Border Security has so many ramifications and facets it would be impossible to address them all in one article or blog post.  There is a ton of empirical data and red flags associated with numerous issues in allowing unvetted and unrestricted access to our Republic that screams danger.  Not ignoring any of those issues but focusing on one of the most daunting is the reality that Border Security is National Security is a major concern.

Those of us who live in a state that shares a border with Mexico realize the many dangers associated with the invasion of illegals.  The Texas counties on the border and near the border have declared that the crisis can be called nothing less than an invasion.  I agree with that assessment. 

I cannot begin to perceive a justification for not securing the border.  There are virtually no other countries in the modern world that do not have border security.  Why in the name of rational thinking and reason would anyone in the United States federal government want an open border?  Yes, there are answers but none of them give a valid justification for eradicating our borders.  None of them!

Some vehemently criticize Governor Abbot insisting that he is not doing enough to secure the border.  Some of those criticisms may have merit, but most of them are politically based and rooted in disagreements with the Governor on other issues.  This becomes one of the more visible and useful for them to attack. 

If the Governor were to declare this an invasion under Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution, it is believed that he could bypass Washington and engage in foreign policy and engage in war to prevent the invasion.  The rub in that theory comes in the three words, “unless actually invaded.”  This effort could lead to an international war with the United States and would be challenged in the courts and by Congress.  It could lead to some very troubled waters.  However, the problem is not going away so this might be a worthwhile consideration or proposal forcing the hand of Washington.

Back in June the Mexican President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador slammed the Biden administration’s border policies and declared that the US-Mexico border was ‘out of control.’  He was right!  He recognized the poor economic conditions in Mexico and other South and Central American nations as being inducements for illegals to seek to enter the United States.  He also cited the craftiness and entrepreneurship of human traffickers and drug cartels. 

The forty-two people found dead inside the trailer of an eighteen-wheeler were a sampling of the enormity of the problem.  The blindness and unwillingness of the Biden administration to curb the influx of illegals are exacerbating the problem.  They claim to be humanitarians, but those deaths should be laid at the feet of this administration and the Left who want to erase the border completely.  The Border Patrol reported that over 222,000 apprehensions were made in May alone.  How many were not apprehended?  We are being overrun and nobody seems to be willing to bite the bullet and do all that is required to resolve the issue.

Every nation faces threats to its national security and either succeeds or fails largely based on governmental policies, edicts, and actions.  America is no exception.  There are those in today’s government and followers of toxic liberalism that desire for America to become part of the new World Order and under the governance of a singular power.  That would be the end of our Republic.

Threats to national security can come in the form of aggression from a neighboring country and infiltration by those seeking to do harm and destroy, such as terrorists.  It can be an influx of people following religious ideologies, seeking to establish markets for their human trafficking or drug enterprises.  Threats can be natural, and we can do little to prevent those.   We can, however, take steps to make our structures better able to handle them and put in place viable plans in case of an emergency. 

However, when it comes to national security, we should arm ourselves with factual data and intelligence on several fronts.  We must be aware of the desires and designs of hostile governments who want to bring us into submission.  We must be keenly aware and guarded against terrorism.  Allowing unvetted and unrestricted access is equivalent to issuing an engraved invitation to terrorists to ‘come on down.’

We are now allowing China to buy farmland near military bases and the danger of allowing them to conduct military espionage and other activities within our borders is unacceptable.  What would prevent them from smuggling or openly bringing in military assets to house on the properties they own?  With the current border situation, the answer would be little or nothing.

There is the threat of biological warfare, and an open border gives easy access to the interior of the United States for terrorists and hostile foreign invaders to bring in their weapons and use them.  It is virtually impossible to disassociate the Wuhan Virus – COVID-19 from Chinese laboratories and experiments.  We have limited information that people within our government such as Dr. Anthony Fauci knew and even funded some experiments.  The purveyors of the agenda of a World Order would not find genocide unacceptable.  The idea seems to be, ‘the end justifies the means’ even if the end is diabolical.

The danger of terrorism is at the apex of concern in open borders.  Other concerns are not to be ignored.  The increase in crime and violent crime is directly connected to open borders.  In 2018 the U.S. Justice Department released statistics regarding crimes prosecuted in federal courts.  Almost half of those crimes were committed by aliens and although a small number of those were here legally most were not. 

