Light bulb Moments

I’m not quite sure how I ran across The Breda Fallacy last week, but I’m glad I did. I followed the link over to her podcast, Gun Nuts: The Next Generation and enjoyed the show she co-hosts with Caleb, from the blog Call me Ahab.

Their November 25th podcast included a discussion about “lightbulb” moments. In the reminder on her blog of that evening’s show, she said:

Caleb and I will be talking about those “ah-ha” or “lightbulb” moments you get as you learn how to shoot or when you finally decide to carry. I like to call them gunny epiphanies – that single point in time will forever exist in your memory. You will refer to it again and again throughout your life and remember the sensation of when everything perfectly aligned in your brain – it will be your moment of before and after.

I thought it was an interesting question and gave it some thought. My light bulb moment wasn’t about learning to shoot or deciding to carry. It was a moment that opened my eyes to reality, not only in regards to the Second Amendment but also concerning the news media.

It’s no secret that I’m a southerner. As is the norm for the majority of southerners, I was raised around guns, taught gun safety and how to shoot at a young age. Guns in our home and being legally carried was the norm. When I turned 21, I applied for and received my concealed weapons permit. I had never considered that in some parts of the country, my family would be the exception in this regard. In my early twenties, I had never even entertained the idea that not only would we be the exception, in many cities across America, we wouldn’t be allowed to carry a gun. And, with that bit of personal history, it brings me to how my light bulb moment came about.

On December 7, 1993, the Long Island Rail Road train left Penn Station around 5:15 pm taking commuters home. As it entered Nassau County Colin Ferguson stood up, produced a 9mm handgun and shot every passenger he came across as he slowly walked down the train’s aisle. As he paused to reload, three passengers tackled him and put an end to his murderous spree. Unfortunately, Ferguson was able to murder six innocent people and injure nineteen others.

In 1993, I was in my early 20s and as I mentioned, I hadn’t given much thought beyond my own reality to gun laws across the country. I had yet to realize that some folks believe that no citizen should own a gun, much less be able to legally carry one. Looking back, I’m not quite sure what I thought exactly. I guess I just assumed that since the Constitution gave us all the right to keep and bare arms, all states were similar to Alabama in that if you were a law-abiding citizen you could not only buy a handgun, but get a permit to carry it.

One Sunday evening I was at my Mother’s house. After dinner, there was news coverage of the shooting rampage by this animal Ferguson on the TV. Of course, one of the interviews included someone making the demand for tighter gun laws. Clearly ignorant of the facts other than what had just been insinuated in the news cast, I said something about maybe New York needed to tighten up their gun carry laws. Really brilliant, wasn’t I lol? My step-father quickly and as is his nature, gently explained the many errors in that opinion. In doing so, he pulled back the curtain and for the first time in my young life, I realized that the press is not always showing the entire picture and they, too, can and often do have an agenda. By choosing which voices will be heard, they can steer the uneducated on the topic they are covering the way they want them to go. I also realized that not all states are equal when it comes to the Second Amendment.

Step-father opened my eyes with his first few facts. He told me that New York has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation and that most law-abiding citizens cannot get a carry permit. He said, “If people on that train had been able to legally carry a concealed weapon, it’s unlikely this guy would have had free reign to kill and injure so many people. Instead of being sitting ducks until he was forced to pause to reload, just one law-abiding citizen legally carrying a gun could have ended his killing spree immediately and saved countless lives.”

I hadn’t known by the news coverage that New York has such strict gun laws that the average citizen couldn’t get a permit to carry. He also pointed out something the news coverage hadn’t: that animal Ferguson was not legally carrying a gun. The law abiding people on the train were unarmed and only the criminal who intended to murder as many as he could was carrying a gun. With the strict gun laws New York already had on the books, more gun laws wouldn’t prevent criminals from carrying guns. The laws only prevent the law-abiding people from carrying a gun and being able to protect themselves.

