Memories of 9/11

Where were you?

Do you Remember?

I was in Boston.  I remember the call from my wife when the first plane hit. . . . it was an accident they thought. . . .

I remember everyone on their computers trying to load CNN but the web server could not handle it. . . the news showed the second plane hit. . .  We were gathered around a TV in a conference room.  I remember thinking about a Tom Clancy book where the bad guy used a plane to attack DC and thinking “damn they better get a CAP up ASAP down there”. 

I remember the Pentagon getting hit and the last plane going down when Americans stood up and fought back.  They died so that folks on the ground they didn’t even know would live.  They did what needed to be done.  I remember wondering if I had it in me to do that.

I remember us all wondering where a co-worker had disappeared to. . . then the rumors his brother (also a co-worker) was on flight 11. . . then the confirmation.  He died because he skipped the original flight he was booked on the day before so he could see his kids play soccer.

I remember getting told we could go home, and on the way doing a mental breakdown of what I had at home to take care of the family and protect them. . . I learned I needed to prep more. .  . I remember my friend I carpooled with calling me to see if we were leaving because she was getting out of the city one way or another. . . We wondered where the next hit would be

I remember almost a week with no aircraft flying, and how weird it was to sit on Boston Common at lunch and not see any in the air, to not hear them all the time. . . so quiet.  Same at home, we are under one of the landing patterns and nothing for days. . . .

I remember we woke up to reality for a while, we pulled together, and we got the job done. 

Sadly, now we have gone back to sleep.  We have our own elected officials trying to open our borders to make it easer for these folks to get in the country.  We have even elected folks to Congress who support terror groups.  We let the government pass law after law taking away our rights as we pretend it makes us safer. . . .

Time for us to wake up.  Time to remember who and what we are.  I hope we can.

Gun Control lies

It looks to me like every Democrat running for POTUS this time around are all disqualified based on their lack of knowledge of our basic rights.

Every one of them wants more gun control and an “assault weapons” ban at a minimum, with many wanting to force you to turn in one if you have it.  Making “Assault” weapons illegal is plainly unconstitutional with a small amount of research.

1 – Heller (2008) and McDonald(2010) rulings found that “the right of an individual to "keep and bear arms," as protected under the Second Amendment is incorporated by either the Due Process Clause or Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment against the states.”

These cases also found that any gun in common use is protected. . . for example the AR-15 is one of the most common rifles in our nation. . . so it is covered

2 – If you want to go back to the start of things lets look at the beginning. . . the Miller case where sawed-off shotguns were found to be illegal. . . why?  “because possessing a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun does not have a reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia, the Second Amendment does not protect the possession of such an instrument.” 

In plain English – if it does not have a military use it is NOT protected. . . to be protected it must have a military use. . . again the AR-15 would be covered as it is a great training gun since it functions almost the same as the militaries M-16 family of guns but is not a true Assault Rifle.  But most of the controls are the same so if you know how to use an AR you will be able to use an M-16.

So can we move on now folks?  Gun control does not work.  Look at the cites where it is in place. . . crime and murder rates are much higher than in cities without.  Look at Chicago it is a war zone.  Yet states with little to no gun control continue to come up as the safest places to live based on crime rates. . .

When will we wake up?  Some states have, the rest need to.  The Federal Government needs to get involved and start overturning these state laws that are in clear violation of our Constitution.  Then we need to start looking at the real problem, the shooter, not the weapon.  Mass murder has been done with guns, gas, bombs, and cars to name a few items.  We need a criminal justice system that keeps the bad guys out of the public.  And we need a mental health system that will work on identify and helping people before they get to the point that they snap and hurt someone. 

That is the tricky part.  To set up a mental health system that will help folks without attaching a stigma to them that will follow them for life.  And that protects their rights so that they are not stripped of any rights without due process and proof they are a danger.

We have a lot of work to do. . . . and until we move beyond the dream of gun control as a fix and not the total failure it is we won’t get the needed work done.