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We Are The Problem Not the Solution!
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
We Are The Problem Not the Solution! How our indifference to privacy will lead us down the wrong path to selective firearms confiscation. By Ralph Weller CalNRA.orgJanuary 14, 2002 - Americans historically have rallied in times of crisis. They actively took part in the defense of the home front during World War II. Women worked in factories, nursed wounded soldiers to health and ferried aircraft from the factories while men went to war. Men too old for military combat service were on guard along the coasts of America on a constant vigil for attack by air or sea. Americans saved aluminum foil, tires and pennies for the war effort. Most everyone was PROUDLY involved to support the war effort. One would have risked their very lives if they hinted at removing firearms from the hands of civilians in those days. Americans throughout our colorful history were armed. It was armed civilians who helped settle the west. It was armed civilians who fought wars in the early history of our country. Armed civilians have been the very backbone of our national defense in years past. It is the reason why countries who allow firearms ownership in the civilian population rarely if ever are attacked and defeated. It is the primary reason Hitler avoided Switzerland while gobbling up large tracts of Europe. To hear the stories of the World War II generation, from combat in foreign lands, to doing what was necessary to protect the home front, one clearly gets the impression it was every American's duty to support the war effort and defend the country. Today, the duty of Americans has been muddled by 30 years of liberal nonsense suggesting that America's problem are Americans. Americans are accused by liberals and, in some cases, by our own government officials as the source of all woes world-wide. You name the malady, somewhere it comes around that Americans are the cause of everything bad. We pollute rivers and streams. We cause global warming, create poverty and cause wars. Criminals turn to a life of crime simply because law-abiding citizens own firearms. And, most recently, there are a few voices becoming ever louder suggesting the World Trade Center attack is because America caused it. To make matters worse, beliefs Americans held as a part of our value system for most of our history has been challenged as of late. Criminals are criminals because we put them in prison when they commit a crime. Americans are more likely to kill themselves or loved ones if they own a firearm. Americans will "shoot it out in the streets" and kill each other if they are allowed to bear arms. Self-defense of one's own life and the lives of our family members is the job of the government... that's why we have 9-1-1. Saying the Pledge of Allegiance is forbidden in some school districts because "under God" may offend someone. When raped, submit, do not resist. A school district in California is now teaching Islam as a cultural value yet anything to do with Christianity as a cultural value would invoke the wrath of the ACLU and our very own government. In Arizona, the legislature voted to provide 3 million tax dollars in health care benefits to illegal aliens. Wow! What a bunch of screwed up values. Having said all this, it seems saying something is seriously wrong is an understatement. But it came home to roost even more since the WTC attack. When it comes to defending our freedom and value systems, its as though we are being told that Americans are part of the problem, not part of the solution as it once was. Legislators have gone off the deep end with political rhetoric suggesting our constitutional rights are arming terrorists and therefore, we must prevent Americans from purchasing certain types or all firearms. Good Lord! What is happening to us? In a nutshell, it's big government! Our politicians, and unfortunately, many of our citizens have become so enamored with government as the solution to every problem that individuals combined as a force are considered irrelevant. A lot of us want to be part of the solution. We want to be involved in the defense of our country. A lot of us are frustrated by watching state legislators and federal politicians assume that by foisting laws, regulations and procedures that limit rights upon every citizen that somehow the solution to terrorism will be at hand. The two words that best describe how some feel is "insulted" by the insinuations and "excluded" from the process. Yet, some have taken things into their own hand. There is no question that firearms sales are up since September 11. First time buyers make up the bulk of increased gun sales. Some Americans view terrorism as a potential attack upon them or their family as a personal issue. One only needs to look at the middle east conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and a different image of terrorism is conjured up. It is unlikely that terrorism will ever degenerate to personal attacks upon Americans by roving gangs of terrorists in our cities, but can Americans be blamed for wanting some form of personal security? We still have a lot of people, particularly immigrants, who are old enough to remember another world from this past century. To those folks terror is vividly