This one conversation turned on the light bulb for sure. For starters, I viewed the media differently and realized that regardless of what they reported, it was my responsibility to always look into what they covered further before making a judgment or having an opinion – especially when politics are concerned. I never took for granted the Second Amendment or my home state of Alabama’s view of it again. I was immediately thankful that my state realized that unarming their citizens just made them unable to defend themselves against those who don’t obey laws to begin with. More gun laws only restrict the law-abiding citizens and embolden the criminals who know the average citizen will be unarmed thanks to the legislature. It was a light bulb moment for sure…

Crime and Punishment

Honestly, I read and watch the news and more often than not, I catch myself wondering what in the world has happened to our once great nation – and great citizens? It’s as if a “lazy, irresponsible, ignorant, selfish bomb” went off and infected at least half our population – if not more.

There are so many things going on today in America that completely sickens me, I’m really not quite sure where exactly to start my rant. To keep myself from rambling too badly, I plan on tackling each issue separately. So, in no particular order:

Crime and Punishment (or the lack of)
I watch the crime shows on TV like American Justice, Notorious, COPS, 48 Hours, Cold Case Files (on A & E, not the “drama” television series) etc. More often than not, I am completely disgusted by the eventual sentencing. 25 years to life for raping and killing two women. Life in prison for killing 8 or more women. Of course, often, life in prison means several decades and then laws will change and these scum of the earth will find themselves in front of a parole board.

The death sentence in this country, for the most part, is a joke. Look at Charles Manson and his murdering followers. Death Penalty – yet, there they all sit some forty years later. Sentences commuted to life in prison – all on the tax payers’ dime. However, they too get in front of a parole board….how anyone who faced the death penalty at one time could possibly end up in front of a parole board is criminal in itself – and makes our justice system look like a farce.

The death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment? No, slaughtering people in their own homes – killing a pregnant woman while she pleads for the life of her unborn baby, kidnapping an eight year old, raping and burying her ALIVE is cruel and unusual. The death penalty (when it’s actually carried out) is probably too easy.

I think a lot of Americans feel that we’ve taken our justice system and turned it on its head. Victims have NO rights compared to the criminals. Someone drags you from your car at gun point and steals your vehicle? They might see the inside of a jail cell. Heck, just watch a couple of episodes of COPS and you’ll see an officer pull up a suspect’s record and it’ll be screen after screen of convictions and arrests – and there the turd is, out on the street to claim more victims instead of tossed into a cell where he belongs and the key thrown away.

Take a good look at California and you’ll see what will eventually take over our entire country. The police chase a suspect running from them in a vehicle, some innocent person trying to go to work or home from work is injured during the pursuit and all of a sudden, instead of the suspect being blamed – there are idiots lining the street cheering the scum on…and the politicians screaming at the police for CHASING A CRIMINAL for crying out loud. In some cities, the police are no longer allowed to even chase a fleeing vehicle. Instead, the same people who screamed to stop pursuits will be the same people screaming the police “let” criminals get away when these same fleeing twits end up victimizing them or their families when they commit another crime. And, they will commit another crime.

*sigh*

So, I say we need to toughen our laws and once again make criminals face consequences – stiff consequences. Here are a few of my ideas:
* Run from the police in a vehicle? Face attempted murder charges for every occupied car you hit, assault with a deadly weapon charges for people having to dodge your sorry ass – a charge for each person in a car that was in danger of being hit. Run those charges up – make mandatory minimums and here’s a concept – make people SERVE the exact time they are charged with! Get 15 years? Your butt will sit in a cell (or preferably a hot tent like the Arizona sheriff started) for the FULL fifteen years from the date sentenced.

* Assault one of our nation’s finest? Automatic LIFE in prison. If these fucks will hit a uniformed officer – what do you think they will do to you or your family without hesitation? I don’t care if it’s just a tussle and the officer breaks a nail. LIFE in prison – no parole. Shoot at an officer or use any kind of weapon against them (whether anyone is hurt or not), automatic death penalty. These men and women have to deal with abuse on a daily basis from the worst society has to offer. The least we can do, as a law abiding society, is to let them know we stand behind them 110% and will not stand quietly by and allow them to be at the mercy of the scum in our society.

