Guns for God, country and family

On the front page of the daily newspaper, there is a huge picture of an elected state representative in the state House chambers with a holstered handgun.

It is impossible to know if the weapon is loaded or not from the picture. From the eyes of an inexperienced shooter, the model, caliber, magazine capacity, etc., are also without answers.

But the photograph, as pictures tend to do, speaks a thousand questions.

Maybe the image is intended to be self-explanatory. The lawmaker of the Old West accompanies a lawmaker in session. It is a symbol of the old and the new methods of law and order. The movies are replete with tales of the corruption of a town swept clean when a new sheriff with his six-shooter rides into town. The Colt was the judge, jury and executioner.

If that is not the symbol intended by the representative, it may be that as a resident of this state and citizen of this country, it is his God-given, constitutional, Supreme Court-upheld, Second Amendment, Bill of Rights gift to bear arms. What better place to confirm his rights than in one of the state capitols of the union?

Another thought is that he, the model citizen, MC, is particularly sensitive to the current turmoil in the Middle East, where the people, long deprived of their rights to weapons, are now fighting despots. Tyrannical bullies have disarmed their people for their own corrupt purposes. The MC's sidearm is a silent salute to these brave men and women who must fight empty handed. He is saying, not here, not now, not ever, not with patriots ever vigilant.

When a person carries a handgun at their sides all the time, they are often policemen. Sadly, there are bad people or just dangerous folks who also have guns. If an MC is to make the world safe for himself and his family, he must always be ready to take on evil in whatever form it exists. It is possible that as a maker of the law, it is important to be willing to be an enforcer of the law as well. As the world becomes more violent, self-protection is increasingly critical. The police cannot be everywhere, but an armed citizenry can be. MC does not want the adage — if there is a law against owning guns, only the lawless will own guns — to come true on his watch.

Guns are part of our society as much as apple pie, baseball and the Minuteman. To be without a gun in America is almost unpatriotic. It is a form of nakedness. This is the case when potential candidates for president stomp around the countryside, decked out in the appropriate hunting get-up with the fancy armament of the hunter. We are drawn to hunter-warriors as our leaders. In the mind of many, it is only a gun-packing president who is ready for the 2 a.m. phone call.