  Are you being serious? That’s silly!

Me:  So, you’re already calling me silly, so is “crazy” just around the corner?

N A:  Oh, come on now… You can’t be serious.

Me:  Actually, I am very serious. Around 2011, I believe, an article was published in the Scientific American citing a study done at Duke University. The study claimed to prove that those who were religious, especially those who claimed to be “born again,” had brain damage, specifically atrophy to the hippocampal region.

N A:  I’ve never heard of that. I’m sure it’s just a…

Me:  And then there’s plenty of people like Dave Silverman, American Atheist president, who described the religious as “mentally damaged.” And then there’s the Left’s favorite talk show host, Bill Maher, who calls religion a “neurological disorder.” These are the type of people the White House has over for lunch and after-dinner games of Twister!

N A:  What does that have to do with…

Me:  These are the people our government listens to! The Billy Grahams of the world have fallen out of favor and are thought of as kooks! It’s the atheists, the radical left, the anti-God people like Mickey Weinstein who are are on the warpath against Christianity, so why isn’t it plausible that at some point the “crazy test” to weed out gun purchases will include Christians, or anyone of any faith that holds beliefs contrary to what the government says is healthy?

N A:  For one thing, there’s the First Amendment. Second, there’s the Second Amendment. In other words, the Constitution.

Me:  Ha ha ha! Are you serious! You must be crazy yourself! President Obama has already proved the Constitution means nothing when you’ve got an agenda to push through.

N A:  Don’t you think you’re being a little paranoid, Pastor Baker?

Me:  See, you’re already attaching labels. Pretty easy, isn’t it?

N A:  Pastor Baker, let’s get right down to the point, OK? Do you think there should be stricter gun control, or not?

Me:  Not.

N A:  You are a man of the cloth, a man of peace, and yet you don’t think we have a problem with guns in this country?

Me:  No, I don’t think we have a problem with guns in this country. Not at all.

N A:  That has to be the most uninformed answer I’ve ever heard! Don’t you watch the news? Haven’t you seen the murders? Haven’t you read the statistics?

Me:  Yes, I’ve seen all that, and it all points to something far bigger than a gun problem; it’s a heart problem. The old saying is as true as it’s ever been: “Guns don’t kill people; people kill people.” It’s a heart issue. It’s a nation that has turned its back on God in every area of life issue.

N A:  So, you think it’s that simple, do you? You don’t think getting the guns out of the hands of criminals and the insane would save lives?

Me:  Theoretically. Possibly. But this is America, you know. As the Japanese general once said, “There’s a gun behind every blade of grass.” You know there’s no way to get the guns out of the hands of the criminals. Only the law-abiding citizens would likely obey the law and give them up. The bad guys would just keep being bad and keep having guns. The good people would suffer, that’s all.

N A: Then do you think it’s hopeless?

Me:  No, it’s not hopeless. There’s always hope. But there will never be peace until the Prince of Peace comes back to reign. You called me a man of the cloth, a man of peace. I am, and that’s one thing I will continue to preach…peace. But I’m also a realist. As long as there are bigger bad guys out there, bigger guys than me who can hurt me, I will also preach, so to speak, the “peacemaker” philosophy of Samuel Colt.

N A:  So, are you saying you are not for any kind of gun control at all?

Me:  Absolutely not! No! All I am saying is that if only the bad guys have guns – and they will – then the good guys will always be victims. I think the logical thing to do would be put guns in the hands of good people, train them, and create an immediate deterrent to gun crime.

N A:  How in the world could that deter gun crime?

Me:  How many crooks would be foolish enough to continue to break in, rob, and assault if the average citizen was armed? Don’t you think the bad guy would think twice? I would, but then again, I’m not crazy.

And that’s how the interview would end.

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