* Gangs. Sheesh…if we think it’s bad now, give it another twenty years. Not only does every large city in our country face these thugs, even smaller cities are being taken over. Along with our home-grown gang bangers, our ever growing illegal immigrant population is now importing some of the most deadly gangs the world has to offer. If we thought the Mafia was dangerous and enacted RICO to combat them – we need to take a look at these gangs and find a way to wipe them out too. At least with the Mafia of a generation or two ago, they didn’t target innocent civilians. It was pretty rare for someone who was not involved to wind up hurt or killed. With the gangs of today, killing is as easy to them as deciding you’re the wrong color (or happen to be wearing the wrong color) to walk on “their” street. Never mind the fact that they are unemployed, pay no taxes and have done the LEAST of any citizen to say they own anything – much less a street. They do own it though…they own it by control and fear – and it’s time we stand together and say enough is damn enough. There has to be something we can do to destroy them without destroying our Constitution. If we keep doing nothing, even the smallest towns will find themselves on the wrong end of a losing battle.

* Sexual Assault. Let’s face it, whether it’s against a child or an adult – not much can impact a victim of a crime more profoundly than sexual assault. None of the victims will EVER be the same. Why do we ever let these animals out of prison? I’m fine with the death penalty on this one too – but I’d settle for life with no parole – ever. Invading some one’s body…gosh I cannot imagine what it must do to a person. Victims of home invasions often never feel safe in the home it happened and end up moving. What about sexual assault victims? Where do they go to EVER feel secure, to ever feel safe? For impacting another human’s soul on such a violent scale – the criminal should have to pay an extremely high price and never be given the opportunity to harm another person.

I decided to scale this back and only cover crime and punishment… Originally this post was titled, “I’m Sick of the Nanny State” and I’d planned to vent about the biggest problems with our current crippling of our Constitution, starting with crime and the lack of punishment and ending with the FREE society – free as in, “I want everything free and I have a RIGHT to FREE food, health care, housing” et al. But, think I’ll stop here and tackle the other subjects later. Not like they are going anywhere unfortunately.

One last thought though – if I could afford to live in Florida, I’d be packing us up and moving us there. I like their stance on gun rights and the fact the state government realizes that law abiding citizens have A RIGHT to defend themselves from the thugs of society – including the right to use deadly force. My state is coming around, but unfortunately, with a demoRAT in the governor’s chair, they are coming around much too slowly. It’s much more important to make sure our illegal immigrants have IN STATE tuition than to pass laws that protect a law abiding citizens’ right to defend themselves, their homes and their property. *sigh* Just typical…

Adding to My Collection…

Back in February, I decided I wanted to buy the gun I carried years ago before husband and I married. I’d purchased a Smith and Wesson Model 915 not long after turning 21 and getting my concealed weapons permit in my home state of Alabama. I worked two jobs at the time. During the day I worked full time as a secretary for my step-father who is an attorney. My second job was part-time and had me out late several nights a week. I’d started working for a local pizza place in high school and kept at it several nights during the week and all weekend once I’d moved on to more “normal hours” jobs after high school. It was a good way to may some extra spending money, that’s for sure.

When husband and I started dating, he was pretty shocked to know I normally had two guns on or with me at all times lol. Coming from New Jersey to the deep south – I’m sure it was a culture shock for him. I explained that in Alabama, most folks felt almost religious about their Second Amendment rights. As such, the majority of us were permitted for concealed carry and more likely than not, packing.

Step-father thought my S&W was a great gun. However, he wanted me carrying his Charter Arms .44 Bulldog too. It was small enough to keep in a jacket or blazer pocket safely and most important to me, step-father said that if I were ever knocked to the ground, this gun had the power to knock someone off of me. Being of small stature, this was a very comforting thought and I carried both guns until husband and I married.

