Just recently I was visiting with a friend and she remarked how glad she was that the Florida kids were holding rallies due to the recent shootings there.
I have to admit, I was not totally up to par on this issue because we had been watching too much basketball, and hardly any news.
Seems they are protesting gun violence. OK. I agree with that. I protest gun violence too.
I see that they are walking out of school to join the others and that their slogan or cause is “Enough is Enough.” Well, YA! Enough is enough. We don’t want any more violence of course. Who does?
And then they add, “NRA, go away.” Now here is where I draw the line. Why? Because these kids have NO idea what they are saying. It’s as though it’s the NRA’s fault that we have armed citizenry in this country? It’s the NRA’s fault that the full Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Oh that’s it. They want the Constitution changed? I don’t think they have any idea what the Constitution says on this issue.
The gun rights issue is well defined in the Constitution. Do they want the Constitution rewritten, suited to the times? Changed from era to era? If they do, they are naïve.
They want guns gone. Bingo. No problem then.
I sure wish they would gather to protest the inept mental health care in this country. I would also hope that they would shout in anger about the drug epidemic too. Drugs, both legal and illegal, are killing off young people and old like flies. And the mental health centers? Let’s agree that they too dispense many of those drugs.
Now, what about the guns? Notice the word in the amendment that says “militia.” What is that? Militia is “an army composed of ordinary citizens.”
Now, why would we need such an army? Why? Because government is not the end-all solution to a society’s well-being. In fact, it can be a tyrant and a dictatorship. It can turn on the people for its own power and purposes.
It has happened before, and it will happen again, somewhere.
Here are some examples, if you would like to know the facts. Go to http://warriortimes.com/2011/04/24/what-happens-when-governments-disarm-their-citizens/
Following are only a few documentations of such removal of guns from the citizenry.
• In 1911 Turkey disarmed its citizens and between 1915-1917 they murdered 1.5 million Armenians.
• In 1929 Russia disarmed its citizens and between 1929-1935 they murdered 20 million Russians.
• In 1938 Germany disarmed its citizens and between 1939-1945 they murdered 16 million Jews.
• In 1970 Uganda disarmed its citizens and between 1971-1079 they murdered 300,000 Christians.
There are more examples. The point is that unarmed citizens are easy targets for criminals. Over and over again, statistics show that taking guns away from citizens does not lead to a decrease in crime but rather a dramatic increase.
Australia has disarmed its citizens, and a year later, the homicide rate in the largest province is up 300 percent. The burglary of seniors is dramatically up.
I guess the criminals forgot to turn in their weapons. Only the innocent, law-abiding turned in theirs. And I guess all those guns already in circulation out there? Well, they just disappeared too?
You see, the 2nd amendment is not about deer hunting or duck hunting. It is about the ability and the right to defend oneself and one’s family. It doesn’t matter if that threat is a burglar or the Federal Government. A disarmed population is fair game for any president who is aspiring to become a dictator.
Having the citizens armed is and was the simple intent of the founding fathers of our country.
You might say, “Well, it’s not that way anymore.”
I say, “Since when has sinful man changed in his heart from desiring power and control over others?” Look around you. Read about the Hollywood mess. Look anywhere!
Why are we free anyway? Why are we still the best nation in the world in spite of all this tragedy? Why are we still functioning together as governments, state, federal, and local? Why?
We are not sitting ducks, that’s why. We have weapons, we have the ability to organize as a militia, and we are not too friendly-like to anyone who wants to barge in our homes or come through the doors of our country to threaten us. We wouldn’t put up with totalitarianism very willingly either. The only way for any of these power hungry, militant folk to succeed would be to disarm the citizenry.
And these people know it.
Hollywood has just led a movement that puts up red lights in their windows to show that they are a weapon-free home. What idiocy is that? Have they totally lost their screws?
If we want to do something, let’s arm our schools, our hospitals, our public places with well prepared, gun-respecting people who will not tolerate such invasion of our peace and wellbeing. Anyone who would come into those facilities would think twice since he would not know who are the armed and who are not.
God certainly isn’t patient with this kind of murderous treachery. He mandated immediate death to those who shed innocent blood. But that’s another article.
Let’s clean up our weak mental health care system. Let’s stop making violent movies. Let’s go after our drugs on the streets, beef up our counseling programs, stop dropping the ball on these kids who show that they need help but no one takes the responsibility to get hold of them before they shoot up a school. There are tons of holes in these systems.
It’s a complex challenge, I know. But, our problems are not guns or knives, or cars, or bombs or anything else that kills. It’s the person who is using those means to harm others. And it is disgusting and frightening.
Won’t someone please teach these protesting kids why our country is great?
The answer is not in disarming us all.

Judi Tabler lives in Pawnee County and is a guest columnist for the Great Bend Tribune. She can be reached at bluegrasses@gmail.com. Visit her website juditabler.com.