I am not sure what is going on in our Nation now with the random acts of violence. I can’t imagine why someone would go into a school and slaughter innocent people. I pray daily that these attacks will stop, but they continue at an ever increasing frequency.
As I write this, someone out there is planning an attack on innocent people. Is it because they want the notoriety? Is it because they truly hate folks and want to kill them? Is it because they have a mental disorder? Who knows? One thing is for sure, they are out there, and they have access to weapons and ammunition. They want to hurt us and our Families.
What you call these bad folks seems to confuse some folks. People get uncomfortable using the word terrorist. I am convinced that bad people out there want to do bad things. Whether they are doing bad things because they are criminals, terrorists, or extremists is irrelevant to me. We must be able to protect ourselves and our Families from them. I lump them under the heading terrorist, because they are terrorizing our socity.
So what do we do? I personally support the 2nd Amendment to our Constitution and our right to bear arms. I truly believe the phrase, “when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns”. Americans must be able to defend themselves and their property. In the US military we always talk about achieving overmatch. If the enemy has tanks, we need bigger tanks. If the enemy has planes, we need bigger planes. The same thing goes with fighting terrorists. If they are going to have weapons, we need to have them as well.
We must also understand how the terrorist thinks. I spent much of the last decade fighting terrorists. One thing I learned about terrorists is that they prefer to attack soft targets. If they think there is a chance that someone or something will foil their plans, they will look for a different target. Concealed handgun permits make the terrorist stop and think “efore I do something bad, is the guy next to be carrying a weapon?” If he is not sure, he probably won’t attack.
That’s why I don’t understand “gun free zones”. It’s like putting up a sign for the terrorist “Attack HERE”. Soft targets are what draws terrorists to areas. They know they can inflict as much damage on our National will by attacking a school as they can attacking a military installation, and they are more likely to succeed by hitting the soft target.
I wish we lived in a society where there was freedom from fear. I pray that we become a society where no one needs a weapon, because there are no bad people out there that want to deprive us of our freedoms, our property, and our way of life. I hope that happens someday soon. But until that time, let’s acknowledge that we live in a dangerous world, and take actions to protect ourselves. That includes carrying weapons as required.