Most nights I worked, husband would ride along with me at my second job. Once we married, I didn’t feel the need to have a gun because – well, at the time he wasn’t crazy about having a gun in the house and I felt safe with him around.

Fast forward to where we live now. My Dad had given me a little .38 when we moved back to the lower 48. I kept it handy along with several rifles step-father has given husband. Last deployment, I never had that hinky feeling of “some thing’s odd or not right” in my house. If I did, I don’t remember it now. The chaos of where he was in Iraq the last time pretty much kept my mind more on what was going on over there than what was going on here.

This deployment, there’s been a significant population growth in the last few years. Our home appraisals have risen and risen (costing more and more in taxes) due to all the new homes being bought and sold. Starting last fall, you’d see some not so great lookin’ folks walking through town when just a few years before the only people walking through town were older folks getting their exercise on lol.

That started me thinking I’d feel a whole lot better if I had my Smith and Wesson Model 915 back. With a 14 round clip – ya just can’t go wrong heh heh. I soon found that when taking my dogs out late at night, my 9mm was hard to conceal in my robe and too heavy to put in the waste band of my sweats.

I went back to my favorite gun shop and asked if they happened to have a Charter Arms .44 Bulldog. He said he didn’t, but the Charter Arms company was back in business and he could order me a new one. Step-father’s had been blue with wooden grips and was easy to conceal. And. although that thing carries a huge bullet, the kick on it really isn’t that bad. So, I’ve debated months and months on whether or not to buy one. Husband said buy it and I kept thinking nah, I don’t really need it. He’s retiring and I want to build up our savings etc. etc. etc.

Well, last month the babies and I were heading to the big town about 40 minutes from here to shop for school clothes at the mall. I decided to stop by my favorite gun shop and see if they just happened to have a bulldog in stock. He said he’d just sold the one he had a few days ago…but he could order me a brand new one. And of course, I couldn’t resist. I picked it up the following Wednesday and it was beautiful! I went with the blue – just prefer blue over stainless personally.

That Friday I drove an hour and a half to an outdoor gun range. And older gentleman owns the place and was super nice. I told him it’d been years since I’d shot a gun, but I was a pretty good shot back in the day. After scaring off a snake lol, he set me up a target and went over the rules of the range. I had a great time and plan to go back next week for some more practice. I was pretty surprised, but I have better aim and control with the bulldog than with the 9. I think it’s because it fits my hands better – but with some more practice, I hope to get back to where I used to be in regards to being able to hit a target.

Anyhow, if you’re looking for a gun small enough to carry in your purse or on your person (if your state allows of course) that will easily incapacitate an aggressor, I’d definitely suggest the .44. Great little gun with a big, mean bite .

Advertise He’s Gone or Not….

that is the question (and other ramblings of course).

I took daughter and son to the park last week and met one of daughter’s friends and her mother. Her husband will deploy this fall and in the course of letting them play, we talked quite a bit.

She mentioned that she’s not putting up a blue star banner while he’s gone so as to not advertise that she has a deployed husband. I told her my banner’s been up since the last time he deployed and will stay up until he retires. My neighbor has one – for his son deployed in the Navy and so do a lot of folks in town.

On the back of my car I have a magnet that says “Half of my heart is in Iraq.” It’d been packed up in a box in the basement with other memories from the last deployment and when he deployed again, I dug through the box and put it back on my car. I told her that I probably shouldn’t advertise, but it’s a small town and everyone already knows. That I’m just sure to put the bee in everyone’s bonnet that I’m a hillbilly from Alabama, I’ve been shooting guns since I was old enough to ride a bike, I’m a member of the NRA and I’m a damn good shot. Not sure if it scared her LMAO or she now thinks I’m a nut, but hey – I refuse to allow anyone to think I’d be an easy target.

