While perusing the online edition of the Lorain Morning Journal, I came across the article "
Metro Parks event marks 28th year." It is a story about the annual "Pioneer Days" festival, where re-enactors dress and act the part of their 1850s counterparts.
It read like many other stories about local events, fairs, and festivals. For me, though, one part stood out far and above the others.
Another mainstay at Pioneer Days is Homer Nielsen, 78, of Lorain, who displays his replica muzzle-loading rifles -- one of the most prized possessions of the pioneers.
''Back then, a gun helped feed you and protected you,'' Nielsen said. ''It put meat on the table.''
While Mr. Nielsen is correct in that fact, the "back then" part is absolutely unnecessary. As all second amendment supporters know, and the people in the Gulf region are finding out first hand, there are times when there is nothing and no one to stand between your family and those who would prey upon them than your firearm.
We read stories every day, like the Idaho woman in an earlier article here, about people who are alive and well today for the sole reason that they, or a passerby, were prepared for the worst and had a gun with them.
Millions upon millions of Americans enjoy hunting to celebrate their heritage, get closer to nature, and enjoy the bounty of the earth. Not to mention the fact that there are many thousands of families for whom a successful hunt means the difference between a full stomach and an empty stew pot.
These are the reasons for which we fight. This is why we write our letters, call our representatives, and donate our time. Not because we are believers in an archaic ideal, as some would claim, but because the right to own and carry firearms is as relevant today as it ever was.
The simple fact of the matter, the one truth that the anti-gun crowd refuses to acknowledge, is that guns save lives. Through self-defense, through feeding a hungry family, and through the comfort the knowledge that you are not helpless brings.
"
Shall not be infringed." Four words that mean so much to those of us who choose not to rely on others for our own safety and well being. Four words that seem to have been forgotten by some of the corrupt officials in the gulf region and across the country. Four words that we all need to be saying with one voice that can be ignored no longer by those who would deny us our most precious of freedoms.
"
Shall not be infringed." Four words that we need to speak now, before the time comes when we can only read about them in history books or re-enact them in annual festivals.
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