The Right To Bear Arms

I decided to get back to the Constitution tonight. I think I'm watching too much of The West Wing, but then I decided that there can't possibly be such a thing as watching too much of The West Wing.

I've shot two guns in my entire life, a shotgun and a .45 - I'm not exactly a gun enthusiast, but I also don't think that people should be penalized for wanting to uphold their Second Amendment rights. Now, here comes the tricky part that is going to upset quite a few people...but that hasn't ever really been a problem for me.

I have a serious problem with uneducated people owning guns, especially guns that have absolutely no sincere purpose in daily life. So many people want the right to own guns no matter what. No background checks, no waiting period, no anything. I completely disagree. In order to own a gun I believe that the government should regulate gun sales by enforcing a waiting period, providing background checks and a national gun database registry, and reducing the sale of assault rifles. 

Here is my argument: I believe that we are in a time with anger and fighting that runs deeper than our founding fathers could ever imagine. Our would is full of hate, so much so that people will do whatever it takes to end the life of someone. I understand the argument that if someone wants to kill, they will do so regardless of their access to guns. I am also in agreement a majority of the time that, "Guns don't kill people. People kill people." That being said, I must also ask, What about the child who, in finding their parent's gun, accidentally kills their sibling or playmate? Should those parents be allowed to continue to keep weapons in their house? Keeping a loaded gun around a child (even when you think it's "out of reach") causes fatalities that are completely preventable. Don't be mad at the government for wanting to reduce the number of these preventable fatalities - be angry at the idiots who are being stupid enough to cause them.

For those who say that if someone wants to kill, they will, I must also ask, but to what extent? One person killing another, yes. One person killing two others, yes. One person even killing three others, yes. However, what was the last mass-murder committed using something other than a gun? I understand bombs, crashing airplanes into buildings, yes. Aurora, Northern Illinois University, Columbine High School, Sandy Hook, the Safeway in Arizona, Fort Hood, Binghamton, Westroads Mall, the Carthage Nursing Home, and Virginia Tech...all of these massacres were carried out using guns. 

Some of these shootings are recent, others aren't. Some you may have never heard of...but that didn't stop them from tearing the lives of multiple families apart. Below I have broken down the details of the shootings listed above. These mass shootings are only a small portion of the deaths that have occurred from guns in our country in the last decade and a half. 

•   Sandy Hook - December 14, 2012 - Shooter: Adam Lanza - Total number injured & killed: 28, including 20 children under age 8

•   Aurora, Colorado - July 20, 2012 - Shooter: James Holmes - Total number injured & killed: 70

•   Safeway, Tucson, Arizona - January 8, 2011 - Shooter: Jared Loughner - Total number injured & killed 19, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords

•   Fort Hood, Texas - November 5, 2009 - Shooter: Nidal Malik Hasan - Total number injured & killed: 43

•   Binghamton, NY - April 3, 2009 - Shooter: Jiverly Wong - Total number injured & killed: 18

•   Carthage Nursing Home, Carthage, NC - March 29, 2009 - Shooter: Robert Stewart - Total number injured & killed: 11

•   Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois - February 14, 2008 - Shooter: Steven Kazmierczak - Total number injured & killed: 27

•   Westroads Mall, Omaha, Nebraska - December 5, 2007 - Shooter: Robert Hawkins - Total number injured & killed: 13

•   Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia - April 16, 2007 - Shooter: Seung-Hui Cho - Total number injured & killed: 56

•   Columbine High School, Littleton, Colorado - April 20, 1999 - Shooters: Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold - Total number injured & killed: 39

According to website Mother Jones, “Since 1982, there have been at least 61 mass murders carried out with firearms across the country, with the killings unfolding in 30 states from Massachusetts to Hawaii,” they found...In most cases, the killers obtained their weapons legally. 15 of the 25 worst mass shootings in the last 50 years have taken place in the United States. 


Gun policies aren't popular. Politicians tend to stay away from creating laws regarding gun control because let's be honest, voters like their guns for the most part. According to an article in the Washington Post: "Since 1990, Gallup has been asking Americans whether they think gun control laws should be stricter. The answer, increasingly, is that they don’t. 'The percentage in favor of making the laws governing the sale of firearms ‘more strict’ fell from 78% in 1990 to 62% in 1995, and 51% in 2007,' reports Gallup. 'In the most recent reading, Gallup in 2010 found 44% in favor of stricter laws. In fact, in 2009 and again last year, the slight majority said gun laws should either remain the same or be made less strict.'"


Now, let me be perfectly clear. I'm perfectly fine with people having guns. I don't think that we should make them illegal by any means. (We did that with drugs and how well has that worked?) I do, however, think that there need to be much stricter regulations regarding the purchasing of every firearm, whether it's from a dealer, a gun show, or a pawn shop. 

