asforme
Campaign Veteran
imported post
The government is looking out for me, keeping me safe. Today if I go to the gun store and attempt to purchase a pistol, I will be unable to. Instead I can respond to an add from a private seller, or go to a gun show where I am sure to find some. If I then wanted to buy ammunition for that pistol, I again would be unable to. Of course if I wanted to buy the same ammunition for a carbine of the same caliper, that would not be an issue. But I do not have any carbines chambered in typical pistol calibers, so instead of buying ammunition, I make legal purchases of bullets, smokeless powder and primers and after a quick dig through a bucket at a range I can make my ammunition. If I proceeded to want to carry that pistol concealed, I would find myself unable to apply for the privilege of doing so. Instead, I must make sure that it is carried in full view (which I have no problems with). Of course 3 years and 1 day ago I was forced to submit my papers so I could be compelled by force to carry these very weapons which these ineffective legal measures attempt to keep me from possessing.
But that is all over tomorrow. Tomorrow I become a more responsible person. Today I am an irresponsible child. The fact that I have a wife and four month old son who I am supporting without help from my parents or the government is irrelevant. The fact that I'm doing this while attending college to be able to provide even more than them is irrelevant. The fact that I have been forced to find alternatives to the legal annoyances that attempt to prevent me from being able to protect my family is irrelevant. I am not a full citizen today. Tomorrow I am. I am very curious as to what will happen at midnight, something in my brain or subconscious that now makes me responsible enough to be able to purchase my firearms and ammunition from any gun store. When the clerks office opens Monday, I will then be mature enough to apply for the privilege of carrying protection for my family discretely when doing so overtly is inappropriate or illegal.
Thank goodness for my government looking out for me. Factory ammunition from a gun store must be much more dangerous than the ammunition that I reload myself. And a new pistol fresh from the gun store must be much more dangerous than a used one from a gun show. Carrying my pistol underneath my shirt requires a great deal more responsibility than putting it on my hip for the world to see.
For most people the graduation from a second class citizen to being a full citizen with all the rights and privileges of other citizens is something to celebrate. In part, I am, but every time I think about it I have no choice but to think about the fact that I spent three needless years with as a second class citizen. Why we allow this to continue in America baffles me. Yes, statistically, people my age or younger are more irresponsible. But isn't grouping all of us together the very definition of prejudice? Could any state in the US refuse to issue concealed carry permits based on whether a persons race was statistically more likely to commit a crime? Could the access to self defense be denied to any other person simply because people who look like the applicant are irresponsible?
A citizen is a citizen, and any citizen who is responsible enough to take on the job of helping to choose the leaders of the most influential country in the world must certainly be responsible enough to provide for their own defense. Maybe someday the rest of the country will realize this, until then, legal prejudice and discrimination is still every bit as protected in America as it was before the so called civil rights movement.
But it's okay, it all changes tomorrow... for me.
The government is looking out for me, keeping me safe. Today if I go to the gun store and attempt to purchase a pistol, I will be unable to. Instead I can respond to an add from a private seller, or go to a gun show where I am sure to find some. If I then wanted to buy ammunition for that pistol, I again would be unable to. Of course if I wanted to buy the same ammunition for a carbine of the same caliper, that would not be an issue. But I do not have any carbines chambered in typical pistol calibers, so instead of buying ammunition, I make legal purchases of bullets, smokeless powder and primers and after a quick dig through a bucket at a range I can make my ammunition. If I proceeded to want to carry that pistol concealed, I would find myself unable to apply for the privilege of doing so. Instead, I must make sure that it is carried in full view (which I have no problems with). Of course 3 years and 1 day ago I was forced to submit my papers so I could be compelled by force to carry these very weapons which these ineffective legal measures attempt to keep me from possessing.
But that is all over tomorrow. Tomorrow I become a more responsible person. Today I am an irresponsible child. The fact that I have a wife and four month old son who I am supporting without help from my parents or the government is irrelevant. The fact that I'm doing this while attending college to be able to provide even more than them is irrelevant. The fact that I have been forced to find alternatives to the legal annoyances that attempt to prevent me from being able to protect my family is irrelevant. I am not a full citizen today. Tomorrow I am. I am very curious as to what will happen at midnight, something in my brain or subconscious that now makes me responsible enough to be able to purchase my firearms and ammunition from any gun store. When the clerks office opens Monday, I will then be mature enough to apply for the privilege of carrying protection for my family discretely when doing so overtly is inappropriate or illegal.
Thank goodness for my government looking out for me. Factory ammunition from a gun store must be much more dangerous than the ammunition that I reload myself. And a new pistol fresh from the gun store must be much more dangerous than a used one from a gun show. Carrying my pistol underneath my shirt requires a great deal more responsibility than putting it on my hip for the world to see.
For most people the graduation from a second class citizen to being a full citizen with all the rights and privileges of other citizens is something to celebrate. In part, I am, but every time I think about it I have no choice but to think about the fact that I spent three needless years with as a second class citizen. Why we allow this to continue in America baffles me. Yes, statistically, people my age or younger are more irresponsible. But isn't grouping all of us together the very definition of prejudice? Could any state in the US refuse to issue concealed carry permits based on whether a persons race was statistically more likely to commit a crime? Could the access to self defense be denied to any other person simply because people who look like the applicant are irresponsible?
A citizen is a citizen, and any citizen who is responsible enough to take on the job of helping to choose the leaders of the most influential country in the world must certainly be responsible enough to provide for their own defense. Maybe someday the rest of the country will realize this, until then, legal prejudice and discrimination is still every bit as protected in America as it was before the so called civil rights movement.
But it's okay, it all changes tomorrow... for me.
