Reasonable restrictions, gun violence prevention, gun safety measures, keeping firearms out of the wrong hands or  #Gun Sense.  However gun control advocates couch their agenda, the end result is that innocent responsible people are the scapegoat for the evil acts of lawbreakers.

Gun owners, who have passed all the background checks, taken safety classes, trained and respect the laws are again accused of atrocious acts by owning a legally purchased firearm for hunting, target and protection or for just being a member of the National Rifle Association.

Too much of the current media it seems is determined to inflame the public on an issue that is larger than just gun ownership.  Young responsible gun owners are taking the brunt of a media bent on destroying their constitutional rights because someone their age was irresponsible.  These are the same young people who we send to war in Iraq or Afghanistan and then come home to be told they aren’t trust-worthy to own a gun and God forbid, if they are a member of an organization like the NRA, they are dismissed en masse as being incapable of safely and responsibly exercising their constitutional rights.

In most of the mass killings, yes killings not shootings (I shoot), there were missed opportunities for intervention to prevent their atrocious actions.  The shooter always tells someone of their plans on Facebook or in other ways.  Is anyone listening?

Taking away guns from responsible owners is not an answer to violence any more than taking away cars from responsible drivers will stop DUI’s and road-rage.  Just because a gun looks scary, does not mean it cannot be used responsibly any more than a tough looking truck or knife looks bad to the bone and should not be allowed in society.

The truth is seldom told about the NRA and other worthy civil rights organizations who stand for the constitution.  We are people who love our country, our families and our God.  We will stand to protect our family and yours when the police are minutes away and seconds count. Remember, it was an NRA member who stopped the killer at the church in Texas.

Responsible gun owners (like the NRA) are for trained, armed security in every school; fixing the broken mental health system; enforcing the federal gun laws against every drug dealer and criminal gang member to stop them before they show up to buy a gun; heeding the call that forces every state to submit the name of every prohibited person into the background check system.

Gun owners have families too, and we hurt when our families are preyed upon by ruthless cowards who shoot up schools, churches and malls. Any weapon is an ”assault weapon” when put in the wrong hands.  My son, daughter and grand-children are taught from an early age the responsibility of handling a gun.  I refuse to let a government agency or law negate my responsibility to teach them to be responsible Americans.  New laws will not prevent those intent on doing harm. They will only handcuff those who might protect your family from a bad situation.  Let’s blame the person doing the crime.

America will not remain free if the members of its civil rights organizations are paraded on the media, to be castigated by the mournful, every time an evil man abuses his liberty. Analogy,  I don’t plow the whole field when I have a few bad weeds in my garden. I just treat the weeds. Surely, we can be better tenders of our Constitution than to plow it all down.

Dee Young

Wilmore