Seen on Facebook....

"The question is very simple, what private citizen needs to possess any semi-automatic weapon? Who are these people and what purpose does it serve? It astounds me how much effort is spent supporting these shadows in society as though their rights and ours are one in the same."
                     
So basically, if you own a semi-automatic weapon or think you should, you are a "shadow in society" and your rights are second-tier.

This is what's wrong with our culture.  The "anyone who differs from me is a monster."  The "Anyone who disagrees with me just wants to see dead children."

Let me tell you a story.  My teenage nephew is big into the outdoors.  He loves hunting, fishing, shooting etc.  He's proud of it, it's part of who he is, and he enjoys it.  I also enjoy getting tasty goose jerky or deer meat from time to time.  Hunting is a way to bond with his dad and siblings, and it teaches him the stark reality of what a gun will do and reinforces personal responsibility.  It's a challenge, it's also a way to bond with his dog.  There is absolutely NOTHING to be ashamed of on his part.

The other day I was talking to him in the car, and he mentioned to me that black kids in his class are really nasty to him because he's white, and they constantly call him cracker, and he felt that was a double standard, because they never get in trouble for it. He also mentioned that kids are nasty to him taunt him and call him names because he's not afraid to wear camo stuff to school, because he kills animals etc. etc.

Here I am, explaining to this kid that no, he should not ever be ashamed to do what he enjoys, that sometimes people are simply going to hate him because he's white, or because he hunts, shoots, etc.  He seemed surprised to learn that people have said horrible things to me because I own guns, and I impressed upon him that those attacks upon him, upon what he loves (upon his culture) are not a reflection upon him as a young man, but upon those who would denigrate him for it.

He's a smart kid, he gets it, but damn, it's disheartening.  You see the same behavior all over facebook anytime there's a shooting.  Suddenly people who know nothing about firearms our our laws on the books read a CNN article and think they're informed, when really they have no clue what they're talking about.

I look at it from the perspective of the kids.  Are kids and their families who value the 2nd Amendment, for whom guns are an interwoven part of their culture and family life, "shadows in society."  Do their rights not matter?

 I think about the impact of the things I see, the things I have had levied at me for being an outspoken defender of the constitution, the vile things you see penned all over the mainstream liberal news regarding gun owners.  It's still vile, but as adults we are able to separate that from who we are.  I've had people wish death and harm upon me, had people tell me they hope I kill myself with my own gun etc., but adults can handle that, as wrong as it is to have to.

What impact does it have on kids though, for the message on the news and social media to be "If you own and use guns, if you hunt, if you support the 2nd Amendment, something is wrong with you and you are a monster, a vile human being who amounts to a less than, a "shadow in society" who should be shunned and whose rights are not as important as everyone else's"

We see article after article, news clip after news clip about how AR-15's are only good for killing innocent kids, they are "killing machines" etc.  What about the kids who shoot that AR-15 in the backyard with mom and dad?  Or who know dad has one on the farm to protect their livestock from coyotes and other predators.  They recognize that there's a difference between their reality and what the media and social media are saying.  Imagine a kid whose dad is a cop, asking his or her dad why he keeps an AR-15 in the closet for work because she heard on the news that "the only reason to have one is to kill as many people as possible."  What are those who loath gun owners signaling?  That dad just wants to kill people?  That mom is evil and bloodthirsty because of the weapon she keeps in the closet.

What gun control proponents are attacking is culture.  Our culture.  They're saying "If you won't give up your AR-15, you don't love your children?" And then, after they say this, they want us to negotiate and compromise with them?  Their conversation sounds a lot like "sit down, shut up, and deal with all the regulations were gonna shove down your throats" while gleefully treating us like we are the scum of the earth, racist, backward, flyover country dummies who need to be "fixed"

And then they act surprised when we are less than enthused by these so called conversations.You and your ilk just got done telling me how horrible of a person I was because I don't care about dead children.  You start with a characterization that couldn't be further from the truth.  You start with that dehumanization and then expect us to have a "conversation" and cede rights over to you?  Sorry, but NO.