I’m proudly armed and as God is my witness, as my two big dogs try to eat your ass off (a rottweiler and my “police dog” aka German Shepherd who sticks by my side religiously) I’ll be taking aim. If you get in, you’re going out toes up. I’ll be damned if I’m going to become a victim in my own home…the ONE place we should be safest. No matter where I am in this house, there’s a firearm within reach and I make NO apologies for that. The world is just a sad, sick place these days and taking chances is not something I do.

Would I suggest that all military spouses advertise they are alone? Of course not. If we were still in Virginia or even North Pole Alaska living out in the woods, I probably would do things differently. Our small town is pretty decent – or was. I’m starting to see a bit of “rough around the edges” folks in our neighborhood and downtown. But, I have a retired policeman living next door and his German Shepherd IS a retired police dog. A local policeman lives a few houses down, a policeman for another small town not far from here lives at the end of the street and a state trooper lives two doors down from him. I have great neighbors who keep an eye on everything and until yesterday I was pretty secure in my feeling safe.

My across the street neighbor is moving however. And she came over to talk yesterday while my babies were outside riding their bikes. We were out from about 4pm until 5:30 – just sitting on my front steps watching our children play and yacking it up. We’d just became pretty good friends right before school got out, so I’m truly sad to see them leave. Her husband is a reserve policeman for a neighboring town too – so that made three policeman and one retired policeman within a block lol. Just super people and it’s just my luck to finally get a great friend about my age in my town – only to have them move. And, just to clarify, they aren’t military and never have been.

At any rate, while we sat outside, these two rough looking characters come schlepping down the sidewalk. They avoid eye contact – which tells me they’re up to no good. One looked like an eighties rocker wannabe reject – the other just a dirty bum. About half an hour later, rocker reject comes back down the block without his buddy, once again avoiding all eye contact. Not twenty minutes later, here comes another guy on a bike…again, we live in a neighborhood with doctors, retired teachers, cops – these people CLEARLY do not live on our street or in our neighborhood.

And what is the ONE thing every fucking bum IS making eye contact with? Yeppers, my mid-life crisis car sitting out front with the big ol’ advertisement on the back of it that I’m living in this old house all by my lonesome. So, I’m guessing after eleven months everyone in town knows and there’s really no point in removing it. But with these characters walking around the neighborhood here lately, I’m starting to lean toward the NOT advertising side of the fence.

I talked to my next door neighbor who is a retired policeman about these two characters and he’s telling me about another regular that he sees snooping around at least once a week when folks are usually at work. He said he makes it a point to come out on the porch and stare at him heh heh. And I’ll be damned if while we’re talking, that fucker doesn’t come slithering by too….

Am I paranoid? Yep, usually am. It’s just my nature I guess…I was bad when I was in my twenties, but have progressively gotten worse after becoming a Mom. I think the fact that I’m not physically able to defend myself like I could have done five years ago also worries me. Where I used to could bench press about 100 pounds, squat 200 to 250 pounds, and worked out six days a week and now a good day is being able to make it through Wal-Mart… Well, it’s a huge adjustment and I’m sure somewhere inside (now that I’m writing and thinking about it), the fact I know I’m not able to fight off someone if needed, most likely impacts my feelings of security too. Probably another reason why I’ve purchased one firearm since husband left and have plans to buy another gun in the next few weeks heh heh.

Well, this got off topic a bit, but the question remains…advertise or not? It’s a personal choice and there’s no right answer per se. However, for most spouses who may be like me and live far from any family, I’d say not. It’s better to be safe, than sorry.

Regardless, watch your surroundings, vary your routine, have a plan of action for everything from a house fire to a home invasion.

Don’t keep the same lights on (or off) when you go to bed or leave your house. Keep outsiders guessing on whether you are in bed asleep or a night owl awake and watching TV. It’s often too easy to pick up on people’s regular habits, so make sure your own routine isn’t clear to outsiders. And as always, above all, whether at home or while you’re out and about, watch your surroundings and listen to your inner voice….we have that “inner voice” for a reason, so pay attention .