The cost associated with incarceration of those illegals convicted of crimes ranges between $35,000-45,000 per inmate per year.  By the end of 2019, about 20% of those housed in federal prisons were illegals and cost the taxpayers about $1.2 billion each year.  Of those prosecuted in 2018, 12.5% had at least one previous conviction, 18.5% had two to four, and 10% had more than five.  More than five? 

In my home state Texas, a border state, the reports indicate that between June 1, 2011, and November 20, 2021, 356,000 criminal aliens were booked into Texas jails.  Over 243,000 were illegals and charged with over 400,000 criminal offenses.  The breakdown was 742 murders, 47,737 assaults, 7,524 burglaries, and over 11,000 sexual assaults and other sex crimes.  There were numerous kidnappings, thefts, robberies, and drug and weapons charges.  All at a prohibitive cost to the peace and placing an undue burden on law enforcement. 

Children are used as tools or pawns in human trafficking and to gain entry.  Before anyone attempts to argue that those poor souls are simply seeking a better way of life and are fearful for their lives the statistics and data reveal much more is behind this. 

If we allow people to come illegally and then reward them with entitlements, free education, and healthcare and provide them jobs and housing we are harming the framework of our republic.  When we no longer expect people to assimilate and become Americans and today there are moves to make them legal citizens regardless of the laws broken and allow them to vote, we harm the republic.  Therein is the real clincher!  It is a design to dismantle the legitimate electoral process and sway it with those imported via whatever means to support a particular political ideology. 

I stand for a Free America, not an Open Border.  I stand for Faith, Family, and Freedom and know that Freedom is never free and must be protected or none will have freedom.

God bless you and God bless America!

Unfortunately, the trickle-down disaster is becoming a rockslide of monstrous proportions.  I remember when Ronald Reagan was running and as president how the Left kept talking about ‘Trickle Down Economics’ and George H.W. Bush called it ‘Voodoo Economics.’  They minimized his economic plan that actually worked because it focused on turning the economy loose to allow the free market to function as it is designed. 

Today, we have an administration that either has no clue regarding economics, growth of the economy, inflation’s cause, and the importance of the oil and gas industry in every aspect of society or they do not care.  I have vacillated between the two possibilities and believe that those calling the shots know exactly what they are doing, and the damage is by design.

We are told by this administration that the economy is stronger than ever, and we are transitioning toward alternative energy for the good of the world.  We have watched and suffered from the assault on the fossil fuel industry from day one of the Biden presidency.  We are watching the price of everything skyrocket.  Another disturbing dimension is the shortages that are both a natural result of the crashing economy and bad government policy.  We are headed toward a food shortage that will cause worldwide chaos.  Is that by design?

Even the globalist United Nations’ Chief Antonio Guterres has issued a warning that a shortage is coming which will produce mass starvation.  Of course, he like all the globalists and leftists blame it on Russia, the Ukraine War, Climate Change, COVID, and inequality.  Inequality?  Yep, another effort to free the world of capitalism and republican forms of government and transform the planet into a World Government.  Imagine that!

We are seeing shortages now and the prospects for 2023 are even worse!  As the fears arise hoarding will become more prevalent and further exasperate the shortages.  The cost of farming coupled with drought conditions in a large swath of the United States is creating shortages in vital food supplies.  I am not saying that the government is creating shortages, but I do believe they are following the mantra of Alinsky and the motto, “Never let a crisis go to waste.”  They desire to fundamentally transform us into something that would be unrecognizable by the founding fathers and framers of the American Constitution.

The religion of Climate Change, Global Warming, or Climate Disruption has prompted the zealots to invoke Carbon Emissions Laws and Mandates that are plunging millions into a much lower standard of living.  The result will be millions will be relegated to poverty for generations.  These zealots insist that it is settled science but science itself is not settled and there is no unanimity among climate scientists.  The empirical data debunks their claims and their continued failures in the doomsday predictions should have made them laughingstocks.

Could I ask a question, please?  How does paying a tax or buying a license to emit carbon into the atmosphere reduce carbon emissions?  All that does is fill somebody’s coffers with money and does nothing to address the problem they claim exists.  Their unwillingness to recognize the need for CO2 in the atmosphere is a never-ending puzzle.  Plants need CO2 and we need plants.  God’s unique structure of the atmosphere is not in trouble and man is not making it worse.  One volcanic eruption produces more C02 than all the vehicles of the world and certainly more than the flatulence of the cows on the planet.

