It’s Just too Much!

I try to make it a habit to practice patience, in part because I know I’m not the most patient of men. Being patient, taking some time before acting (when it’s appropriate to wait) has kept me from saying and doing some really stupid and regrettable things more than once. That has been the case with the recent horror in San Bernardino, California. I haven’t said anything here, or much of anything anywhere, because I knew I wasn’t likely to contribute much of value to the discussion. I no longer care. The past few weeks have been just too much. My problem now is that I hardly know where to begin.

I’m angry. I’m angry that my country has been attacked. I’m angry that innocent people were killed and maimed by at least two other people who were, as far as we can tell, dedicated to a death cult (ISIS). I’m angry there’s a real (albeit relatively small) possibility similar people could not only attack my country again, they could do so in a way that directly and immediately threatens my family. But there’s more.

I’m angry that my government, in the person of the President of the United States, has chosen to dance around the question of why the two now dead murderers chose to commit their atrocity. I’m angry that there is such mealy mouthed discussion about the two murderers. Instead of plain and direct speech, we have been subjected to countless references to them “possibly” or “maybe” having become radicalized or that their actions were those of terrorists. Really? The two parents who abandoned their 6 month old daughter “may” have become radicalized? The two who had multiple homemade bombs on R/C toys in their apartment “may” have had a motive that extended beyond an argument at the place one of them was employed? That one of the two appears to have lied on her visa application “may” suggest she was radicalized and might have even come to this country for the specific purpose of committing some horror? Attempting to destroy their digital tracks “may” indicate this was a terror attack? Wearing cameras to film the carnage and pledging allegiance to the leader of the death cult that is ISIS “might” suggest radicalization? Again, really? But there’s more.

I’m angry that a representative of my government, the Attorney General of the United States, would be so vile as to refer to the events in San Bernardino as in any way “wonderful.” I’m angry that she would be so disgusting as to suggest she is more concerned about violence toward Muslims in general than she is terror attacks against this country. I’m angry she would even remotely suggest citizens exercising their First Amendment rights might potentially subject them to the full wrath and fury of the U.S. government. And yes, I’m angry some of my fellow citizens apparently want to paint all Muslims with the same brush. But there’s more.

I’m angry so many on the left view this as an opportunity to attempt to deprive their fellow citizens of any reasonable attempt to defend themselves should they ever be in such a situation. I’m angry they would suggest those who don’t embrace what the left has decided is the only answer to violence are somehow unconcerned with the violence and its victims. I’m angry they would either forget or ignore the fact that the Declaration’s “unalienable rights” of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” cannot exist in the absence of a way to defend them. I’m angry they would pretend “the security of a free state” is in no way endangered when one or more assholes chooses to unleash their terror on the unsuspecting, the unprepared and the innocent. I’m angry they would pretend that same security is not threatened when one or more other assholes break into someone’s house with the willingness or even the intent to do harm to those who live there. I’m angry they would suggest that perhaps it’s reasonable to prohibit the possession of firearms by those whose names are on the same watchlist so many on the left have rightly decried as unconstitutional. I’m angry they would deny those folks, who’ve been neither convicted nor even charged with a crime, the right to defend their lives and the lives of their families. I’m angry they can so effectively and callously declare those folks lives, and the lives of their family members, are worth less than the lives of the rest of us.

Yeah, I’m angry. More than that, I am coldly angry. I feel no rage, no urge or need to lash out. Instead, I feel compelled to say the following:

If you are intent on harming me or mine, whether you are a follower of some death cult jihadist or a more mundane criminal who seeks to harm me and/or mine, I encourage you to look elsewhere for your victim(s). I am not the target you wish to engage. If you attack in sufficient numbers and with effective tactics, you might get me. That said, I swear by all I hold dear and holy that I will take as many of you with me as I can.

If you are convinced there is a need to disarm the American public in your well-intentioned but ill-conceived pursuit of safety, I encourage you to reconsider. I will not surrender my weapons. I will buy more than I currently own, including evil black guns, and will actively encourage everyone I know and meet to do the same. Though I am not much of a joiner, you can take comfort in the fact you’ve convinced me to join the NRA – and to encourage every gun owner I know to do the same. If, at some point, you are able to legally ask me as part of some government gun control program what has become of my weapons, I foresee a day when a pack of wild dogs will somehow gain entrance into my house and run off with all of them. Should that day come, I encourage you to be content with that answer.

NOTE: If you’d like more insight and less emotion than I’ve provided here, I highly recommend the Bayou Renaissance Man’s blog. He offers, as always, a great deal of thought and insight. I particularly recommend this post and this one. In addition, Larry Correia has once again provided what may well be the best response to the sheer idiocy coming from those who would tell us we could be free of all these horrific acts if only we had more gun control.