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2028: A Gun Control Nightmare

by Annie
annie@codyexpress.com
April 23, 2001

My thanks to Sirgawain for suggesting this article.

April 23, 2028.....

I suppose old age is beginning to catch up with me.  Never before have I forgotten this anniversary.  Eleven years ago today - April 23, 2017 – the day our leaders proudly announced that they had finally succeeded in eliminating guns from our society.  As I listened to the triumphant announcements of gun control advocates and politicians, I thought about my revolutionary ancestors who fought, bled and died to secure the rights that made ours a truly free society.  How disappointed they would be, I thought, if they could see the road America has taken.  I can still recall the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I heard one politician after another tell me how much safer our world would be now that firearms would no longer circulate throughout the land.  I shed a tear or two for all those who would learn the hard way that they had fallen for the deceit and lies of a small minority who duped them into sacrificing freedom for security – a false security that would never be found.

April 23, 2017 – an incredibly dark day in the history of the land of the free and the home of the brave. 

Oh, they were clever.  First they told us we would be safer if we would just institute background checks for gun purchases.  It seemed to make sense and many considered it harmless.  After all, no one wanted felons, the mentally deranged and “those who shouldn’t have them” to purchase guns.  It was touted as a common sense solution to curbing gun violence without infringing on the rights of law-abiding citizens to own firearms.  Many, many Americans supported the idea and vilified those of us who saw the proposal as an infringement of our rights.  We were the scum of the earth – anti-citizens – who didn’t care about the deaths of innocents at the hands of those who should not have guns.  In spite of our cries that Americans would live to regret it, the Brady Bill passed. 

Following a few other “modest” gun control laws that dealt with gun shows and waiting periods, we were told that there were still too many children dying from firearms violence – whether accidental or intentional.  We were told that we must protect the children and restrict access to firearms by anyone who had children in their home.  Those of us who had grown up in homes with guns and who had raised kids around guns knew that the gun wasn’t the problem  - other factors were to blame.  But again, Americans agreed and legislation was passed to forbid any parent to own a gun.

The elderly were next on the list.  We were told that too many of the elderly were dying as a result of violence or suicide with a gun.  They told us that the older generation simply didn’t have the agility to handle firearms – their reactions were too slow, their minds too feeble.  We had to protect them.  Those of us who truly cared about the elderly understood that they were among the most vulnerable when it came to crime.  Crooks and thugs assumed, as the gun-grabbers did, that they were too feeble and slow to put up any serious resistance.  We knew better – many elderly people had successfully saved their own lives or the lives of others with guns and we had the statistics to prove it.  But Americans supported, and eventually achieved, prohibiting the use and ownership of firearms by people over the age of 55.

Within a short amount of time, we were presented with falsified statistics about the number of women who were injured or died as a result of having their own firearms used against them.  The problem, according to the gun-grabbers, was epidemic.  “Something must be done,” we were told, “to protect these women who are too foolish to know that they shouldn’t try to fight back.”  Gun rights activists tried to expose their bogus statistics, but our words were ignored by an ever-increasingly biased media. And once again Americans bought their argument.  Soon, women were forbidden to purchase or own firearms.

Finally we went after divorced men, and later all men, on the theory that each man in our society had had at least one “sour” relationship which could compel him to commit a crime of passion against a former female acquaintance.  “Women,” we were told, “cannot defend themselves against these beasts because they are forbidden to possess weapons.  We must take the guns out of men’s hands to protect the women.”  This was the toughest battle, as most hunters are male (no offense to the ladies).  They fought mightily to keep their hunting rifles and shotguns.  But eventually this too failed, as the animal rights activists joined in the fight to protect those who were unable to protect themselves – the defenseless four-legged creatures that shared our bountiful land.

As time went by, more and more small segments of the population were forbidden to own firearms, each time with a “good, common sense” reason for doing so, and by April 23, 2017, our nation’s leaders had managed to outlaw guns in the hands of every citizen with the exception of law enforcement, judges, the military and elite members of the political hierarchy.

At each step in the process, those of us who truly valued freedom and the principles on which our nation was founded tried to warn gullible citizens who fell for media hype and gun control lies.  We put forth the truth as loudly and consistently as we could.  We tried to tell them they would regret the actions they were supporting.  Our warnings fell on deaf ears.  Safety was paramount – safety of our parents, our children, our women, our wildlife.  Guns were the worst evil to infect our land. They had to be eliminated.

On April 23, 2017, as I saw the last vestiges of our Second Amendment right fade away, I put down my pen.  Appeals to common sense and logic were useless and would be so for some time to come.  It was clear that the only way the people of our nation would come to realize what they had done was through experience.  Americans had reached into their liberty purse and purchased a false dream from charlatans and con artists.  Only cold, hard reality would convince them that they had been swindled.  I knew it wouldn’t happen overnight – it would take time.  I wasn’t even sure I would live to see an awakening of the masses.  And maybe it’s still too soon.  But old age is creeping in, the memory is failing and I have to try one last time before my fingers are too twisted to type.

I had put down my pen, but I hadn’t abandoned the fight.  I closely followed the crime statistics and watched them rise slightly in the beginning and then finally climb dramatically upward, year after year.  In spite of the fact that the major news outlets tried to suppress reports of sky-rocketing crime and violence, my collection of clippings, personal stories, crime reports and such grew as rapidly as the crime in the streets was growing.  Often, as I stared at the ever-increasing number of boxes in my basement, I wondered if the time was right.  I wondered if the American people had had enough.  I wondered if they were close to a point of demanding that their rights be restored.  I wondered if it was time to pick up my pen and start anew.  I don’t know if the time is right, but I can remain silent no longer.  Too many stories need to be told.