Nations like Germany resorted to burning more coal to keep the lights on as Moscow reduced the supply of gas.  The officials in that nation announced that the country was experiencing a “gas crisis.”  Wasn’t that what they wanted?  Green energy.  But without fossil fuels, they cannot reach the necessary goal of energy.  Wow!

Italy has responded to the EU Plan by mandating that air conditioning in public buildings cannot be set lower than 77 degrees in the summer months.  What will they do in the winter, make it 65 degrees or less?

We have learned that France is planning to restart the coal-fueled power plant in the northeast of France to prepare them for the coming winter months.  Their energy tsars have stated that by acting now they can get ready for the winter and preserve their gas reserves.  Wait.  If you want to rid the world of gas, oil, and fossil fuels why would you worry about preserving gas reserves?  Yes, I am being sarcastic.

I have been trying to determine and research just how bad the American economy really is.  Gas prices are rapidly heading toward the European model and the national average was and will be again, over $4 per gallon now.  This administration has told us that those prices will likely last into the foreseeable future and it is for the good of the liberal world order they desire.

Gas prices affect every aspect of the market.  Transportation of goods is translated into higher prices for consumers.  Inflation makes our earnings smaller, and the cost of goods makes our buying power weaker.  Some of us who live on fixed incomes that are never adjusted to truly reflect the cost-of-living increases are feeling the pinch dramatically. 

The lunacy of telling people to just go buy an electric car as a proposed solution is maddening.  The cost of said vehicle is beyond the budget of most Americans. The impact on the electric grid if every gas-powered automobile owner suddenly went electric would be catastrophic.  There is already a concern about the electric grid keeping up with demand and if you add millions of electric-powered vehicles to the mix being charged each night we would have black and brownouts of epic proportions.  That is not wise!

I have been concerned for some time about what is happening in America.  I have predicted that COVID would either suddenly become a non-factor or a new more ominous variant would surface either before the 2022 elections or before the 2024 presidential election.  I have become incredibly concerned about food shortages and shortages in other commodities and see the possibility of famine-like conditions causing total chaos in America before the 2024 elections.

I am fully convinced that if the Democrats, Leftists, Globalists, and Socialists maintain control in Congress after the 2022 elections there will be nothing off the table for them between January 2023 and November 2024.  There will be an effort to pack the Supreme Court, and the lower courts, and fill every bureau and agency of the federal government including the military with WOKE activists.  The war on religion, the 1^st, 2^nd, 4^th, and 10^th Amendments will escalate.

The PC Police will engage in eerily similar tactics to the Gestapo of Nazi Germany in the 30s and 40s.  Violence will ensue and nothing and no one will be safe in America if we do not make some dramatic changes.  The most needed changes are a return to our moral moorings, strong families, accountability, and responsibility, and to God.  We can reclaim this republic and keep it, but it will not be easy nor without casualties.  Are we up to the task?

God bless you and God bless America!

Sometimes songs from the 50s and 60s inspire me when I am considering certain topics affecting America and the world today.  Fats Domino’s song comes to mind when I think of the Democrat’s search to replace Bumblin’ Mumblin’ Hidin’ Biden.  They have a pool of old guard candidates and a pool of known commodities, as well as a pool of lesser-known governors to pick from. 

Of course, that would necessitate ditching Vice President Kamala Harris as well as the incumbent President.  Will they do that?  It looks as if that is the plan, but to whom will they turn?  Will they go back to Hillary, Booker, Warren, Sanders, Klobuchar, and those of that ilk?  Will they turn to California Governor Gavin Newsom a liberal of liberals?  Maybe they will turn to New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy who has been California Dreaming since his election and turn New Jersey even bluer.

We have mayors of major cities that are entrenched in the WOKE mindset and political correctness that have turned their cities into sanctuary cities, with stringent gun control, escalating taxes, and crime.  Then there are some less telegenic and lesser-known top executives from Illinois and Colorado who are testing the waters.  Newsom and Murphy were carbon copies of Cuomo in dealing with COVID-19 acting draconianly and releasing thousands of non-violent criminals back onto the streets.  Some of them immediately committed violent crimes.  Nice work, right?  Hardly but those are the prime candidates for the Democrats.  The well seems to be running dry!

Governor Murphy has made light of the Second Amendment and demonstrated a willingness to wage war against our inalienable rights.  That makes him a perfect Leftist, so he is a serious possibility.  But I offer one that is being bandied about that concerns me more than any of the offerings mentioned thus far.  Who is that?  None other than the former first lady (?) Michelle Obama.  Her disdain for our American system of government and willingness to play the race card on every occasion makes her a dangerous commodity.  She is probably the one Democrat hopeful that would be the most formidable opponent.

