I am hoping to get a reasoned voice out there for responsible gun ownership. Anyone who knows me knows I am pretty centrist on most things, and pretty far Left on others, yet I grew up in a family, both sides, who owned and do to this day, own guns. I also own them, some for hunting, though I rarely go any more, some for target shooting, a beloved pastime though not good at it, and a few purely for defense.

I was listening to Mark Thompson on Sirius today, and he was yelling at some Right Wing person, and sometimes yelling over him, about gun ownership, and whether this right is as important to him, the caller, as the right to "not get shot" is to ordinary Citizens. Mark also said that the Second Amendment is "obsolete", something I have heard also from Michelangelo Signorile and even Ari Rabin-Havt. There are some local people here in my home town who feel the same, that the Second Amendment of our Constitution should be repealed, as was done with the Eighteenth Amendment, or modified to reflect "modern firearms". I rarely listen to Right Wing radio - need to keep my blood pressure low - but there is no reason on that side either, and mostly anti-government rhetoric and racist stupidity, along with arguments that do not reflect any reality.

However. "They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. Attributed to Benjamin Franklin. Is gun ownership an essential  Liberty? According to some. Some people thought it essential enough to make part of the famous Bill of Rights of our Constitution, and also so much that they made it second in line, just after freedom of religion, press, speech, free assembly, such as Moral Monday, and the Peoples right to petition for redress of grievances. Now, why would they do that?

Along with being a Biologist (yes, I study Evolution, which is not a "belief" or "just a theory", but I digress), a Nature Lover, a Conservationist, a shooting sportsman, and a number of other things, I am a Ham Radio Operator. If you look at Ham Radio, it has a long history and tradition. It is not "just a hobby", but is a service, and is defined as such in Part 97 of the FCC rules. Rather than buying a license, we have to work for one, It takes study, and we have to pass a test that shows we are aware of the rules and are proficient enough to manage our own stations for interference. Back in 1958, Hams (known properly as the Amateur Radio Service) had an interesting band known as the 11 meter band, where they could talk, run Slow Scan TV, experiment with data, and do all kind of things. Problem was, in 1958, the sunspots, which control long distance communication in radio, called "skip" were at an all time low, making 11 meters unusable for long distance communication, so the FCC decided to remove it from Amateur (Ham) service, and start a new radio service like Australia had, and call it the Citizen's Radio Service. Naturally, Hams did not like this. This "service" was to be for families, small businesses, farmers, tradesmen and the like, to help carry on business. It was limited to 5 watts of input power to the finals (which translates to around 3 watts out from the antenna connector), and was for local communications only. The people who got into this CB thing in the 1960's immediately tried to make and style themselves like Hams, talking "skip" (illegal for CB - no talking over 150 miles away) running high power (often more than Hams could legally run), and making a pest of themselves, sometimes causing interference with other radio services, often Hams, but too often government and commercial, including military. They at first had to buy a license, later just apply for one (it was then free), and later were allowed to operate without a license.
Now, at this time, Hams could buy or make a low power transmitter (usually less than 10 watts), and later, when they could afford it, buy an amplifier (called a "linear", but often pronounced "linner", or "leanyer" - called "linear" due to the linearity needed to amplify a signal without distortion) that would take this small signal and amplify it about 100 times to 1000 watts, which was legal input in that day (about 500 to 700 out, depending on a lot of things). CBers got hold of them in short order, and began using them. Next thing you know, Hams had a rule passed on them limiting them to only amps that would amplify 10 times, and required that the popular 10 meter band (next to 11 meters) be locked out! We were very bitter about this, and CBers wonder why Hams don't care for them much.

Now, all this is to illustrate a point, that perfectly respectable and "law abiding" (a term that has taken a beating), honest people were being punished for what scofflaws, lawbreakers, and, yes, thugs and hooligans were doing. Don't believe me? Go to Channel 6 (27.025 mhz) and listen around. Yes, they are "running power". Go to Channel 19 (27.185 mhz) or 11 (27.085 mhz) and listen to the filth there all too often; I have heard of people who will not let their kids listen to the CB for this very reason.

What has this to do with guns? Gun owners, legal ones, get punished for what the criminals do. I am not likely to come shoot you Mark, Michaelangelo,  Ari. Why must I suffer and give up a right guaranteed under the Constitution for what nuts, criminals and terrorists do? And, have you been shot or shot at? (No!)

The Sandy Hook massacre was horrible. The Las Vegas shooting was awful. The shooting of Gabrielle Gifford was - well I have run out of words. But, I didn't do it, any of it, and neither did the millions of legal gun owners in the US! We none of us had a thing to do with it! And, if you start taking away rights, the guns will still be out there. Illegal people will still be doing illegal things. Just go to Channel 6 and listen. They are still out there, plus, now you can buy a "Dave Made" amp for "10 meters" that has a lot of "pills" (transistors), and will put out on the order of thousands of watts on the CB band!

My family, both sides, mom's and dad's, were Mountaineers of the Southern Appalachians. My maternal grandfather carried a .32 Special, especially when going to "town" (Asheville). A shotgun sat in the closet, and we knew "don't play with that". No "reasoning", no argument, no whining. Full stop. My maternal uncle, who taught me much of what I know about the woods was the same. So was every other of the uncles (3), and most of the aunts - my eldest aunt carried a .32 Auto in her purse. My cousins, and there are many (and I do not always agree with their politics or religion), most own guns, have guns in the house, many carry daily. NONE OF THEM, and I cannot stress this enough, NONE OF THEM has ever hurt another person with a gun. NONE OF THEM!!! NOBODY!!!! So, why do they need to give up a Liberty guaranteed us by the Founders, so you can feel more secure?

I will write more on this later, and will try to be reasoned, and back up my arguments with as much data as I am able. Until then, remember:

"Gun control means hitting your target!"