Guns in the National Parks

OH NO!! GUNS IN THE NATIONAL PARKS! THE BLOODSHED, THE HORROR!!!

Can you see the headlines? They're already out there. They are absolutely without basis, and are frankly stupid. I think our President, a good Liberal, thought long and hard before signing this into law.

I too am a Liberal, though maybe a little to the Left of the President. I believe firmly in health care for all; I think it is something that should be a part of the rights of a citizen. I believe in most of the agenda of the Liberal wing of the Democcratic party except gun control, and I feel that a true Liberal needs to understand that this right, placed in The Bill of Rights, is part of the Liberty (notice the similarity between Liberal and Liberty) fought for by the Founding Fathers (and Mothers, for that matter), and guaranteed to us by the Constitution of the United States, is fundamental to who we are, and the concept of Liberty, particularly that a person has the right to protect themselves, their homes and family.


Now, I remember when Newt Gingrich took over the House of Representatives in 1995. A good bit of that was because Congress passed the Assault Weapons Ban and the Brady act in 1993 and 1994. Both acts had some common sense provisions, particularly the Brady Bill's background check, but both went over the top to assuage the unreasoning hate some "Liberals" had for guns in general. Both lost us the House in the '94 election, and we did not get it back until Mr. Obama brought sweeping change (supposedly; I have yet to see any, particularly on health care) in 2009.


Folks, a gun is not some evil thing that will automagically change an honest citizen into a rampaging bloodthirsty sociopath when he or she touches one!!! It is a tool, same as the tools people find in old fallow fields around here when they go out looking for arrow heads and spear points, and have the same functions. They are used for hunting, target shooting, plinking, killing vermin (wharf rats are a good target), personal protection, and unfortunately, all of our children in the Military are issued one with which to kill the enemies of our land. They are NOT inherently evil, nor will they make the holder so. If you believe this, you have been badly misinformed, and are thinking with emotions, not your brain. An honest, mild-mannered person is not going to change when they are carrying a gun; they are not going to go rabid and shoot you. They are liable to be more mild-mannered; pulling a gun on someone is a life changing experience, and you don't want to do it unless under extreme provocation, and your life is threatened. Once you do that, there is no way back, even if you are exonerated. The responsibility tends to make one cautious; i know many people who have permits and do not carry, because of the responsibility.


Now, in this state, a person carrying a gun in a park, especially a public area is not going to be obvious, due to the concealed carry law. The gun must be concealed from the public. Carrying a gun in the open in public can (but not always) open you up to an obscure law, "carrying a gun to the terror of the public", and you can be arrested for openly carrying. It is up to the law enforcement officer and the judge who hears the case.


Anyway, I feel that that poor couple who were killed by Gary Michael Hilton may have been able to repel him and get the law on him if either of them were armed. This predatory behavior of sociopaths and ruffians has been going on for some time in our National Parks - I remember when a female hiker on the Appalachian Trail was held by a psychopath and abused after he killed her boyfriend with a gun he was carrying illegally!!

So, am I worried about people being given a pass to carry a weapon on the National Parks? No. Not as long as I have the right also.

Note; though I am a Liberal, and somewhere between a Social Democrat and a Democratic Socialist (and no, I am not a Communist), I do own guns, I do shoot occasionally, and sometimes hunt (with indifferent success).

Banned from Carolina Rails Yahoo List

Ah yes, I got myself banned from the Carolina Rails group for speaking my mind. Yes, I was feeding a troll, and yes, I was trading abuse for abuse. These last three years have been difficult, and I get emotional easily. Really no excuse, but...

One of the group members posted a news story about some students at UNC Chapel Hill marching against the use of coal in their physical plant, since coal is a significant polluter of our air. I realize that many of our railroads haul coal for most of their revenues, especially Norfolk Southern, which runs right through my home town. I also know that this coal gives many of a railroad man, including my dad, when he was working for NS,, and in now, retirement, my mom since my dad is gone, a good living. But, coal is dirty, it ruins mountains when strip mined, and ruins mountains when the acid rain and fog comes through.

An aside here; there is really no such thing as "clean Coal" technology, as much as the President wants to believe in it. Coal throws tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, furthering global warming. And if you don't "believe in" global warming, I feel terribly sorry for you. They're having to haul snow into Vancouver, for God's sake!

Well, some blowhard came on talking about how we shouldn't worry about that, that people did horrible things to each other, crimes, rape, murder, child abuse, and the damned Liberals are worried about a few trees, that we were all a bunch of crybabies, and should be lined up and shot, or some such. (Maybe not shot, but the feeling was there.) He apologized in advance for "letting his fingers get away from him", saying he hoped nobody was offended, but he felt it "had to be said". Well, I was offended, and I told him so, and since he wrote the message to the whole group, I wrote my reply to the whole group, feeling it "had to be said", and a nice little flame war erupted between me and a right wing knee-jerk jackass. (Or two maybe, I don't know.) Anyway, it went on until I replied that he shouldn't ought to say such nasty things (he had resorted to cussing here), and I was an ordained minister and didn't appreciate it; actually, I did say a few nasty things, and did put in a few bad words, just leaving out letters. Ah well. Anyway, I was summarily banned from this group and this jackass wasn't!!!

If this wasn't a real humdinger already, I got a very sanctimonious letter from a preacher who said I shouldn't post bad words, even if I left letters out (he is right I shouldn't, and I stand corrected), and I should apologize to the moderator (I did), and this Glenn Beck/Rush Limbaugh clone who was abusive and actually threatening (I'll be Damned, and I won't leave any letters out!!), and proceeded to quote me something from Thessalonians, one of Paul's letters to one of his fractious churches. I wrote him back a nice letter, saying how I understood his concern (though it really wasn't any of his business), and would take it under advisement, but please don't quote Paul at me, as, in my book, Paul was a zealot and a firebrand, and wasn't in any way a Messiah, and a lot of his writing directly contradicted Jesus' teachings, who Christians ought to be following and quoting anyway. I actually quoted a few of Jesus' sayings back to him. When he got into Original Sin, I told him I wasn't too sure of that, and he hasn't written me back. Obviously, this minister is one of those people who believe in the total inerrancy of Scripture, which I cannot(including Adam and Eve, and Adam's sin), for a number of reasons. (One of them is that I am a Scientist...) Curiously, he hasn't written me back.

Ah well, I just wanted to share this with people. This moderator, in my not so humble opinion, was simply not doing his job, and still isn't. If anybody writes to him on my behalf, please be nice, and please do NOT be abusive, threatening, or preachy, just tell him that you support me in my rebuttal to this troll, and to please do a better job of fairly moderating a group.

I have taken my ball and bat and gone home, and doubt I will ever be a member of this group again. I went and started my own called Rails of the Southeast, and will do the same thing, only will be firmly moderated. If somebody wants to start a flame war, I will just moderate their posts. If they keep it up, I will cut off their posting privileges until they get over it. I won't ban anyone unless they directly threaten me.

I just had to say this, it "just had to be said".