Many have labeled Mumblin’ Bumblin’ Hidin’ Biden as a useful idiot and a pawn of the uber leftist globalists.  His approval or disapproval ratings are deeply concerning to those seeking power and control, so they are scrambling to find a way to toss him aside.  What is the definition of a ‘useful idiot’?  It is someone who has no clue that he/she is being used to promote an extremist agenda that he/she does not actually understand.  I would say that applies to the current president and vice president equally.

Joe Biden reads what is on the teleprompter and frequently reads the instructions as well.  He then walks off the stage and if questioned often become belligerently angry and attacks the questioner with some inane comment.  He is manipulated and controlled, in my view, by those behind the scenes.  Who are they?  The names of Ron Klain, Susan Rice, Valerie Jarret, and Barack Obama come to mind, and I see their fingerprints on most of what he has advanced.

The Democrats cannot expect him to willingly resign or refuse to run again, that would not fit the ego of Joe Biden or most Washington elitists.  They might resort to the 25^th Amendment which has never been used to toss him aside.  If they, do it would be because they do not trust the electorate in the primaries to bypass a sitting president and choose another candidate.

We have a behemoth, out-of-control, big spending overreaching government.  That did not take originate under Biden but has been building for decades.  However, under his administration and the insane spending and economic strangulation he has enacted, it has grown even larger and is more imposing and threatening. 

In the movie Love Story, Ali McGraw’s line is easily modified to describe Big Government.  She said, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry!”  Big Government means, never having to say you are sorry because you are in control, and no one dares question you.  You are the Lord of the Universe, and no dissent is allowed.  That is where we are today.

They botched the Wuhan Flu, China Virus, or COVID if you please but they will never say, “I’m sorry, we overreacted and destroyed the most robust economy without justification.”  We were supposed to be under house arrest for two weeks, but it turned into months.  They told us that masks worked then they did not work, and then they did, and then wear two masks, etc.  The empirical data and research reveal the flaws in their premise, but will they apologize, Never!

The vaccines are still under much debate and even the National Institute of Health has produced studies that suggest that the vaccine damages the immune system.   What?  If you have or have not had the vaccine that is a personal choice or should be. 

Vaccines are supposed to prevent a person from being infected with the disease.  Well, that is how it has been in the past, but we went from this being an iron-clad preventative to this might help you not be hospitalized.  Then there were boosters after boosters were required and some researchers questioned the effectiveness and even suggested potential dangers.  I am not trying to start a debate on the vaccine because those on both sides sometimes become irrational in advancing their opinion. 

The amazing action of protecting the drug manufacturers from potential lawsuits was and is of great concern to me.  If the vaccines were as viable and effective as claimed, then why was that protection necessary?  I have been informed by some who have more inside information about this than I, that it was the only way Big Pharma would produce the vaccine as rapidly as they did.  Yet, the same government wants to make gun manufacturers liable for someone using one of their firearms in a violent crime or mass murder.  That is a double standard, but will Big Brother ever say, I’m sorry? NO NEVER!

Recently the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, Dr. Ashish Jha became incoherent when asked about the Vice President out hugging people after the President’s diagnosis.  She was part of his inner circle and had been exposed to him prior to the diagnosis, so was she endangering people?  She violated the COVID protocols mandated for the rest of us ordinary common Americans.  Is she the equivalent of Typhoid Mary and should we as one person suggested call her COVID-Kamala?

Couple all this with the never-ending Trump hate and we have a political world that is ripe for a tyrannical coup.  It might only take another virus that is more serious and deadly than the last to achieve that objective.  With shortages, the crumbling economy, and the damage of the drought we are prime targets for some nefarious action that would plunge America into a state of chaos and crisis that the elections upcoming would become almost meaningless.  Politicians seem to drink from the same water trough or monetary fountain and the thirst for power is never satiated. 

Axios recently published an article that indicated Trump planned to radically take on and take out the Deep State in a Second Term.  One of the reasons the insiders deemed his reelection unacceptable and worked to ensure that it did not transpire.  Hate him if you please and hate me for saying he was working to dismantle much of the Deep State, which is your privilege and choice.  I am not a worshiper of any man, but I recognize when people are fighting for what I believe and when they are not.  The article is interesting, and I suggest you research it.