Not every law can make everyone happy. That's just a fact of life. I can tell you right now that my friends who happily own guns and believe in their Second Amendment rights are fuming at me right now, and that's perfectly fine, however, that doesn't make me rethink my point. I believe, like I said before, that the founding fathers could have absolutely no clue as to the devastating effect that firearms are causing their country. Do you think that George Washington or John Hancock honestly could have foreseen the argument over the right to own an AK-47 or an M-16? Do you think that they could have envisioned a time in their country where a man or woman could walk into a school and murder innocent children? If we want our rights to continue to be upheld, we must be more willing to work with our government. People who wish to continue to utilize their Second Amendments rights must be more willing to be angry at those people who are treating guns as if they're a play toy, using them to make poor decisions, and to create an environment of danger and fear in their communities. It's those people who are truly the ones affecting our Second Amendment rights, not the government. 

Do you honestly think that the government would have any objection to citizens owning guns if it weren't for people abusing their Second Amendment right? 

Okay - come on - share your opinions! 

For Thou Art With Me

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

My favorite Psalm, Psalm 23. It's been read at nearly every funeral and memorial service I've ever attended, at least the ones I can remember. I have a unique feeling for this Psalm, as well as for the song Amazing Grace. 

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me....

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now, I see.

T'was Grace that taught...

my heart to fear.

And Grace, my fears relieved.

How precious did that Grace appear...

the hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares...

we have already come.

T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far...

and Grace will lead us home.

The Lord has promised good to me...

His word my hope secures.

He will my shield and portion be...

as long as life endures.

When we've been here ten thousand years...

bright shining as the sun.

We've no less days to sing God's praise...

then when we've first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me....

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now, I see.

They're both so beautiful, yet so sad. They're always played at the most disheartening of times; the loss of a loved one. I've come to associate death with these verses. 

I've been thinking about my grandparents lately. Their smiles, the way they laugh, the way they talk. I've realized that I'm slowly forgetting the little things that I used to love about them...how Pop used to talk...I'll never forget the day that I called my grandparent's phone number, like I had done countless other times, simply to hear his voice on the machine. What I didn't realize was that my grandmother had already asked my Godfather Randy to re-record a new message. When the machine picked up and it wasn't his voice..I'll never quite be able to put into words the feelings that rushed through me. 

We never called my grandma Charity anything but her first name...even her kids called her Charity. I'm not quite sure why, but it was just an adapted thing that always made people look at us a bit funny. When a 6 year old girl with spiral red curls is crossing her arms and shaking her head and saying, NO CHARITY!, people tend to take a second look. 

This post isn't focused on me, however. Or even my grandparents. It's actually focused on someone I've never even met. I won't divulge names or anything; it's not my story to tell. I hope they read blogs in Heaven though, because that's definitely where she is, looking down on her family with a smile. I know she would have made them proud. 

Time is sacred. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. There isn't a countdown, a giant clock with a ball waiting to drop as people shout and yell and laugh. No one is given an itinerary, a check list, a map, or even a nudge in the right direction. No one knows when their time will come to an end, not naturally at least. 

Some people don't believe in the same thing I do. Heck, I'm not even sure what I believe some days. I sometimes have those moments where I think, 'Wow. I don't know what's out there...but it's definitely something great.' I'll end with a short story; a reason that always reminds me to believe in something bigger than myself. 

I was 15 when my grandpa passed away. It was the first true loss I had ever experienced when I was old enough to understand; old enough to grieve. He was the first of my grandparents to pass away, and I would go on to lose two more within the next twelve months. His funeral was held in Woburn, Massachusetts, a small town north of Boston. I remember piling into my mom's car after the service, following the hearse, and leading the long line of cars from the funeral home to the cemetery. Grandma was in the front seat. She didn't know that Mom had asked the driver to pass by Gram & Pop's old house on the way to the burial. The house across the street from where Pop saved the life of my Aunt Susan after a gasoline explosion ripped through their house. Aunt Susan spoke at the service, telling her story of how Pop, after seeing her parents badly burned come rushing out of the house and without any regard for himself, charged into the burning house to find her. Susan said every time she saw Pop for the next few years, all she would do was cry, too young to associate him with anything but being burned by the fire. At the cemetery, prayers and final goodbyes were said. A flag was presented, and Pop received an official military ceremony. I'll never remember what was said, but I will remember what happened next. As the bagpipes played Amazing Grace in the distance, a lone firetruck passed by the cemetery, giving one whoop of a siren. No ambulance followed, no police cars or additional noises were heard. Just a single sound; a final goodbye to the hero who drug my Aunt Susan out of the fire. Mom later told the funeral director that she was a miracle worker, since she didn't know until Aunt Susan spoke a mere hour before that the fire had ever occurred. The woman smiled at my mom and I, paused, and then said she wished she could take credit for it, but that Pop must have made an impression on a much greater being than her, because she had nothing to do with it. 

To this day, I look back on that moment, that lone fire truck, as my beacon of hope; my belief in a greater good, a greater being living far beyond my sight, but so close within my grasp. 

Rest easy, guys...Rest easy. 

Let's Get Constitutional

For the next few weeks, I am going to be discussing different amendments to our constitution, my take on them, and how they are playing a role in our daily lives.