Consider the case of Gail.  Gail had a promising career and bright future.  She was young, energetic and loved life.  But, at the age of 28, tragedy struck.  She was accosted in a dark, deserted parking garage, raped, beaten and left for dead by a knife-wielding assailant.  Gail, like so many others, had believed that the police would protect her.  She had a whistle (which she used), mace (which she tried to use) and training in karate (which was useless against her very large attacker).  But, other than those simple tactics, Gail had placed responsibility for her safety and security in the hands of others.

Gail spent many long months in therapy trying to cope with the emotional aftermath of the attack and finally determined that she would never again feel safe unless she found a way to protect herself.  Eventually she managed to procure a gun through the black market.  She drove to a deserted spot far outside town to learn to use it.  She loaded the weapon, aimed at a nearby tree and pulled the trigger.  The gun, which had been constructed in someone’s basement by a gentleman who made easy money selling shoddy firearms to people like Gail, exploded in her hand.   Shards of cheaply manufactured metal exploded in all directions, some burying themselves deeply into Gail’s body.  The hand that had held the gun was all but severed from the wrist.  A few days later, Gail's lifeless body was found lying in a dried pool of blood – she had bled to death on that deserted lot far outside town.  If Gail had been able to purchase a legal gun from a reputable manufacturer she would in all likelihood still be with us today.  How many others have died under similar circumstances will, I’m sure, never be known. 

Or consider the case of Marcus and Rhonda.  Marcus made a good living and Rhonda stayed at home raising their two children, ages 5 and 8.  They had a modest, but comfortable home in a large neighborhood near the outskirts of a small midwestern town.  On a cool fall morning they awoke to discover patrol cars and ambulances parked in front of the house next door.  Within a short while, Marcus and Rhonda learned the grisly details of the robbery and murder that had occurred while they slept.  All three members of the family next door were dead.  As details were reported in the days that followed, it became clear that help had been summoned but didn’t arrive in time to save the lives of their neighbors.

Rhonda, naturally, became quite concerned for the safety of her children as well as herself and her husband.  After much consideration and many discussions, Marcus and Rhonda made a decision to defy the law and obtain a shotgun for home protection.  Marcus began to quietly make inquiries from people he trusted about obtaining a weapon.  He knew, of course, that weapons had been outlawed, but he also knew they could be had if you wanted one – through the black market.  After about two weeks and a couple of referrals, Marcus obtained a gun.  Three nights later law enforcement officials burst through his front door.  Marcus had been set-up by a paid government informant who helped him secure the shotgun.  The authorities ransacked his home, terrorized his children and threatened him and his wife as they searched for the weapon.  Eventually, Marcus and his wife, who had never gotten so much as a speeding ticket, were charged with illegal possession of a firearm and child endangerment, among a long list of other charges.  Their children were placed in the custody of the State and the couple spent the next two years in prison.  They haven’t seen their children in years and have all but given up any hope of ever being reunited.  Four innocent lives were destroyed because good parents wanted to protect their children.

My boxes contain thousands of stories like those of Gail and Marcus:  Ranchers who couldn’t protect their herds from predators and lost everything they had spent a lifetime building; Fathers who buried sons or daughters because they had nothing more than a shovel or baseball bat to protect their children from vicious animals; Defenseless men, women and children who suffered injury and worst at the hands of crooks, rapists and murders.  Thousands upon thousands of people who would be leading happy, safe, productive lives if they had simply been permitted to exercise their God given right to keep and bear arms for the protection of themselves and their loved ones.

It seemed for a while that Americans were beginning to realize the horrible mistake they had made when they began to demand an explanation for the explosive increases in crime.  But the politicians stepped in again.  This time we were told that the problem was illegal trafficking in and manufacturing of guns.  “A solution to the violence and personal tragedy suffered by our citizens is on the way,” we were told, “in the form of new legislation expanding the power of law enforcement officials to search for and seize illegal guns.”  Once again, Americans sacrificed freedom for safety.

Vehicles became subject to search at any time, without cause, in the fight to abolish the illegal gun market.  Homes and offices were raided in the vitally important effort to seize weapons and manufacturing equipment.  Women were arrested and convicted because they chose to accept responsibility for their own protection and defied the law by owning a gun for self-defense.  Honest citizens were jailed for exercising a right secured and guaranteed by our forefathers.  Families were torn apart and neighbors turned on neighbors.  The number of firearms offenders in our jails and prisons exceeded the highest numbers ever housed for drug offenses.

And yet today, in spite of all that, gun violence is more rampant than ever.  Gangs of criminals have turned our streets into war zones as they battle police and one another.  Our defenseless citizens, who are easy prey for thugs and predators, hide out in homes and offices that have become fortresses with bars on the windows and alarms on the doors.  Armed criminals terrorize our neighborhoods and businesses.  Neighbors report neighbors, children report parents, doctors report patients and friends report friends who own firearms.  Our prisons are overflowing with honest citizens whose only crime was to try to protect themselves and their families from predators by arming themselves with a gun.  And all the while, crime rates continue to soar.

Just where is the gun-free, safe society our leaders promised?  Is this the America you envisioned when you gave up your right to defend your families and your homes?  How many more freedoms will be sacrificed; how many more lives will be ruined; how many more bodies will be buried before Americans stand up and say, “Enough is enough?”  It took a lifetime to get where we are today and it will take another lifetime to undo the damage that has been done.  Have you had enough, America?  Is it time to turn the tide?  For the sake of our children, our grandchildren and our country’s future, I certainly hope so.


Other Articles by Annie

Other Works of Fiction with a Message

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 QUOTES TO REMEMBER
Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man. — Thomas Jefferson, quoting Cesare Beccaria in On Crimes and punishment (1764).

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