But What You Gonna Do When The Well Runs Dry?  Fats Domino said You’re gonna run away and hide.  If the Democrats lose control of both houses of Congress in this election there is hope and you will see them running for cover.  If they win and maintain control, you will watch the RINOs expose themselves in clamoring for the approval of those in control.  The Politicians will get the Gold Mine and the American People will get the Shaft!

God bless you and God bless America!

I am reminded of a quote from former President Ronald Reagan that is apropos for our current situation in America.  He said, “A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.”  There are few countries in the world where you can freely enter without a passport and then live on the dole provided by the state. 

In today’s America, almost every sign is posted in at least two languages, English and Spanish.  There was a time when assimilation and learning the language were not just expected but demanded of those immigrating to this nation.  We were a melting pot or that is what we desired to be, but today we are anything but a blending, we are individualized with no real desire to assimilate. 

Few of those coming here illegally have a desire to be American, they desire the benefits America can provide.  Maybe, few is the wrong word, but many who are coming are not coming to assimilate and support America, they are coming to cash in on the American dream and millions of dollars are funneled back to their native land and the family remaining there.  Add to that the cartel ties, drug smuggling, and human trafficking and the billions involved in those activities, and my title question becomes germane.

Based on the available data and information leaking out from the border, it has become an exceptionally large criminal enterprise.  The illegals, we are learning, believe that if they can get across the Rio Grande and enter the United States they will be permitted to stay.  They believe that they will be released from custody and allowed to work.  They seem to be correct and that exacerbates the problem.

We know, and it is well documented, that smuggling networks are pocketing millions if not billions from the migrants who pay for their services, and sometimes with more than money.  Unfortunately, the corruption in governments south of the border does not provide hope of stemming this tide and major crime network.  In today’s world, every aspect of illegal immigration has been monetized.

The crisis at the border has resulted in the pro-illegal migration activists no longer hiding their efforts.  They have even built a mosque in Tijuana, Mexico.  It is a two-story shelter in Zona Norte very near the U.S.-Mexico border.  It is an 8,000-square-foot facility with the capacity to serve up to 150 people arriving daily.  In that shelter, there are migrants from Kenya, Ghana, Russia, Afghanistan, and other nations.  That should immediately be a red flag and cause for concern, but not with this administration.

So far, there have been more than 2,000 single adult migrants from Muslim countries and this President has shoved the door wide open.  He may say, “Don’t Come!”  However, his policies and the lack of border security or deportations scream, “Come on Down the Door is Open!”

In just one month there were 239,416 illegals officially registered at the border.  How many more came across is impossible to discern.  Less than half were rejected under Title 42 anti-disease barrier.  Why were more not rejected?  Because of Homeland Security Director Alejandro Mayorkas’ manipulation of the rules.  In that group, there were almost fifteen thousand unaccompanied minor children. 

We are seeing massive influxes from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, Brazil, and Nicaragua.  That is transpiring because the illegals are using their cellphones to show their home-country peers how the Biden administration is treating them and how easy access is.  Again, it is “Come on Down, the Door is Open.”  We are seeing people from Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine, Angola, Bangladesh, Cameroon, China, Georgia, India, Nigeria, Romania, Somalia, Senegal, Turkey, and scores of other countries.  We are being invaded and are borderless. 

This is a national security issue!  I am not being insensitive to the needs and fears of people in other countries seeking to find a better life.  However, there is a legal process they are usurping and seeking to bypass.  If there is a genuine need for them to seek asylum there is a legal process for that as well. 

The Biden administration has chosen to exempt virtually all the global migrants from the Title 42 border-barrier rule.  None of the almost 2,000 Turks, or the few hundred Senegalese, and only one from Somalia were turned back.  Why?  Virtually all were rejected hailed from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.  Let us see, turn back the Central and South Americans, but accept those from known terrorist nations.  Is there a reason for that?

We know that many of our Border Patrol Agents are mortified over the handling of the border.  In the not-too-distant past, the U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz got into a tense back and forth with agents in Laredo as Mayorkas paid a visit.  When agents accused him and Mayorkas of releasing criminals his response was, “You are getting bogged down in politics and policies.”  When the agents complained that they could not use the term “illegals,’ he dissed the complaint, but it is valid.

