Ferrari Mailing List: Guns, Government, Etc. then and now

[Robert Rehkopf (captrehkopf]

Listers'

I don’t normally get into it regarding which is best type thread (watches, cars, guns, etc.), but this current gun thread isn’t about which is best. So, I am going to tell a couple of stories about my personal experiences.

First, I want to thank Clyde for his combat awards, knowing the first PH came with him thinking, not me! But the second and third was pure bravery knowing it probably is going to be him.

My Story. As a child of about 9, I was doing like all 9 year old used to do in those days, playing OUTSIDE! I heard some yelling going on a little up the street and I turned and looked and was immediately fearful, 6-8 of the neighborhood men were walking a breast down the street carrying baseball bats, clubs, and axes, yelling at me to go inside. Obviously in those days you did what a grown-up told you to do, and you did it without asking WHY! I quickly ran inside and started looking out the window; my aunt asked me what the problem was and then she saw the men. She went to the door and asked them what was going on, and the men replied that a rabid dog had been seen in the neighbor and they were out to take care of it.  And to my astonishment this dog all hunched over and acting weird came into view, the men chased it and I assume to this day they took care of the problem. I ask myself all the time about what would happen now, given our current culture?

I think this small childhood incident speaks to our current culture. Some people would take care of it themselves; others would call on the government to help them.  I believe that is the fundamental issue in my mind. Have government protect you from all harm or you do something to protect yourself and have the government as a backup. People feel strongly both ways.

Guns are only one facet of the government trying to protect us from ourselves IMHO. As tragic as the mass killing of innocent children or adults is, do you think you want the government to protect you, moreover do you think they can? Think about this: As of yesterday the highway traffic deaths in Tennessee are well over 900 for 2012! I don’t know all the causes or how many innocent children and adults are dead, but I do know that many of these deaths are caused by DUI drivers, and probably repeat offenders. Since I’m a diabetic and stopped drinking alcohol more than I decade ago, I say to protect me the government should outlaw alcohol, and quit letting repeat offenders drive! Think about how impossible that is. Similarly, tell mentally unstable people they can’t be unstable, and tell gun carrying criminals not to carry guns. Again impossible tasks.

My point is that government cannot protect anyone from someone who wants to commit a crime, a killing, or take a drink and cause a deadly car crash, or just about anything someone has a mind to do. People have to watch out for one another just like we did before in the different self reliant America I knew as a child.

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Thanks

Robert Rehkopf