Day One: The First Amendment

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Freedom of religion. Freedom of speech. Freedom of the press. Freedom of assembly. Freedom to petition. These are the rights guaranteed to us by the first amendment. The bottom line is that someone can be standing next to you proclaiming at the top of their lungs for something that you have been proclaiming against at the top of yours...and there is nothing either of you can do about it. The law doesn't say that you must agree with what everyone thinks or says, but that's the beauty of the first amendment. It allows people with differing opinions to be heard equally. It allows people to voice their opinions to our political leaders. It allows us to practice whatever religions we wish, or to not practice one at all. We don't get to decide who has free speech and who doesn't. If we want free speech then we have to accept that our neighbor, our enemy, and our friends can have it too.

I belief in the equal treatment of others. Period. The end. I think that a restaurant should make the front page just as quickly if they refuse to serve people who are blatantly bashing gay marriage as they would if they refused to serve people who were advocating for it. Just because I don't agree with people who hate someone based on their race doesn't mean that I don't believe that the first amendment protects their freedom of speech to proclaim their beliefs.

This brings me to the one thing that people get into it most about in the news in terms of the first amendment: religion and homosexuality.

I'm completely respectful of people who have varying opinions from me. In fact, for those of you who have red my blog in the past, I completely advocate for it. I like having discussions with people who see things differently from me. If the world was full of people who believed the same thing, how boring would that be?

I can name 10 very close friends or relatives off the top of my head that are openly gay. So many of my dad's clients, my cousins, friends, you name it, are gay. However, and this is the biggest thing for me, that's not how I define them. Just like you wouldn't define me as the red-head, I don't define my friends and family by their sexual orientation. These men and women have done so many incredible things throughout their lives that it's a shame that people choose to only see them as gay or straight. They are business owners, lawyers, athletes, chefs, models, parents, and friends.

I have grown up believing that all people are treated the same way. Having seen first-hand some of the excruciating heartbreak that people have endured simply because they're gay, I have chosen a stance on the issue that is in complete support of equal rights for homosexuals, or as I like to call them, people. I've seen so many people, both in person, on social media, on television, in churches, in schools, and in public proclaiming against equal rights for gays because "It says so in the Bible." Honestly, how does someone being gay affect you personally? I'm straight. One of my best friends is gay...well, several actually but anyway. If they decide to get married, how does that effect me? Does it make my water pressure weaker? Does it make gas prices go up? Do I have to wait longer to receive a letter in the mail? Does it change how I see my significant other? Does it change my religious beliefs at all or the relationship, or lack there of, that I choose to have with God? No. It doesn't. But what it does change is the life of those two individuals who can finally receive the same benefits that other married couples receive. It may not change my life at all, but for them, the whole world changes for the better.

If people want to stand on the street corner and proclaim that civil unions and gay marriage is wrong and means the couple is going to Hell, fine. Let them.

Stand together and preach love and not hate. Accept do not condone. Judge yourself and not others.

For one day, try and see things from a different point of view. Try to understand someone's argument without fighting with them. Allow them to educate you about their beliefs without passing judgement or telling them they're wrong. If we can all do this, we can truly make the world a more peaceful and understanding place, and isn't that what we all want to begin with anyway?

The Lawnmower Has A Friend

You read it right! The lovely lawnmower that inspired this blog is now no longer an only child. The story takes a bit of time to explain, so I'll get right to it.

Brian and I have been renting from his parents ever since they moved from their house to the beach for his dad's job, which has been the biggest blessing ever. Not only have we had a fenced yard, but it's furnished, washer and dryer, appliances, quiet street, and really sweet neighbors. Plus it has given us a good opportunity to get on our feet financially (considering Brian's laptop went to the big Best Buy in the sky...that hasn't really happened).

Well, a week or so ago, Brian and I decided to try and try and spread our wings and begin looking at a place of our own. We quickly found a townhouse that we are absolutely in love with closer to our college campus that was offering a very nice rental price. The only downside is that we have no furniture, and more importantly, no washer or dryer, something that the apartment doesn't supply. My uncle has been awesome and is supplying us with a lot of furniture, but I have still been searching Craigslist and Target, etc. for sales and items we need.

So here we find the story. The other day I found a "too good to be true" ad on Craigslist for a Maytag HE top-loading clear lid washing machine...for $150. Wait, what? These things retail for upwards of $1100, so why is this one so inexpensive? There's got to be something wrong with it, right? So I email the guy expecting to be disappointed. Turns out he is a storage unit buyer and recently came across a single unit with sixteen appliances in it, including this washing machine. After speaking with him, we determined that the previous owner of the unit was probably an appliance dealer, because the unit also had two never-opened stainless steel refrigerators, washers, dryers, and other kitchen appliances.

This morning Brian and I talked it over and he gave me the go-ahead to make the decision if I thought it was a good buy. I took a friend with me and drove to Statesville to take a look at it and make a decision. We watched the machine cycle through with water, empty, spin, etc. and I fell in love with it.

Here are a few pictures that were taken from the ad, a picture that I took while looking at the washing machine today, and its new location in our car port. So, announcement made! Mr. Lawnmower now has a friend in Mr. Washing Machine :) Hopefully Mr. Dryer will be on his way soon!

Oh and also, I moved this thing out of my car by myself. That's right. By myself. I'm a beast.

The picture from the ad.

The picture I took during our visit.

The temporary home in the garage!