Let us talk about the unsustainable cost of allowing an open border and this invasion of illegals.  The followers of toxic liberalism, globalism, and progressivism, truly believe that there should be no borders and that the illegals have a right to come here.  I have asked them why entrance into the countries from which the left is not acceptable unless done according to the rules and with the proper documentation.  They usually call me a derogatory name and question my humanity.

I had one such adherent of the citizens of the world philosophy insist that the only illegals coming were from war-torn countries.  I am not sure where he got his information, but the fallacy of that claim is easily debunked.  One view was that as long as the illegals believed they had a good cause to illegally enter the United States it was okay to break the law.  Wow!  I do not want to extrapolate that to its illogical conclusion and the danger it poses on many other fronts. 

In 2019, the money illegals sent back to Central American countries was more than $120 Billion.  We know from the available sources and tracking that more than $445 Billion left the United States for foreign countries.  Imagine what the amount would be if Joe Biden and company had actually succeeded in handing each illegal $450 thousand in reparations.  Why would anyone think that is a good idea?  There is only one possible conclusion – Votes!

The U.S. Border Patrol was created in 1924 for the purpose of securing the border and protecting our national security and sovereignty as a nation.  Honest national security experts all agree that indecisive and ineffective immigration policies leave the nation vulnerable to dangers that threaten our very existence as a nation. 

Border security is a vital component of national security.  It is far more than simply restricting people from entering the country.  It is part of the way we can protect this nation from the illegal movement of drugs, weapons, and other contraband.  According to the Department of Homeland Security, border security is, “the act of protecting our borders from the illegal movement of weapons, drugs, contraband, and people, while promoting lawful entry and exit, is essential to homeland security, economic prosperity, and national sovereignty” (2015).

The threats are real.  The threat posed by Illegals looking at it as a safety and an economic issue must be addressed.  There is a threat of organized crime, drugs, and human trafficking poses a danger.  The threat of terrorism is very real and cannot be ignored.  Whether we remain a sovereign nation or a borderless suburb of the world depends on our response to the problem at the southern border.  As it now stands, we are ignoring the border and becoming full members of the global community as one of their suburbs.

God help us to wake up and God bless you and God bless America!

There was a time when cool heads and sane reasoning were present in public discussions about difficult and heart-wrenching issues.  There was a time, but that time seems to be a distant memory.  Today, it is all about emotion, personal preference, paranoia, fear, and half-truths or outright fabrications being advanced as the absolute truth and reality.  There was a time when each side of an issue was able to advance their theories, ideas, and concerns, and those were debated with a measure of respect to the dissenters.  There was a time, but today is not that time.

This will possibly not be received well by some and possibly alienate people on both sides of the issues I will mention. Yet, I will dare to give my two cents worth, and my opinion may or may not be the view of those reading.  I still believe in the inalienable right of Freedom of Speech and Thought.  We do not all agree on anything and never will.  We all have preferences and form our views based on those preferences, often more than the facts. 

Few things, if any, are more tragic than the senseless and needless slaughter of children.  I have not lost children, but have lost a wife, parents, grandparents, friends, and those I served with to death.  I can only imagine the pain, horror, and inability to even think experienced by those whose children have been slaughtered due to violence of any kind.  No parent should ever have to bury a child and no child should have to fear for their safety.  But that is not the world we live in. 

We need comfort, not rhetoric.  We need compassion not the politicization of every tragedy that occurs.  We need to allow the wounds of the hearts of those suffering from tragic loss to heal without being inundated with the diatribe of various activist groups seeking to enlist adherents to their cause.  Allowing no crisis to go to waste may be politically expedient but it is not humanely or morally right. 

Let us wade into the troubled waters of some issues, the first being the so-called Assault Weapons.  I feel compelled to address the term – “Assault Rifle.”  I realize that not being a firearms expert or manufacturer of those items may leave me lacking in understanding or ability to articulate the issue in a way that can be easily understood.  However, I must try. 

What is an Assault Rifle?  Is the AR-15 an Assault Rifle?  NO, it is not!  The name AR does not stand for Assault Rifle or Automatic Rifle as many seem to believe but stands for ‘ArmaLite Rifle.’  ArmaLite is a company developed in the 1950s.  The rifle was designed by Eugene Stoner.  The company was started by George Sullivan, a patent lawyer who worked for Lockheed.  It is not and has never been an Assault Rifle but a semiautomatic firearm requiring the trigger to be pulled each time a round is fired.