etched in their memories and they take the breakdown of a society far more seriously than most of us who have lived within the confines of America our entire lives. The baby boomers remember the stories of our parents and what they went through during World War II. Owning a firearm or at least having one at hand issued by the government was not only common, it was almost expected. Americans who defended the homeland expected an attack on our country and they were not going to fall to the enemy without one hell of a fight. Today, our view of homeland defense is to appoint a homeland defense czar whose job it is to coordinate the activities of various government agencies. Our view of homeland defense today is to limit the freedoms of Americans in a backhanded way of saying we are problem. In fact, the problem has been a government immigration policy that has opened the doors to most anyone who wants to come in. More importantly, those who came in temporarily have overstayed their visas and have been ordered to leave. There are 300,000 of them and most can't be found because we don't track their whereabouts. Are immigrants the problem? Of course not. But we need to do a better job of determining who is coming in by investigating their background. Those here temporarily need to be tracked and picked up the moment their visa expires. Instead, some in our government believe the solution is to implement a national I.D. card as though 99% of the population is the problem when in fact its the other 1%. But some politicians froth at the mouth at creating another bureaucracy all under the guise of keeping you safe. If there was ever a cause worthy of this generation, it is to stifle the implementation of a national I.D. card. National I.D. cards will degenerate from a "safety solution" to a tracking system. Over time you can be assured that politicians will demand certain pieces of information be included on the magnetic tape affixed to the rear of a card. It will start with your ethnicity. Where were you born? Are you an immigrant or native born? Where do you live? Where have you lived in the past? Are you divorced? Are you under a court order? What is your past history in brushes with the law? Have you been arrested? Convicted? Are you restricted in your right to own a firearm? Do you have a concealed carry permit? Do you own firearms? How many and where are they? Don't laugh. This is as clear the nose on our faces. It will all be done for your and my safety. Imagine a law that requires identifying yourself with your national I.D. card before being allowed to purchase a firearm. That's not a far-fetched demand. One simple swipe into a machine and a database is updated and your card's magnetic tape is now imprinted with your firearm purchase. Some time later, your card is swiped again by a police officer for a seat belt violation because it now doubles as a driver's license and low and behold, he has reasonable cause to search your car because you purchased firearms in the past. 'Oh, you're of middle east ethnicity? The government is confiscating all firearms owned by middle east extraction because of terrorism.' There will always be another event, another "logical" reason to make sure Americans are safe. Where will it stop? Will your ethnicity or birthplace be a reason to confiscate firearms? Will your membership in certain organizations be enough cause? Is the type of firearm you own enough cause? It won't stop. A national I.D. card will become the single most dangerous intrusion on our privacy the likes of which we will never recover from. All of this because a significant number of Americans and politicians believe that no one can be trusted, even ourselves. We are all a danger to society. If there was ever a fight to fight, it is stopping the national I.D. card movement. It is a solution that treats the symptom, not the source of the problem. The source is a lax immigration policy made even worse by enforcement once immigration laws are violated. A national I.D. card is not about your safety, it's about finding you, at any time in any place. It's about providing information to the government, employers and retailers who really have no need to know certain information. It is a privacy issue and needs to be stopped. Who are the folks pushing this nonsense? Start with anti-gun politicians and you'll find most are very supportive of a national I.D. card system. Then move on to so-called pro-gun politicians. Some of them are also supportive of a national I.D. in some form. This is not goodness for America. You are urged to contact your legislators both at the federal and state levels and tell them you don't want a national I.D. card so this is stifled before a bill is even conjured up. We must be highly vocal now, not when a bill is introduced. We must put the fear of "the little people with pitchforks" getting very riled up so politicians start talking about a national I.D. card not being a starter in Congress. If we can't be a part of the solution in defending this country from terrorists, we have an obligation to be a part of the solution protecting this country from politicians. It is a cause as worthy as any effort put forth by our fathers and mothers. Your comments are welcome: rweller@cris.com http://www.calnra.org/rw508.html
Comments
cbxjeffIt's too late for me, save yourself.