An Assault Rifle, in the truest sense, requires it to be capable of being fired as an automatic weapon, such as the M16, Stoner Machine Guns, and various other military weapons.  There is a requirement of licensing that is strict, costly, and difficult for a private citizen to obtain, possess, or use a fully automatic weapon in America.

Those who fear guns and want all firearms banned fear the way the AR-15 looks.  They seem to have no comprehension of how it operates and that it operates in the same manner as do the many semi-automatic rifles used for sporting and hunting in America.  The AR-15 was not designed for the sole purpose of killing humans, as the president declared.  It can be and is used for hunting by many and is used as a sporting rifle by many. 

With the millions of firearms and ammunition rounds in the possession of private citizens in America, a reasoned analysis would be that the firearms themselves are not the root problem, else there would be few people living now.  The root of the problem is the human using the firearm.  Yes, I said it!  Guns do kill but only in the hands of someone wanting to kill.  Guns, by themselves, do not any more than an automobile in the hands of a person impaired under the influence of alcohol or drugs. 

Let me rock the boat and declare what I have been declaring for decades.  The root problem is SIN!  Yes, I said, SIN!  It is the human heart and the mindset of the individual.  It could be mental health issues.  It could be uncontrolled anger, which is in itself a mental health issue, but also a spiritual and moral one.  It could be a knee-jerk reaction to someone wounding the pride or hurting the feelings of a person who believes that no one should ever offend them.  We have conditioned a full generation to believe they have the right to never be offended or made uncomfortable. It could be for many reasons, but the problem is the individual and reflects society’s failure on many fronts, but banning firearms will not and cannot solve the problem.

If we ban everything used in committing a crime or mass murder, what will we have left in society?  Do we ban automobiles because an intoxicated person killed others?  Do we ban automobiles because, in an act of rage, terrorism, or evil a person drives an automobile into a crowd killing innocent people?  Most would insist that is unreasonable, but when it comes to the scary-looking firearms that are most prolifically in the news, the demand is to ban them.

Did the prohibition of alcohol work?  No!  It was the impetus or catalyst for organized crime, bootlegging, and black markets to gain prominence.  People who wanted alcohol, though banned, were able, at a price, to obtain the product.  Do you think that the person desiring to harm others will be deterred by a ban on guns?  Before you insist, if it saves one life it is worth it.  Let us apply that to everything ever used in harming another and see if that makes sense.

Shall we carry the banning everything argument to its extreme?  Do we ban the male penis because of unwanted pregnancies?  Do we ban spoons and forks because some are overweight?  Do we ban water because people drown in water?  Do we ban medicine and doctors because of malpractice and abuse?  Where do we draw the line?  Yes, I am being facetious and ridiculous in those questions, but the reality is we cannot legislate our way to morality or safety that comes from the heart.

Now, to address those on the side of defense of our second amendment rights, I am one!  To act irrationally and in a show of arrogance to break out our AR-15s and other firearms and carry them openly in protest marching on the State Houses only fuels the argument of those seeking to bank them.  You have the right to keep and bear arms!  That is a right our forefathers and the founders of the Republic demanded to be recognized.  You have the God-given right of self-defense.  I do not need to terrorize those who are terrorized by the thought of a gun by making that kind of open statement. 

I am sure some will take exception to that position and say, “But I have the right!”  You do!  I do not argue that and defend that right.  You have the right to choose to sleep with every other willing male or female in town, but does that make it a good choice or a right choice?  You have many rights that you can do, but just because you can does not mean you should.  Sometimes we need to be wise as serpents and pure as doves.  Sometimes we can, through our show of restraint, demonstrate that we are responsible gun owners and possibly negate the fears of the emotionally fearful.

We have some of the most stringent gun laws and gun control mandates in various states and cities in America that remain the most violent in the nation if not the world.  I am a licensed gun owner and have a permit to carry a firearm undisclosed.  Yes, I could openly carry, but I choose to carry concealed.  I do so for two reasons: I do not want to cause any anguish or concern to those around me over my display of a firearm and I do not want to become a target for a potential terrorist.  My reason may or may not resonate with you, but it is my logic, and I am comfortable with it.

If banning guns would make everyone safe that would be one thing, but it will not, any more than banning automobiles due to misuse or airplanes because of terrorist use, or any other tool used to harm others.  We need to deal with the root problem, and it is my view that we need to Return to God and Return to Building Strong Families with a mother and a father in the home who train the children rightly. 

We have a problem but blaming the gun is not the solution! 

God bless you and God bless America!